Live view function

When I bought a new camera some time ago, I wondered what use is having the live view function in a camera. I couldn't come up with any way of using it to my advantage. I am so used to using the regular viewfinder, that I could not think of using the big screen at the back when taking a picture. My thinking was that the screen is there only so that I can check the histogram and other relevant information AFTER I have taken the picture.

However, sitting in my hide last week, I found a use for live view. Canon has one major flaw in its system. When photographing with lenses with smaller apertures (my kind of lenses, the cheaper ones) the autofocus does not function when using a extender. Looking thru the viewfinder I have serious problems with focusing right when going manual. With 400mm lens and 2x entension at full aperture there is no leeway in depth of field and even the smalles mistake in focusing ruins the picture. With smaller aperture, the shuttertimes become too long for my kind of photography, since my subjects seldom stay in one spot for longer than a moment. With longer shuttertimes the result is a blurred picture due to the motion of the subject. Photographing the grouses in the morning, I decided to try manual focusing using live view. I was surprised at how much easier focusing using the big screen was. It does have its problems also, but it's easier. I think I'll use it in again sometimes.