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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> DSLR and preview screen
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02/06/2004 08:49:37 PM · #1
I am wondering why with a DSLR you can't preivew on the LCD monitor.. not that i especially want to .. but i was asked and i didn't know the answer.

Is it because the sensor is too sensative... .. or i guess it is cause the mirror is in the way... cause the point is that you look THROUGH the lens.. is THAT the reason?
02/06/2004 08:53:35 PM · #2
I read on another forum that it's because of the mirror, but I don't know how much that person actually knows.
02/06/2004 08:54:01 PM · #3
Your second answer... the mirror must be in the optical path so that you can see thru the viewfinder, so no light reaches the sensor. Besides, most DSLRs have a mechanical shutter, meaning the shutter is closed until exposure starts.
There is at least one camera that uses a mirror that's only partially reflective, and so preview IS possible. But this is a compromise as well, since it does cut down on the light reaching the sensor, and it is another element in the optical path.
Finally, all of the Canon cams with CMOS sensors do not have "electronic shutters", so even with the mechanical shutter held open and the mirror locked up, preview would not be possible.

TMI?

edit: fat fingers yet again...

Message edited by author 2004-02-06 20:55:28.
02/07/2004 01:09:58 AM · #4
Here's the info about that other DSLR with preview copied from a post I made earlier. The full review says that light loss is not too bad at about half a stop.

SLR viewfinder and interchangable lenses are two separate and independent technologies ususlly employed in high quality cameras, both film and digital. The Oly E-20 uses one, the SLR viewfinder, but not the other, interchangeable lenses. It has a very good, big 4x (35-140mm equivalent on a 35mm camera) fixed lens instead. Another design feature perhaps unique to the E-20 among DSLRs is it's beam-splitter which affords LCD preview. Here's the description from the review at imaging-resource.com

"the E-20 features an SLR (Single Lens Reflex) optical viewfinder and an LCD monitor. The optical viewfinder's SLR design utilizes a "beam splitter" method rather than the traditional mirror design. Oddly, although the image is carried to the CCD and viewfinder simultaneously, there's still a brief "blackout" each time the shutter trips. I'm not sure why this is, since the optical path looks as though it should support light going to the viewfinder and CCD at the same time. One benefit though, is that the beam splitter design should reduce vibration significantly for shooting under dim lighting conditions with long telephoto lenses, since there's no mirror slamming up as the exposure begins. Another benefit is that, with no mirror to flip up, the maximum cycle time can be very fast."
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