How can I make Live View easier to use for manual focus in very low light on a Canon 650D?
Asked 4/20/2015
6 views
2 answers
0
When shooting at night on a tripod, I often use Live View and manual focus instead of the optical viewfinder. On my Canon 650D, the Live View image becomes very noisy in dark scenes, which makes the subject hard to see clearly and difficult to focus on. Is there any way to reduce the Live View noise or make the display brighter and cleaner, such as by lowering the LCD refresh rate or changing a camera setting?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
1
Your LCD only outputs data from camera sensor. It could be possible to tweak software so sensor would capture more exposed scene, but at the cost of low framerate ( because exposure would have to be longer ) . If there is not much light, camera software can only incease ISO, which is artificially increasing sensitivity of sensor, hence producing noise, while still trying to keep framerate high. If somebody managed to hack it, result would be blurry 'live view' which is kind of oxymoron.
(Edit) Conclusion: it is possible if you can directly control your camera sensor.
Originally by user36909. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user36909
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
In very low light, Live View noise is mostly a result of the camera trying to keep the display updating in real time. To do that, it uses short readout times and high gain/ISO, which makes the preview noisy. A cleaner Live View image would generally require a longer effective exposure, but that would reduce the frame rate and make the display sluggish.
On a stock Canon 650D, there usually isn’t a normal setting to trade refresh rate for a much cleaner Live View preview. In practice, your options are:
- use trial-and-error: take a shot, review it, adjust focus, and repeat
- try Live View exposure simulation settings if available
- use custom firmware such as Magic Lantern, which can adjust Live View gain/exposure behavior, though results depend on the feature and may not do exactly what you want
So, yes, in principle lower refresh / longer Live View exposure could reduce noise, but it generally isn’t available as a standard camera feature.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI11y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Why does a manual-focus lens look sharp in my DSLR viewfinder but blurry in Live View and the final photo?
How can I brighten the Sony A57 EVF/LCD when using a manual external flash?
Why does Live View black out briefly after each shot on a Canon EOS 650D, and can it be reduced?
Why do my shots look less sharp at infinity than the zoomed Live View image?
Why does Canon Live View get brighter when flash is enabled, and how can I capture that look without flash?