Digital Newbie Question

[Joe549]

I am looking at getting my first digital camera and am certain that I will get the Pentax K200. It is in my price range and the fact that I will be able to use all my current lenses from my 35mm Pentax is pretty much the selling point. I have read good stuff about the K200 on this site and do believe that this camera will suit my needs quite fine.

I have read numerous posts about the lack of "live view", so that brings me to my question... what is "live view"? I am assuming that it is the view down the lens similar to what I see through my Pentax SuperProgram......??

 

[IgsEMT]

live view, is an ability to use LCD screen as a view finder - similarly as it is done on digital point&shoot cameras.
not sure of other brands but with Nikon and Canon live view modes, focusing is SLOW (Nikon D90 and Canon 5D MarkII)

 

[Joe549]

Thanks, I don't think that will matter to me since I am used to not having that feature anyways.

 

[NateWagner]

yeah, it's a feature I have on the 40d, and to be honest I rarely use it. In general the only uses I have found for it are when I am attempting Macro photography, in which case it provides a larger screen that I can look at, and I can see it from more angles. With my experience of macro photography the slowness of manually focusing is not a problem because focusing is primarily done with moving the camera closer and farther away from the item because of the shallow DOF.

I also use it occassionally to avoid laying on the ground trying to get a low picture at say a wedding.

All that is to say that I don't have much use for it except in rare instances. Even in these instances I could still generally work around not having it without too much problem.

 

[5DManiac]

Liveview is primarily for focusing while tripod-mounted. More useful for low light conditions where autofocus has difficulties or when you want to precisely control focus. It wears down the battery fast.

 

[skieur]

Live view is what you see in a point and shoot and is great for shooting without having your eye glued to the viewfinder. It works best with a tiltable LCD screen and fast autofocus (Sony). Street photography, macro photography and event photography are some of the perfect venues for the use of live view.

skieur