Chimping is a colloquial term used in

digital photography Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image i ...

to describe the habit of checking every photo on the camera display (

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) immediately after capture. Some photographers use the term in a derogatory sense to describe the actions of amateur photographers, but the act of reviewing images on-camera is not necessarily frowned upon by professional or experienced photographers.

Origin of the term

The term 'chimping' was first written about by Robert Deutsch, a

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staff photographer, in September 1999 when writing a story for the SportsShooter email newsletter. He did not invent the term but heard it passed down by word of mouth. The term derives from the habit of the photographer looking at the picture in the LCD, and saying "Ooh, ooh, ooh!" imitating the sound of a chimpanzee.

Views on chimping

Stephen Johnson, in his book on digital photography, writes: He further points out that using the LCD panel effectively means that a

light meter A light meter is a device used to measure the amount of light. In photography, a light meter (more correctly an exposure meter) is used to determine the proper exposure for a photograph. The meter will include either a digital or analog calcula ...

can be left at home and if the shot isn't right, it can be tried again. Therefore, the idea that only "wannabe" photographers need to look at the LCD and check the exposure, image, or both may be unreasonable. Regardless of how the activity is viewed, it is now common to see photographers at media or sports events, "chimping" their shots, checking to see if they got the image they desired. Monday, 7 October 2019

References

{{Reflist Technology neologisms Digital photography 1990s neologisms