Camera display in bright sunlight

[jwolf6589]

Sun was very bright at the Zoo today but I still walked away with many good shots and videos. Notice that my Powershot looks great in bright sunlight while my camcorder and iPhone 12 not as great. Still most were taking photos with their phones, but I did see one other person taking photos with a regular camera. Do you suppose phones will improve their display in bright sunlight?

Photo shot on Canon Powershot SX740HS at 10MP.

 

[bunnspecial]

Nice photo! It's a great capture of the elephant and well-composed.

Can you post a phone photo for comparison about "not as great"? Exposure in bright, high contrast situations can be tricky for any type of camera. Sensor size actually helps a lot here(as in physical size of the sensor, not megapixels) as larger sensors tend to have more dynamic range. The 1" sensor in your Powershot has this advantage over an iPhone camera, but still isn't as good as a DX(16x24mm) or FX(24x36mm) sensor. With that said, if you let it, current iPhones have a really good HDR mode that kicks on automatically. Also, if you're close enough, flash can help any camera in bright light.

My wife wanted a "portrait" of our dog yesterday, and I spent some time outside trying to get a good one. He is jet black and it was a bright day, so it wasn't an easy shot to make. I took about 60 with my Nikon Df, and it still took some both in-camera and post processing tweaking of the photos to get a good one. I ended up with 7 photos she was happy with.

BTW, this is also one big benefit of shooting RAW. Modern CMOS sensors, including the older but amazing one in the Df, can generally have 1.5-2 stops of highlight recovery(past blowing) but you can generally only get the full benefit of that from a RAW capture.

 

[jwolf6589]

Nice photo! It's a great capture of the elephant and well-composed.

Can you post a phone photo for comparison about "not as great"? Exposure in bright, high contrast situations can be tricky for any type of camera. Sensor size actually helps a lot here(as in physical size of the sensor, not megapixels) as larger sensors tend to have more dynamic range. The 1" sensor in your Powershot has this advantage over an iPhone camera, but still isn't as good as a DX(16x24mm) or FX(24x36mm) sensor. With that said, if you let it, current iPhones have a really good HDR mode that kicks on automatically. Also, if you're close enough, flash can help any camera in bright light.

My wife wanted a "portrait" of our dog yesterday, and I spent some time outside trying to get a good one. He is jet black and it was a bright day, so it wasn't an easy shot to make. I took about 60 with my Nikon Df, and it still took some both in-camera and post processing tweaking of the photos to get a good one. I ended up with 7 photos she was happy with.

View attachment 1801690

BTW, this is also one big benefit of shooting RAW. Modern CMOS sensors, including the older but amazing one in the Df, can generally have 1.5-2 stops of highlight recovery(past blowing) but you can generally only get the full benefit of that from a RAW capture.

Oops. Sorry I was confusing but what I meant was the screen. The screen on my Powershot does well in bright sunlight and can be seen easily. More easily than the iPhone 12 and my camcorder.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Phones have actually improved a bunch over time, actually. If you had some of the first smartphones, you couldn't read the display pretty much at all outdoors. Now, you can make due, even in direct sun. It's going to suck the battery down fast though, as it's pushing 1000nits. Transflective screens came first, and those were terrible in pretty much all lighting situations!

At my local zoo, I'm often surprised to see people taking phone snaps in certain scenarios. Most of the creatures are far enough away that I'm wouldn't be happy unless I brought my 100-400 lens (even that can still be insufficient). Even when they aren't far away, you miss out on golden opportunities:

 

[jwolf6589]

Phones have actually improved a bunch over time, actually. If you had some of the first smartphones, you couldn't read the display pretty much at all outdoors. Now, you can make due, even in direct sun. It's going to suck the battery down fast though, as it's pushing 1000nits. Transflective screens came first, and those were terrible in pretty much all lighting situations!

At my local zoo, I'm often surprised to see people taking phone snaps in certain scenarios. Most of the creatures are far enough away that I'm wouldn't be happy unless I brought my 100-400 lens (even that can still be insufficient). Even when they aren't far away, you miss out on golden opportunities:
View attachment 1801721

Yes true compared to my 2009 BB I had back then my iPhone 12 is 100 times better. However the display is still not as readable in direct sun as my Powershot but I imagine phones will continue to get better in time.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I prefer the EVF most of the time, especially true outdoors. One other challenge to the rear display outdoors is glare and reflections. Certainly can be tolerated, but the EVF eliminates it entirely.

 

[Fravin]

Sun was very bright at the Zoo today but I still walked away with many good shots and videos. Notice that my Powershot looks great in bright sunlight while my camcorder and iPhone 12 not as great.

Turn off the HDR in iPhone while shooting under bright light! ?

 

[Fravin]

With that said, if you let it, current iPhones have a really good HDR mode that kicks on automatically.

HDR shouldn't be used under bright light.

The HDR extends the dynamic range lifting shadows and lowering bright areas. Thats exactly the kind of light that made great pictures at sunlight.

 

[bunnspecial]

HDR shouldn't be used under bright light.

The HDR extends the dynamic range lifting shadows and lowering bright areas. Thats exactly the kind of light that made great pictures at sunlight.

HDR works in any high contrast situation.

Using it in bright sunlight with darker shadows, in an overly simplistic case, would involve taking one exposure that doesn't blow the highlights and one that preserves shadow detail(but likely blows the highlights). Combine them and you get detail in both.

Perhaps that's not what you are personally trying to achieve in a particular image, or what someone else might try, but it is a tool in your arsenal and one that can be used to effect any time high contrast is involved. Is it the answer to every high contrast scene? If you want high contrast in the final image, of course not. If you don't want high, the better answer often is framing/composing/looking in such a way as to reduce the contrast or just waiting for better light if you can. That doesn't mean that a blanket "shouldn't is the answer, though.

This is exactly the same reason why many portrait photographers use flash in bright sunlight but just doing it before exposure-it can bring up the shadows and still hold details in the highlights.

 

[jwolf6589]

Turn off the HDR in iPhone while shooting under bright light! ?

I was talking about the screen as it’s harder to read in bright sunlight over my Powershot.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I was talking about the screen as it’s harder to read in bright sunlight over my Powershot.

Perhaps you should edit your thread title so it’s clearer.

 

[jwolf6589]

Perhaps you should edit your thread title so it’s clearer.

Done

 

[jwolf6589]

Also to note. iPhone 12 is not horrible in bright sunlight it’s just not as clear as my Powershot which gets an A for readability in bright sunlight.

 

[jz0309]

iPhone screen is glossy
Camera screen is most likely matte

 

[bunnspecial]

iPhone screen is glossy
Camera screen is most likely matte

All my cameras made in the last 15 years or better have glossy screens. I think the older ones were glass, and suspect a mix on newer ones. Nikon at least for a while included a plastic screen protector with their better DSLRs. You typically see first generation cams like the D1 series with plastic hoods over the screens(which are small and about as good as a color cell phone of the same age like a RAZR or other flip phone) but newer ones dispense with that. the D2 series and D200 series improved them a lot, and the D3/D300 really upped the screen game. Not sure where all Nikon uses touch screens, but my D500 had one, I'm pretty sure the D850 does, and I think the Z cameras do.

I only speak to Nikons since I know them best, but most companies tend to move in step on features like this.

 

[jz0309]

All my cameras made in the last 15 years or better have glossy screens. I think the older ones were glass, and suspect a mix on newer ones. Nikon at least for a while included a plastic screen protector with their better DSLRs. You typically see first generation cams like the D1 series with plastic hoods over the screens(which are small and about as good as a color cell phone of the same age like a RAZR or other flip phone) but newer ones dispense with that. the D2 series and D200 series improved them a lot, and the D3/D300 really upped the screen game. Not sure where all Nikon uses touch screens, but my D500 had one, I'm pretty sure the D850 does, and I think the Z cameras do.

I only speak to Nikons since I know them best, but most companies tend to move in step on features like this.

good point, my 6DII is glossy ... OP should able to answer though

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

I'm just glad they seem to be moving to the same glass as what goes on smartphones. Very scratch resistant and durable. I don't even worry about a screen protector anymore. I just turn the display face-in when transporting.

 

[jwolf6589]

good point, my 6DII is glossy ... OP should able to answer though

I have no idea why Powershot looks clearer in bright sun. No idea.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I have no idea why Powershot looks clearer in bright sun. No idea.

Most likely the brightness is set higher. That’s all that really matters when looking in brighter sunlight.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

I have no idea why Powershot looks clearer in bright sun. No idea.

All depends on how bright you set the screen. Camera screen, in general, are difficult to see under direct sunlight, much like laptops and tablets. Polarized sunglasses also make it difficult to see your camera settings when looking through the viewfinder.

 

[jwolf6589]

All depends on how bright you set the screen. Camera screen, in general, are difficult to see under direct sunlight, much like laptops and tablets. Polarized sunglasses also make it difficult to see your camera settings when looking through the viewfinder.

I take my glasses off every time I take a shot in direct sunlight.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

OLED displays don’t have the polarization issues that LCD displays often do. I’ve read many a prescription sunglasses shooter lamenting the LCD EVF.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

OLED displays don’t have the polarization issues that LCD displays often do. I’ve read many a prescription sunglasses shooter lamenting the LCD EVF.

True. I forgot about OLED screens.

 

[cobra521]

I use a Hoodman, Smallrig, Vello or similar to shade the screen when in bright sunlight. If you DuckDuckGo something like "<your camera model> and sun and hood" you'll probably find one that is more or less made to fit it.

These are inexpensive black hoods that are usually held in place with Velcro and shield the camera screen.

My videocamera has a screen that rotates so I can turn it to a usable position - very handy sometimes. Not always effective but much better than without!

Tom

 

[jwolf6589]

I use a Hoodman, Smallrig, Vello or similar to shade the screen when in bright sunlight. If you DuckDuckGo something like "<your camera model> and sun and hood" you'll probably find one that is more or less made to fit it.

These are inexpensive black hoods that are usually held in place with Velcro and shield the camera screen.

My videocamera has a screen that rotates so I can turn it to a usable position - very handy sometimes. Not always effective but much better than without!

Tom

Mine does the same thing.