Guest malland Posted October 19, 2006 Share #1 Posted October 19, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Looking at the M8 manual, I found the following, which I hadn't realized: Most digital system cameras – as distinct from digital compact cameras – employ sensors that cannot show a preview picture, since the data can be read only picture by picture and not permanently. Monitor pictures are therefore only available in review mode. Using my Ricoh GR-D, I've preferred shooting using the LCD display rather than mounting an external viewfinder on the camera — I have the VC28 and the Leica 21 — because I've liked the "looser" shooting style it encourages. In fact, on the couple of days that I mounted an external viewfinder on the GR-D I found that I never used it, shooting only by looking at the LCD. An example is the following picture that I took just by holding the camera in my right hand and pressing the shutter button as I waked past the shop, without even stopping or turning towards the view: I had been hoping that I would sometimes be able to shoot the same way with the M8. While top-line DSLRS do not have the LCD preview feature either, point-and-shoot cameras do. Anyone know why that is so? Incidentally, I wanted to make the above picture smaller but couldn't figure how to do it. Can it be done? —Mitch/Bangkok Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 19, 2006 Posted October 19, 2006 Hi Guest malland, Take a look here M8: no real-time preview. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
andybarton Posted October 19, 2006 Share #2 Posted October 19, 2006 The M8 has no real time preview because it's a Pro camera. This isn't a chimper. BTW, there's nothting to stop you using your M8 in this way if you wish, in the same way that there's nothing to stop you using an M like this. It won't focus for you, like the Ricoh will, of course. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted October 19, 2006 Share #3 Posted October 19, 2006 I had been hoping that I would sometimes be able to shoot the same way with the M8. While top-line DSLRS do not have the LCD preview feature either, point-and-shoot cameras do. Anyone know why that is so? It's to do with the difference between interline and full-frame capture CCDs (the latter shouldn't be confused with full-frame in the sense of 35mm film size). I did a quick Google to clarify my understanding and the following seems like a decent explanation (with apologies to Olympus for nicking it from one of their FAQs): "Interline CCD's have traditionally been used in digital cameras and are either interlaced or progressive scan sensors. Interline chips are designed with a path or "highway" to move data. This highway takes up valuable real estate that could be used for image capture and reduces the size of the photodiode in each pixel.... The Full Frame Transfer CCD uses more of the pixel area to actually act as a sensor with a wider aperture for the photodiode and larger pixel capture area. With its larger capacitor, a Full Frame Transfer CCD captures more electrons than a conventional Interline CCD to deliver higher sensitivity, higher Signal/Noise ratio, and wider dynamic range and greater latitude." I suspect the reason that the interline sensors are found more often (always?) in the point and shoot class is that they are the cheapest form of sensor being presumably derived from the type of sensors developed for and utilised by video cameras. The video and live preview capability was, I guess, a kind of bonus that has since become part of the P&S design paradigm. The larger sensors (4/3, APS-size, etc.) were presumably developed from scratch with digital still cameras in mind and the 'video' capability was not deemed a necessary part of the sensor design. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlm Posted October 19, 2006 Share #4 Posted October 19, 2006 the shutter is an issue as well, I would guess Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografr Posted October 19, 2006 Share #5 Posted October 19, 2006 I can't imagine wanting to shoot an M8 by CCD viewing. That's kind of like wanting a Hummer so you can drive it to the grocery store. If you feel compelled to shoot discretely, pre-focus and shoot from the hip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wparsonsgisnet Posted October 19, 2006 Share #6 Posted October 19, 2006 Mitch, I use a Digilux-2, which offers previewing, and this mode of shooting, while offering the "looser" style of shooting you enjoy, does NOT show in the viewing screen what you will capture. The reason for this is that when you push the shutter, the camera switches electronic gears, and sends an image to the sensor to be captured. This function takes a portion of a second -- and during that time, the subject of your image may be somewhere else. This has been commented on numerous times in the Forum, and is a particular annoyance to me. Thus we utilize an external viewfinder on this type of camera -- for the photog to see what is where when the shutter is pressed (with the remaining delay taken into account, of course). There was a very informative thread in the old Forum in which one of the posters (sorry for the ignorance) measured the difference in position of a car emerging from behind a building at an intersection. The photog pressed the shutter when the nose of the car appeared and them showed how far it had moved by the time the image capture took place. As I recall, the distance the car moved was about this far: [--------------] The M8 will offer photog's the RF viewfinder -- with a standard, small shutter lag that should be comparable to that of any other M camera. To go back to a preview in the viewing screen would be to make the M8 unprofessional with regard to image capture abilities. I can't tell you the number of shots I have Not Quite Gotten as the result of the extra lag in the D2 capture functionality. M8 purchasers are waiting anxiously to eliminate this particular lag function. Regards, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted October 19, 2006 Share #7 Posted October 19, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Yes, I agree with Bill, the D2 is a bit of a sluggish old thing, the release point is difficult to judge and even then when you hear the click, it's already happened. I went to a D2x from the D2 and it's a complete revelation and I'm fully expecting the M8 is be as good, if not better in judging the moment. P&S may suit the casual photographer rather well, but I prefer a proper viewfinder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamilsukun Posted October 19, 2006 Share #8 Posted October 19, 2006 I went to a D2x from the D2 and it's a complete revelation May I ask what is D2x? Regards, Kamil Sukun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted October 19, 2006 Share #9 Posted October 19, 2006 Sorry, a Nikon dSLR, I mention it because it has minimal shutter lag and is in stark contrast to the Digilux2. The M8 is said to be even faster because there's no pause while autofocus engages its brain and no mirror slap and aperture closure to slow things down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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