Live View Conundrum

2008.03.26

Just like face-detection has been the new feature in compact digital cameras for a while, live-view is the somewhat new feature for DSLR cameras. Indeed, most new DSLRs that came out in the last 6 months have this feature. As any feature, some people feel they need it, others could not care less.

Those who do not care for it can simply ignore it and move on. Those who are interested should know that all live-views are not created equal. That is the reason we have not added live-view to the feature list of DSLRs. Knowing that a camera has live-view is not so helpful because live-view implementations differ greatly, at least not until the perfect live-view exists.

Neocamera treats live-view as any other feature. DSLR camera reviews mention how live-view is implemented and how it works. Nothing else. A camera's final rating is not influenced by a camera having live-view or not. Having live-view is neither a pro nor a con, it is simply one more feature for interested parties to look at.

One digital camera evolution that many people would like to see is for prosumer digital cameras, also called bridge cameras, to use large image sensors and interchangeable lenses. Such cameras would feature true exposure-priority preview, instead of live-view, the flexibility of interchangeable lenses and the image quality of large sensor cameras. They would also retain the quietness of fixed-lens cameras in a form factor smaller than DSLRs due to the use of an EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) instead of an OVF (Optical Viewfinder) and no space used up by a moving mirror. The key to keeping such cameras usable is to use a high-quality EVF such as the nearly 1 megapixel 0.44" LCD used in the now-defunct Konica-Minolta Dimage A2.

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