Scott Speck wrote:
Hello, Everyone,

I've found that when the light is too low for my FZ30's autofocus to work
properly, I need to perform a manual focus. However, this can be difficult
when using the LCD screen onboard the camera. My question is -- why not
have a "VGA out" jack on the camera into which could plug a pair of lcd
goggles? You could have full vga resolution with a huge angular field of
view (through the goggles) played from the camera through the lcd goggles.
One could then put on the goggles and hold the camera far away from oneself,
swiveling it in all directions but still "seeing what the camera sees" with
ease. Focusing would be much easier then, too. Does this capability exist,
or is it on the horizon for new cameras?

Hmmm... Several things here. First, small-sensor cameras like the FZ30
don't do well in low light. Second, I understood that the FZ30 could
increase the gain on the display in low light. Does that not help? And
finally, what makes you think an external LCD would improve things?
Sure, it would be cool, but I can't imagine a camera maker thinking that
was a marketable feature worth a higher price.

With digital SLR's, this might be even MORE useful, for super-fast lenses
that are really tough to focus manually due to limited depth of field.
Looking at a 2" LCD screen, determining perfect focus is darn difficult.
But I bet such focusing would be much easier when viewing the image
real-time through a much larger screen -- either lcd goggles, or piped
directly into a laptop (or desktop, depending on where you are at the time)
to view the image at larger size.

Not possible with SLR's, since the sensor doesn't see the image until
you click the shutter.

Keep dreaming, Scott. You'll come up with the Next Big Thing sooner or
later.

Paul Allen