[telly0050]

i am planning to get a viewfinder hood for my manual lens, and maybe to do some videography.

i had experience with a split screen on my previous k-x, but don't find it significantly better. plus a hood is a lot cheaper than the screen (ebay has a lot under $20).

so my question is will there be any side effect for using the live view for too long?

I know battery consumption will be a known issue, but what else?
will it burn my sensor if i point it directly to the sun on live view?
and will it cost any effect on shutter? (it flops twice to take a picture, does shutter count double?)

and anyone has experience using a viewfinder hood? how good is the magnification?

Thanks.

[demp10]

Get a grip so you have two batteries and also keep a spare battery just in case. The camera will shut down after about 5 min of live view to protect the sensor from overheating.

Pointing directly to the sun with focus at infinity may not be a good idea. If nothing else, unless you use ND filters and stop down the lens, the area corresponding on the sun will be totally overexposed on the LCD.

Also turn SR off if you are using a tripod or if you move the camera too much. The sensor will try to compensate your motion and the camera will vibrate violently.

[JinDesu]

I believe that the longer the sensor is on (the warmer it gets), the more noisy the picture will be.

[telly0050]

hm so it seems like not a good idea to use live view :/

[Pa. Patriot]

Pointing directly to the sun with focus at infinity may not be a good idea.

Why?

If nothing else, unless you use ND filters and stop down the lens, the area corresponding on the sun will be totally overexposed on the LCD.

Sometimes, that may be the effect desired....

Also turn SR off if you are using a tripod or if you move the camera too much. The sensor will try to compensate your motion and the camera will vibrate violently.

Vibrate violently? Never heard of this. Never experienced it while shooting video handheld.

I believe that the longer the sensor is on (the warmer it gets), the more noisy the picture will be.

Examples or references to this?

[demp10]

Why?
Sometimes, that may be the effect desired....
Vibrate violently? Never heard of this. Never experienced it while shooting video handheld.
Examples or references to this?

Why? Try putting a magnifier lens between your hand and the sun, and space it so the sun focuses on your hand.

If that's the desired effect then go for it. If you expect to see a well-formed silhouette of the sun, you will be disappointed. You can try it with the moon also.

If you have not experience sensor vibrations with SR on then you probably are using a wider angle lens (it is more pronounced on telephotos), or you hold the camera either too steady or move it a lot (so the sensor cannot compensate). Try using a long telephoto e.g. 300mm or longer on a tripod with SR on and slightly shake the camera.

Regarding additional noise from a warm sensor, it is simple physics. The sensor heats up while using LV and Pentax shuts it down after a few minutes to protect it. All electronic circuits perform better when they are cooler, hence all the cooling components that go into them (heat sinks, fans, etc.). How much noise is introduced by heat? Probably not much if you use it within the operating parameter. Most likely that's another reason why they shut down the sensor.

[demp10]

hm so it seems like not a good idea to use live view :/

Actually it is a very good idea if you try to nail focus. Contrast Focus used by LV is much more precise than Phase detection (from the sensor below the mirror) although it is rather slow. It is also not affected by front/back focus issues or type/quality of light (e.g. tungsten).

If you are using manual focus lenses, it is a pleasure to use it since you can magnify the focus area up to 10x.

The biggest drawback for me is battery life and of course when outdoors with bright light it is difficult to see the small LCD screen.

[jaytee]

It is well documented that you should turn off SR when using a tripod. The sensor does indeed heat up but that's no reason not to use it, (but not necessarily pointing at the sun lol).

[Gimbal]

Why? Try putting a magnifier lens between your hand and the sun, and space it so the sun focuses on your hand.

But that is not how the lens is focused on the camera. All light is not gathered in a small dot in the center of sensor. Would not be much of a picture if it was.

Also, I (and others) have recorded video for much longer then five minutes, so at least my sensor doesn't heat up that fast.

[demp10]

But that is not how the lens is focused on the camera. All light is not gathered in a small dot in the center of sensor. Would not be much of a picture if it was.

Also, I (and others) have recorded video for much longer then five minutes, so at least my sensor doesn't heat up that fast.

Really? The sun on the hand is not a dot. It is a very small disk that is proportional to focal length and the distance to the sun. And it is on the center only if you tilt the lens and hand to be parallel and point to the sun in 90 degrees. Any other orientation will be off center just like in any other lens/sensor combination.

The only difference between a magnifier lens and a typical camera lens is the use of additional elements for a number of reasons (e.g. corrections, wide angles with long registration distances, telephotos with short registrations, etc.) The fundamental principle is the same. You can put a magnifier lens in front of the sensor and you'll get an image, but you will not like the quality.Actually you do not even need a lens; just use a pinhole.

Apparently recording video and using Live View before taking a picture is not the same. Video is at much lower resolution than still images so any noise concerns may not be an issue there.

[Gimbal]

Apparently recording video and using Live View before taking a picture is not the same. Video is at much lower resolution than still images so any noise concerns may not be an issue there.

Yes, video is more forgiving when it comes to noise. My point was that it didn't shut down due to overheating after 5min. If I had taken a picture right after the video session, it might had been noisier, I don't know.

If one would point the camera in to the sun with liveview, wouldn't the camera automatically close down the aperture and thereby block out most of the light?

[pinholecam]

I am using such a setup.
Just some things to note.

1. Battery life is shorter as LV uses quite a bit of it.
2. The DSLR implementation of LV is 'clunky'. The mirror needs to go down before going up again for the shutter to trip. So there is significant lag between button press and actual photo taking. This is perfectly alright for non-moving stuff, but almost impossible for moving subjects.

Other than that, its pretty good with a very high hit rate for focus.

[vanakaru]

and anyone has experience using a viewfinder hood? how good is the magnification?

Thanks.

I use hood for video. Magnification is no problem 2.5-3x is plenty.
I had very bad experience with the ones that use magnet to attach. The metal frame does not stay on with warm weather. With clip-on style and specially with LCD protector incorporated are much better.