After a few bad surprises I decided to check the coverage of the viewfinder of my SLR camera, since I included several times in my pictures some unwanted objects like road signs, my car, my feet,...
I decided to place four pieces of carton on the edges of the field of view I was seeing though the viewfinder and take a picture to evaluate the real coverage of the viewfinder (I have a Canon EOS-300).
With the camera mounted on a tripod I shoot Ilford FP4 ISO125 black & white negative film for 1s/90 at F/4 with a 50mm fixed focal lens and a TTL flash.
The image observed though the viewfinder was 320 x 215mm large and was 575mm away from the camera (measured at the lens socket).
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As one can see on the 35mm film, the view of the viewfinder is only 21mm x 32mm and since the frame is 24mm x 36mm only 78% of the surface is covered.
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On a print the situation is slightly better since the viewfinder coverage represents 82mm x 124mm while the print itself is 90mm x 130mm, meaning that the coverage is 87%. On the other hand the image is not centered on the print (and it was on the negative) and in the future I should choose another lab.
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