Are you a "chimper"?

[rufus5150]

I don't chimp. Absolutely not. Never.

Also, I take my CF card out of the camera and drop it at the mom-and-pop developing shop.

Really sucks I keep having to buy a new one every time, though, and such a pain squeezing them into those little black tubes.

 

[iflynething]

I chimp. I have the ability too and I do it.

Like Big Mike (I know your posts just by your avatar!) said, I look for exposure or if I'm going for a certain effect (high key, underexposed) to see if it was too much. Sometimes it takes a couple times to get it right and I think we could all learn better if we all learned on film. I thought about getting a film camera just to learn exposure even more and be a better digital shooter.

I also do it to check focus. Sometimes the camera can shift right at the last moment and there is nothing more than I want other than to get home and chimp it on the computer just to see that the shot was missed because the camera misfocused after the shutter opened.

~Michael~

 

[craig]

I preview the image and histogram at different times for different shoots.

If I am shooting a model I chimp away with my lovely assistant to to set lights and marks. When actually shooting the model I will show her what we are coming up with and away we go. Shooting is very much a rhythm for me. Looking at the screen every other shot is unprofessional and kills said rhythm.

During a commercial shoot I preview each shot a number of times and make sure the client sees it. This the preview button's saving grace. No more saying a prayer until the film gets back. Means a lot to me to have the client happy before I leave the shoot.

When shooting my personal work I preview the exposure and histogram like once. Then shoot away. I rely on experience to kick in the flash or open up the exposure or whatever. Again hitting the preview kind of kills the mood and my concentration.

I get and enjoy hitting the preview button. On the other hand I was once a film shooter. I love the anticipation of downloading the images with only a general idea of what has been shot that day. That is where digi will always fail. It takes away the anticipation of the unknown. Takes away the drama of showing up to the lab wondering...

Love & Bass

 

[LokiZ]

I look at it from the other angle. I could care less if others do it. What really frustrates me is when others ask me to do it. "ooh let me see, let me see!"

I only do it on occasion to check levels more so if I am only taking one shot and moving on.

 

[RONDAL]

only to check the histogram and lighting. especially when shooting with flashes and knocking down ambient and stuff its nice to see what the actual effect is.

sometimes its also nice to show a model if they need a little prodding to get that look. i shot this one girl a month or so ago and she was trying to force this look. i was trying to explain to her that it looked odd, but it took showing her before she realized what i was talking about. she wasn't very experianced....but that was why i was doing her shots.

 

[taracor]

I..check my shot to make sure something horrible didn't happen (flash not firing, blinking model if shooting a portrait, things like that) but I don't actually "review" until I upload, no..

 

[inTempus]

Here is the video that dates back to the origin of the word 'chimping'.
SportsShooter.com - Chimping EXPOSED! (Part 1)

Great video.

I'm a chimping fool.

 

[robertwsimpson]

hahahahaha it saves your battery!

 

[SpeedTrap]

I chimp, and I like it!

 

[Antithesis]

I glance down after every shot, or quick burst of shots to check and make sure that I'm not horribly overexposing or I didn't forget to switch my exposure comp back to zero. I sometimes check and make sure I got something in focus if there was a shot that I really wanted to get. And if something ends up looking really nice... I tend to glance at it a few more times during the shoot if I have a moment to stand around (i.e. during dinner or a lull in the reception).

 

[camz]

I guess I chimp as well. Didn't know there was a term for it but I do it everytime there's a change in setup. Could be location, ligthing, subjects etc etc. I mostly do it in the beginning of a transition but once I'm happy with the results I fire 1000 frames a minute and fill my 8 gig CF cards in a blink. Isn't that what having a digital camera is all about spray and pray?

J/K op but yes I do during transitions

 

[musicaleCA]

Hrm, well I sorta lied. People keep asking me and I was a little happy to show what I did with my new 10-22. Erm...anyway...There are other uses for chimping, like checking to make sure you got a good shot that can be used by your editor (photojournalism). If not, you screwed-up, keep shooting. Though generally that's not a problem. I also was chimping a lot tonight; getting used to the 7D's metering system.

 

[robertwsimpson]

you have a 7d!?

 

[RyanLilly]

I'm trying to break myself of my habitual chimping. There is nothing wrong with doing it but at a certain point t it's just a waste of time. In some situations, such as a rock show, my meter will be completly wrong( I wish I had a real spot meter) so I always shoot in manual and chimp to see how much off my meter is and in what direction. Then after taking note of the meters response, and the typical lighting positions, I can usually continue to shoot pretty spot on exposures, only chinping when there are dramatic changes in intensity And color. My problem is that even though I know that the exposure is good, I still have a physical chinping habit that is hard to kick.

 

[PhotoXopher]

Chimping doesn't bother me at all... I'm new to this whole thing so a lot of times I'm trying something 'new' and I want to see how close I got, and make adjustments as needed.

Chimping is a wonderful learning tool