Canon Rebel Digital XT - how do I turn on the LCD screen to COMPOSE pictures instead of using the viewfinder?

Question

I cannot figure out how to turn on the LCD monitor on the back of the Canon Rebel Digital XT to compose pictures rather than using the viewfinder. Please help me. Someone told me you can't use it for that - just for looking at pictures after taking them. Surely that cannot be true. My old $50 piece of digital junk camera lets me compose pics on the LCD screen!
Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

The problem is in the way digital cameras are designed. Compact digital cameras let one view the image on the LCD screen because the photo sensor can be on all the time (like a video camera) and feed the output to the screen.

SLR digital cameras (like the Rebel XT) cannot do this for a few reasons. Firstly, SLR stands for single-lens reflex, which means the single lens of the camera captures the image, which is then reflexed (by a mirror) through the viewfinder. Only when one presses the shutter does the mirror flip up out of the way and the sensor captures the image.

Knowing this, one might logically think, then, that the camera could simply just flip the mirror up when one wants to compose using the LCD. the problem is that SLR photo sensors, being larger in size than ones found in compact digital cameras, generate too much heat for constant use. Thus, LCDs on SLR digital cameras, with the exception of the Olympus E330, are used only for reviewing photos.

Answer 2

The reason you can't use the LCD to compose your shot is that is a hallmark of cheaper digital cameras. You have a high quality digital SLR. Part of that quality depends on using a system where generating an electronic image is a hassle. Cheaper point and shoot digicams use a different system. Although lower quality, it is easy and convenient to generate an electronic preview of the shot. Only one digtal SLR allows you to use the LCD the same way as a digicam....the Olympus Evolt-330. They did it by adding extra components to simulate that function. The camera market was unimpressed, so I doubt more cameras of that type will be made.

There is another camera, the Sony DSC-R1, which takes pictures of the same quality as an entry level dSLR (but it is a point and shoot camera, not a dSLR). The R1 also has this functionality (and a nice swiveling LCD). This is one of the reasons that many people who buy a digital SLR, should have bought an R1 instead. They want the quality of a dSLR but the functionality of a point and shoot. Probably, next year, you will see a number of R1 clones come out with lenses similar to the kit lens that comes on the Nikon D80 (a nice mix of wide angle and telephoto in the same, reasonably priced lens). Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if it's Nikon that comes out with it.

Answer 3

Well, pros really tend to have better lenses that also use up batteries, and the LCD also uses up battery power like crazy; so, the pros try to conserve battery power so they don't get caught with a worn out battery, or miss a vital shot while changing batteries or changing cameras. That's one reason. Another reason, is that pros rely on the meter, exposure setting and other information they see through the viewfinder that is not available on the LCD; pros do a sort of "mental multi-tasking" whereupon they are not only considering the meter information, the aperture and shutter speed to be used but also cropping out background details that may interfere with the subject as they compose and arrange the subject in the viewfinder to attract viewers' attention, which many amateurs are simply oblivious to. Additionally, the use of the LCD is cumbersome, as compared with the viewfinder. The pros often have DX lenses (that are designed for the digital camera to eliminate the "cropping" effect of film lenses that also attach to the digital cameras they have). Amateurs that use regular film lenses on their cameras must rely on the LCD very often because the LCD will show them what the camera's sensor has focused on and will capture upon tripping the shutter button. They can zoom in or out to compensate for the "cropping" effect while they're focusing. They lack the experience to determine what the image will look like BEFORE they trip the shutter release button. I guess newbie amateurs use the LCD also because what they see in the LCD is larger than what they see in the viewfinder.

Answer 4

Canon Lcd Screen

Answer 5

yeah, you heard right. i think it kinda sucks too, but you can't compose/preview with the lcd on dslrs. the problem is that the mirror blocks the sensor until it flips up out of the way and the exposure is made.

there actually is only one dslr that does have live preview - the new(ish) olympus e-330. i think it's pretty much the same as the e-300, but it has a special feature that allows you to move the mirror out the way.......

Answer 6

As above.
If you absolutely need a swivel LCD screen to compose your shots (and I can imagine circumstances where you would) you can buy one separately from a company called Zigview - it attaches to the optical viewfinder.
Of course, with their LCD screen - as with any EVF camera - the electronic projection introduces roughly 1/10th second delay.

Answer 7

Sad but true. The construction of SLRs dictates as such. So welcome to the world of DSLRs.

Also as mentioned earlier, the only DSLR capable of doing this is the Olympus E-330. Have reviewed this camera before and find the Live-View quite a nifty and interesting little feature.