20D LCD horrible in daylight, and Batteries are also weak performer.

I'll bet you get the battery situation under control and my 20D has great battery life - much better than my 10D. Unfortunately, the 20D rear LCD just plain sucks even if you crank it up all the way. And no, it's not this bad with all cameras, and my 10D is much better in this regard. Canon should have kept the 10D body and just upgraded the electronics.
r

stephen1 said:

Thanks!

Henry E said:

Henry

camestephen1 said:

I just shot my first wedding with the 20D's, had 2 major
dissapointments.The batteries are horrible. Just switched from
Nikon, I'm used to my batteries lasting 7 hours. I was getting low
battery warning after 2 hours of shooting, unacceptable. And also
the LCD is horrible in daylight, guess I'll have to get hoods. I
stepped outside to take a couple of test shots, and basically
couldn't see anything. I had to find a little patch of shade to
see. My Nikon's were very easy to view. These are two things I must
have overlooked before I purchased, and they are very important.
Guess I'm just venting, these 2 things made me pretty upset. May
have to look at the Mark 2.

Thanks!
stephen........

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Canon Equipment

Sorry it's taken a while--I've been offline. I use the hood without the magnifying lens and get a nice shading effect in bright sunlight. It attaches easily to the plastic cover over the LCD, and is also easy to take off. I'm not sure what more to say. It's a lot better in biright sunlight than trying to shade with my hand, but probably no better than something you could put together with cardboard, tape, and glue-on velcro strips.

--Paul

Charlie-G said:

I have a couple of posts on ths elsewhere in the thread asking
about the Hoodman.

Tell me more please.

C

Paul Fussell said:

I had similar problems seeing my 20D's LCD in daylight, so I
ordered a Hoodman cap and hood . The hood came with a magnifier
that I found useless, but I popped it out (very easy--it's designed
to come off and go back in), and I get great results with the hood
alone. I attached the hood by its cord to my camera strap, so it's
there when I need it. It's easy to fit the hood over the Hoodman
plastic cap covering (and protecting) the LCD when I need it, and
when I don't need it, I just pull the hood off.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Have to say that neither has been an issue (except the lcd in bright somelight - but then the more I use the 20d the less I use the lcd (good? bad? i dont know)). But yes the hood solution is a good cheap solution.

As for the battery, I just can not complain. After getting my 20d, I was dead set on a battery pack, but after using the camera for a couple of days running I have never bothered with the pack (just carry the spare incase). I am over the moon at the battery life of the camera.

Does prompt a question thou'.

Can anyone tell me what constitutes a long enought peiod of camera inactivity, to warrant removing the battery? Currently I am leaving it in anything upto a few days. Is this OK ?

stephen1 said:

I just shot my first wedding with the 20D's, had 2 major
dissapointments.The batteries are horrible. Just switched from
Nikon, I'm used to my batteries lasting 7 hours. I was getting low
battery warning after 2 hours of shooting, unacceptable. And also
the LCD is horrible in daylight, guess I'll have to get hoods. I
stepped outside to take a couple of test shots, and basically
couldn't see anything. I had to find a little patch of shade to
see. My Nikon's were very easy to view. These are two things I must
have overlooked before I purchased, and they are very important.
Guess I'm just venting, these 2 things made me pretty upset. May
have to look at the Mark 2.

Thanks!
stephen........

Click to expand...

--



http://www.reimaged.co.uk/

currently i have a 20D but have also owned nikons D100 and D70.

1. the first weak point of the nikons is the LCD monitor. its not as bright as canons and colors are very different from the real colors. you cant even judge is exposure is ok. this is a "fact" and every nikon user noticed the better monitor when trying my canon.

2. battery life of 20D and D100 D70 are similar. only display is different: nikons shows you empty when 5% is remaining. canons shows you "half full" after about 50%. so still 500 shots are left. IMO both solutions are not perfect. i would like to see a 50% AND a 5% left indication.

so before calling 20D "horrible" play around a bit longer and you will see there are BIG differences between the 2 systems but for sure battery and LCD are canons strong sides.

regards
thomas

stephen1 said:

I just shot my first wedding with the 20D's, had 2 major
dissapointments.The batteries are horrible. Just switched from
Nikon, I'm used to my batteries lasting 7 hours. I was getting low
battery warning after 2 hours of shooting, unacceptable. And also
the LCD is horrible in daylight, guess I'll have to get hoods. I
stepped outside to take a couple of test shots, and basically
couldn't see anything. I had to find a little patch of shade to
see. My Nikon's were very easy to view. These are two things I must
have overlooked before I purchased, and they are very important.
Guess I'm just venting, these 2 things made me pretty upset. May
have to look at the Mark 2.

Thanks!
stephen........

Click to expand...

--

with one BP511A, checked every shot on lcd.
lenses: 28-135 (IS on), 16-35 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 100-400 (IS on)
of course, AF always enabled.

The newest Vivitar's are compatible, the voltage is a lot lower. But I do use a Wein for protection.
Thanks!

RichardV said:

stephen1 said:

Thanks!
stephen..........

mikedds said:

Hope you figure it out.
Michael

stephen1 said:

I just shot my first wedding with the 20D's, had 2 major
dissapointments.The batteries are horrible. Just switched from
Nikon, I'm used to my batteries lasting 7 hours. I was getting low
battery warning after 2 hours of shooting, unacceptable. And also
the LCD is horrible in daylight, guess I'll have to get hoods. I
stepped outside to take a couple of test shots, and basically
couldn't see anything. I had to find a little patch of shade to
see. My Nikon's were very easy to view. These are two things I must
have overlooked before I purchased, and they are very important.
Guess I'm just venting, these 2 things made me pretty upset. May
have to look at the Mark 2.

Thanks!
stephen........

Click to expand...

--
Canon 20D

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

My experience with the Nikon LCD's are exactly opposite to what you're saying. My D2H & D70 were extremely accurate, and far better in daylight than the 20D. I never needed a hood with either, and both were very easy to read in daylight. I know there are differences in the two systems, I actually did quite a bit of testing before deciding to switch. The camera is great! My only 2 concerns are Battery & LCD. I'm sure the battery issue will workout, but I'm a little uneasy about the LCD. The next wedding is in 2 weeks, I'll have this sorted-out by then. I'm sure there's a solution. Like you said, I'll play around a little more. I also think I was spoiled by the D2H, an obvious difference(build quality, speed, controls). But the bottom line for me is image quality, and the 20D has it.

Thanks!
stephen.......

Thomas K. said:

1. the first weak point of the nikons is the LCD monitor. its not
as bright as canons and colors are very different from the real
colors. you cant even judge is exposure is ok. this is a "fact" and
every nikon user noticed the better monitor when trying my canon.

2. battery life of 20D and D100 D70 are similar. only display is
different: nikons shows you empty when 5% is remaining. canons
shows you "half full" after about 50%. so still 500 shots are left.
IMO both solutions are not perfect. i would like to see a 50% AND a
5% left indication.

so before calling 20D "horrible" play around a bit longer and you
will see there are BIG differences between the 2 systems but for
sure battery and LCD are canons strong sides.

regards
thomas

stephen1 said:

I just shot my first wedding with the 20D's, had 2 major
dissapointments.The batteries are horrible. Just switched from
Nikon, I'm used to my batteries lasting 7 hours. I was getting low
battery warning after 2 hours of shooting, unacceptable. And also
the LCD is horrible in daylight, guess I'll have to get hoods. I
stepped outside to take a couple of test shots, and basically
couldn't see anything. I had to find a little patch of shade to
see. My Nikon's were very easy to view. These are two things I must
have overlooked before I purchased, and they are very important.
Guess I'm just venting, these 2 things made me pretty upset. May
have to look at the Mark 2.

Thanks!
stephen........

Click to expand...

--

Click to expand...

I'm thinking my Vertical Grip may be an issue.

perbo said:

with one BP511A, checked every shot on lcd.
lenses: 28-135 (IS on), 16-35 2.8, 70-200 2.8, 100-400 (IS on)
of course, AF always enabled.

Click to expand...

stephen1 said:

I'm thinking my Vertical Grip may be an issue.

Click to expand...

yes, it is unless you get it fixed by canon (I hope so).
I bought the grip 6 days ago and after 200 shots the battery ran down
removing and replacing it helps, but it's not nice.

I've taken mine (with the 20D) to canon two days ago, they say they have to adjust some voltage settings between the grip and the camera.

It is q quick job (15 min more or less) but I have a front focusing 100mm macro and a 580ex that underexoses - yes I'm very lucky - so they ask me 2 or 3 days to have all the things fixed.

I hope to have the camera back this nigh or tomorrow in the mornig, I'll write you as I test them.
perbo

In view of the long snow filled winter we are just leaving behind here in Germany, I had many chances to try the LCD out in bright snowy conditions. I found it often impossible to read the LCD, even checking the histogram was almost impossible, and I found myself constantly searching for shade to check my shots. Maybe these are extreme conditions, but in them, one is almost "blind" without some kind of hood.

The battery life of the 20D is fanatatic by the way - no problems there.

http://www.pbase.com/essweebee

the D2H is a different story, i never had one in my hands.

btw i've set my LCD to full brightness, this is the way its the easiest to see and judge (for me). as far as i remember this is not possible on nikons D70 - brighten up the LCD makes the picture look overexposed. on the canon its just the contrast (or whatever) that will be increased, so set the brightness up the the max.
regards
thomas

stephen1 said:

Thanks!
stephen.......

Thomas K. said:

1. the first weak point of the nikons is the LCD monitor. its not
as bright as canons and colors are very different from the real
colors. you cant even judge is exposure is ok. this is a "fact" and
every nikon user noticed the better monitor when trying my canon.

2. battery life of 20D and D100 D70 are similar. only display is
different: nikons shows you empty when 5% is remaining. canons
shows you "half full" after about 50%. so still 500 shots are left.
IMO both solutions are not perfect. i would like to see a 50% AND a
5% left indication.

so before calling 20D "horrible" play around a bit longer and you
will see there are BIG differences between the 2 systems but for
sure battery and LCD are canons strong sides.

regards
thomas

stephen1 said:

I just shot my first wedding with the 20D's, had 2 major
dissapointments.The batteries are horrible. Just switched from
Nikon, I'm used to my batteries lasting 7 hours. I was getting low
battery warning after 2 hours of shooting, unacceptable. And also
the LCD is horrible in daylight, guess I'll have to get hoods. I
stepped outside to take a couple of test shots, and basically
couldn't see anything. I had to find a little patch of shade to
see. My Nikon's were very easy to view. These are two things I must
have overlooked before I purchased, and they are very important.
Guess I'm just venting, these 2 things made me pretty upset. May
have to look at the Mark 2.

Thanks!
stephen........

Click to expand...

--

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--

Thanks Paul - that's about what I have. Not effective enough to be worth the trouble.

Part of the problem may be inability of the eye to quickly accommodate to to the lower brightness of the LCD, especially in the presence of bright side-light.

C
but

Paul Fussell said:

probably no better than something you could put together with
cardboard, tape, and glue-on velcro strips.

Click to expand...

FWIW I also think the LCD on the 20D is hard to use in bright daylight. It's made even worse by my middle-aged long-sightedness - I need my glasses off to take pictures and on to see the LCD - but I can hardly blame Canon for that.

When I use my Fuji S602Z I can review shots in the viewfinder, which works in all conditions and has a dioptre adjustment for my tired eyes. (Thinks... I should've posted that in the EVF thread as well...)

Steve B.

Thomas K. said:

stephen1 said:

Thanks!
stephen.......

Thomas K. said:

1. the first weak point of the nikons is the LCD monitor. its not
as bright as canons and colors are very different from the real
colors. you cant even judge is exposure is ok. this is a "fact" and
every nikon user noticed the better monitor when trying my canon.

2. battery life of 20D and D100 D70 are similar. only display is
different: nikons shows you empty when 5% is remaining. canons
shows you "half full" after about 50%. so still 500 shots are left.
IMO both solutions are not perfect. i would like to see a 50% AND a
5% left indication.

so before calling 20D "horrible" play around a bit longer and you
will see there are BIG differences between the 2 systems but for
sure battery and LCD are canons strong sides.

regards
thomas

stephen1 said:

I just shot my first wedding with the 20D's, had 2 major
dissapointments.The batteries are horrible. Just switched from
Nikon, I'm used to my batteries lasting 7 hours. I was getting low
battery warning after 2 hours of shooting, unacceptable. And also
the LCD is horrible in daylight, guess I'll have to get hoods. I
stepped outside to take a couple of test shots, and basically
couldn't see anything. I had to find a little patch of shade to
see. My Nikon's were very easy to view. These are two things I must
have overlooked before I purchased, and they are very important.
Guess I'm just venting, these 2 things made me pretty upset. May
have to look at the Mark 2.

Thanks!
stephen........

Click to expand...

--

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--

Click to expand...