Are You A Chimper or Not

[Well Bonded]

I'll reserve my thoughts as to not bias the thread.

 

[LeeRatters]

I think I'll do the same tbh.

 

[DanielScott]

I usually take about 5-10 photos before looking. Not sure if this is considered chimping, but reviewing the images helps me to see anything that needs adjusting on whomever I'm photographing.

 

[bobpal]

I pre-chimp now. With mirrorless you see the actual result as you push the shutter button. When I do look at what I have taken, which I do, especially with sports, it is through the viewfinder. I rarely use the rear screen anymore.

 

[MatthewK]

Not since I sold my last DSLR. It’s liberating not having to chimp or MFA.

 

[paddler4]

Like bobpal, I pre-chimp now.

I never understood why people look down their noses at chimping. It's a great plus to be able to tell immediately whether exposure worked right, and in some kinds of photography, to check that focus was achieved. A huge step over the old days, when one found out after developing the film, when it was too late to do anything about it. When I had a DSLR, I chimped whenever I was in doubt about the result (e.g., some high-dynamic range shots, or shots where metering was tough for some other reason) and when I had time. Also very useful in high-ISO shooting because the higher the ISO, the more critical it is to ETTR to minimize noise.

 

[gjl711]

Doesn't chimping also involve a social aspect with all the Ooo-Ooo-Ahh-Ahh going along with it? Looking at the back screen alone I call reviewing. Fawning over it is chimping.

 

[Greyswan]

I never used to chimp. When I had a dslr and a friend who had a mirrorless, we would go out shooting birds and she would constantly chimp, making me laugh because oftentimes there were birds dancing right in front of her while she checked 'to see if she got the bird' sharp, lol

Now that I have mirrorless I do chimp, sigh. Although not as bad as my friend, I do it when it's quiet. It's so easy to do when you're waiting.

 

[i-G12]

Not so much but have my moments.

 

[SkedAddled]

I occasionally chimp in low-light, no-flash secnarios, which is a lot of my prefrred photography.
But I'm usually exposure-bracketing 5 shots in those conditions, allowing for HDR or
the best of 5 to make the final cut, making chimping for me largely pointless.

 

[OhLook]

Doesn't chimping also involve a social aspect with all the Ooo-Ooo-Ahh-Ahh going along with it? Looking at the back screen alone I call reviewing. Fawning over it is chimping.

I review constantly. Thanks for supplying the word.

 

[i-G12]

I review constantly.

Is it absolutely necessary?

 

[gjl711]

Is it absolutely necessary?

Yup.

 

[Jon]

If image is going to be of a special moment I want to remember, then I will always check if all is OK. If I am walking along a canal, and casually snapping away, I don't always check/chimp. Sometimes it can be interesting, to see how things turned out.

 

[Joeseph]

Funniest thing was last time I used the EOS 500 (film) camera, I was consistently examining the back of the camera after every shot. Kept kicking myself every time but still did it anyway!

 

[StephenM]

No.

 

[OhLook]

I review constantly. Thanks for supplying the word.

Is it absolutely necessary?

If I'm to get shots I'm not too ashamed of to post, yes, it is.

 

[Lubos-PM]

I finally understood who is a "chimper" and what is "chimping" . As I've written several times, I don't speak much English and I use translators, and they translate it as "šimpanz", (chimp) a type of monkey, or "šimpnazování", but there's no such word in Czech. Now I know that it means looking at photos on the screen. I just don't understand the connection with the monkey.

Since I've had the R5 (almost three years now), I check the photos in the viewfinder, rarely on the display, but back when I was shooting with a DSLR, I looked at the display a lot. And I don't see anything wrong with that. Plus, when we're shooting portraits or girls, they often want to check what the photo looks like right on the screen.

 

[Greyswan]

Yup.

 

[Anton Largiader]

I just don't understand the connection with the monkey.

The term is just a humorous observation on the body position when a photographer inspects the image, like a monkey inspecting his new banana after taking a bite. It was more widely used in the DSLR heyday because we didn't have image review in the viewfinder. Not only could we review the image, but we could also "chimp the histogram" to see if the overall exposure was right.

It had a slightly derogatory connotation, with the implication being that a competent photographer wouldn't need to do that, but overall it was all in good humor. I certainly was a chimper, but now I can do it in the EVF without using my reading glasses!