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Author Topic: Live view review  (Read 10678 times)

Roger Calixto

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Live view review
« on: January 16, 2009, 01:57:32 pm »

I've got a Canon 30D. No live view, no nice dust shake off. Hellava nice camera.

I've been hearing a lot about Live View lately. I'd like to hear your opinions about whats good and bad about it. Is it a decisive feature for those who have tried it? E.g. you'll never see another camera without AF, same going to be for Live View?

Whatcha think?

-KT
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wolfnowl

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Live view review
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2009, 04:15:13 pm »

Quote from: kingtutt
E.g. you'll never see another camera without AF

That's a pretty narrow definition of a camera.  There are a lot of rangefinder, medium format and large format people who would disagree with you...

Mike.
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Roger Calixto

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Live view review
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2009, 04:42:56 pm »

HA! Don't I look like an idiot. Good point. I should probably recognize that pinhole cameras never had autofocus, never needed it and will never go out of style.

Cheers.

So, no comment on live view?
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DarkPenguin

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Live view review
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2009, 04:53:29 pm »

I'm disinclined to buy a camera without it.  Live view was made for landscape photography.  Besides it is the only way one can get mirror lockup on a single button in canon land.

As I think about this I've kiboshed at least two cameras due to lack of live view.
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fike

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Live view review
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2009, 05:19:56 pm »

Live view is great!  It is very helpful for working on a tripod when you don't want to have to hold your eye down at tripod level--like macro work for example.  It is fantastic for magnifying the image to perform close focusing.  

The autofocus while in live view mode is terrible and needs to be brought up to par with standard SLR autofocus.

I would be reluctant to give back the live view feature on any new camera purchase.
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DaveCurtis

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Live view review
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2009, 08:15:14 pm »

I'm using it on the 1DS3 and think it's great. Especially for macro and landscape work.

For landscape shooting I use it with grad filters and I can see the immediate effect in real time. Also the live histogram to help with ETTR and mirror lockup ...
Once you have used live view you won't look back. I see it just as another great technology as was IS and AF.

Cameras have come a long way. The othe day I was wildlife shooting at 800ISO with my 400 f4 DO lenses and then within in seconds my canon was setup in landscape mode at ISO 100, live view, mirror locked up blah blah. All great stuff!
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JeffKohn

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Live view review
« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2009, 12:15:30 am »

Combined with a really good LCD (such as the 900K dot 3" screens on the latest models), LiveView allows for focusing with more precision than otherwise possible, both for MF and AF lenses. It's the only way to go, and a big reason why I'm not tempted to ditch Nikon for the Sony a900. Sony screwed up big time by not putting LV on the a900.

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BernardLanguillier

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Live view review
« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2009, 10:11:45 am »

It is nearly impossible to focus critically a wide lens on a high resolution FX body without live view.

Cheers,
Bernard

ErikKaffehr

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Live view review
« Reply #8 on: January 17, 2009, 03:09:19 pm »

Hi!

Sensor based "live view" is the feature I'm missing on my Sony Alpha 900. Needed for critical focusing, period.

Erik

Quote from: kingtutt
I've got a Canon 30D. No live view, no nice dust shake off. Hellava nice camera.

I've been hearing a lot about Live View lately. I'd like to hear your opinions about whats good and bad about it. Is it a decisive feature for those who have tried it? E.g. you'll never see another camera without AF, same going to be for Live View?

Whatcha think?

-KT
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Erik Kaffehr
 

francois

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Live view review
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2009, 07:07:35 am »

Another vote for Live View!
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Roger Calixto

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« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2009, 07:55:29 am »

Well so far, looks like who has live view will never look back.

Are there no cons to Live View? No negative opinions? Maybe if somebody gave an objective view of their percept of pros and cons....

{}
KT
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Roger Calixto

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Live view review
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2009, 07:57:17 am »

Quote from: BernardLanguillier
It is nearly impossible to focus critically a wide lens on a high resolution FX body without live view.

Cheers,
Bernard

Why?
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fike

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Live view review
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2009, 09:51:08 am »

Quote from: kingtutt
Well so far, looks like who has live view will never look back.

Are there no cons to Live View? No negative opinions? Maybe if somebody gave an objective view of their percept of pros and cons....

{}
KT

Why do there need to be any cons?  I see no negative consequences to having the feature.  If you don't like using it, for some reason, the fact that your camera has it has no negative impact on the rest of the camera functions.  

Live view is very helpful.  It isn't necessarily revolutionary, but it is another useful tool in our bag of tricks, particularly for fine focus work.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2009, 09:51:37 am by fike »
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Roger Calixto

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« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2009, 11:33:16 am »

Yes, but when the time comes to buy a camera and you've never had the function, one wants to weigh the pros and cons of having that feature to see if it's worth paying extra for. That was actually the whole reason for starting this thread (for me at least). I'm extremely happy with my 30D. But I dont have a few things that have become standard on newer cameras: dust shaker and live view. I know I want the dust remover and I'm willing to pay extra for it because I change lenses a lot in the field. But live view? I dunno. Never used it and I'm curios as to the opinion of photographers to it. Not engineers, not salesmen, not manufacturers. Photographers who use it and decide whether it's worth the extra money.

As for something having to have cons, yes. Everything has cons and pitfalls. Everything. I'm interested in what those are for Live View, that's all.
I must add (edit) that you fike already posted a caveat of live view. Thanks!

Re-reading this, I think I should drink some coffee and calm down =)

KT
« Last Edit: January 18, 2009, 11:37:46 am by kingtutt »
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DarkPenguin

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Live view review
« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2009, 12:54:49 pm »

The cons depend on the implementation.

  • The 40D does not do AF in live view.
  • Most implementations do not have fully articulating screens.  Oly has a number that do.  Sony has a couple that tip up.  Canon and Nikon hate us.
  • Some use a secondary sensor so that phase detection AF can be used.  This dims the viewfinder, usually shrinks the view finder and means that what you see on the LCD is not what you'll get and that means you can't really use live view for critical focus.  The two sony live view cameras fit this.
  • Different implementations of contrast detect AF are faster than others.  And none are as good as the Panasonic G1 which, while not an SLR, is about as fast an implementation of CD AF as there is.
  • Some always drop the mirror before firing.
  • Some require more button presses than others.
  • etc

Other than the implementations that impact the view finder there isn't really a con specific to the live view concept unless you do not want any control, manual or option space wasted on it.
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JDClements

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Live view review
« Reply #15 on: January 18, 2009, 01:36:54 pm »

Quote from: kingtutt
Are there no cons to Live View?

Eats your battery up rather quickly.

I am loving live view for macro work. (At 10x magnification with a 100mm lens + full extension tubes, you can see the image shake just by glancing at the lens barrel.)

I haven't tried it for landscape work, mainly because it's hard to set a tripod up in 4m of snow.
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JDClements

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« Reply #16 on: January 18, 2009, 01:39:14 pm »

Quote from: DarkPenguin
Live view was made for landscape photography.  Besides it is the only way one can get mirror lockup on a single button in canon land.

I just use one of the Custom settings on the dial. It's not a single button, but almost as quick... just turn the dial.
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DarkPenguin

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Live view review
« Reply #17 on: January 18, 2009, 01:51:51 pm »

Quote from: JDClements
Eats your battery up rather quickly.

I am loving live view for macro work. (At 10x magnification with a 100mm lens + full extension tubes, you can see the image shake just by glancing at the lens barrel.)

I haven't tried it for landscape work, mainly because it's hard to set a tripod up in 4m of snow.
Manfrotto makes snow shoes for tripods.  You'd need them, too.
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mahleu

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Live view review
« Reply #18 on: January 18, 2009, 01:58:28 pm »

Quote from: kingtutt
Are there no cons to Live View? No negative opinions? Maybe if somebody gave an objective view of their percept of pros and cons....

{}
KT

You look like a tourist?

If you want live view without upgrading your camera you can go for something like Zigview. I'm more worried about the lack of
sensor cleaning although this is more or less of an issue depending on where you shoot.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2009, 02:01:00 pm by mahleu »
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JDClements

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« Reply #19 on: January 18, 2009, 02:09:21 pm »

Quote from: DarkPenguin
Manfrotto makes snow shoes for tripods.  You'd need them, too.

Thanks for the tip! I have a pair of Atlas 1130s on my feet, but have been mostly hand-holding and I also tried a strap-pod a bit.
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