Liveview on Nikon D800

[Pavel]

I generally love the new camera (D800). However there are issues. I mentioned previously the battery door damage and I think I mentioned that the protective plastic cover on the rear LCD fell off broken. I swear that the camera has not undergone any stress or strain. I am more gentle and careful with it than with D300 and NOTHING went wrong with it for all the years I owned it (or with the D70 before that).

My newer peeve is with the liveview. I looked forward to using it more. D300 liveview was useless outdoor and I hoped that I will get something as usable as the liveview of my wife's G11. Nope. While the D800 screen has better resolution, it looks washed out on a bright day (although clearly improved over D300) and yes Matthew, I did discover the brightness setting for the LCD and I did set it to maximum (5). Since G11 is older camera and a cheaper camera, I wonder why Nikon did not opt for a brighter LCD. I do consider the size of LCD and its resolution important, but neither aspect is going to help me if I can barely see anything.

On the positive side, the viewfinder is large and bright and it does allow me to see what is and is not in focus way better than the viewfinder on D300. This is clearly where a full frame has an advantage. I am learning to appreciate how important that is when you wish to bring something precisely in focus (which is often when you photograph flowers in the early spring).

I find that going from D300 to D800 is fairly intuitive in terms of layout of controls, although there are differences in approach to photography and there are many more features to be explored.

[matthew]

Pavel, I'm with you completely on this.

My S100 is fairly hard to see in bright light; I certainly have a hard time just getting level photos, let alone making sure that the autofocus has picked the right spot. But using the D800 I need live view for the times when the optical viewfinder isn't good enough, so it isn't up to those standards.

The one day that I had the D800 out on a tripod I ended up pulling my jacket over my head and using it as an improvised dark cloth. And that was with the brightness turned all the way up, too. When Hoodman makes a loupe for its 3.2" screen I'll probably end up buying one.

I don't recall my D700 being any better, though - I suspect that this is the edge of what's possible right now.

[Pavel]

Matthew, why is it possible for G11 to have a bright low res small screen? Does it mean that when you want large and high res, you MUST accept low brightness or is it just cost-benefit? I am not sure I would not prefer lower res but brighter or to pay a little extra for brighter liveview

[matthew]

I don't know enough about the technology that's involved, but I suspect that there's a few different things to consider. One is simply battery power, as the D800 has nearly three times the shots-per-charge on less than double the power. The D800 has the hard cover over the screen, while the G11 has a 'soft' screen that seems to invite less glare. Or there's the different weatherproofing requirements, or even a components-cost issues… but that said, I suspect that my D800 is still better than my S100.

[NT73]

I don't know if this could be modified to accommodate viewing the screen, although it is designed for the lens side. I mean a toilet roll holder down the middle for looking through would really make an $xxxx dollar camera look like a 30 cent one. But think of the saving.
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