DSLR Live View and Shutter Lag
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Think about the best one on the market was the E330 from Olympus. A bit of lag, but nothing compared with the E410, E420 and the E510.
I have been using an E330 for the last year and a half and have been impressed with the performance, but dunno if any other manufacturers are at the point where they've been able to better its performance.
Mark
I have been using an E330 for the last year and a half and have been impressed with the performance, but dunno if any other manufacturers are at the point where they've been able to better its performance.
Mark
AndyT
Contributor
Maybe not the answer you were looking for, but have a look here E-20 Live View
As others have stated the E-330 was the first - it used a secondary sensor which split some light off the optical viewfinder in order to provide the live view image, while the primary sensor was able to do autofocus etc. with no real difference in shutter lag whether the live view was in use or not. This was referred to as a Live View A mode, discontinued in later models. The E410 and 510 did not have the second sensor, and only utilized a slightly improved version of what the E330 called Live View B with the mirror actually having to actuate to let the sensor populate the view, and then move again to actually take the picture. The E420 and 520 reportedly use this same mode but enable contrast-detection focusing off the image while in live view, which should get close but not precisely on, thus further reducing the delay of the 410/510 but not all the way back to that of the 330.
One other new offering that does sound promising is the Sony A350. The Olympus E330 got criticized by some DSLR users as having too small and dim an optical VF as a result of the decision to split light from it for the live view A sensor. Sony is instead using a tilting mirror to either feed the secondary live view sensor, or not.
Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 Digital Camera - Full Review - The Imaging Resource!
Ike's website shows they expect to have a housing for the Sony in June.
One other new offering that does sound promising is the Sony A350. The Olympus E330 got criticized by some DSLR users as having too small and dim an optical VF as a result of the decision to split light from it for the live view A sensor. Sony is instead using a tilting mirror to either feed the secondary live view sensor, or not.
Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 Digital Camera - Full Review - The Imaging Resource!
Ike's website shows they expect to have a housing for the Sony in June.
paradicio
Contributor
I believe the Nikon D60 has it as well.
The D300 has two types of live view. One is contrast type focus, which is used only with manual focus for doing still life macros, etc. The other raises and lowers the mirror, but allows normal auto focus. It is slower than normal shooting because to check the focus, you have to lower the mirror again, but otherwise there is no shutter lag. If you use continuous auto focus, the camera will continue to focus while the mirror is up. I don't think it would be useful for shooting fast moving subjects, because after the full press to lock in live view, you have to half press every time you want to frame and check focus, then full press again to shoot. I have used the live view, and it works quite nicely, but it doesn't allow you to follow a moving target. It works great for overhead crowd shots, etc. I used it to hold the camera above a 6ft. chainlink fence to take some landscape shots, and it worked quite nicely as a remote viewfinder. It would be fine for shooting nudis, or great for framing a wide angle shot, etc., but don't count on it for shark and turtle pics, they'll all be half out of the frame.
Nope.
As far as I know, here's the full list of Live View DSLRs. Only those asterisked (*, **) have some 'special' feature attempting to speed up the LV implementation and make up for the mirror movement which will contribute to shutter lag. Implementations as discussed in my prior post will vary in both method and success rate of mitigation. If LV is a significant purchase feature for you personally, I think you need to get hands-on or read in depth reviews on each before considering a purchase. Of course the 'real' photographers will tell those of us who like LV that we're using crutches. Mea Culpa. 
Canon: Eos Mk III D, 450D* (Rebel XSi), 40D
Panasonic: DMC-L1
Nikon: D300*
Olympus: E330**, E410, E510, E420*, E520*, E-3
Pentax: K20D
Sony: A300, A350**
Edits: 450D, D300 also do contrast detect live-view (like E420, 520) thus not requiring mirror movement. Added EOS Mk III as first LV implementation.
Switched those that have 2nd sensor to double-asterisk for better clarification.
Canon: Eos Mk III D, 450D* (Rebel XSi), 40D
Panasonic: DMC-L1
Nikon: D300*
Olympus: E330**, E410, E510, E420*, E520*, E-3
Pentax: K20D
Sony: A300, A350**
Edits: 450D, D300 also do contrast detect live-view (like E420, 520) thus not requiring mirror movement. Added EOS Mk III as first LV implementation.
Switched those that have 2nd sensor to double-asterisk for better clarification.
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