Photography Culture

Why a Camera’s LCD Screen Is More Important Now Than Ever

Chris Gampat
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02/09/2021
3 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Leica TL2 review product images 7

COVID 19 is probably going to make the way photographers shoot become tougher.

I’m still out of breath between my deviated septum and what I had to just do. COVID 19 is mutating, and we as a society are trying to keep up. Here in America, it’s strongly recommended that you wear two masks. If you’re taking things even further, you’re probably using eye protection. Your glasses aren’t enough, and if you’re like me and need your glasses for everything, it’s going to get tougher. But all of this has reaffirmed something massive in my head: the LCD screen of a camera is about to become incredibly vital Manufacturers can’t just ignore it anymore. They need to put the highest resolution screens into their cameras right now. More importantly, they also need to make their interfaces better—the keyword here being NEED.

Imagine this: put a layered cloth mask on. Ideally, it will have at least two layers of cloth, with one being very thick. For extra credit, have one with a carbon filter. Then put an N95 mask on over that. And more importantly, please wear it correctly: make sure it’s nice and tight. Your nose shouldn’t hang out, and it shouldn’t look like a chin diaper. Switch them around as needed and if needed.

The reason why I put the cloth mask on is that it prevents fog from hitting my glasses. It’s worked well 95% of the time.

Now put your glasses on. Make sure that fog isn’t going upward and hitting the glasses. Adjust it so that you can breathe comfortably. 

Now put ski goggles or anti-fog goggles over that. I tend to use ski and ballistic goggles. They work well enough, but things may change. 

Now grab your camera, go outside, maintain proper social distance, and try to take a photo. Specifically, try to use the viewfinder. You’ll see that it’s challenging to do. Your best bet is to instead just the camera’s LCD screen. This isn’t so much of a problem, I guess. But the problem here is the resolution. Lots of camera manufacturers have skimped on LCD screens in the past years. In fact, many just recycle the same screens they’ve used for at least four years, but now we have to change this. The Leica TL2 and Fujifilm XT200 are probably the best choices here.

A camera’s LCD screen needs to become bigger, higher resolution, brighter, etc. What’s more, the interface needs to be easier. Lots of cameras don’t have full touchscreens. Why? It’s 2020, and they’re long overdue. This is just one of the reasons why so many folks love to use their phones instead. The interface is simple, big, visible, and it’s not too cluttered. But it can give you everything you need. Cameras have this, except for the bigger screens. Very few really have big screens that allow you to do everything you need.

Soon, I’m going to be carefully considering this with every camera we review. The screens need to be much better. I sincerely think it’s possible. The way photographers, YouTubers, journalists, bloggers, and hobbyists are all using cameras has changed. The pandemic is showing us that there are ways cameras can be multi-functional. And quite honestly, it’s well overdue. I’m a bit shocked that it took a pandemic to make this happen. But at the same time, I’m not surprised. Pressure makes diamonds is how the old saying goes. 

Cameras covid 19 fujifilm interface lcd screens leica touchscreen
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.