Articulating Screens - How are they holding up? Build Quality.

Articulating screens on cameras have been around for a few years now. I am wondering how are they holding up. I have has a couple camcorders with them but I hardly use those devices as processing video for me is too time-consuming and frustrating. But my DSLR camera gets constant use. I have and always had Canons starting with a 350Dm then 40D, then 7D, then 6D and finally a 5D MK IV. Not an articulating screen in the mix, but I see cameras with them. The Sony A7RIII, the Nikon D850. I imagine Canon will introduce them on higher-end cameras some day. And so I wonder, is this going to be a point of failure from regular use, wear and tear and in perhaps 4 or 5 years of use you go to use the camera and have no access to the menu or the screen.

Will these be the number of cycles failure for the mirrorless camera that the shutter count is on the DSLR is today? Oh, it will fail one day, it could be in 10 clicks or a million, are you feeling lucky punk? (Sorry, a Clint Eastwood moment.) We hear it all the time. If you sell the DSLR camera one of the first questions you get asked is what is the shutter count.

I have a great ASUS Gaming laptop about as powerful as a good desktop, a fast processor running at 3.2 GHz, 16 Gigs of memory, dual solid state drives. Works great but after 4 years the screen in having intermittent problems, I know what it is, the cable to the screen that allows the screen to open and close. It is something I will eventually fix.

So I would assume any articulating screen will eventually fail. I know all electronic devices fail eventually and we make the decision to repair or replace. If it happens after the camera is let's say 8 years old will the manufacturer even repair them? So I wonder what is the build quality? Are the camera manufacturers testing these on a mechanical device that opens and closes the screens a million times? How are they holding up for those that have them? What can we expect?

An articulating screen would be nice, some of the new cameras with them are awesome, but they are new. So what are your experiences and thoughts? Just a casual photo question.

Following the KISS principle, it is another point of failure.

If they designed it right, metal fatigue in the wires/conductors would be minimal. I have laptops that are over 10 years old, with regular use and still fine.

If they designed it wrong, it will be like bending a paper clip, eventually it will break.

But is the flexibility of viewing from different angles worth the risk?

I've been belly down in the dirt to get a low angle shot. So I know the value of a pivoting screen, and I would get one.

But here is the trick, I would not pivot the screen often, only for those low or high angle shots, which would be less than 1% of my shots. So the wear on the flex connection would not be as much as on a laptop.

As with a car, budget $x for repairs and put it aside each quarter. Then if you need it, you have it.

Both my Sony A7Rii and A9 have articulating rear screens, which I use frequently. A tilting screen is particularly useful for low and high angle shots, getting close to the ground and over the heads of crowds. There is no inherent weakness in the design that would preclude long use. However, as we are often told, digital cameras are useless beyond two years, when their value drops to a fraction of the new price ;)

I use the folding screens on my video cameras almost exclusively. I shoot from tripods, and these screens are large enough to use in lieu of an external screen (which I also have).

Sony uses an eye detection system to active the eye level viewer, which interferes with use of the back screen in the field. The A9 locks out the viewfinder when the articulated screen is extended. Otherwise, you must use the menu to force one or the other.

My Panasonic G2 rotating screen became unreliable and finally quit working altogether.

That stinks and is a concern if this should happen on any camera let alone one costing over $2000 or $3000. A valuable camera quickly becoming junk. I agree Gary, Keep It Simple Stupid, (KISS). Why not just make an easy to use cable that can plug into a tablet, something that would be easy and cheaper to replace. If the cable or the tablet breaks you still have a working camera. Also an articulating tablet attachment for the camera could attach to the tripod mount of the camera body. I can use WiFi now, but the speeds of the Canon WiFi are not cutting edge to the latest WiFi technology.

I see the reviewers saying how useful the articulating screen is. Yes but these reviewers seem to always have the latest greatest camera. How many are using 5 year old gear.

Sandy and Ed, I really hope your cameras hold up long term. Let us know if any issues. I am not saying the articulating screen is a deal breaker for me, but I want to know more. Always good to make an informed decision and any future purchases are down the road for me, but I am interested in learning as much as possible.

Thanks for your responses.

I had no troubles with a Canon Powershot 70 Pro over maybe 2 years.

I also had a 386 SX laptop with mechanically broken screen hinge. I really wish tablets came with a "video in" socket and would love to buy a smart device with an option to attach to real cameras instead of a built in toy, but hey you have to be very lucky to even be able to somehow adapt a tablet to a LAN cable...

I never took any digital camera apart so I have no clue if the screens have their cables soldered on, like keyboards, or a socket so they are easily replaceable. Anyhow: I'd have more hope for cables being replaceable after a while than for screens themselves, looking at the M8 coffee stain issue.

That stinks and is a concern if this should happen on any camera let alone one costing over $2000 or $3000. A valuable camera quickly becoming junk. I agree Gary, Keep It Simple Stupid, (KISS). Why not just make an easy to use cable that can plug into a tablet, something that would be easy and cheaper to replace. If the cable or the tablet breaks you still have a working camera. Also an articulating tablet attachment for the camera could attach to the tripod mount of the camera body. I can use WiFi now, but the speeds of the Canon WiFi are not cutting edge to the latest WiFi technology.

 

I see the reviewers saying how useful the articulating screen is. Yes but these reviewers seem to always have the latest greatest camera. How many are using 5 year old gear.

Sandy and Ed, I really hope your cameras hold up long term. Let us know if any issues. I am not saying the articulating screen is a deal breaker for me, but I want to know more. Always good to make an informed decision and any future purchases are down the road for me, but I am interested in learning as much as possible.

 

Thanks for your responses.

A tablet is not practical to use in the field in many situations.

I have not check it out, cuz I don't use the video output, but does the video output of the camera show the same thing that is on the screen. If so, you already have it. You just need to find something small and portable that will display it. Because I don't know of a "small" tablet. The smallest tablet is a smartphone, but I don't know how to feed video to it.