In article , nospam wrote:

Eric Stevens:
For my part, I would love my SLR to have
available some variation of an old-fashioned split-image
ground glass for precision manual focussing.

nospam:
what for, when live view is *far* more accurate and
*far* more flexible??

Eric Stevens:
Either you have never used such a screen or you
are joking.

nospam:
wrong on both.

manual focus with live view is so much better it's not even
funny. there's *no* going back.

Sandman:
On a SLR, using live view for focusing is a very cumbersome
process, where you have to remove the camera from your eye, press
a live view button, then use the magnifying button to zoom in on
the live view, all the while holding a heavy camera with maybe a
heavy lens almost at arms length.

he wants to use it for 'precision manual focusing' which means on a
tripod, otherwise there can be no precision.

usually this is done with macro shots, and live view is *perfect*
for that, especially with an external display.

nobody is suggesting live view for handheld shots (although it can
work in some cases).

Ok, gotcha, then we're in agreement.

Sandman:
The only time I use live view for focusing is when I record video
using a tripod (in the studio). Otherwise, I always use the
optical viewfinder and the focus indicator. A focusing screen
would be quite helpful at times.

waste of time.

Nope.

nospam:
plus, if the camera has a tilt/swivel display and/or the ability
to use an external display, it's even *more* powerful. macro
work does not often offer comfortable vantage points and not
being restricted to the viewfinder is fantastic.

Sandman:
Sure, there are places where the live view is awesome, but for
most shots - at least for me - it isn't.

Now, the EVF in my Sony A7 is pretty awesome in this regard, since
it also has focus peaking, which is really accurate. And the EVF
is currently one of the best ones, even though I still prefer a
OVF.

focus peaking is yet another advantage.

And it's really odd that most (all?) SLR's lack it in live view. Seems to only
exist on mirrorless as far as I have seen, but maybe I'm not up to date on
recent SLR's.

--
Sandman