How My Shooting Has Changed With EVF
So, I’ve been the proud and fortunate owner of the Sony Alpha A77 for a few months now. Like many, one of my primary concerns with the camera was the EVF, or electronic view finder. Like so many, I was concerned about image quality, response speed, accuracy of colors and exposure, etc. etc. The list of fears went on and on.
8mm Shot of Brisbane Marina
My Vote: EVF preferred over OVF
My impressions of the EVF thus far is that it is superior to the A700 optical viewfinder, which already, was brighter and larger than most APS-C DSLR optical viewfinders, bested by the A900′s full frame optical viewfinder. When I say superior, I am referring to the following:
Accuracy of composition
- With an EVF, you get 100% of the framed shot. With the A700, as great as it was, you would always end up with a mysterious border of a few pixels. Not enough to spoil most compositions, but leaves the door open to distracting elements getting in the shot, which you had thought were composed out.
Accuracy of exposure
- The EVF does what the OVF can’t: give you a prediction of how your exposed shot will look. At 1/800th of a second, at 8 seconds, or at 18 seconds… darkness comes to life with an EVF. It isn’t perfect, no. But then again, neither is the OVF.
What most people complain about, however, are the following:
Refresh rate of the EVF
- Yes, while the refresh rate is amazing, it isn’t so fast that you don’t notice pan lag or other factors. Physics is on OVF’s side here.
Blackout during shooting
- True. Shoot sequential at slower speeds, and you will see screen blackout. If you do image review, you will get blackout and a flicker of the last image you shot. I turn off image review and shoot at 5fps, since 3fps will result in extended blackouts. However, blackouts were present with OVF(s), so this is really more an exchange than a new issue.
Noisey/Grainy/Color casts
- You have simply replaced a view that was too dark to see anything in with one that is grainy and color casted because of gain amplification. I consider this to be an exchange of faults as well.
Using The Back LCD More Than Viewfinder EVF
Red Tailed Hawk - Calusa Nature Center, Florida
While most people are feverishly debating the EVF, I have found that I rarely ever use it, save when it is very bright out. Most of the time, I am composing and shooting using the articulated LCD screen on the back. Why? For several reasons:
Ergonomics
- Leaning forward to squint through an eyepiece causes strain on your lower back, shoulders, and neck. The squinting tires out muscles in your face and can trigger a migraine/tension headache. All of which I’ve experienced when shooting with the A700 and before. I experienced it with the A77 when I first started using it and the EVF exclusively. Then, I started to use the back LCD display more and more. A funny thing happened: my back stopped hurting, my headaches went away, and my neck/shoulders didn’t feel like I’d been carrying buckets of water all day. The screen moved to suite me, not the other way around. This is a huge win for the health of the photographer.
Larger Image
- As highly detailed as the EVF is, it is still all squished into a tiny stamp sized display. Contrast this to the larger back LCD display, which you can actually examine at arms length. You can zoom in and make out what details you need to make out. Couple this with the fact that when shooting raw/etc, you are looking at a rez’d down JPEG preview… I realized that I should use the display for reviewing composure, exposure, and focus. All else is better done on laptop.
Convenience
- Want to shoot from hip level, flip screen up. Want to shoot around the corner, just do it and compose against the back image. Want to shoot sideways from hip, flip/half rotate screen, done. No need to strain to get your face into the camera and get oil on the screen, just to look through the eyepiece.
Something About A Dead Horse
8mm Long Exposure
People are STILL arguing the OVF vs EVF issue. It reminds me strongly of the original Film vs Digital debate that was raging back in 2000. That was a pointless argument because the natural progression of things pointed to digital, not to new film emulsions. Just as today, as people need to factor in more information as well as ergonomics requirements, an electronic display makes more sense.
The only thing I would change with the A77′s setup is to have made the LCD display on the back the high resolution display(OLED/retina display). It would have increased the wow factor, improved ergonomics, and increased battery life(OLED uses less power than LCD). I hope they decide to do that with the A99 when it comes out.
As far as I’m concerned, they can do away with the viewfinder at the top of the camera. Or make it an optional module. As it stands, I’m interested in getting an HDMI monitor/display for use with the camera. The only downside is the mini HDMI socket seems kinda weak. So would need a way to shore that up. Yes, I hooked up the HDMI output from the camera to a large flatscreen TV. It was awesome! A high refresh rate TV benefits from it.
Conclusion
In the end, what works best for people depends largely on what they shoot and how they prefer to shoot. Lag in an EVF could mean missed shots. If people do all their composing/focusing/color tweaking/etc. in-camera or need to connect through the viewfinder optically, then an EVF is a non-starter as well. But for the majority of people out there, I believe the EVF/LCD display on the camera is a better option for composing/shooting. It is, in my mind, a more comfortable and less strain inducing way to shoot. I love my A77. I enjoy shooting with it more than I did the A700, and that is saying something, since I loved shooting with the A700. No, it’s not perfect. There are things that need fixing. However, it is a great camera that reflects Sony incorporating great ideas and innovations into a great product. When the A99 comes out, offering full frame SLT with an improved EVF, I will be tempted. But then again, maybe I can buy it used from someone who decides it just isn’t the right camera for them. :)
Related Posts
This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 12:51 am. It is filed under Commentary and tagged with a77, articulated lcd, composing, discussion, evf, ovf, slt.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
How My Shooting Has Changed With EVF
So, I’ve been the proud and fortunate owner of the Sony Alpha A77 for a few months now. Like many, one of my primary concerns with the camera was the EVF, or electronic view finder. Like so many, I was concerned about image quality, response speed, accuracy of colors and exposure, etc. etc. The list of fears went on and on.
8mm Shot of Brisbane Marina
My Vote: EVF preferred over OVF
My impressions of the EVF thus far is that it is superior to the A700 optical viewfinder, which already, was brighter and larger than most APS-C DSLR optical viewfinders, bested by the A900′s full frame optical viewfinder. When I say superior, I am referring to the following:
Accuracy of composition
Accuracy of exposure
What most people complain about, however, are the following:
Refresh rate of the EVF
Blackout during shooting
Noisey/Grainy/Color casts
Using The Back LCD More Than Viewfinder EVF
Red Tailed Hawk - Calusa Nature Center, Florida
While most people are feverishly debating the EVF, I have found that I rarely ever use it, save when it is very bright out. Most of the time, I am composing and shooting using the articulated LCD screen on the back. Why? For several reasons:
Ergonomics
Larger Image
Convenience
Something About A Dead Horse
8mm Long Exposure
People are STILL arguing the OVF vs EVF issue. It reminds me strongly of the original Film vs Digital debate that was raging back in 2000. That was a pointless argument because the natural progression of things pointed to digital, not to new film emulsions. Just as today, as people need to factor in more information as well as ergonomics requirements, an electronic display makes more sense.
The only thing I would change with the A77′s setup is to have made the LCD display on the back the high resolution display(OLED/retina display). It would have increased the wow factor, improved ergonomics, and increased battery life(OLED uses less power than LCD). I hope they decide to do that with the A99 when it comes out.
As far as I’m concerned, they can do away with the viewfinder at the top of the camera. Or make it an optional module. As it stands, I’m interested in getting an HDMI monitor/display for use with the camera. The only downside is the mini HDMI socket seems kinda weak. So would need a way to shore that up. Yes, I hooked up the HDMI output from the camera to a large flatscreen TV. It was awesome! A high refresh rate TV benefits from it.
Conclusion
In the end, what works best for people depends largely on what they shoot and how they prefer to shoot. Lag in an EVF could mean missed shots. If people do all their composing/focusing/color tweaking/etc. in-camera or need to connect through the viewfinder optically, then an EVF is a non-starter as well. But for the majority of people out there, I believe the EVF/LCD display on the camera is a better option for composing/shooting. It is, in my mind, a more comfortable and less strain inducing way to shoot. I love my A77. I enjoy shooting with it more than I did the A700, and that is saying something, since I loved shooting with the A700. No, it’s not perfect. There are things that need fixing. However, it is a great camera that reflects Sony incorporating great ideas and innovations into a great product. When the A99 comes out, offering full frame SLT with an improved EVF, I will be tempted. But then again, maybe I can buy it used from someone who decides it just isn’t the right camera for them. :)
Related Posts
This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 12:51 am. It is filed under Commentary and tagged with a77, articulated lcd, composing, discussion, evf, ovf, slt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.