Expert Panel

On my list of features usually found on "pro" cameras, after dual control wheels and dual card slots, I mentioned an LCD readout on the top panel.

This was necessitated on Canon's EOS pro bodies as far back as the film days because almost all the controls were set via buttons and control wheels, and the new EOS lenses themselves had done away with physical aperture rings, so other than turning the camera on and looking into the viewfinder, there was no other way to tell at a glance what mode the camera was set to, or what the current aperture and shutter speed settings were.

This is generally not a feature found on the sort of budget DSLRs bought at big box stores for three interconnected reasons:

• These cameras generally have a mode dial that can be read at a glance.


• Budget cameras are most often used by beginners who will either leave the camera in the most automated setting, or perhaps use one of the preset modes like Sports, Closeup, Landscape, Portrait, or whatever. They are unlikely to fiddle with aperture or shutter speed.


• Therefore, like leaving off that second control dial, omitting the LCD screen makes the camera cheaper. 

Of my "Class of 2008" prosumer cameras, the Canon EOS 40D, Nikon D300, Pentax K20D, and Olympus E-3 all have LCD readouts on the top panel. Only the Sony a700 lacks one.