Nikon D5000

MikeScone · Mar 25, 2010

kirbyultra wrote:

Do you have the same problem I do? I find that if I try to use LiveView, it takes forever to autofocus, several seconds long.

I never use LiveView - it's really defeating many of the benefits of getting a DSLR. The only reason for LiveView is for very unusual situations where you can't use through the lens viewing, of which I haven't found any (and for movies, I guess, which I have no interest in).

With LiveView you're using the DSLR as if it were a point-and-shoot, and yes, like a point-and-shoot it's slow to focus and introduces shutter lag and viewfinder lag. It's also not as accurate on focus as regular shooting with through-the-lens viewing as it uses a different (and inferior) autofocus system.

Rather than return the camera, I'd just give up on LiveView and use the DSLR as it was intended to be used, as an SLR.

kirbyultra · Mar 25, 2010

I use live view because I simply can't get the buns in certain angles. as flexible as I would like to consider myself, I just don't fit into some spaces in the bun pen. If at all possible I'd get down on my stomach and use the viewfinder. Sometimes the angle is impossible.

Live view is a waste of time and effort I suppose. Shoots decent movie clips though.

MikeScone · Mar 25, 2010

kirbyultra wrote:

I use live view because I simply can't get the buns in certain angles. as flexible as I would like to consider myself, I just don't fit into some spaces in the bun pen.

I sympathize. More than once I've just put the camera in the pen, pointed it generally, and pushed the shutter. That's how I got this shot, with the camera held down in Scone's cage:

It never occurred to me to use LiveView for that - it's too slow, and I still couldn't get my head in the cage to get a useful angle of view on the screen.

Luckily, digital photos are free, so point and snap and see what you get is my theory.

Little Bay Poo · Mar 25, 2010

MikeScone wrote:

More than once I've just put the camera in the pen, pointed it generally, and pushed the shutter.

I do this all of the time with Ronnie. He has a tendency to run into me for pets, humps, or treats, and will also bump his head into the lens. Unlike my point and shoot, it is impossible for me to see what I'm snapping on a DSLR when I'm dealing with a subject like Ronnie. So, like Mike, I aim, watch the red lights shine on Ronnie to ball park where I'm focusing, and click. More often than not, I get better pictures this way (in situations where the ability to use the viewfinder is constrained).

Here's a couple using this method:

Pet_Bunny · Mar 25, 2010

I don't use live view either.I won'tcare forvideo if I had it too. I am an old fashion photographer that uses and shoots a regular SLR type camera.

In a situation if I triedlive view,the camerawould be on a tripod to shoot landscape or still life, so the time it takesto focus is not important.

Just master your technique and make the best of the camera.

You just get a feel towhere the focus points are when you don't look thru the viewfinder.