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02-10-2008, 01:34 PM   #1
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What's the big deal about live-view?

Seems the camera world's latched onto this idea about live-view being the next big development in dSLRs. Can someone enlighten me as to why it's such a fantastic feature?

I went to my local store, and of course, they too gave me a blank stare when I asked for a K10D to try. He looked at me as if to say, duh, but then told me they hadn't had any in store for a while and that they'd been discontinued. I said OK, then let me have a look at the Canon 40D, THEN he was more enthusiastic...

Disregarding the fact I didn't like the 40D body so much (more plasticy build and less responsive AF than my K100D IMO... and I almost fell over when I found out its price AUD$1850 for the body only!), I tried this live-view feature for the first time on a dSLR. Wasn't very impressed... Slowed down capture rate to P&S standards and means I don't get to 'hide behind the camera' when I'm taking photos of sensitive, more intimate scenes.

I appreciate that the rotating/swivelling LCD makes taking pictures in awkward positions easier, but are there other benefits/advantages to using live-view as opposed to the traditional TTL viewfinder? Or is it that the K200D and K20D can now appeal to a wider consumer market that have never used a viewfinder in a digital camera?

Please excuse me if I appear ignorant on this issue...

02-10-2008, 01:47 PM   #2
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I'm with you on this one. I really don't understand why live view is considered to be such a big deal. Apart from astrophotographers, who could use the feature to more accurately focus manually, I really do not see a point in having live view on a DSLR.
02-10-2008, 01:47 PM   #3
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I can see it being a big advantage when taking closeups in my light tent. With the viewfinder I have to get myself into really awkward postions to see that I have the subject framed nicely etc, live view would make this easier.

Plus it appeals to the wider consumer market, many of whom have made the jump to a DSLR from their first camera ever, a P&S where they never stuck their eye up against the viewfinder (well maybe just once, but they didn't much care for the experience).

Personally I prefer viewfinders and use the one on my P&S a lot, except with macros -- which is somewhat ironic given my first paragraph.
02-10-2008, 02:32 PM   #4
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Hi Ash

Re your point that:

QuoteQuote:
I appreciate that the rotating/swivelling LCD makes taking pictures in awkward positions easier
I find myself in the same boat as you, because I am currently having a great deal of difficulty in understanding why Pentax have gone to the trouble of implementing 'Live View' on the new K20D, apart from the obvious trend of playing 'keep-up' with their immediate competitors (C***n, N***n & S**y) !
Incidentally, I have a C***n A630 with an articulating & rotating LCD which is brilliant for photographing close-up macros of plants, flowers or architectural ceilings etc, but I can see no useful purpose for a fixed 'Live View' LCD in those circumstances,
can you ??? (unless one particularly enjoys prolonged neck-ache....LOL). A rotating LCD would obviously compromise the 'weather-sealing' claims of the K20D, but then again I don't usually tend to use my K10D in the rain anyway !!

Best regards
Richard


Last edited by Confused; 02-10-2008 at 03:54 PM.
02-10-2008, 02:45 PM   #5
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If Olympus can weatherproof their E-3, which has a swivelling LCD screen, I don't see how Pentax couldn't.
02-10-2008, 02:51 PM   #6
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Hi ftpaddict

Re your comment:
QuoteQuote:
If Olympus can weatherproof their E-3, which has a swivelling LCD screen, I don't see how Pentax couldn't.
A fair point ! C'mon Pentax, how about it ??

Best regards
Richard
02-10-2008, 04:30 PM   #7
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We're raising a generation of people for whom the idea of a viewfinder on a camera is totally foreign. They can no more comprehend the need for a viewfinder than you and I can see the fuss about live-view.

There are more of them than there are of us. Simple market force economics means Pentax has to have live-view too.

02-10-2008, 04:31 PM   #8
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I will chime in:

I am reasonably old (late 50's) - wearing glasses since the age of 7 - severely nearsighted.

Without my glasses my focus ends at 4 inches. This is the reason that I do not have any use for "live view" or LCD's on P&S cameras.

If I were to use live view - I would have to hold the viewing device at arms length in order to focus while wearing my glasses - I can not use my glasses and focus on anything less that 18 inches away. Even with a three inch LCD - that is way too small compared to how much of my field of vision is covered by an optical viewfinder.

If I were to use live view and a large lens - then just try to imagine how - here is my politically incorrect statement - stupid I would look, holding my 50-200 mm at 200mm at arms length trying to focus with something that looks smaller that a credit card held at arms length. SR or no SR - that just can not be a good thing. And as for P&S shooters who are older - you can tell them right away - because they all have their faces in the air trying to focus on the stupid little screen with their bifocals.

As for the use of live view in macro stuff - due to the inconvenience of having to crouch, bend, lie down, and climb up - well I just do not feel for you. If you want to be an armchair photographer then just let someone else take pictures. You just might need to get dirty, contorted or in pain to get the shot. Besides, you will have much more to talk about at the bar.

I wonder how much cheaper the K20D would be if Live View had been left out? With the IQ of some of the images we have seen with this new sensor, I would really like to see a K10D super come out - with the CMOS sensor and no live view.

The Elitist - formerly known as PDL
02-10-2008, 04:37 PM   #9
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Now that would be interesting to track

QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Cash Quote
We're raising a generation of people for whom the idea of a viewfinder on a camera is totally foreign. They can no more comprehend the need for a viewfinder than you and I can see the fuss about live-view.

There are more of them than there are of us. Simple market force economics means Pentax has to have live-view too.
Just how many people who do not know how to use a real view finder would stand for having to hold a K20D with a 55-135 zoom set to 135mm at arms length? They would learn how to use the viewfinder - very fast.

Or they would take the camera back to the store and b*tch to high heaven.

The Elitist - formerly known as PDL
02-10-2008, 04:42 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by PDL Quote
As for the use of live view in macro stuff - due to the inconvenience of having to crouch, bend, lie down, and climb up - well I just do not feel for you. If you want to be an armchair photographer then just let someone else take pictures. You just might need to get dirty, contorted or in pain to get the shot. Besides, you will have much more to talk about at the bar.

Couldn't agree with you more, Elitist.
Bonus points for anyone who guesses who this guy is.

02-10-2008, 04:52 PM   #11
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unless that viewfinder is the bendy twisty type, that guy is goint to have dirty jeans, live view or not
02-10-2008, 05:17 PM   #12
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I have to agree

QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Cash Quote
We're raising a generation of people for whom the idea of a viewfinder on a camera is totally foreign. They can no more comprehend the need for a viewfinder than you and I can see the fuss about live-view.

There are more of them than there are of us. Simple market force economics means Pentax has to have live-view too.
I'm with you on this one Mike. Why live view? Simple market pressure. Do I want it? No, but then again nobody asked me. Will I put up with it? Yes because I have to. Everybody else has it too.

NaCl(who knows, when I eventually get a new camera body, somebody will have found a use for it!)H2O
02-10-2008, 05:24 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Cash Quote
We're raising a generation of people for whom the idea of a viewfinder on a camera is totally foreign. They can no more comprehend the need for a viewfinder than you and I can see the fuss about live-view.

There are more of them than there are of us. Simple market force economics means Pentax has to have live-view too.
Yes, there are more of them than there are of us.

Before I bought my K100D, I had a Fuji S3000 which featured an LCD live view and a viewfinder which, in reality, was live view bought to the size of a VF. You could toggle between them and use one or the other.

When I got the camera, I tried using the LCD to line up my shots but could never get used to that. So, I use the Viewfinded.

When i bought my K100D, one of my associates at work made me an offer on my S3000, so I sold it to him. He nas never, in my knowledge, ever used the viewfinder. He says "It's too small and it's awkward to use." He replaced a camera with my camera that had no viewfinder, only an LCD.

Today, it's just about impossible to find a P&S with a viewfinder.

I personally don't care for live view.

Ed
02-10-2008, 05:30 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by d.bradley Quote
unless that viewfinder is the bendy twisty type, that guy is goint to have dirty jeans, live view or not
Just goes to show what people are willing to do to get the perfect shot. Dirty jeans or not.
02-10-2008, 05:30 PM   #15
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Live View is more hype than help. I would rather use a viewfinder that allows me to view in 3D versus looking at a screen that only gives a 2D representation, no matter how good the LCD screen is. The LCD screen can never provide the depth perception that composing in a viewfinder gives.
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