my two cents on lcds

I know that nobody asked for my two cents, but I’m gonna give them to you any way.

I was just looking at medium format digital backs. I’m not sure exactly why but I guess that I was just kinda curious. It’s always nice to see
were the technology is at I guess.

Something occurred to me.

Has anyone noticed the size of the lcds on these things. Considering the price that most of these items go for it seems shocking that the companies aren’t slapping nice 3 (or even 4) inch lcds on their backs. It was around this point that I had an epiphany…

What the hell is the lcd for? I use mine to check the histogram and to see if I composed the image and focused properly. Do I really need a 5 inch hd tv quality lcd on my camera? I think that I would prefer the extra battery life of a smaller display.

So here’s where this becomes relevant to the sigma slr forum. This low grade lcd complaint that people are making regarding the sd14 is complete BS as far as I am concerned. If a cheap 2 inch screen is good enough for the medium format crowd then it’s perfectly fine on my sd10, and anyone complaining about the poor quality of the sd14’s 3 inch might want to reassess what the lcd is for in the first place.

Most people that shoot MF digital are 1 in a studio and 2 have a computer hooked up to it so they could see the results on the computer screen.
--
I'm happy as can be with my SD9.
SD14 Interview at Photokina '06: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ChPbvcQa0
http://www.pbase.com/jasonpage

The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer. -Anonymous

I didn't know about the computer hookup. Everyone that I've ever seen using mf digital backs were using their gear outside of a studio environment.

I suppose that it would be equally feasible to use the sd14 in a similar way suddenly the 3 inch lcd becomes 12 or 15 inches.

Personally I've never really seen the point. I use the histogram and that's pretty much it, but I guess we must be the exception.

I thought that lcd issue was, despite screen being larger than on SD9&10, it doesnt show correct colours nor sharpness of a photo unless you zoom in the pic .

--
'It could be worse but I dont know how'

'It doesnt matter that you are sitting on the right track, you're still going to get hit by train!'

http://filipsphotos.fotopic.net/

agreed. the P+S model of camera really does need a top quality LCD but i guess marketing won out with design of DSLR's. you know, you don't want people laughing at you when they see that your $2000 DSLR has a smaller and lower res screen than their $300 P+S

on my Minolta XD7 it takes about 15 minutes and a good amount of agitating before the image appears.

Personally I never use the LCD other than in a bored moment. Certainly never shoot through it!

I have no complaints with the LCD on dSLRs but I would like to have a computer-tether option for the SD9/10/14!

--> LSN
http://www.pbase.com/lsn/

not text

I liked the 2" screens with good resolution and good zoom. Saves battery life. I'd love a 4" screen, but not the extra weight in my pocket from batteries.

You can transfer images via FireWire but you cannot adjust shutter speed or exposure and take a photo using the computer.

I only really use the LCD to check composition and check exposure on the histogram. However, sometimes it's useful to be able to check focus by zooming in. I'm not too impressed by the SD14 LCD - not so much because of the size, but because of the quality. To me, it doesn't seem to be high enough resolution to be good for checking focus.

On the other hand, does it zoom beyond 100% view? The manual doesn't say. I certainly see a lot of pixelation at maximum zoom.

Would you say that the lcd on the sd14 resolves less detail than the one on the sd10 or 9?

they were going to add the protocol to the SD14. It's all in the firmware, right?

SD14 usb only, but could still be done.
--
I'm happy as can be with my SD9.
SD14 Interview at Photokina '06: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ChPbvcQa0
http://www.pbase.com/jasonpage

The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer. -Anonymous

I,m with the doc on this one. My LCD use is down to comp and histogram. Anything else would only be guessing at best. Unless of course they can attach at least a 17" LCD ))))))
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Kindest regards, Jim Roelofs

I colour my world with Foveon, everyday!