Live Preview on DSLR - Would you buy it??

[roanjohn]

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0506/05060701zigview_lcd.asp

I think this would be a god send to my XT........with its minature viewfinder.

Ro1

[gastroboy]

this looks quite good. what I really miss with my old G3 was the angled LCD, really good for low-ground and crowd shots. anyone in UK willing to buy one and post an impromptu review?

[BlueTit]

Would be great for macro work at odd angles and street photography where you do not want to be pointing at someone directly. It all depens on the quality of the display though.

[jfrancho]

I really can't say. It would be great for macro and still life type stuff. Inevitably we would see people holding their camera at arms length with a 10lb. 600mm lens attached. There are probably useful applications for this that we haven't thought of yet.

[Longwatcher]

I like the concept a lot, but despite that, it is very limited if it will not swivel (as it apparently doesn't) as I need it for portrait mode more then landscape mode. It would be perfect if it swiveled and tilted over 180 degrees in both directions. At a minimum I would like it to tilt from level up to 45 down and swivel from up to portrait mode.

The concept I like even more that someone mentioned would be:
A device that fits to the viewfinder and then uses WiFi to transmit viewfiner image to controller pad that you can walk around with. Talk about a great remote controller, you could then hold the camera any way you need to while viewing TTL at a convienent angle for you.

If they could take a LC-5 and make it work with the portable EVF, that would be the ticket. Within reasonable cost I would get me one of those.

All that said, if I didn't already have an angle finder C, I might be a bit more inclined get one of the zigviews anyway. It seems that it might be cheaper too.

Just my opinion.

[BlueTit]

Could any of the No voters share their reasons, or is it just that they would have no use for it?

I checked local store today, they will have them in July around €180.

[Sprout Crumble]

Can't imagine it would be much good for macro. It'd be very hard to judge focus with the limited depth of field using an electronic viewfinder.

[DeeplyDigital]

No.

J.

[AjP]

I wouldn't. no need for this, unless Macro, but even so, I prefer to look at viewfinder and see whole composition, LCD is LCD, something still missing, viewfinder is more real, actually it is real view :)

[Jon]

I'd rather see one where the viewing screen could be separated from the camera by at least a couple of feet. That would also make it possible to have a larger screen and bigger batteries for a longer run-time. It does seem to swivel around the camera's viewfinder, but that's still fairly limiting and not as nice as the flip-over/fold out/front-viewable one on the A80/A95/G series.

[KevC]

Nah, wouldn't buy it. It's pretty pricey too.

Angle Finder C or a similar optical enlarger, I would, though. You're right, after playing with a film SLR, the Drebel's viewfinder is unbelievably dim/tiny!

[ScottE]

My no vote is based on current technology. As far as I know no current electronic viewfinder is as good as the optical viewfinder on an SLR. I need a high quality viewfinder for times when I choose to use manual focus.

In the future, I am sure that the quality of electronic viewfinders will improve to the point where they offer similar quality to optical. At that time I will change my vote to yes.

Scott

[DocFrankenstein]

1) Expensive
2) Non swivel
3) I don't need one
4) Quality is inferior to optical viewfinder

[Belmondo]

No, for all the same reasons listed by all the other people who voted no.

An expensive gizmo with very limited utility.

[lost]

I voted yes, and here's why. When trying to get a shot from a weird perspective I dont always want to have my head behind the camera. Also shots while in a croud are impossible with my 20D. (Hello photojournalists) That said I dont think you should even attempt to manual focus with the thing.

[RockOne]

There are times when It could be useful, but for me, I don't think those situations would arise often enough for me to justify the cost of it.

[lostdoggy]

No, ZLRish. Might as well use a P&S.

[tim]

Reasons I voted no:
1) Lag. This is by far my #1 reason. The shutter activates as soon as you press it, but who knows what the lag is between something happening and it appearing on the screen. With a viewfinder I can keep my left eye open as well as my right to the viewfinder and see everything very well.
2) Not usable in sunlight.
3) Less control when holding an SLR at arms length compared with the usual shooters stance.
4) You'd look like an idiot holding an SLR in front of you.

[Spots]

No no and no! I will not buy a camera that has one, unless i don't have to use it in any way, shape, or form to take a shot. I had a Powershot 110 once and the only way to take a close up was to use the lcd screen...I could never get the composition right, it was a pain to use in a contorted position, and the colors were off. I hated it. Not having the lcd is yet another reason I LOVE my DSLR

JM3¢

Spots

[Digital Prophet]

Lol. Not to get off-topic. But I LOVE the way they blurred out the back of the head for the guy in the white shirt shooting over a wall. I guess they wanted to protect the identity of his bald spot.

LOL

- Digital Prophet -