Struggle to review images?

inlineadam

inlineadam

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Name
Adam
Edit My Images
Yes
I've a bit of a problem with my 20D - reviewing images.

The screen itself is already quite small, but the resolution isn't great either.

Generally, Motorsport ( well, rallying actually ) is my field therefore the conditions are always very very wet & dull, or very sunny.

Because of that, i'm finding it very difficult to review images on my 20D - most of the time I find it very difficult to tell whether or not i've got the focus spot on or whether the exposure is correct.

I shoot in RAW to deal with the exposure problem but I often come home dissapointed with the focus.

Is my only option to upgrade to a body with a better screen & low light focussing - such as the 40D - or one with Live View?


All responses are much appreciated,

Adam :thinking:
 
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Last year i was sort of in the same boat but shoot circuit racing. I decided to buy a 70-200 f4.0 and havent regretted it since, so much sharper images and the contrast and the auto focus in multiple burst out of 6 shots 1 was oof plus also the extra stop of light. Even thought the sacreen is on the small side since changing lens ive noticed a significant increase in the amount i keep.
 
hmm that's interesting,

This is also a problem though when i'm using manual focus for still images.
 
to be honest you shouldnt be relying on any cameras LCD to gauge focus and exposure. even a larger one such as the 5Dmk2 wont be a true indication of what it will look like on a big screen.

nowt wrong with the 20D AF speed either, its still a belter for an older body.
 
neil_g said:
to be honest you shouldnt be relying on any cameras LCD to gauge focus and exposure.
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Agree. I use mine to check composition and make sure no one walked into the frame :D I'd only ever use it for basic stuff like that. Of course, if taking a shot of someone they'll probably want to see it :D but so far no one has complained about screen resolution.
 
fair enough, I must be doing something wrong and don't know it. When using MF I'm certain I have the correct focus but then when I look at it at home it doesn't appear right. ( By the way the problem with MF only happens when doing landscape shots ) I must be focussing on the wrong points.

Thanks for the replies- it's good to know the AF Sensor is good as i'm not too clued up on the technicalities :)
 
Your best bet is to review images on a laptop, or something similar. 40D won't help, I had one and the bigger screen was still a laugh.

If you have concerns about focusing it is time to get 1D, or 7D.
 
I changed from a 20D to a 40D, and the biggest single difference was the rear screen.

20D's 1.8in screen is tiny, barely larger than a postage stamp. 40D's 3in screen is almost 3x the area and has twice the pixels. Tranforms the camera IMHO.
 
HoppyUK said:
I changed from a 20D to a 40D, and the biggest single difference was the rear screen.

20D's 1.8in screen is tiny, barely larger than a postage stamp. 40D's 3in screen is almost 3x the area and has twice the pixels. Tranforms the camera IMHO.
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the 5dmk2 is the same size as the 40D but with more "dots", i still dont trust it more to check focus and exposure than the 20D screen personally.
 
If I'm out shooting I'll only check exposures and focus a few times, other than that I just fire away. Reviewing every photo after taking it 1) takes alot of time and 2) makes you seem insecure about the quality of what you are shooting.
 
neil_g said:
the 5dmk2 is the same size as the 40D but with more "dots", i still dont trust it more to check focus and exposure than the 20D screen personally.
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I'm not sure about 5DII, but anything prior to it would only display up to 25% size, and then interpolate! ie. useless.

Exposure is easy - use the histogram - that's what its for!
 
inlineadam said:
The problem with focussing when using Servo is probably my lens then ( 55-250 IS )
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If you do just update the body youll probabley have the same problem as dont forgot the 55-250 is a budget telephoto so the chances are your now starting to find the limitations like i did last year. I dont know how much a 40D but last time i looked they were roughly the same price as a 70-200 s/h.
 
daugirdas said:
I'm not sure about 5DII, but anything prior to it would only display up to 25% size, and then interpolate! ie. useless.

Exposure is easy - use the histogram - that's what its for!
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I don't understand the histogram :(
 
inlineadam said:
" If your camera only has a single histogram, like the Nikon D70s, D1X or Canon 20D, ignore the histogram! Single histograms are dangerously misleading."

Ehm I have a 20D..
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If there's anything in this world that's dangerously misleading, it's Ken Rockwell. Not the histogram!
 
inlineadam said:
" If your camera only has a single histogram, like the Nikon D70s, D1X or Canon 20D, ignore the histogram! Single histograms are dangerously misleading."

Ehm I have a 20D..
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Single h is less accurate than separate channels, but still represents a perfectly good average to estimate the exposure. You should be slightly overexposing RAWs anyway to get the very best results. w/o histogram people seem to get 1-3 stop underexposure with typical metering, or totally blown results - not very useful - and then complain how noisy canons are :bang:
 
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whom said:
Which way? :s
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Over.

Expose To The Right (ETTR) of the histogram. Technique to extend dynamic range, improve shadow detail and reduce noise.

It's technically 'incorrect' exposure, but it loads the sensor with the maximum amount of important data. Call it 'optimum' exposure, but the amount of extra exposure depends on the subject. You need to know your histogram, and especially have blinkies enabled to be confident of how far you can safely push it.
 
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Ah I see.

I guess it depends a lot on what you're shooting. I hate having a blown out sky so I often tend to go the other way and accept noisy shadows.
 
whom said:
Ah I see.

I guess it depends a lot on what you're shooting. I hate having a blown out sky so I often tend to go the other way and accept noisy shadows.
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Yes, often a compromise is needed. Your other options with a blown sky are a graduated filter, or HRD technique (blending two or three exposures at different levels in post processing) which would allow you to retain both sky and good shadow detail.
 
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Yeah I've had a little play with HDR, quite a useful tool but not very practical. Graduated filters might go on my to-buy list for the summer.

Back on topic though, I know I shouldn't rely on the screen so much but it's hard not to. I can see your problem Adam.
 
HoppyUK said:
Yes, often a compromise is needed. Your other options with a blown sky are a graduated filter, or HRD technique (blending two or three exposures at different levels in post processing) which would allow you to retain both sky and good shadow detail.
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Grads do help a lot, but to be honest, LR3 can usually pull the info from a simple frame. There is at least 1 stop of blown details that can be recovered, and it is the cleanest and the best stop. Use it.
 
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