Do you use live view?

u8myufo

u8myufo

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Rich
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Having had the 50D for a while now I have just started looking into using live view. I was wondering how many of you use it, have you found it useful? do you use it in any particular situation? Are there things you need to be aware of such as using it in certain lighting conditions? Yes I have read the manual, so come share your experiences :D
 
I use it all the time but only when I want to go low and don't want to get my clothes dirty or check exposure / comp.
 
I use it all the time for product photography, great for focusing on the correct point - why take 5 shots when one will do ;)

Really impressed with it!
 
I use it a lot for static macro shots and almost always when using one of my TSE lenses on the tripod.

I don't find it very useful for moving subjects though.
 
Tripod work only, not always but it can be useful.
 
I switched it on, on my D300 the other day. OMG, god-send! What will I use it for?
Dog tug shots!! Something I could NEVER master using VF, LV saved my life on this one though!
 
Hi there Rich, I very rarely use it but I feel it could come in handy in certain situations.
 
whats a dog tug shorty?

I use it a fair bit for landscapes or anything tripod mounted, also when shooting tethered or getting shots of different things from the same angle

also you can use it to focus when its too dark for the viewfinder or the AF system as tbh shots that dark are hit n miss anyway
 
I never thought I'd find much use for it but when it comes to low or high angle shots, it's been a really big help.

Can't say the same for video on a DSLR though. :)

Si
 
I have used it occasionally when I have been setting up a shot on a tripod and used a torch to find and focus the subject but even then it slows things down too much. Otherwise the camera is much too heavy and my arms not really long enough for me to be able to hold it far enough in front of me to focus on the screen.
 
I only really use it when im wearing my glasses.
When ive got contacts in, I use the viewfinder
 
I use it when I am doing a landscape shot on the tripod if it is set down low, or if I can't be bothered looking through the viewfinder (eg if I am wearing glasses)

I find it useful at times.
 
I use it on my Panasonic DMC -L1 all the time when using my legacy OM lenses and Nikon lenses on the body, the 10X magnification is great for zooming in and getting the focus dead on before zooming out and taking the photograph. Not much use for action photos though, back to the Viewfinder there.
 
I used it once with FD Bellows and Macrophoto lens. I haven't used it since.
 
I use it when changing custom white balance, just so I can get an idea of what it will look like
 
I have started to use it with macro shots, liking it lots :)
 
Typically use it like this morning. On my knees in the mud trying to take a very low angle of a miniature daffodil.

Go live view, get the subject were I want it then back to normal and click the remote release.

Regards

Chris
 
When using my 100-400 with a teleconverter and a tripod, Live View makes focusing far more dependable. I don't really do macro, but I would use it for such things, and also for product photography. I would not use it without a tripod.
 
A varied set of replies, interested in Tim`s comment about being more dependable for focusing. Is that because your focus point would be struggling to lock onto a small subject at full stretch with that combo :shrug: I used it a long time ago for macro when I had a Oly c5050Z. Also handy as people say for low down and above head shots, but why the hell Canon never made it a tilt and swivel screen while they were at it beats me :shrug: will be trying out some composition shots at the weekend using the grid and face detection.
 
I use it often for night shot focusing; the E3 has the option of zooming in 10x on the LCD making it a breeze to manually focus. It also comes in handy for shooting round corners if your live view has a LCD that can pivot. So many times - mostly in churches for some reason - I want a shot of something that has been cordoned off so I just lean in with my LCD at 90 degrees to the body, set up the shot and shoot. This behaviour does have the habit of attracting attention from people without a pivoting LCD asking what I am shooting with. Too often that results in some disparaging remark from people that didn't get the shot I just did; weird :)
 
I use it for:
Product shots
Giving to other people to take photos
when I'm extremely lazy
 
u8myufo said:
A varied set of replies, interested in Tim`s comment about being more dependable for focusing. Is that because your focus point would be struggling to lock onto a small subject at full stretch with that combo :shrug: I used it a long time ago for macro when I had a Oly c5050Z. Also handy as people say for low down and above head shots, but why the hell Canon never made it a tilt and swivel screen while they were at it beats me :shrug: will be trying out some composition shots at the weekend using the grid and face detection.
Click to expand...

with the accuracy thing its more acurate if neither the camera or subject are moving, so for people its basicaly useless ;)
 
I've had a 5D2 since July, and I've never used Live View.. or video.. the camera was set up at the factory with both options disabled in the menu, and I've never changed it!

Having said that, it's nice to know they're there if I ever need them.

A.
 
Yes, used live view for the first time last year to photograph a tawney owl and it worked out ok. It was dusk, and I wanted a lower iso so shot at 400. The bird was a long way off and the shot below is a heavey crop from the full frame. I managed to zoom in to 10x on the screen, check focus and used the timer to reduce camera shake. Using live view really does show up camera shake though. Before I could get to a better vantage point a pair of rooks scared him off. Here is the result:

 
Hi Sturarg,

A great capture, I reckon you need a remote control and it would have helped to lock your mirror up as well.

Best regards

Chris
 
I thought I would use it a lot but the ONLY thing I actually use it for is setting white balance accurately !!
 
I use it for overhead shots, where I want a view of something out of my direct sight if viewed at eye height through the viewfinder.

Aided no end by the filp screen on the D5000... However the, AF is painfully slow and near useless in low light.

Fortunately, these photos are taken to record the scene, so although the basics count I'm not looking for an awarding winning shot.
 
I have the 50D too, and bought it over the FF 5D purely because it had the live view. My main interest is landscapes and take a few low to the ground shots, and find the live view perfect for this. Love it with no regrets. :)
 
u8myufo said:
A varied set of replies, interested in Tim`s comment about being more dependable for focusing. Is that because your focus point would be struggling to lock onto a small subject at full stretch with that combo :shrug:
Click to expand...

The 100-400 lens if f/5.6 at the long end. The bare lens will focus just fine on any body. When you add a 1.4X TC the aperture drops to f/8 and, unless using a 1 series body, Canon cameras disable "normal" AF completely if they see a lens (or lens/TC combination) slower than f/5.6 fitted.

You can try to fool the camera by taping three pins on the TC, so it becomes invisible to the camera, and the camera will then attempt to focus, but the results are usually that the camera struggles, and on cameras from the 40D onwards the centre point pretty much refuses to work completely. Outer points seem better, but not great. You need good light and strong contrast for even the outer points to work well. These are the times when instead of bothering to tape the pins, or struggle by running a system that is out of spec, I simply turn to Live View and the Live AF works quite well, and with accuracy at least as fast and precise as I could manage by focusing manually. You don't need to tape the pins to get Live AF to work. That means you get correct EXIF data too.

I did once use the pin taping trick, but since buying a 1D3 I took the tape off, as I wanted the camera to work as Canon intended, and to see and report the TC if it was there. I don't recall whether I need a different AF microadjustment with the TC fitted, but, in case I did, that was another reason to leave the pins untaped when using the 1D3.
 
I have live view and a flippy out screen, so constantly using as a waist high view finder. it is brilliant.
 
It's an essential tool for me when using my tripod as I can't get close enough to my viewfinder otherwise! I use it for macro and close up work, but what I found it most useful for was taking shots of the moon. That 10x zoom on live view got me some smashing moon shots with lots of detail :D
 
I use it too.
I normally have it as one of the function buttons on my Nikon rather than using it from the dial as it's faster access and I only to quickly frame the shot before switching back to 'normal mode'.

I switch the function button between DOF Preview (default) and live view
 
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