A question that I've always been too scared to ask!

travellingcello

travellingcello

Messages
1,841
Edit My Images
Yes
How does one shoot landscapes without live view?

How can you be sure of focus, how do you get creative without getting back strain?

I should mention that I use mainly manual focus lenses, and am thinking of rebuying a DSLR in the 5d mk1, which I have owned in the past.

Having owned DSLR's like the 5d mk2 and 60d in the past, I never felt sure whether focus was right on the 5d mk1 and of course when doing something like a long exposure it saved a lot of time having exposure simulation.
 
Last edited:
Or use hyper focal distance focusing. Technically you shouldn't need to look through the viewfinder for that, although you still need to compose the shot in the first place.
 
But that's the thing - I'm almost sure that I get better composed shots with live view than without, because if I set up low it at an awkward angle, I can never put myself into a comfortable position in order to check composition properly.
 
strumstrum said:
you have focus confirm in the viewfinder, half press shutter turn focus ring til you see the dot..snap.

do you use a tripod?
Click to expand...

I do use a tripod of course, and a good one at that. But I reckon Af confirm isn't accurate enough, and in any case if you are focussing on an area with low contrast I don't think it works too well? I'm saying that off the top of my head though.
 
Select your aperture, I'm normally f11-f16, focus a third of the way into the frame. If you suspect your focus isn't working the way it should try a few different manual focus versions.
 
graphilly said:
Select your aperture, I'm normally f11-f16, focus a third of the way into the frame. If you suspect your focus isn't working the way it should try a few different manual focus versions.
Click to expand...

Assuming you're going for max DoF, which I assume you are if using f11-16, I see no reason to use an aperture which exceeds your composition as all you do is lengthen the shutter speed potentially giving things time to move in the breeze and head rapidly toward diffraction.

Here's an alternative to hyperfocal...
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/everything_matters_part_2.shtml
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/hyperfocal_distance.html
http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/DOFR.html
 
In addition to the suggestions above, with Digital you can always take a shot, then adjust the settings and take another for a different version - unless there is some time critical element in the landscape (such as a sunrise, animal in the scene, etc.) you can do this until you have the 'perfect' version.
 
travellingcello said:
But that's the thing - I'm almost sure that I get better composed shots with live view than without, because if I set up low it at an awkward angle, I can never put myself into a comfortable position in order to check composition properly.
Click to expand...

Before I bought a body with liveview I used an angle finder, cracking piece of kit to have in your bag, I bought a cheap Chinese one for a fraction of the cost of the Canon one, off ebay, it worked a treat.
 
woof woof said:
Assuming you're going for max DoF, which I assume you are if using f11-16, I see no reason to use an aperture which exceeds your composition as all you do is lengthen the shutter speed potentially giving things time to move in the breeze and head rapidly toward diffraction.

Here's an alternative to hyperfocal...
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/everything_matters_part_2.shtml
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/hyperfocal_distance.html
http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/DOFR.html
Click to expand...

I'll have a look at those links when I get a minute.

Generally, the larger the aperture I use I get more of the foreground softer than I want. I shoot fairly low to the ground most of the time so it is quite noticeable, to me at least.
 
I use live view on the dslr for macro sometimes, that's about it. On our new X10, i use it more than the VF because, well, that's not so great a VF - the LCD works much better on compact bodies. But on the big boys, VF most of the time.
 
im just wondering if your optical diametre is adjusted correctly??? if your getting better results by live view as opposed to 'usual' viewing i'd check this

if the camera is steady a part of the photo will always be in focus.... it might not necessarily be the bit you want though lol
 
I mainly use 1DsII that obviously doesn't have a LV. To be fair this has not been a problem at all. The Ds has a massive viewfinder, much bigger than 5D i or ii, and that helps a lot.

Focusing is easy for landscapes, as lenses tend to be wide. At f/16 most things are in focus, so just set it at something like 5m (depending on circumstances and calculations). If it's 17-40 it's almost alway bang on at infinity (well the centre is, but the edges are still very closely focused because the lens is total bullcrap)

If you are taking some proper wide angle landscapes chances are you are getting muddy and wet already. It doesn't hurt any more to sit down, kneel down or even lie down to get to the viewfinder. I do that all the time
 
Even I at fat and almost 50 lie down when necessary to compose a shot! I know some people physically are unable to do so (as, indeed was I before my brane op) but we have to suffer for our art sometimes! BTW, my DSLR has live view but I rarely use it. I trust the AF and for large DoF landscapes guess wher approximately 1/3 of the way into the scene is and AF there. A quick press of the DoF preview button confirms that there's enough DoF at the selected aperture and the shutter (on the remote release) gets pressed. I know some people use focus stacking but I hate PP so do it all using the aperture and a good tripod.
 
SLRs have been the phototographers primary tool of choice for about the last 40 odd years, live view has been available for about 6 years (a guess I didn't look it up).

I think that answers the 'is live view necessary' question?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top