Live View helped my Photography.

Back in late 2008 i was shooting with a Pentax DS2, i dropped it on my Pentax-67 M*400mm/4 and broked the LCD, i had to replace my DSLR! I bought a Pentax K20D to replace it, it’s equipped with LV but i’ve never liked it in that camera so never used it in the field. Then a couple of years later i bought a Sony NEX-3, i liked the focus peaking feature, it was so easy to get accurate focus now with my old Takumar (M42) lenses !

When the Pentax K-01 came out i bought one immediately, the focus peaking was a big selling point. This is the camera that really get me hooked on LV, the AF was accurate and getting photos from different angles was a lot easier than trying to look into the VF of my K20D.

Getting a low POV is easy now, even if the LCD screen of the K-01 is fixed you can see relatively well from about every angles. For this photo my K-01 was directly on the ground and i was able to shoot from a comfortable position instead of being forced to lay flat on the ground … it’s good when it’s wet and cold or you’re getting older 🙂

AF in LV is useful for wildlife also, especially when they are a long distance from you. If the light is good it locks easily on your subject, if not i switch to MF. My 7D with 400mm/5.6L+TC 1.4X II can’t AF but in LV that combo can be use in AF, sure it’s not fast but it works. I’m using LV more often now for wildlife when my subject give me the time, it’s certainly a must have now for me when photographing frogs with my 70-200mm or 400mm with extension tubes and/or a TC 1.4X.

For this long distance shot of a Cormorant in a tree i switched to AF in LV and zoomed in to get more accurate AF. I used my 7D with and 400mm/5.6 L on a tripod.

This is a good example of using LV for manually focusing precisely on the eye of a frog. Here i took that shot of a Bullfrog with my 7D and 400mm/5.6L.

Having a big screen to compose is so much fun, better than looking at a VF, especially the VF of the entry level cameras. It’s more like a small View Camera. You can stay away from your camera in a more relax position, i use a cable release while looking on the LCD until my subject is at it’s best.

Here is an example of using LV with a cable release and waiting for a subject to flew in my composition. I was waiting and in a comfortable position without having to wait with my eye glued to the VF.

I never thought i would buy a DSLR with a tilt and swivel screen but i did it when i bought a cheap Canon T3i. I learned to appreciate that screen and can’t wait to use it for photographing frogs with it at my local pond, it will be useful when my tripod will be low in the water, it will be easier to see and focus on the LCD.

Sure they are not perfect, in bright sun it’s still difficult to see well compared to a VF, but i managed to use them anyway, if i really can’t see anything i use the VF.

Here is a short video on how i use my K-01 for ground level shots, a lot easier than trying to see in the VF:

http://s47.photobucket.com/user/leopold44/media/M4V06483.mp4.html

For this photo of a Green Frog i had to lay down on the shore of the pond and was holding my K-01 equipped with my DFA 100mm Macro WR as far as i could above the water. The big LCD, Focus Peaking and SR made that shot possible.

LCD will get better in the coming years, resolution is already better than just a couple of years ago. There is LCD that have touch screen now, i have some experience with the Panasonic GX7 and it works pretty well, like an I-Pod. The camera manufacturer will include those touch screen more and more in the coming years for sure and probably other features that we can’t imagine yet but will make our life easier as photographer.