Follow

Live View is not working or is dark

Live view is only available in our Professional Editions but it can be tested in our Demo or Standard Edition. 

To get live view working:

  • Make sure your camera is supported. Check Supported Cameras for compatibility.
  • Under Settings, Display, set Time Before First and other Photos greater than 3 seconds. This gives enough time for live view to display
  • Under Settings, Shooting, Live View, Check the option for Enable Live View.
  • A live video preview appears after you press the touch screen or trigger using the keyboard shortcut.

When using a flash, some Canon and Nikon cameras display a very dark picture during live view as these cameras do not account for the flash firing and instead are displaying the wrong exposure. 

Canon Cameras

The solution is to go to your camera’s settings and turn off exposure simulation and that will give you a properly exposed live view video feed. Canon 40D and higher have this feature. Canon T6i and less do not have this feature.

Camera has Exposure Simulation Setting

When using a newer Canon camera that supports changing exposure simulation go your Camera > Exposure Simulation and set it to Disable.

  • 60D, 7D, 1D Mark IV Can be enabled/disabled in LiveView Settings menu.
  • 5D Mark II Can be enabled/disabled in 2nd Live View Settings menu/“Screen Settings".
  • 1D and 1Ds Mark III Can be activated with C.Fn IV-16-1.
  • Canon M6 can be enabled/disabled under Camera > 3 > Expo. simulation.

Camera does not have Exposure Simulation Setting

When using an older or lower model Canon camera that does not have that option and using our Windows software, go to Settings, Camera, and Check Canon Auto Exposure.

Note: Exposure simulation cannot be adjusted in certain Canon cameras when using an external strobe or flash. 

Canon Mirrorless Cameras and Recording Video

For mirrorless Canon cameras, if live view is working but camera cannot record video, go to your camera's settings, Camera, HDMI info disp and set to With Info. 

Mirrorless cameras have the option of having movie recording use auto exposure or manual exposure. This can be set by changing the shooting dial to Video mode, choosing "Movie auto exposure" or "Movie manual exp." then changing the shooting dial back to M mode.

Nikon Cameras

Photo Countdown

The majority of Nikon cameras will auto adjust the exposure during live view automatically.

On some Nikon camera models such as the Nikon D3200, D5200, D5300, D5500, D5600 and D7000, make sure to go to the Shooting Menu > Movie Settings > and set Manual Movie Settings = OFF.

Lower end Nikon cameras do not have that feature and at the present time, unfortunately there's no workaround to get good exposure on your liveview if you're using a flash.

Video

If you are using dslrBooth for video however, you will want your live view preview to show the correct exposure and not automatic exposure. To do this, you will want to set Manual Movie Settings = ON. Unfortunately with Nikon cameras, there is no way to set auto exposure when using flash for photos and manual exposure when shooting video at the same time so you should  set this value depending on the majority of session types you will be using the app for.

Was this article helpful?
1 out of 5 found this helpful
Have more questions? Submit a request

22 Comments

Date Votes
  • -1
    Avatar
    christopher

    Is it possible to get a Live View the entire time before a "session" is started? I've found many people are trying to see how they look before starting, then if the live view delay is long enough for some groups to position themselves, it's too long for others to wait and they leave thinking it must be done already!

  • 0
    Avatar
    Mautajay

    Live View used to work on XP. Just so happened my Windows 7 broke down. Is it possible to get the older dslrBooth version where the live view used to work on XP?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Lasison

    is it possible to have a live view function on Mac anytime soon?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Mike

    Live view only works on windows 7 or greater. It does not work on Mac as of now.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Chrisizzo

    Hello!
    I followed the instructions on how to display live view but it doesn't work. I tried all the different modes on the camera and still did not work.

    It did work for the first shot one time when it was put into movie mode, but that's it.

    Please help, thank you!

  • 0
    Avatar
    Mike

    Hey,
    Please contact us at support@dslrbooth.com with your camera model. Also, go to help, send debug Log, and let us know the case id.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Chrisizzo

    Thank you, my brother Michael just sent you an email with the info you requested for.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Jherrera

    Hi Micro,

    Is it possible to get a Live View the entire time before a session is started?? I've found many people are trying to see how they look before starting, then if the live view delay is long enough for some groups to position themselves, it's too long for others to wait

    My Camera is the Canon T3i

  • 0
    Avatar
    Alex Wade

    I would like to have live view working continuously as a background between session. I have a Canon EOS 1200D. Is this possible?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Mike

    Alex, that's now possible with our Professional Edition.

  • 0
    Avatar
    christopher

    Mike, this is AWESOME! Thanks! I just used the latest update a couple weeks ago and the full-time Live View worked great. Windows 8.1, Canon 7D.

    This is the sort of user feedback driven improvement that makes software really worth supporting.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Jaime Roberto Amposta

    when will live view on start screen be supported on Mac?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Mike

    Jaime, dslrBooth Professional for Mac now supports live view. Make sure your camera is supported.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Jaime Roberto Amposta

    Hi Mike,
    I know that live view is working. Im asking can I have the live view on the START SCREEN? Like what Alex wade was asking 7 mos back. Is this supported already for mac?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Mike

    Not yet.

  • 2
    Avatar
    Dc3graphics

    Hello

    I been messing with the live view darkness and I can not get it right. I have added lights and still nothing. I read the form but my Nikon 5300 does not have exposure simulation. Can you help me please.

     

  • 1
    Avatar
    Eduardo Flores

    I have a Nikon D5500 and does not have exposure simulation either

  • 0
    Avatar
    Eduardo Flores

    I figure it out, nikon D5300 and D5500 you have to go to the Shooting Menu -> Movie Settings -> Manual Movie Settings = OFF    turning the manual movie settings off fixed the auto exposure in live view

  • 0
    Avatar
    Mike

    Thanks Eduardo, great tip, we've added it to the support article.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Markus L

    Why is the Nikon D3200 not for proffesional use. Whats the problem??

  • 0
    Avatar
    Dries Van Stevens

    Hello,

    I have a Canon EOS 750D. The live view works fine. But after a period of 20 minutes not using the photobooth, the live view freezes.

    How can I fix this? Does the Canon EOS 750D have the exposure simulation feature that needs to be turned off? I can't find id.

    Thanks a lot!

  • 0
    Avatar
    Mike

    Make sure to turn off your camera standby settings. dslrBooth will restart live view on Windows. We'll be adding this feature to Mac soon.

Article is closed for comments.