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Author Topic: EVF advantages  (Read 18405 times)

douglasf13

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2012, 01:21:00 pm »

According to a friend shooting with th 77, the EVF is a pain with PL filters since it tries to compensate for the brightness change which makes challnging to adjust polarization. Not sure if somebody else experienced that?

As far as OVF go, I personally find them a lot more enjoyabl to use also, but stitching has taught me that I don't need a viewfinder to compose.

I could probably live with a decent EVF, but it would definitely make photography less enjoyable. I do understnd that results are sometimes more important than enjoyment though and the Sony is for sure an intersting offering.

Cheers,
Bernard



Tell your friend to set "live view effect" to OFF.  That should do the trick, I believe.
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douglasf13

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #21 on: October 09, 2012, 01:27:12 pm »

Ultimately, even with today's EVF tech, there are positives to both EVFs an OVFs, and I'd call it a wash.  As an owner of the A900, NEX-7, and Fuji X100, I'd say I'm pretty familiar with all of the current viewfinder styles.  While an OVF may be more enjoyable to look through, do a better job in high DR scenes, and is better for fast motion in daylight, EVFs give a more accurate portrayal of what you'll see on your computer screen (WYSIWYG,) are better in very low light, and are better at manual focusing.

I find the OVF in my A900 and the EVF in my NEX-7 equally useful, but in different ways. I'd have a hard time picking one over the other.  All of that being said, the hybrid viewfinder in my X100 is probably my favorite to use, and I can't say enough about having the option of both in one camera (although the current EVF in the hybrid implementation is lower quality than I'd like.)
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John Camp

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #22 on: October 09, 2012, 06:00:27 pm »

I go back and forth between a Nikon D800e and D3 on one side, and a Panasonic system with both a GX1 and GH2 on the other. I much prefer the Nikon viewfinder, but after reading this thread, I realized I don't know exactly why. When I shoot landscapes or more formal set-ups, I use the Nikon and spend most of my time looking at the scene with both eyes, and use the viewfinder almost exclusively for framing. When I shoot street, I use the Panasonic system with clip-on viewfinder on the G1x, because it's less obtrusive, but street is really where an OVF would help because you can pick up things faster. You do speed things up a little with practice, but, as in most things photographic, it always seems perfection lies just on the other side of the possible -- a really great 100% optical viewfinder on a camera the size of the G1x.  
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E.J. Peiker

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #23 on: October 09, 2012, 08:08:18 pm »

With regard to the A99 review and EVFs - top left for the EVF is only "nose-friendly" to right eye shooters.  it's nearly a non starter for left eye shooters for reasons other than the nose :) or for anyone that has a non-correctable eyesight issue in the right eye.
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douglasf13

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #24 on: October 10, 2012, 02:01:26 pm »

...it always seems perfection lies just on the other side of the possible -- a really great 100% optical viewfinder on a camera the size of the G1x.  

  If you can deal with a fixed lens, the Fuji X100's viewfinder setup is wonderful.  I use the optical viewfinder in everyday and street situations, and I use the EVF for more static things.  It's a great combo.  Of course, the X-Pro1 also offers this with interchangeable lenses, but the camera is larger (similar in size to the M9.)
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douglasf13

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #25 on: October 10, 2012, 02:04:11 pm »

With regard to the A99 review and EVFs - top left for the EVF is only "nose-friendly" to right eye shooters.  it's nearly a non starter for left eye shooters for reasons other than the nose :) or for anyone that has a non-correctable eyesight issue in the right eye.

I don't really think so.  A viewfinder in the center of the camera causes issues for both left and right eyed shooters.  A viewfinder on the top left saves right eyed shooters, but left eyed shooters unfortunately have to deal with LCD smudges and nose interference in both viewfinder locations...unless someone somehow makes a viewfinder on the right side of the camera.   :D
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ripgriffith

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #26 on: October 10, 2012, 04:53:15 pm »

I don't really think so.  A viewfinder in the center of the camera causes issues for both left and right eyed shooters.  A viewfinder on the top left saves right eyed shooters, but left eyed shooters unfortunately have to deal with LCD smudges and nose interference in both viewfinder locations...unless someone somehow makes a viewfinder on the right side of the camera.   :D
Even though I am left-eyed, I do understand why most VF cameras, whether optical or electronic, have the finder on the left side of the camera: over 80% of the general population are right-eyed (I'm making the assumption that a similar percentage of photographers are, also), so it would be foolish to cater to less than 20% of your market.  At least with my Sony A65, I can close the LCD so as not to deal with nose-smudges.
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Robert Roaldi

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #27 on: October 11, 2012, 07:30:17 am »

I don't often see a mention of an advantage of EVF in B&W photography. If you set the camera to B&W, the EVF (or LCD) shows you a B&W version of the scene, but you can still capture as RAW so you can tweak the RGB components in post as usual.
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Rob C

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #28 on: October 11, 2012, 09:12:49 am »

I don't really think so. A viewfinder in the center of the camera causes issues for both left and right eyed shooters.  A viewfinder on the top left saves right eyed shooters, but left eyed shooters unfortunately have to deal with LCD smudges and nose interference in both viewfinder locations...unless someone somehow makes a viewfinder on the right side of the camera.   :D



I'm glad I didn't know that all my professional life!

No wonder that I now major on the cellpix device...

Rob C

WaitingForAnR10

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #29 on: October 16, 2012, 12:27:52 pm »

I'd like to throw in a big disadvantage for me with EVFs, and that is trying to focus a non-native lens.  I have an R adapter for my Panasonic G2, and trying to use the EVF to get a sharp focus is an exercise in frustration.  The resolution simply isn't enough to determine where the exact focus point is.  With a native lens, the G2 can be made to switch into a 5x display mode, so you have a much better idea of sharpness, but when you rotate the focus ring on an R lens, it can't detect that, and you can't simply switch it into magnification mode through the menu.

Oh, and I was using the 100mm f/2.8 APO macro, so I'm reasonably certain any fuzziness wasn't from the lens.   ;D
« Last Edit: October 16, 2012, 12:34:04 pm by WaitingForAnR10 »
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ErikKaffehr

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #30 on: October 16, 2012, 12:34:05 pm »

Hi,

The Sony cameras have a button that activates magnified view and it can be moved around with the joystick. It works fine. On the Sony there is also peaking, although I don't think it is precise enough.

Using magnified view is a bit slow but makes for exact focusing.

Best regards
Erik


I'd like to throw in a big disadvantage for me with EVFs, and that is trying to focus a non-native lens.  I have an R adapter for my Panasonic G2, and trying to use the EVF to get a sharp focus is an exercise in frustration.  The resolution simply isn't enough to determine where the exact focus point is.  With a native lens, the G2 can be made to switch into a 5x display mode, so you have a much better idea of sharpness, but when you rotate the focus ring on an R lens, it can't detect that, and you can't simply switch it into magnification mode through the menu.

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Erik Kaffehr
 

MarkL

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #31 on: October 16, 2012, 12:39:33 pm »

Hi,

The Sony cameras have a button that activates magnified view and it can be moved around with the joystick. It works fine. On the Sony there is also peaking, although I don't think it is precise enough.

Using magnified view is a bit slow but makes for exact focusing.

Does it show you the 'wide open' feed in bright light? The X100 has this but it is useless in bright light since the lens stops down so that the EVF doesn't wash out which means you end up trying to critically focus an f/2 shot but with the lens at f/11 or something.
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deejjjaaaa

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #32 on: October 16, 2012, 12:45:58 pm »

Does it show you the 'wide open' feed in bright light? The X100 has this but it is useless in bright light since the lens stops down so that the EVF doesn't wash out which means you end up trying to critically focus an f/2 shot but with the lens at f/11 or something.
and somehow CDAF does not miss in such conditions even @ 1.4... so EVF is only necessary for framing.
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deejjjaaaa

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #33 on: October 16, 2012, 01:07:59 pm »

and you can't simply switch it into magnification mode through the menu.

hmmm... the manual (for G2) says

"MF ASSIST Even without rotating the focus ring, the MF assist can be displayed with the following operations" and instruction follows (page 83+).
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WaitingForAnR10

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #34 on: October 16, 2012, 01:36:01 pm »

hmmm... the manual (for G2) says

"MF ASSIST Even without rotating the focus ring, the MF assist can be displayed with the following operations" and instruction follows (page 83+).

Hmmm.  That wasn't obvious from the camera's menu.  I'll check the manual.

Thanks.

Ah!  Got it.  You have to use the touch panel to indicate the point of focus and activate the 5x magnification.  I normally run with the panel reversed to protect the screen, and use the EVF so I don't need glasses to see the panel.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2012, 05:32:04 pm by WaitingForAnR10 »
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deejjjaaaa

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #35 on: October 16, 2012, 01:39:06 pm »

Hmmm.  That wasn't obvious from the camera's menu.  I'll check the manual.

Thanks.


Panasonic manuals are not the very well written indeed.
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Isaac

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #36 on: October 16, 2012, 02:16:50 pm »

... the lens stops down so that the EVF doesn't wash out which means you end up trying to critically focus an f/2 shot but with the lens at f/11 or something.

Sony SLT-A35 manual-mode: set f/2 and lengthen the exposure to 30 seconds and the EVF will show white; set f/22 and shorten the exposure to 1/4000 second and the EVF will show black(ish).
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ErikKaffehr

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #37 on: October 16, 2012, 02:38:09 pm »

Now, I have not seen any problem with that. I'm pretty sure it's full open. I just checked, it's full open.

Best regards
Erik


Does it show you the 'wide open' feed in bright light? The X100 has this but it is useless in bright light since the lens stops down so that the EVF doesn't wash out which means you end up trying to critically focus an f/2 shot but with the lens at f/11 or something.
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Erik Kaffehr
 

deejjjaaaa

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #38 on: October 16, 2012, 03:18:27 pm »

Now, I have not seen any problem with that. I'm pretty sure it's full open. I just checked, it's full open.

Best regards
Erik



may be it is just some specifics of Fuji's implementation in X100...
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grzybu

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Re: EVF advantages
« Reply #39 on: October 17, 2012, 04:31:11 am »

Hmmm.  That wasn't obvious from the camera's menu.  I'll check the manual.

Thanks.

Ah!  Got it.  You have to use the touch panel to indicate the point of focus and activate the 5x magnification.  I normally run with the panel reversed to protect the screen, and use the EVF so I don't need glasses to see the panel.


I don't know how it's in G2 but in GH2 I just have to press back wheel to activate magnified mode.
In G1 it required to press two buttons (left arrow and ok)
With single button press it's really easy to set the focus correct.
It will be even better with G3 like mode when you can see whole frame with magnified window.
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