EVF's rave and rant.

[pjbw]

In 2014 I bought a Sony A77 to replace my 2006 R1 because the R1 only had 12MP which limited the production of big prints.

However I have gone back to using the R1 more and more because of its EVF. This is very slow but it is truly WYSIWYG e.g. if I set ISO 160, 1/1000 sec and F16 on a dull day I see nothing. Apparently its EVF is connected after the processor. This accounts for the slowness but it means that what I see is what is written to the memory card. It makes accurate metering and focusing a doddle: pan round the scene with spot metering watching the over-exposure zebra pattern and the histogram until Ok and then lock. Then half-press the shutter button and pan the focus spot to where I want it sharp, recompose and then click.

I think the A77's EVF tries to be like a optical viewfinder. If I set ISO 100, 1/1000 sec, F16 on a dull day I still see the scene but the review is black (I hardly ever have to review with the R1 - camera shake?). This attempt for EVF's to emulate optical viewfinders seems to be general these days.

I would like to hear of a camera with about 20-24MP with such a WYSIWYG viewfinder mode.

[Black Pearl]

Must be a quirk with your camera (possibly other Sony models I can't recall) as other EVF equipped cameras I've used show the live exposure......proper ones that is not basic compacts or bridge models.

[inkista]

+1 to Robin's statement. I've never used an EVF that didn't do exposure simulation. Even the one in my X100T's hybrid viewfinder does it. Then again, I've mostly been shooting with SLRs for a while, and love OVFs (my X100T is in OVF mode 90% of the time), so not having it probably wouldn't bug me like it does you.

You sure you didn't accidentally manage to turn exposure simulation off? Page 89 of the manual says you can turn SETTING EFFECT off in the viewfinder, and the bullet point beneath it reads: "When [Setting Effect OFF] is selected, the Live View image in M mode is always displayed with the appropriate brightness." sounds a lot like it also turns off exposure simulation.

[pjbw]

+1 to Robin's statement. I've never used an EVF that didn't do exposure simulation.

Certainly my A77 and other EVFs I have tried do 'exposure simulation'. Even turned off on the A77 however this is nothing like as useful as on the venerable R1. It doesn't do 'simulation'; it actually shows me what I am going to see after I put the memory card into my PC. It is a very remarkable attribute but it does rule out any serious action shots and situations where there are rapid light changes.
Another remarkable thing is its spot autofocus. I have no idea how it does it; I read somewhere that it uses a laser rangefinder which is why the R1 had to be discontinued - not on obviously for portraits! Very unlikely, but its absolute accuracy and ease of use is marvelous compared with the A77.
I think Sony tried an upgrade, the RX10. I thought about it but felt it unlikely that its smaller sensor with nearly twice the pixels would improve on the R1.
I will keep looking; it must be mirrorless though!

[rpcrowe]

I don't really like EVF... Better, I suppose, than having to hold the LCD out away from your face to focus and compose but, IMO, there is nothing like a good through the lens viewfinder...

[Black Pearl]

Certainly my A77 and other EVFs I have tried do 'exposure simulation'. Even turned off on the A77 however this is nothing like as useful as on the venerable R1. It doesn't do 'simulation'; it actually shows me what I am going to see after I put the memory card into my PC. It is a very remarkable attribute but it does rule out any serious action shots and situations where there are rapid light changes.
Another remarkable thing is its spot autofocus. I have no idea how it does it; I read somewhere that it uses a laser rangefinder which is why the R1 had to be discontinued - not on obviously for portraits! Very unlikely, but its absolute accuracy and ease of use is marvelous compared with the A77.
I think Sony tried an upgrade, the RX10. I thought about it but felt it unlikely that its smaller sensor with nearly twice the pixels would improve on the R1.
I will keep looking; it must be mirrorless though!

* You can turn off the multiple AF points on your A77 and have it use just one of them.
* Your A77 isn't mirrorless?

[pjbw]

* You can turn off the multiple AF points on your A77 and have it use just one of them.
* Your A77 isn't mirrorless?

1. AF points: I've done that.
I remember taking a photo of a wet squirrel through a wet window. The R1 gave me the option of auto-focusing on the squirrel, or on a raindrop on the window pane or on the background. I could then adjust the aperture so as to get a raindrop and the squirrel in focus with the background blurred (bokeh?). Ok the composition was rubbish but this is way beyond anything possible with the A77, or I imagine with possibly any modern camera, short of tedious manual focusing?
2. The A77 has a semi-translucent mirror which seemed to me to have advantages over the clanking mirrors on other makes of DSLR. But maybe it has limitations re auto-focusing?
3. epcrowe likes OVF. I dislike being dependent on some programmer in Sony (or Canon or Nikon, etc) 'interpreting' what I see in the OVF mode and writing that version to the memory card. I see some DSLRs now have a preview mode on the screen. Big deal but no good in sunlight (My R1 had its rotatable preview screen in 2005).
Maybe some enterprising manufacturer will get round to putting a preview mode like that on the R1 in their EVF...
"A voice crying in the wilderness".