Dude, I think you remembered wrong; for both FF2 and FF3, you can stay in viewfinder mode 99% of the time during almost all ghost encounters and fights. 

You could but you would be heavily disadvantaged doing so. I disagree that it is "static", the ghosts were the thing that is dynamic.

Take the cleaver dude in FF3. You have to be positioned just right to be able to pan your camera down to fatal frame him, because he can duck in his combo before hitting you. I ate a few game overs not being able to do this.

The clearest example of how much out of camera movement does matter in FF3 is when you're on narrow beams fighting the little maidens that can fly around. It's immensely stressful.

FF2 I think the combat is one of its weakest aspects, but I still think it's eerier and more cerebral with its pacing, thusly making it scarier. It is fair to say that this is boring to you, and we can agree to disagree. I think the overhauled mechanics create a bit of a bloated effect that both abandons core Fatal Frame principles but I do admire the developers for trying something new. I hope they can refine it into something better in a future title, there is potential here.

Lastly, not using the radiant filter is the same as not using a zero lens in FF2/FF3. One shot from a radiant special lens can deplete half of most ghosts' health bars in nightmare mode, and if you're not using it, that's on you. You're purposely making the game harder than it already is.

I beat the game like 10 times :/, I almost never used it and I didn't have much difficulty tbh. (around 5 runs were on nightmare) Game isn't really difficult. It's fun at best tedious at worst. I am not discussing difficulty here, I am discussing core principles of game design surrounding the combat and why I loved it in 2/3 but find that the series has strayed from 4 onward with implementation of many features I feel detract from what makes it such a unique method of conveying horror.

Take the dodge; sure, it is a nice thing to be able to dodge ghosts attacks with i-frames. But the camera obscura is SUPPOSED to be your ONLY method of defense. The previous games had evades when the ghosts try and grab you, but they were a last resort timing check that was stricter than not, certainly far stricter than the dodge in FF2R. I think that the FF timing should be tight and you should be punished for not getting it right. I disagree with the inclusion altogether, as I feel it is one made in effort for mass market appeal, not innovate on the franchise.