Little quote on chimping...

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.

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!

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.

Lowner wrote in post #8323117
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.

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

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.

Honestly, who cares?

Olympus think chimping is the future!

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.

I agree with Optimus Prime on this one.