Little quote on chimping...

[Paul Li]

The LCD review of digital cameras has made all photographers, from beginners to advanced users, better photographers. I see this all the time. Everyone can evaluate that little image to be sure they got what they wanted. If not, they retake the photo. At even a very basic level, that is working with the craft of photography to make a better image. If you make a habit of starting to look at the LCD to be sure you have a photo that you like, not just a record of the subject, you will be well on your way to making better photographs.

I chimp too! :p

[DennisW1]

I chimp too! :p


That's IT......my next vanity license plate.!!!!!

I CHIMP 2

[Paul Li]

That's IT......my next vanity license plate.!!!!!

I CHIMP 2

YES!

[syntrix]

CHIMPFTL
CHMPFAIL
H8CHIMPZ

Oh wait, might get some animal activists angry :mrgreen:

[Rhyme]

i dont get it

[griptape]

That's IT......my next vanity license plate.!!!!!

I CHIMP 2
I must beat you to the DMV!

[windpig]

40D
I shoot in neutral picture style
histogram set to RGB
highlight alert on
AV mode
I chimp all the time, shooting pics of flowers in full sun, it's saved my bacon

[justaf IREMAN]

I chimped in my medium format film days with a Polaroid back. It took a couple of minutes to see the image but it was all we had and it was a valuable tool. Nothing wrong with chimping.

[F4 Cyborg]

POTN'ster dictonary: chimp
to chimp. 1 chimp is the act of looking into the LCD display on a DSLR camera, after taking a photograph, to see if it turned out.
2 chimping, read 1 and add all the time.

That photographer looked at the LCD after taking a photograph. (well duu he chimped)

[Brett]

I tend to shoot street/candid stuff, so chimping is pretty much worthless. If I'm shooting a posed person, I chimp every shot to check the histogram and get an idea of lighting.

I do like the quote though, and I agree, as long as the photographer's not missing great shots looking at the LCD.

[Jim Neiger]

Chimping can be good and bad. I use it to see if I got the shot I wanted, check exposure, etc. These are all helpful to my imagery. The disadvantages are that you may miss photo opportunities while chimping and you will wear down your batteries faster. I don't worry about battery life on my 1D3s. The batteries last for a very long time and many images.

[John_T]

If you look around at people gaping at their display, mouth hanging half open, they really have that monkey look, and that's how the name evolved.

Here is a link all about chimping, watch the videos too. :D

http://www.cwanswers.com/8921/chimping

.

[Pete]

The LCD review of digital cameras has made all photographers, from beginners to advanced users, better photographers. I see this all the time. Everyone can evaluate that little image to be sure they got what they wanted. If not, they retake the photo. At even a very basic level, that is working with the craft of photography to make a better image. If you make a habit of starting to look at the LCD to be sure you have a photo that you like, not just a record of the subject, you will be well on your way to making better photographs.

Sorry, but I disagree with this. You should really be making that compositional judgement while your eye is in the viewfinder. If you do what Rob suggests, then you're treating your camera just like a point & shoot. If you do that, you'll only take bad photos.

When you take photos, look through the viewfinder. Look at the photo you're about to take, feel the moment, take the photo.

Chimping is done to review the shots you've taken and to make a judgement on exposure/focus. In the case of fast sports photography, to make sure you got the shot.

[Lowner]

Pete,

I think you are both right. Once a photographer has achieved a good knowledge of the technicalities, it is all about composition, and looking at the subject as you say.

However many still struggle with the basics. For them the ability to review the image and the histogram is a godsend.

For motorsports I normally start by chimping a few throwaway test shots, tweaking the exposure until I'm happy. I then forget all about it, concentrating instead on composition.

[DAMphyne]

I never Chimp!

[oaktree]

Pete,

I think you are both right. Once a photographer has achieved a good knowledge of the technicalities, it is all about composition, and looking at the subject as you say.

However many still struggle with the basics. For them the ability to review the image and the histogram is a godsend.

For motorsports I normally start by chimping a few throwaway test shots, tweaking the exposure until I'm happy. I then forget all about it, concentrating instead on composition.

I usually do this as soon as I enter a "new" shooting situation. I'm usually chimping for exposure, not composition or sharpness (well, maybe 90% of the time).

[Stregone]

I feel really embarrased when I do it, even if no one is anywhere near me, but when I use my film camera after using only my digital for a while I try to chimp on my film camera on probably 50% of the shots on the first roll :oops:

To my credit though, I have started using the histogram screen instead of the full screen image. Can't tell squat looking at the image in the sunlight anyways.

[rhodesx6]

I never Chimp!

Aren't you chimping in ur avatar?? LOL

[DAMphyne]

Aren't you chimping in ur avatar?? LOL

Oops, Busted:o

[alabama1980]

Like I said in another thread I don't think there is anything wrong with OCCASIONALLY checking the LCD. Technology has afforded us a tool that makes life easier...by all means use it. In contrast though I think it looks unprofessional/amateurish to look at EVERY single shot. I use mine to check my exposure and make sure whats in my head is going on my memory card. If I like what I see I just shoot until I want to try something different or my light changes.

[neilwood32]

I chimp a lot of the time (although without the open mouth and sound effects)- otherwise you can never be sure that you have the image the way you wanted it.

I dont chimp every shot but i do if I feel that the light has changed or that some other variable has altered.

What is the use of having the technology available and not using it? If you dont chimp, you might as well be using film!

[nicksan]

I use my LCD to make sure my hair looks like it did when I left the house...which is to say AWESOME.

:lol:

[FZ1]

I'm not sure I 100% agree with the quote in the OP. While you can check your composition pretty easily, other factors such as exposure, WB, & focus quality aren't necessarily reflected accurately or to enough extent to judge the effectiveness of the shot. Zooming in helps a bunch but in many cases there is simply not time to always do so.

[Karl Johnston]

I chimp, but the way I shoot I don't usually have my eye to the VF. I find if I'm looking at the scene, from memory, I can decide where to angle or point the camera. It's a bit of a trip but I get more consistent, interesting pictures that way :D

[DennisW1]

I must beat you to the DMV!


no need to hurry, I'm in the next state east. ;)

[alt4852]

Sorry, but I disagree with this. You should really be making that compositional judgement while your eye is in the viewfinder. If you do what Rob suggests, then you're treating your camera just like a point & shoot. If you do that, you'll only take bad photos.

When you take photos, look through the viewfinder. Look at the photo you're about to take, feel the moment, take the photo.

Chimping is done to review the shots you've taken and to make a judgement on exposure/focus. In the case of fast sports photography, to make sure you got the shot.

+1

i wholeheartedly agree.

[asysin2leads]

Sorry, but I disagree with this. You should really be making that compositional judgement while your eye is in the viewfinder. If you do what Rob suggests, then you're treating your camera just like a point & shoot. If you do that, you'll only take bad photos.

When you take photos, look through the viewfinder. Look at the photo you're about to take, feel the moment, take the photo.

Chimping is done to review the shots you've taken and to make a judgement on exposure/focus. In the case of fast sports photography, to make sure you got the shot.

I have to agree with Pete on this. Granted, I chimp to see if I got the shot. However, I am finding myself evaluating the shot before I even put my eye to the eyepiece. There's a lot more to photography than just pressing a button. It's something that I've learned over the past few years and POTN has been a major influence on that. I find myself looking at the histogram much more than the actual image. It's not something you do overnight.

By the way, for those of you in Ohio, it's available.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/416/chimp.jpg

[asysin2leads]

I use my LCD to make sure my hair looks like it did when I left the house...which is to say AWESOME.

:lol:

So, you're the reason they starting putting the little "mirrors" on the back of cell phones to make sure the picture of yourself is fantastic. ;)

[conbu19]

I'd chimp a lot more 'sept I've got an old XT and my eyes are getting really iffy, what with tri-focals and bright sun! I've forced myself back to "old habits",shooting in "manual". Makes me slow down and think a bit, before pressing the shutter. I'm obviously not going to be shooting pro sports anytime soon!:lol:
Take care,Steve B.

[aebrown]

I chimp, mostly as a result of thinking "how can I change this image if i do ______" and usually when I start shooting for a day. Never want to not chimp and then find out someone set your camera to BW or changed your EV compensation.

Lastly, if it's low light I want to make sure I have the sharpest image with the least amount of noise.

I chimp, and am proud of it--otherwise I might have more crappy images on top of all my other ones and I would feel bad :)

[Josh_30]

I chimp, I admit it. Not all the time, but on the more difficult shots for sure. I look at it as a learning experience...like getting a set of photos back from my film days and figuring out what I could do to improve them... only I'm able to immediately reshoot the ones I blew the exposure on, or the ones that the composition didn't turn out as well as I had envisioned. It's a great tool, and has made me a better able to produce the type of image I was trying for.

[Lowner]

Josh 30,

It's interesting how I sometimes cannot judge a composition in the viewfinder, yet as soon as I see it on screen, I know whether its good or not. Maybe because it's 2 dimensional instead of 3?

Other times, I recognise a winner before the camera comes out of the bag!

[Josh_30]

Exactly... sometimes even though I take the time to compose my shot properly in the viewfinder and think about exposure and such, it loses something in translation and when I see it on the screen, it just doesn't have the same sense of emotion that it does in the viewfinder. I'm glad I'm not the only one this happens to.

I'm always working to try to convey in my photos the same feeling I get from a scene while looking at it in person. Sometimes I nail it, but most of the time I don't.

[lonelyjew]

Pete,

I think you are both right. Once a photographer has achieved a good knowledge of the technicalities, it is all about composition, and looking at the subject as you say.

However many still struggle with the basics. For them the ability to review the image and the histogram is a godsend.

For motorsports I normally start by chimping a few throwaway test shots, tweaking the exposure until I'm happy. I then forget all about it, concentrating instead on composition.

Chimping was a great place to start for me but now I see it more of a crutch than anything else. I'm trying to get better at getting the shot straight out now but, still being able to chimp, I feel my camera isn't punishing me enough for careless point/shoot type photography.

[Digital_zen]

I chimp, but normally just to get the instant gratification.

[kay188]

I do so to check exposure here and there because of my camera limiting me to ISO 400, shooting F/2.8 at 200mm = soft images, but F/2.8 is needed for the light to come in.

ISO 800 is okay, gets my flash power out there, but the noise kills it for me.
Shooting wide open at 200, on ETTL, with autofocus that's flanky and dont work spot on in dim lit places, it's a must for me to chimp.

[Spacemunkie]

Honestly, who cares?

Olympus think chimping is the future! (http://www.dpreview.com/previews/olympusep1/page5.asp) :D

[Stealthy Ninja]

I take a shot, hold the camera out a bit to check it was OK, then go to the next shot. Unless it's something fast, then chimping (even the quick look method) is just going to make you lose shots.

In fact, I don't hold the LCD down like a small ape like creature, just out slightly like.. like a stealthy ninja.

http://i42.tinypic.com/a5gdpu.gif


As for the original quote, I didn't read that as using the LCD as the viewfinder (P&S style), I thought/assumed he meant to make sure you HAVE the picture you want (as in it's already taken).

[Perry Ge]

I agree with Optimus Prime on this one.