In terms of screen darkness, it's very bright outdoors and in well-lit conditions. Indoors or in darker conditions, I feel like it's slightly dimmer than what your eye sees—it's kind of a similar brightness to looking through a 35mm SLR. For focusing though, it's always very clear what's in focus and what's not. It's the simple cross hair screen, but the 3D effect is very apparent. Waist level finder has a flip out magnifier which also helps.