Q&A: What's the best compact camera with an optical or electronic viewfinder?

Personally, I have a bit of a love relationship with the Canon S-series of cameras. Yes, they don't have an optical or EVF viewfinder, but think about it this way: In designing these cameras, Canon decided to create the highest-end compact cameras they could, and there was no way that they were going to stick a poor screen on there. Even in bright screen, my S95 (and, subsequently the S100 and S110) work fantastically well, regardless of situation: I've used mine extensively both under and above water (see www.flickr.com/search/?w=83688756@N00&q=Canon+S95 for a rather broad sample), and I've never missed the viewfinder even once.

The other benefit of no viewfinders is that the screens can be far, far bigger, which has its own benefits.

TL;DR: Don't ignore cameras without viewfinders, LCD tech has gotten very far in the past few years.

Question via Quora.

Sharing mobile phone photos with EYE'EM

Do you have a camera phone? Do you use it all? Ever wonder what to do with your pictures? As the mobile photography movement continues to gain popularity, various methods of sharing these phoneography masterpieces have popped up across the scene. David Smith tells us about more about one of the latest to appear.

It’s called EYE’EM, a Berlin-based mobile photography platform that allows users to upload their photos and share them with the rest of the world. Founded in January 2010, EYE’EM hit the ground running and launched their first competition in March, receiving more than 3000 entries. The winning images were displayed at an exhibition at Schlechtriem Brothers gallery in Berlin, with finalists also having their work featured in the EYE’EM Annual, a book dedicated to the world’s most talented mobile photographers.

How it works

EYE’EM streams users’ photos in real-time as they’re uploaded to the site. Simply create a user profile and click on the site’s uploader to begin sharing your work with the invite-only community. You can tag your photos, comment on others’, and even share via Twitter and Facebook. EYE’EM is currently working on mobile apps for multiple devices to make uploading photos even easier.

What’s next for EYE’EM?

Following the success of their first competition in March, EYE’EM has recently announced their Second Mobile Photography Exhibition of 2010, this September in New York City at the renowned Openhouse Gallery. The exhibition will feature fine prints as well as digital screens displaying the crème de la crème of all photos submitted to EYE’EM’s platform.

The featured submissions will be selected by an international panel of photographers and other creatives, as well as by the EYE’EM community through the ability to like, comment, and share photos. Also included will be images from select NYC mobile photographers that have made an impact on the scene over the last few years. Submission deadline is 5 September. All you have to do to is upload your best mobile shots: the EYE’EM community will take care of the rest!

Just the beginning

Darth Tater. David's prize-winning entry?

With continuous advances in mobile phone cameras and software applications, you can be sure to see more competitions and websites like EYE’EM to help mobile photography gain acceptance as a legitimate art form. More and more photographers are using their mobile phones everyday to add an alternative lineup to their portfolios, as can be seen on EYE’EM’s live-stream.

EYE’EM is an invitation-only community, but they’ve given us 30 invites. So if you feel like having a go, first 30 comments will win the goodies. (Just remember to put your e-mail address in the e-mail field. We won’t publish it, but if you don’t, we won’t be able to contact you!)

But now, I think I’ll go upload my latest iPhone masterpiece: “Darth Tater.”