LCD Brightness

[elliots]

<p>hi all</p>

<p>i have a question about the brightnes level of my canon 550. my problem is that my exposure on my lcd and computer are different, you might be thinking why i don't look at my graph once i've taken a shot, i am more of a visual guy so i like to see how the exposure looks with my idea. what i want to know is do any of you have a trick to match the 2 or what brightness level is your lcd to ulimatly portray the corrct exposure?</p>

<p>any advice would help! thanks</p>

[PuppyDigs]

<p>Unfortunately there is no way to calibrate your camera LCD. Plus, your perception of brightness varies according to ambient brightness. So even if you could calibrate the LCD, it would have to continuously change according to ambient light levels. Otherwise a perfectly exposed image would appear underexposed in bright light.</p>

<p>If you don't like using the histogram, you might consider enabling the blinkies for fried HLs. Also--hard to believe--you can get perfect exposures without looking at the histogram or LCD image: spot meter the subject and expose accordingly. I used to do it all the time with slide film and rarely missed.</p>

[paddler4]

<p>+1 what Puppy Face said. the best answer was given by Lou Jones at a talk he gave here a couple of years ago: just don't use the lcd for that purpose. Use the LCD to check for composition, focus (by zooming), etc. Use the histogram to check exposure. BTW, a plug: his book on flash is the most useful I have encountered: <strong>http://tinyurl.com/3lbupq3</strong></p>

[Marcus Ian]

<p>LOL well, I don't look at the graph either (but then, only once in a great number of shots do I even glance at the LCD), but both these guys are absolutely right, the LCD is less than useful as an evaluative tool. If I were you, I'd just turn it up to a bit less than max, and leave it there. believe it or not, the LESS you <em>rely</em> on your LCD, the better a photographer you'll become (by virtue of relying on <em>skills</em>)!<br>

Have fun!</p>

 

[JDMvW]

<p>I just turn off the LCD display altogether. When actually needed to check an iffy situation you can hit the display button to the bottom left on the camera. Then you can see image, graphs, and whatever.<br>

You'd be amazed at how long a battery charge lasts that way.</p>

[peter_e]

<p>I actually do use the LCD display but primarily for checking the extent of highlights being clipped. That is all I really care for in most cases. But I shoot RAW and set the proper exposure in Lightroom.</p>

[linda_jones1]

<p>I just readjusted my MK IV up one more notch. One below the highest brightness. It matches my PC and, ends mistakes of the photo looking fine on the LCD and then looking overexposed at home. The histogram doesn;t always tell it right. [for birding and bright light situations].<br>

After I take a photo, go inside, look at it on your LCD and see if it looks perfect. Then upload it to PC. If it looks about the same you are on the right track of accuracy. [that is if your pc screen is calibrated correctly.]<br>

So now mine is corrected to + 2 notches.</p>

[elliots]

<p>Hi guys<br>

Thanks for the good info! What I have done is to calibrate my screens brightness with a printout and then held my camera next to my screen and set it like that. However I must say that after practicing a bit I rely less on my LCD screen and more on the histogram, however if I am not 100% confident in the histogram I still trust in my screen.<br>

Thanks for the info guys and I am happy to say "no more under exposure"</p>