Live View with a DSLR

I have it in my Nikon D300 but its so bad I never use it. Has it been perfected yet in newer DSLRs?

Live View is best implemented in a wide variety of mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras, where it is used 100% of the time. DSLRs have caught up to the extent that AF is generally possible, including video, generally using contrast detection. However AF is much better implemented in mirrorless cameras, where both contrast and phase AF detectors are embedded in image sensor. You also need a loupe for the rear screen of a DSLR in order to magnify the image and exclude ambient light (they're very hard to see in daylight or at arm's length). Mirrorless cameras have live view in both the rear screen and the eyepiece.

Strictly speaking this isn't entirely a dSLR vs mirrorless difference. There are plenty of older mirrorless cameras with iffy focus, and both many Canon dSLR bodies and the latest Nikon D780 have phase detect when in live view. Recent screens tend to be higher resolution as well. It's true that external light can affect the screen (you can get shades; you can get loupes, but if it's a touchscreen they get in the way). Of course, at arm's length, any camera is going to be hard to look through (without an external video feed).

 

Personally I've found live view to be very useful - particularly for quiet shooting and when using a tilt screen for macro or reach. It's much, much better than it used to be, even when the mechanical shutter is used. Currently I still mildly prefer the optical viewfinder, but it's not the thing keeping me with a dSLR.

I never use liveview (oh yes I do but then when I do I don't use the back LCD as viewfinder but use the phone as viewfinder when I have to do selfies for my passport). I think if one likes liveview one better buy a mirrorless. Using liveview on a DSLR you don't use the prism, the mirror mechanism which are expensive.

One advantage of using live view on a DSLR is that, for long exposures, mirror lockup is not necessary since the mirror is already locked up. Another advantage is for fine manual focusing. I use live view on my Canon 5D IV for nightscape images with 10X magnification for fine focusing my Sigma ART 24mm lens at f:1.4. Another advantage of live view is for composing dimly lit scenes where there is insufficient light for using an optical viewfinder. However, if you leave live view on too long (more than about ten minutes or so), it can contribute to noise due to thermal heating of the sensor, referred to as dark current noise. Mirrorless cameras are subject to the same dark current noise. For long exposure astrophotography using a DSLR, mirror lockup is recommended rather than live view. See Astrophotography and Exposure, Clarkvision.com .

1D X Mk. III equals Canon's best MILCs including eye detection AF. not on Sony level yet, but no slouch. Biggest issues seem lack of swivel screens and missing EVFs.

Not an answer to your question - my Canon 6D is old too. The only few times I've ever used live view is when I've tethered my camera (on a tripod) to a Laptop for fine manual focusing on small inanimate objects. Let's call them 'works of art' :). I set the magnification to 5x or 10x so that I can clearly see on my 17" Laptop what's sharp and what isn't. I can imagine other 'tripod/tethered' situations in which 'live view' gives you a larger image and what's sharp than through the viewfinder.

It just doesn't enter my head to use 'liveview'' for live shoots.

 

It occurs to me that every smartphone user is used to 'liveview'.

 

Good point and thanks for this. It's made me aware of my 'blind spot' re 'liveview'!

 

Mike

It occurs to me that every smartphone user is used to 'liveview'.

True, but the problem is every now and then I leave a YouTube video playing by mistake and get myself all kinds of confused. :)