Sony NEX 7 EVF Gotcha -- doesn't sleep

[tribiq]

Michael wrote this in his NEX 7 rolling review:

But one issue which came to light, so to speak, in my first day of working with the NEX-7 was that with the camera either over my shoulder or around my neck it never goes into sleep mode. The reason is that as the camera is hanging against ones chest or side the eye-detect is constantly being engaged. So, even with timeout set properly it never engages.

The solution would be simple. Just make timeout a function of touching the shutter release, and disengage the eye-detect from activating it. A firmware update should be all that's needed to address this flaw, and I hope that Sony takes the issue to heart – soon. A three hour walk in the woods eats up 70% of battery life after only a dozen shots. That was my clue that there was a problem. For now, unless you're only working on a tripod, my suggestion is to remember to turn the camera on and off with the switch rather than reply on the timeout setting.

The Sony A700 has the same problem.  I reported it to Sony in early 2008 and hoped it would be fixed in a firmware update.  Unfortunately, when the v4 firmware came out later this bug wasn't fixed.  I also posted about this on another forum at about the same time.  Here is the text I gave to Sony back then:

The behavior of the A700 when eyestart is turned off with regards to sleep mode is strange and, I think, faulty.  It causes my battery to drain much faster than it should.  For example, turn eyestart off, set Info.disp.time to 5 sec, and Power save to 1 min because it will be easier to see the problems.

The first problem is that the A700 continues to use the eye sensor and that prevents the camera from going into sleep mode.  While carrying the camera on the neckstrap (around your neck or over your shoulder) the eye sensor will often sense something close by and will keep the camera awake.  When eyestart is turned off then the eye sensor should not be used to keep the camera awake.  The eye sensor can still be used to detect that the eye is close and turn off the LCD, but after the 5 second time has elapsed *even* if something comes near the eye sensor the 1 minute sleep timer (power save) should not get reset and start over.  This behaviour is okay when eyestart is turned on, but when eyestart is turned off the camera shouldn't be ruled by the eye sensor.  Also, even if I hold the camera by the lens very still for 5 seconds to allow the display to go off and start the countdown to go into sleep mode I have found that outside in sunlight the eye sensor sometimes seems to be detecting something (maybe just a passing a shadow) and the LCD will not go off.  By the way, if someone wants to turn off eyestart but keep the LCD on for much longer then they can select a longer time for Info.disp.time and/or Power save.

The second problem is that even if the LCD goes off and 1 minute later the camera does go to sleep it is too easy for it to awaken.  In order to awaken the eye sensor must detect something and the grip sensor needs to be touched.  I walk around and carry my camera a lot for hours at a time (I do foreign travel photography) and because of the weight I usually have the camera strap around my neck and I am holding the camera in one hand to reduce the weight on my neck and to keep the camera from swinging around too much.  I cannot hold the camera with my right hand because it will touch the grip sensor and the camera will awaken.  I am forced to only use my left hand to hold the lens and it gets very tiresome to not be able to switch hands sometimes.  Also, I have noticed that sometimes just a slight brush of my hand on the grip sensor while the camera is hanging from my neck will be enough to awaken it.  With eyestart off the A700 should require a button to be pressed to awaken the camera.

By the way, the A700 designers themselves have set the precedent for ignoring the eye sensor sometimes.  Another bug is that if I hold the camera to my eye and then change the ISO the LCD strangely lights up.  I am looking through the viewfinder and ISO is displayed in the viewfinder.  There is no reason to light up the LCD.  That is a big nuisance in a dark theater or other place to have the LCD light up for no reason.  The eye sensor is ignored which is strange.

I have owned and used several DSLRs from Canon, KM, and Sony.  My Canon 30D did not have an eye sensor and it required a button press to awaken the camera (I usually just did a half-press of the shutter button) and it would go to sleep after the time out without any weird shenanigans like in the A700.  I think that when eyestart is off the A700 should behave the same way.

No doubt Sony will listen to Michael better than me though so I hope Sony does something this time to fix the problem.

http://www.bakubo.com

[Robert55]

Maybe I misunderstand, but shouldn't that be "with eyestart turned on?

second Q: does this only occur when the sensor detects a movement nearby? So in a closed bag this does not happen?

[tribiq]

No, I meant when eyestart is turned off.  The behavior would be annoying, but maybe understandable, if eyestart was turned on.  The problem is that even if eyestart is turned off the A700 has this faulty behavior so I think it is a bug.  I had hoped that after reporting it to Sony and posting on another popular forum about it almost 4 years ago that the v4 firmware would fix it.  It didn't though.  It is very sad to hear from Michael that the NEX 7 all these years later also has the bug.  I imagine Michael can get the ear of Sony though so I hope a NEX 7 firmware update will finally fix this.

[michael]

Given their track record, don't hold your breath.

Michael

[jsparks]

I've never seen a Nex 7 or used an A700, but I have an A900.  Maybe the A700 and Nex 7 work the same way.

On the A900, if you set the menu choice "Ctrl dial lock" to "on", the camera will go to sleep.  With this setting on, to wake up the camera, you need to half press the shutter button.  Once awake, everything works as normal (the control dials are only locked when the camera is asleep).  Once it goes to sleep, you have to hit the shutter button to wake it up.  This is occasionally, but rarely a problem.  I occasionally turn this setting off (mostly if shooting fast moving things where I want to always be ready for a shot), but leave it on otherwise.  The eye sensors are disabled when asleep and the control dials don't change settings on you while walking around with the camera on your shoulder or around your neck.  I find these much greater advantages than the small disadvantage of having to wake the camera manually with the shutter button.

John

[scarriere]

Hmmmm... Perhaps you have never seen a NEX-7 because the camera does not exist yet, at least in the sense that it is available to be seen. Which does raise the interesting issue of why so much space has been expended for a multi-part review of a camera which one Sony salesperson told me "might" be available next spring.

[michael]

Really. Is that what you think?

The camera is real enough, and I as well as other reviewers around the world are working with them every day. You also may have missed that a Sony US Vice President stated last week that shipments would start in January, which is next month.

So, no need to be a smart-ass about it.

And incidentally, salespeople usually are the last to know anything.

Michael

[scarriere]

I'm not trying to be a smartass, but the fact that "you and other reviewers" have used them does not make it "available".

[michael]

Sorry, but you've lost me. Who was it that you're referring to that said that they were available?

The point of providing cameras to professional reviewers before they are available to the public is to generate interest and provide pre-purchase information. If the product gets a good review, then this generates additional awareness and sales. If the reviews are negative, well, then at least they know what needs to be fixed. (Maybe).

Reviews that come out after a product is shipping are of much less interest to people than those of upcoming products.

Michael