pixel peeping

Useful for checking focus and for finding out where heat haze cost you a frame; misleading as a way of judging a photograph, since nobody looks at the finished image that way. It is also the fastest route to buying a lens you did not need.

Nearby in Photography

• noise — Random variation in an image that is not part of the scene, seen as grain or coloured speckle.
• panning — Following a moving subject with the camera at a slow shutter speed, so the subject stays sharp while the background blurs.
• polariser — A filter that blocks light of one polarisation, cutting reflections and deepening a blue sky.
• prime lens — A lens with a single fixed focal length rather than a zoom.