Viewfinder

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In photography, a viewfinder is a small window the photographer looks through to see what a photo will look like before they capture it.^[1]

Some viewfinders see directly through the lens, whereas others are separate and show an approximation of what the photo will look like. The second type is much simpler to design, but creates a parallax effect because the viewing angle is slightly different between the finder and the lens.^[2] The first type avoids this parallax effect, and is commonly used in SLRs which use a complex mirror system to direct light from the lens to either the film or the viewfinder.

Viewfinders are used in many cameras of different types: still and movie, film, analog and digital. Some cameras, such as camera phones and mirrorless cameras, do not have viewfinders and display the image preview on a larger screen. Although some mirrorless cameras do have an electronic viewfinder, where a small screen shows a video feed from the image sensor.^[1]