Samsung News Geek

I take pictures of insects, mushrooms, flowers and other things really close to the ground. The variable angle screen allows me to take pictures at awkward angles. I don't get quite as dirty (still a little dirty) and I don't have to lay out on the ground to take a picture looking UP at a flower, like this one!

I use my camera all of the time to take pictures of things for Ebay, and often I put the camera way up high to look down on the item. I don't have to stand on a chair and squint! I just turn the flip-out screen to face me!

You can also take close-up self portraits, although for regular self-portraits, a tripod and auto timer work better.

It's also great for getting for taking candid photographs of people. Sometimes people will act differently if they know a camera is aimed at them, but for some reason if you're looking down at the LCD flip-out screen, they don't realize that you are about to take their picture! It's a trick I've used at parties.

I just bought my first DSLR camera, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i, and while I wasn't sure that I would want or need a fold-out screen on a DSLR camera, soon after buying it, I was sure glad that I had it.

These little brown mushrooms popped up in my front lawn. Of course I still had to get down on the ground to photograph them, but having the flip-out screen made it easier... I could sit and look at the LCD screen and I was able to manually focus it! The manual focus is so much easier to do on the T3i compared to the SX40HS powershot (my old camera). First, the screen has a higher resolution, and secondly, if you push the button with the magnifying glass, it enlarges the area that you're trying to focus. (If you want to manually focus, don't buy the SX40HS!)

So, I am very, very happy with the Canon EOS Rebel T3i and would recommend it to anyone who's looking for an advanced camera with an articulating screen. On the Canon EOS Rebel T3i, when you look at the LCD screen it's a little different than using a point-and-shoot because it goes into "Live View" mode. The live view mode turns the LCD monitor into a large viewfinder and it simulates the exposure.

Screens are hard to see in bright sunlight, so it is also a good idea to buy a camera with a viewfinder that you can look through. Here's a picture that I used the viewfinder for!

If you do mostly landscapes, and regular family pictures, where you are pointing the camera directly in front of you, then you don't need a fold-out screen. But if you are short and taking a picture of a tall person, or if you want the picture to come out from a higher viewpoint, then a fold-out screen allows you to hold the camera high above your head!