Probably Stupid Digital Question

[ttusa]

I'm still using film, but I was curious as to when you all are "chimping", how do you know exactly how sharp the image is when you're looking into the LCD display of the camera??
I hope this isn't a stupid question, but I'm clueless about digital photography

[Rick Waldroup]

I certainly can't tell how sharp the image is unless it is completely soft, out of focus. The way I shoot, unless the shooting conditions are weird or I am using a flash, I have trained myself not to chimp. Whenever I start shooting, I check the first few images to make sure my exposures are okay and so on, and then I try not to ever look at the monitor again unless I feel that something is out of the ordinary.

It takes a bit getting used to when you first come over from film and start shooting digital. Now, that is just the way I shoot. I know guys that chimp all the time, so it just depends on what your are shooting and what you are comfortable with.

[josphy]

On my Pentax K100D, you can easily zoom in up to 12x when you review an image on the LCD. You can also do a custom setup of what you want the first step to be when you zoom in, so I set mine on 4x. I don't think it's really adequate to check if something is perfectly, critically, razor sharp in focus, but it will definitely weed out the shots that are out of focus.

[johnastovall]

Sharpness is all in the post processing and unless something is grossly out of focus you'll never tell from the LCD. I usual check the RGB histogram when I start and don't look at images until I've dumped the card. When I'm shooting I'm spending time on the important stuff, looking at the light, thinking about the mood I want in the shoot, thinking about the light and subjects not what I can see on a cheap little LCD.

Remember in digital in focus and sharpness are two different things.

[On-Rant] Why can't anybody even in Canon put a quality focusing screen in these 3 and 7k bodies?/[Off-Rant]

[Silvernic]

Hey, some of us don't chimp (I do, but I've heard that some of us don't).

[kenw]

if you don't chimp, you're either fibbing or missing a huge available tool in the digital world. It won't tell you everything, but it will tell you if you are close.

Many if not most have the histogram on that LCD and it can tell you more and faster than just the image.

[Torrey]

The LCD is not going to give you true detail unless you do like josphy and use the zoom, because the resolution of the screen is typically pretty small. Basically all of the fine details of your super-high resolution picture are being combined as the picture is made smaller, so even a blurry picture may still look okay on the LCD.

[AndrewCCM]

Heck I chimp and do basically just like everyone else here for the most part. Zooming in on an image doesn't necessarily tell you if it's sharp anyway. I have viewed numerous images that appeared a bit soft on the LCD zoomed in, but easily sharpened in PS to produce a very nice large print. Bottomline...It helps, but isn't foolproof. Still I think its a great tool not available on film bodies.

[Dobick]

Where the display really helps me is composition, framing, and general exposure. Another thing that is nice is that a quick review can sometimes reveal something in the frame that you had not intended. If it is obviously wrong, then you can take another without having to make a special trip.

Doing long exposure and light painting makes the lcd a godsend compared to film. A five or fifteen minute exposure on a roadtrip during a full moon, done incorrectly in film, and you will be waiting a minimum of a month before you can reshoot if it was wrong, whereas with digital, you can review it immediately and know whether the details became visible or not. I like it, and find that waiting on slides to be developed to know whether or not you even have the image absolutely maddening.

[KeithAlanK]

It also helps to know your camera's autofocus system inside and out.
I can tell when I've got a solid focus lock on the zone I have chosen before I hit the shutter.
As long as I do my part and hold steady during the exposure, the results are always as sharp as I expected.

Now, in low light where I do some of my stuff, it's a bit more difficult.
Say I'm shooting a band in a nightclub with sub-par lighting. (The rule, not the exception)
I'm generally at F2 to F2.4 and iso400 with a 1/30th of a second shutter.
Not only is camera-shake a problem, but also the AF system can get fooled by lights behind the band.
What I do is brace myself as steadily as possible and get an AF lock.
While still holding the shutter at half-press I will switch to manual focus mode, thereby leaving the focus at the point selected.
After taking two photos I'll zoom-chimp them, looking at the sharpness of fine lines like guitar strings or hair.
If it's good, I'll blast away for a dozen shots or more.
Not only does the camera respond faster because I don't have to wait for autofocus to work, but I'm usually able to manually adjust focus a little to follow the action without worrying.
Then I chimp some more.
Oh oh oh, ah ah ah.

[heinecke]

The display doesn't help me judge sharpness at all. My eyes are not that good anymore. If I chimp, it's to check the histogram to see if I'm keeping up with changing light conditions or possibly blowing out the whites. The only time I really check the photo itself on the LCD is when I'm shooting football and want to see if I "got the shot".

Glenn

[Duffy Pratt]

I wouldn't use the LCD to judge sharpness. When I review some pics on the LCD, I'm basically looking to dump the total duds. Often, I will see something on the LCD that looks promising, and then ends up being basically unsalvagable because of focus problems.

Duffy

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

ALso some times I will turn on the blown highlights function just to see how blown they are. Most LCD screens won't help you a lot on focus/sharpness but as mentioned before it will help you on composition and to see if the subject blinked on you so you can reshoot right away.

Come join the digital world!!!! (pick up a used body that uses your current lens set and see what all that digital can do without dropping too much money-if you are webposting or doing 5x7 prinitng only many cameras that are 4-5 years old will work just fine and they can be picked up dirt cheap).

[iCe]

I don't use my LCD to guage sharpess (don't think anyone could). Just exposure. More so now that the camera is in M a lot more than usual.

[NoLight]

Originally Posted by Silvernic

Hey, some of us don't chimp (I do, but I've heard that some of us don't).

Yep but that guy died at the beginning of the year....