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Archive 2013What is your favorite viewing method?
p.2 #1What is your favorite viewing method?
carstenw wrote:
Can you explain your setup procedure so I can get an idea of what is cumbersome about it?
Hi Carsten,
I'll get back to you in a day or so. Right now, I'm in the middle of getting ready for a big Canadian Thanksgiving - 24+ for dinner tomorrow.
Can you explain your setup procedure so I can get an idea of what is cumbersome about it?
Hi Carsten,
I'll get back to you in a day or so. Right now, I'm in the middle of getting ready for a big Canadian Thanksgiving - 24+ for dinner tomorrow.
Oct 12, 2013 at 04:15 PM
p.2 #3What is your favorite viewing method?
carstenw wrote:
I used a DP6 this summer for shooting with tilt lenses. I've decided to sell it because the setup and takedown times are too long for me, plus it's pretty cumbersome for field work. It's much easier to deal with in a studio situation. I get along just fine with LiveView on my 1DX and 6D rear LCD screens.
Can you explain your setup procedure so I can get an idea of what is cumbersome about it?
As jcolwell knows, I wrote the article here on FM on use of the DP-6 for tilt shift lens use.
https://www.fredmiranda.com/smallhd/
As shown in the article, I use mine quite a lot for low angle tilt work. When the camera is 2-3 inches from the ground (or water surface) I don't see how one achieves fine adjustment for tilt and focus without it. I'm not interested in laying on the wet sand in front of the oncoming wave. The article shows several shots where the external monitor helps a lot by tilting the view upwards and making the image larger so that one doesn't need to put your face so close to the camera.
The larger LCD does make the camera bulkier and more difficult to adjust in the ballhead. Screw down the small ballhead in the camera hotshoe so that the monitor won't flop around or slide in the hotshoe. And be careful of the mini HDMI plug, that cable fitting is fragile.
Agreed the extra equipment makes for a bulkier package and slows me down a bit, but once set up I can pick up the tripod and move the combination around easily enough for the next shot. If I can kneel behind the camera with tilt/shift lens and adequately see the LCD, I don't use the external monitor. But there are many times it has facilitated a more dramatic view and a very creative photographic process.
Small HD is no longer making the DP6 and there is quite a lot of competition for the 7" monitors of HD resolution. Software is important; the DSLR scaling feature allows the entire image to fill the screen with minimal letter.boxing. The 1:1 pixel mapping with camera 5-10x magnification is a great rendition of a digital version of a loupe on the back of large format ground glass (but not upside down and backwards). For me that is the objective, just achieving manual focus in the center is not enough.
Mike K
I used a DP6 this summer for shooting with tilt lenses. I've decided to sell it because the setup and takedown times are too long for me, plus it's pretty cumbersome for field work. It's much easier to deal with in a studio situation. I get along just fine with LiveView on my 1DX and 6D rear LCD screens.
Can you explain your setup procedure so I can get an idea of what is cumbersome about it?
As jcolwell knows, I wrote the article here on FM on use of the DP-6 for tilt shift lens use.
https://www.fredmiranda.com/smallhd/
As shown in the article, I use mine quite a lot for low angle tilt work. When the camera is 2-3 inches from the ground (or water surface) I don't see how one achieves fine adjustment for tilt and focus without it. I'm not interested in laying on the wet sand in front of the oncoming wave. The article shows several shots where the external monitor helps a lot by tilting the view upwards and making the image larger so that one doesn't need to put your face so close to the camera.
The larger LCD does make the camera bulkier and more difficult to adjust in the ballhead. Screw down the small ballhead in the camera hotshoe so that the monitor won't flop around or slide in the hotshoe. And be careful of the mini HDMI plug, that cable fitting is fragile.
Agreed the extra equipment makes for a bulkier package and slows me down a bit, but once set up I can pick up the tripod and move the combination around easily enough for the next shot. If I can kneel behind the camera with tilt/shift lens and adequately see the LCD, I don't use the external monitor. But there are many times it has facilitated a more dramatic view and a very creative photographic process.
Small HD is no longer making the DP6 and there is quite a lot of competition for the 7" monitors of HD resolution. Software is important; the DSLR scaling feature allows the entire image to fill the screen with minimal letter.boxing. The 1:1 pixel mapping with camera 5-10x magnification is a great rendition of a digital version of a loupe on the back of large format ground glass (but not upside down and backwards). For me that is the objective, just achieving manual focus in the center is not enough.
Mike K
Dec 14, 2013 at 01:14 AM
p.2 #4What is your favorite viewing method?
I like big, fat 100% optical finders on 35mm cameras, or luscious, slightly-cropped ones like on the Contax 645.
Dec 14, 2013 at 02:12 AM
p.2 #5What is your favorite viewing method?
Tariq Gibran wrote:
Has any manufacturer ever made a hybrid SLR/TTL OVF with an on demand EVF option? The only thing I can think of that's close is the Fuji Hybrid direct view OVF with EVF. I can imagine situations though where a Hybrid 100% accurate TTL OVF with an optional, on-demand EVF would be handy.
I think Sony did that before, before they moved to SLT.
Has any manufacturer ever made a hybrid SLR/TTL OVF with an on demand EVF option? The only thing I can think of that's close is the Fuji Hybrid direct view OVF with EVF. I can imagine situations though where a Hybrid 100% accurate TTL OVF with an optional, on-demand EVF would be handy.
I think Sony did that before, before they moved to SLT.
Dec 14, 2013 at 02:21 AM
p.2 #6What is your favorite viewing method?
mco_970 wrote:
Same here, unless I am shooting at ground level or overhead (or some other impossible angle). Then definitely tilting LCD. 
Same here too.
I like OVF mainly because my eyes don't need to adjust that much (focus and brightness) between shooting and when I am not.
carstenw wrote
My favorite viewfinder is unambiguously, with distance, the traditional OVF. Same here too.
I like OVF mainly because my eyes don't need to adjust that much (focus and brightness) between shooting and when I am not.
Dec 14, 2013 at 02:40 AM
p.2 #7What is your favorite viewing method?
I choose others;
OVF off center without EVF (eg leica)
huge OVF from above (hasselblad 500)
big OFV with splitscreen (Olympux OM, Pentax MX ect.)
OVF off center without EVF (eg leica)
huge OVF from above (hasselblad 500)
big OFV with splitscreen (Olympux OM, Pentax MX ect.)
Dec 14, 2013 at 04:01 AM
p.2 #8What is your favorite viewing method?
I've decided to keep my DP6, as it's so useful in the studio. I've also decided to not use the flash-shoe mount system that I got with it originally (see first photo). Instead, I support the DP6 on a magic arm or double-ball head, which is clamped on a tripod leg (see last two photos). I just picked up a variable friction magic arm to replace the lever-clamp one that I've been using, and so I'll have much better adjustability. This means that I'll probably use it in the field, too, but not when I have to carry the stuff for a long distance. The tilt screen on an A7R would be nice, but I haven't yet decided if I'll get one, or not.
Dec 14, 2013 at 07:13 AM
p.2 #9What is your favorite viewing method?
Tariq Gibran wrote:
Has any manufacturer ever made a hybrid SLR/TTL OVF with an on demand EVF option?
The Olympus E-330 had something like this - but it was pretty horrible (like most 4/3 viewfinders).
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse330
Has any manufacturer ever made a hybrid SLR/TTL OVF with an on demand EVF option?
The Olympus E-330 had something like this - but it was pretty horrible (like most 4/3 viewfinders).
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse330
Dec 14, 2013 at 09:18 AM
p.2 #10What is your favorite viewing method?
In most situations, my preference is for an OVF. EVF's have very little benefit for me.... Too bad it is the way of the future.
Dec 14, 2013 at 09:32 AM
p.2 #11What is your favorite viewing method?
Depends on the style of shooting I'm doing.
Angle finder on TTL OVF ... akin to articulated screen or waist level (without being inverted) ... it keeps me very frame centric focused for still life, etc. Somewhat like blinders on a horse.
OVF for more movement oriented subjects. (Could go for OVF RF, but only have TTL bodies atm).
Angle finder on TTL OVF ... akin to articulated screen or waist level (without being inverted) ... it keeps me very frame centric focused for still life, etc. Somewhat like blinders on a horse.
OVF for more movement oriented subjects. (Could go for OVF RF, but only have TTL bodies atm).
Dec 14, 2013 at 10:07 AM
p.2 #12What is your favorite viewing method?
Picture of Small HD DP6 in use:
http://www.fototime.com/C8B9CDA870B3B08/large.jpg
The first image is taken on my deck at home, the second iat the House on Fire site in SW Utah. I was going for an upwards view of portrait orientation.
http://www.fototime.com/E69613FFAED6B38/large.jpg
The camera is pointed upwards at a very steep angle, Canon 6D with Zeiss 21. The capture is in super color IR (the only other body I had at the time) and for this application I did not fuss with the color conversion. There is lots of false color: for example the Zeiss lens and neoprene LCD shade is black.
Note the camera handstrap is touching the ground. For this type of work one either needs a tripod with a horizontal center column, tilting center column or no center column. I have never found an optical view finder (such as angle finder) to have sufficient image size/resolution to facilitate critical adjustment of both tilt and focus within different parts of the frame. However in the above application, a T/S lens is not used, its simply an issue of viewing the LCD for manual focus and composition.
Mike K
http://www.fototime.com/C8B9CDA870B3B08/large.jpg
The first image is taken on my deck at home, the second iat the House on Fire site in SW Utah. I was going for an upwards view of portrait orientation.
http://www.fototime.com/E69613FFAED6B38/large.jpg
The camera is pointed upwards at a very steep angle, Canon 6D with Zeiss 21. The capture is in super color IR (the only other body I had at the time) and for this application I did not fuss with the color conversion. There is lots of false color: for example the Zeiss lens and neoprene LCD shade is black.
Note the camera handstrap is touching the ground. For this type of work one either needs a tripod with a horizontal center column, tilting center column or no center column. I have never found an optical view finder (such as angle finder) to have sufficient image size/resolution to facilitate critical adjustment of both tilt and focus within different parts of the frame. However in the above application, a T/S lens is not used, its simply an issue of viewing the LCD for manual focus and composition.
Mike K
Dec 14, 2013 at 01:28 PM
p.2 #13What is your favorite viewing method?
Happy just with the LCD.EVF only in a very strong sunlight,if ever.
Dec 14, 2013 at 02:40 PM
p.2 #14What is your favorite viewing method?
Mike K wrote:
...The camera is pointed upwards at a very steep angle... Note the camera handstrap is touching the ground. For this type of work one either needs a tripod with a horizontal center column, tilting center column or no center column.
A simple double-ball head with a super clamp on a tripod leg and a QR clamp at its other end works quite well, too.
Mike K wrote:
... I have never found an optical view finder (such as angle finder) to have sufficient image size/resolution to facilitate critical adjustment of both tilt and focus within different parts of the frame.
Same here.
...The camera is pointed upwards at a very steep angle... Note the camera handstrap is touching the ground. For this type of work one either needs a tripod with a horizontal center column, tilting center column or no center column.
A simple double-ball head with a super clamp on a tripod leg and a QR clamp at its other end works quite well, too.
Mike K wrote:
... I have never found an optical view finder (such as angle finder) to have sufficient image size/resolution to facilitate critical adjustment of both tilt and focus within different parts of the frame.
Same here.
Dec 15, 2013 at 09:31 AM
p.2 #15What is your favorite viewing method?
jcolwell wrote:
A simple double-ball head with a super clamp on a tripod leg and a QR clamp at its other end works quite well, too.
I can understand why your set up time is extensive and cumbersome!
However it looks like a flexible studio arrangement.
Mike K
A simple double-ball head with a super clamp on a tripod leg and a QR clamp at its other end works quite well, too.
I can understand why your set up time is extensive and cumbersome!
However it looks like a flexible studio arrangement.
Mike K
Dec 15, 2013 at 11:24 AM
p.2 #16What is your favorite viewing method?
Very interesting comments, thanks. For my use, I don't have tilt-shift lenses, and I don't often shoot very close to the ground, so either the hotshoe or magic-arm arrangements would probably work fine, and not require too much adjustment.
Meanwhile I picked up an A7 which can use my iPad as a screen, so the jury is still out on whether I want to keep using the D800 and add a SmallHD or other screen. With time I will put the A7 through its paces to try to settle this once and for all.
Meanwhile I picked up an A7 which can use my iPad as a screen, so the jury is still out on whether I want to keep using the D800 and add a SmallHD or other screen. With time I will put the A7 through its paces to try to settle this once and for all.
Dec 15, 2013 at 05:25 PM
p.2 #17What is your favorite viewing method?
molson wrote:
The Olympus E-330 had something like this - but it was pretty horrible (like most 4/3 viewfinders).
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse330
I actually owned that camera and forgot about it's unique finder. Yes, it was a tiny view. - particularly using it alongside my full frame 35's - but the design was pretty unique.
Tariq Gibran wrote
Has any manufacturer ever made a hybrid SLR/TTL OVF with an on demand EVF option?http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse330
I actually owned that camera and forgot about it's unique finder. Yes, it was a tiny view. - particularly using it alongside my full frame 35's - but the design was pretty unique.
Dec 15, 2013 at 08:12 PM
p.2 #18What is your favorite viewing method?
Carstenw,
Let us know how the combination of iPad and Sony A7 work out. I know for Canon the limitation to all wifi connections I have heard of is that they all use the USB resolution image. While the 640X480 image is fine for composition I found it lacking at fine manual focus adjustments, and certainly is not up to the resolution of the camera HMDI output, 1280x800. The high pixel count of you iPad may not be utilized.
Mike K
Let us know how the combination of iPad and Sony A7 work out. I know for Canon the limitation to all wifi connections I have heard of is that they all use the USB resolution image. While the 640X480 image is fine for composition I found it lacking at fine manual focus adjustments, and certainly is not up to the resolution of the camera HMDI output, 1280x800. The high pixel count of you iPad may not be utilized.
Mike K
Dec 16, 2013 at 09:17 AM
p.2 #19What is your favorite viewing method?
Those pictures are really making me appreciate the fully-articulated a99 LCD, even if it is half the viewing area (though I can completely shade it with one hand, so the size isn't all negative).
On topic... As wary as I was about using an EVF, now I wouldn't want it any other way. The focusing aides are my biggest reason, but being able to see the effect of the exposure choices I'm making in real-time while still holding the camera to my eye is a close second. It seems like the natural evolution of digital photography. As on-sensor PDAF development progresses, I'd expect to see Canon moving the Rebel line to mirrorless EVFs. That will drive down prices on their lower end and force Nikon to follow suit. Then they'll start working their way into the higher-end lines.
On topic... As wary as I was about using an EVF, now I wouldn't want it any other way. The focusing aides are my biggest reason, but being able to see the effect of the exposure choices I'm making in real-time while still holding the camera to my eye is a close second. It seems like the natural evolution of digital photography. As on-sensor PDAF development progresses, I'd expect to see Canon moving the Rebel line to mirrorless EVFs. That will drive down prices on their lower end and force Nikon to follow suit. Then they'll start working their way into the higher-end lines.
Dec 16, 2013 at 02:59 PM