D Russell wrote:
snip

This kinda brings up an interesting question, well to my mind at least.

With a DSLR you've got a mirror still, usually, at least as I understand it,
which redirects the light from the lens up into the eyepiece. This was
always seen as much better than a small compact film camera because you
were actually seeing through the lens hence had a better idea of what you'd
photograph. These days an awful lot of the compact cameras now feed their
viewscreen direct from the CCD which will actually be taking the picture.
Does this mean it will now give you a better representation of what you'll
photograph ?

Now I know that's heresy to the pro-DSLR mob, so please take it with a pinch
of salt, and if you don't even get far enough to actually read this line,
well then you're hardly worth responding to I guess.

D

No. First of all, a good optical grade mirror produces less loss of
image quality than the eye can detect, so the reflex view is certainly
not degraded.

Secondly, the lens MAY provide a higher resolution picture (if it is a
good lens) than some of the lower resolution chips. That is, below a
given number of MP, the chip is the limit on resolution. That is
usually less than eye resolution.

Most importantly, the LCD screen is FAR lower resolution than typical
imaging chips even in low cost P&S. Most screens are well below 1MP.

I find them completely inadequate for manual focus, for instance.