Live View: Is it really live, or not?

[kyteflyer]

After fiddling with my GR II and GRD III, and finding that in manual I can actually see the changes in the LCD screen as I change settings... I got to wondering which of my other cameras (and there are many) also had this facility... and the short answer is : None. They all have an M setting, and they all have the capacity then to change shutter, f and ISO on the fly, but none of them reflect truly what will be seen in the photograph. I was hopeful for the panasonics (especially the LX100) but nope, can’t get to that.

Am I missing something critical. Do other people have other cameras which allow this? Frustrating, it is.

 

[mike3996]

Panasonic M4/3 cameras offer this full preview type of live view.

It is named "Constant Preview" in the settings menu and will only be effective in M mode.

 

[Bobby T]

I thought that all mirrorless cameras did this.

 

[mike3996]

The problem with Constant Preview is that high shutter speeds become jittery and slow shutter speeds impossible to compose. It won't matter much that the image stabilization of your camera can handle a 1/5 sec exposure handheld when it's frustrating to set up the shot.

 

[gryphon1911]

It all depends on how the camera is setup.

I believe most cameras do a "live view boost/OVF (Olympus speak)", meaning that the image in EVF will stay constant so that you can see and it can focus. There should be an option in the cameras to toggle this feature on/off.

I know that the Olympus, Fuji and Nikon Z cameras all have it.

I normally have the live view boost off, unless I'm shooting off-camera flash, in which case, I need to be able to see and focus on the subjects and I dial in the proper exposure via chimping at the LCD after the test shots have ben taken.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

I rarely use the "real time" live view settings. Like DSLRs, I already have a visual picture in my head how the photo will turn out. Plus that setting slows down performance in low light. I shoot the same with all my cameras: aperture priority and auto-ISO. I then just set the auto-ISO shutter speed setting accordingly to the light settings. Example: 100-3200 ISO for most variable lighting and then boost it to 100-8000 ISO for darker conditions. I rarely go above 8000 ISO unless I'm shooting fast low light action.

 

[kyteflyer]

So all these mft cameras can show the changes *as they take place* not a bit later while you wait? I am just seriously impressed with how speedy the GR is, when spinning the front dial for shutter and flicking the rear for aperture.

 

[gryphon1911]

I rarely use the "real time" live view settings. Like DSLRs, I already have a visual picture in my head how the photo will turn out. Plus that setting slows down performance in low light. I shoot the same with all my cameras: aperture priority and auto-ISO. I then just set the auto-ISO shutter speed setting accordingly to the light settings. Example: 100-3200 ISO for most variable lighting and then boost it to 100-8000 ISO for darker conditions. I rarely go above 8000 ISO unless I'm shooting fast low light action.

I like using the real time clipping settings in the m43 cameras, just to let me know if I'm clipping the highlights or shadows too much in conjunction with the live histogram. The EVF can be deceptive sometimes on a proper exposure.