Why don't professional cameras have them?

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kestral

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Does anyone know why professional cameras don't have flip out screens.It seems that it is of benefit to have a flip out screen on a professional camera,how many time do you see a group of photographers trying to photograph a celeb and they have there cameras over their heads pointing blindly into the center of the crowed? What is the highest spec camera with a flip out screen?:shrug:
 
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Unfortunately Professionals have other priorities to consider. strength, sealing against dust and water and reliability. Movable screens just make this all too difficult.

Shooting blind with the camera high at arms length is only a matter of skill and is not that difficult to master. After a while it become automatic with a high success rate, not much different to using a folding screen.
 
or if it worries you that much, get a small screen and attach it via a cameras hdmi port :p
 
I'd imagine durability and weather-proofing. If it was a feature that was badly missing, I think the pro market would've made that clear to Canikon soon enough.
 
It'd get wrecked.


A very small proportion if the professional camera market ever has to "hail Mary" - ie spray and pray while held high. And in those situations, it's all moving a wee bit too much to properly concentrate on the screen anyway.

16mm, f8, ttl flash and you'll be areet.
 
Harvey_nikon said:
or if it worries you that much, get a small screen and attach it via a cameras hdmi port :p
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Zigview and mount the camera on a monopod for even more height!
 
Simple it's not necessary! But if you must, Olympus' top spec bodies have fully weathersealed flip out screens.
 
Actually I think the Sony A99 has a flip out screen, and that's there top of the range full frame model. So I guess it's there if you need it.
 
Hold it up and spray and pray in the press scrum.... to be honest, I don't think you'd get any better results if you had a flip out screen, the shot is always a bit gash anyway and you only use it if you can't get anything better.

The push and shove and dynamic moving targets of the press scrum wouldn't give you much chance of carefully lining up the shot anyway.

I'd sooner not have to worry about snapping the damned screen off.
 
Harvey_nikon said:
or if it worries you that much, get a small screen and attach it via a cameras hdmi port :p
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Where from? I like that idea,I am frequently backed up against a wall or flat on my belly tying to get the shot of the century :lol: It would make things a lot simpler if I had a small screen and reviewed remotely.Arthritis has a lot to do with it :(. I did a search on the net and the Zigview had some bad reports looked to costly also.
 
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Nod said:
Zigview and mount the camera on a monopod for even more height!
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Couldn't agree more on the Zigview. I've had one for years and have a 10m cable with it so I can remote trigger and still see what the picture will be like.

I use it for wildlife and my commercial work all the time. In fact it's a permanent part of my kit wherever I go and whatever I am supposed to be doing as it adds so much versatility to a camera.
 
I would say it's very rare that anyone using a pro body uses Live view, let alone a flip out screen. Unless you're doing macro or working with a tripod for landscape, even Live view isn't all that necessary.
 
kestral said:
Does anyone know why professional cameras don't have flip out screens.It seems that it is of benefit to have a flip out screen on a professional camera,how many time do you see a group of photographers trying to photograph a celeb and they have there cameras over their heads pointing blindly into the center of the crowed? What is the highest spec camera with a flip out screen?:shrug:
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Because most professionals know that quickly checking something on a 3" screen doesn't mean ****! Plus, the only conceivable use a pro would have for this is as you say, overhead shooting in crowds, but you'd be spending so much time looking at a tiny screen that you'd fail to see the bigger picture or the unfolding event. Also.. with practice, you get VERY good at aiming a camera from overhead, or from the hip, or from anywhere away from your face. Once you're good at it, you don't NEED a screen. The only thing most pros need a screen for is a quick review of images after the event, or histrogram checking. People in a studio or landscape shooters will probably use it for live view focusing... but other than that a screen is a pretty pointless thing. Prior to screens on camera, we've been getting great shots for decades with film.. what do we need a screen for? You people raised with digital are spoiled :) I've turned my screen review mode off. I see nothing when I shoot unless I actually hit play. I find it massively annoying to have a bright colourful image blazing away underneath my eye while I'm trying to shoot by actually using the viewfinder.

A flip out screen would also last about 2 days max with most press photographers :)

Trust me, if professionals wanted it, it would be on the cameras. Both Canon and Nikon listen very carefully to the professional market.
 
It's not as though they'd have to run to a darkroom, process and print before they get an idea of composition if they didn't have a flip out screen.
 
Just something else to go wrong . I'm not convinced that the connections wouldn't go wrong at some point and the screen fail .
 
Yep, I agree. There's very little point in a tilt-able LCD, with Canikon's god-awful Live View implementation.
 
I can think of some advantages to owning a wireless live view release system.

I do a number of stitched panoramas, and I have recently tried a few using a short (8ft) pole. so I might invest in a viewing system for that.

Now I am in my dotage, it might make low angle shots somewhat easier too.

But I do not need a built in tilt and turn screen.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
I can think of some advantages to owning a wireless live view release system.

I do a number of stitched panoramas, and I have recently tried a few using a short (8ft) pole. so I might invest in a viewing system for that.

Now I am in my dotage, it might make low angle shots somewhat easier too.

But I do not need a built in tilt and turn screen.
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There a NEX that does that with a smartphone.

I love the screen on my a99. For anything tripod-based it saves my back a load of strain. Same for hand-held in fact. I'm 6'4", so when shooting people full-length, I'm up and down on my knees constantly. The ability to quickly grab shots at waist level is something I really wouldn't want to be without, now....at my age.. :-/
 
About September 2012 the rumours were that the 6D would have a Flip-out screen which did not materialise................

For me the flip out screen is best suited to doing quick videos, shots where you want to be unobtrusive. Taking photos is much less noticeable when you take them from your waist than from the level of your eyes.

But from Canon's point of view they would probably suggest a remote screen for video etc, and yes the flip-out screen could be easily broken, but as a compromise I could forsee an articulated screen; albeit not as versatile, being incorporated in future camera body generations,
 
Why go halfway? Add wifi to a camera (turn it on and off as needed) and have an iOS app/android app which does live view, basic controls and shutter release.

That adds even more possibilities that an angled or articulated screen could add.
 
if i had a flip out screen when working it wouldnt be there any more:lol:

the 1d is built like a tank it takes bangs, smashes, and even the odd drop, a flip out screen would have snapped off if seconds or simply get in the way.

its not that often i have to shoot without looking through the viewfinder, but when i do with a 16-35 on its easy enough even at 35mm end.

if settings are right you dont need to keep chimping (looking down at your screen) mines turned off:)
 
I honestly don't see the point in flip out screens? unless using it for video of course.

I'm not a pro by any means, but perhaps it's not useful to them, and is in fact a marketing tool used to suck in the lower end of the market? (cynical view of course :lol:)
 
Johnd2000 said:
Yep, I agree. There's very little point in a tilt-able LCD, with Canikon's god-awful Live View implementation.
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This. I don't see how 9fps + would work with live view anyway as it would be constantly blacked out and the AF would never work lol.
 
James J said:
This. I don't see how 9fps + would work with live view anyway as it would be constantly blacked out and the AF would never work lol.
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Not all Live View systems have inferior AF. High burst rates can be problematic, particularly if panning/tracking, but its not impossible.
 
Johnd2000 said:
Not all Live View systems have inferior AF. High burst rates can be problematic, particularly if panning/tracking, but its not impossible.
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I'm afraid they do - All Live View systems have inferior AF; Whether the AF is good enough for the intended use is a different issue:). But with current technology, Live view AF can't perform as well as conventional SLR AF, and the limitations of the current design mean that it'll never be as good without a completely new technology.

The thing about pro spec gear is that it's built to do the job, regardless, so 2nd rate panning, AF or burst rates aren't acceptable compromises.
 
Dale_tem said:
Why go halfway? Add wifi to a camera (turn it on and off as needed) and have an iOS app/android app which does live view, basic controls and shutter release.

That adds even more possibilities that an angled or articulated screen could add.
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That's what the Canon 6D can do!
 
I wouldn't want a flip screen on my camera, even though it would come in handy occasionally - what would be useful though would be a remote viewing capability so you could control your camera and see your live view via a tablet or phone wirelessly. That would come in very handy indeed.
 
Phil V said:
Up to the speed and accuracy I'd a 1d or D4?
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That's moving the goalposts a bit. You said "all cameras have inferior AF in LV".

I've not used either of those cameras, but if you're looking for a canikon-friendly comparison, then I'd be comfortable with "easily as fast as a 5Dmk2 with the mirror down".
 
Johnd2000 said:
It's available, though not to anything like a pro body. Seems to have its limitations, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEU7Wx1jFfQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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ahhh there you would be incorrect ;)

Getty used it for their robotic camera mounts on 1d mkivs and 1dx's at the olympics ;)

as did reuters:

http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2012/07/04/robo-cams-go-for-olympic-gold/

"Two photographers for international news agency Reuters are taking robotically-controlled DSLRs to the London Olympics, which starts later this month. Fabrizio Bensch and Pawel Kopczynski are rigging the cameras into fully-articulating mounts, which they will be able to control remotely by computer, using a joystick. As well as camera orientation, they will also be able to zoom the lenses attached to the cameras and - of course - trigger exposure."
 
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tamphotography said:
ahhh there you would be incorrect ;)

Getty used it for their robotic camera mounts on 1d mkivs and 1dx's at the olympics ;)

as did reuters:

http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2012/07/04/robo-cams-go-for-olympic-gold/

"Two photographers for international news agency Reuters are taking robotically-controlled DSLRs to the London Olympics, which starts later this month. Fabrizio Bensch and Pawel Kopczynski are rigging the cameras into fully-articulating mounts, which they will be able to control remotely by computer, using a joystick. As well as camera orientation, they will also be able to zoom the lenses attached to the cameras and - of course - trigger exposure."
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That's impressive. Sounds much better than Sony's consumer-level smartphone app, of course. i certainly wouldnt want to shoot sports with a Nex anyway, but I'll wager its also probably a wee bit more expensive. The Sony app is around a fiver. ;-)
 
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