POLL - Flip-out LCDs

[Damien_Demolder]

An easy way to make your pictures stand out from the crowd is to shoot them from a different angle. We all know that 98.75% of pictures are taken by someone standing with a camera at eye-height, and although eye-height is different for all of us, there are still an awful lot of pictures that look the same. We may well be aware of this fact, and how, consequently, it is a relatively simple matter to make an image unique, but I’m not sure it is always at the forefront of our minds when we are out shooting.

My first experience of a medium-format camera with a waist-level finder was the moment I woke up to the benefits of shooting from a low angle – or at least from waist-level. From then on I tried to replicate the view by, initially, crouching low with an SLR, and then by using right-angle finders to adapt the viewfinder of my cameras. Angle finders are expensive, of course, but I reckoned the cost was worth it for the difference they make.

We don’t need angle finders so much these days, as the flip-out LCD is becoming an expected feature of DSLRs. But when everybody has one, what will I do then for an original viewpoint?


To take part in our poll Do you like the idea of having a vari-angle LCD screen on your SLR? head to the homepage.

Thanks

damien

[Fen]

I like the idea and can see the benefits of it for doing macro or product photography

[daft_biker]

Nah, not fussed for them as I wouldn't use it very often, if at all. You like pics from waist height?...geez, that high!

Landscape wise I never do eye level as my tripod doesn't go that high(any more!)...I'm usually either sitting or kneeling on the ground and can see the viewfinder just fine. Suspect 98.75% of my pics involve getting muddy

The other reason I don't want one is that the swivel mechanism takes up space so will make the camera bigger or screen smaller. A swivel screen on a bridge camera maybe but I don't want the extra bulk on a compact and I don't need it on my SLR.

[Roger_Provins]

...I'm usually either sitting or kneeling on the ground and can see the viewfinder just fine. Suspect 98.75% of my pics involve getting muddy

'tis fine for youngsters like you but for us oldies ... well it's not so much the getting down it's the standing up again

I have a Sony a350, as a back up camera, and I do rather like the articulated live-view screen ... not that the camera gets much use - but at times it's very handy.

[Benchista]

I like the idea. I'm a little wary of any physical weakness it might introduce, and it's certainly not something I can't live without, but it would make my life easier every now and then, for sure.

[Done_rundleCams]

.... and whilst I didn't use it often when I did .. it definitely
made a difference in the outcome of those particular shots

Cheers,

Jack

[Zou]

No for my DSLR, but yes for a compact. I'm odd like that...

[Cuthbert]

Yep - have it on my Sony A350. Don't use it that often, but it's useful for those awkward shots.

Seems to me it's the only really useful way to have live-view. Having live-view on a screen that doesn't tilt seems like a waste - you might as well just look through the viewfinder!

[john_g]

I voted "Don't Know" because, whilst my instinct was to vote "Yes", I don't think the current implementations (apart from Sony's perhaps) would live up to the hype. From what I've read, auto-focusing is so severely compromised that I would end up missing some of the shots that I know I can get by lying down and using the viewfinder. But I've never had the chance to try a dSLR with a vari-angle screen, so I don't really know.

[Mojo_66]

I think I'd find it quite handy as there have been a few times I've been led on the floor to get a shot, but I don't think I'd use it much and it wouldn't be a deciding factor if I was buying a camera.

[daft_biker]

Just wondering....in a few years will camera life expectancy be measured in screen swivels or shutter cycles? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Dave_Cox]

Don't have one, don't miss it! Even in my 50s I can get down on the ground for low shots or macro work, and I still trust my eyes and the viewfinder to tell me what I'm taking far more I would an electronic screen.

[Craftysnapper]

I'm in my sixties and my right knee does not fully bend and as someone who always advocated getting low down for a different veiwpoint I have not been able to the last couple of years.

But now i have my Oly E-30 with the aid of that wonderfull fully tiltable LCD I can once again get back to taking them.

As you can see HERE

[beejaybee]

I still trust my eyes and the viewfinder to tell me what I'm taking far more I would an electronic screen.

Yeah, that's the nub of the matter, so far as I'm concerned.

If flip-out LCDs are so great, why isn't everyone using waist level finder TLRs?

[Learning]

I prefer the viewfinder. Occasionally I use my right anglefinder but usually I don't have it when I want it.
Bad knees are no excuse. To get really low you lie on your belly and take the rifle shooting position you were shown in the cadets. Elbows on the ground gives stability. I do not wear a suit

[TimF]

Agree with the last two comments. Although my Panny G1 has a flip out screen, which I use as much as the normal viewfinder, that's probably because both are electronic, and the finder is no great shakes IMHO. I've absolutely no desire for one on an SLR though.

[alanS]

Yup, it's gotta be a good thing, I can't see any negatives at all.

[sey]

for those who need it for overhead or underhand shooting, it's fine, but for those of us who still believe in direct eye-contact, and the camera is an extension of the eye photography. it's a no-go.

[GeoffR]

Whether it is a good idea or not is immaterial as I have no intention of buying a new camera just yet and when I do it is likely to be a D700 or D3 neither of which have one. I really don't like composing on the monitor when using a compact camera so I wouldn't want to use an articulated screen anyway.

[Wheelu]

There are occasions when it would be useful, but it does involve compromise as has been pointed out.

I have a tilting screen on my A80 Powershot and the Bronica has the choice of either WLF or prism so I am aware of the very real benefits.

Taking into account all of the issues, I'll stay firmly on the fence on this one