Soft LCDs on Canon Bodies

Is it just me? I've had three different Canon bodies, ranging from the Rebel XT up to the 5D, and I've always noticed the LCD screen on the back to give soft images.


The screen is sharp (the histograms and interface lettering are all fine), but it always seems like the images (especially when you zoom in a little, and very noticable when you zoom into max), are a little soft. Nikon's seem to be able to zoom right to the pixel level.


While this isn't a huge deal, it is a little annoying, and fairly problematic when checking sharpness when you're manual focussing.


This is probably an irrepairable firmware issue that Canon would have to deal with (which they probably won't) - or am I just missing something here?


Thanks.

Think about it this way. If it looks sharp on your LCD screen, then it's probably razor sharp on your monitor. [:D]


But, yes, the images on my 40D are not as sharp as on the big screen. At the same time, I guess my brain has adjusted to do some translation because it doesn't bother me, nor do I get many surprises when loading the images.

The new 50D will give you razor sharp images on your LCD.

I don't understand why Canon left the images softer. Even my previous 40D had softness issues.


As much as I miss Live View and a dedicated Styles button for fast monochrome/neutral switching, I'm much too attatched to full frame to go back to 1.6x

Secret Pro tip #413

The Lcd is using a renderd Jpg which also implements all your Picture styles settings, this way people shooting jpeg know what to expect from their images on the computer, being that they will look at exactly as they see them on LCD. When you change picture styles it changes the way the images look on your LCD. What this means is - if you set the sharpness to maximum, the images will look sharp on the LCD, if you set the sharpness to minimum the images will look absurdly blurry. ie, if your shooting raw - Crank the sharpness in your picture styles. Voila Sharp LCD, the 50d loses one of it's main advantages when you apply this to a 40d.

Enjoy