Thew new Alpha ranges uses an OLED Viewfinder ?

[wildman]

So I was in my local store today checking out some new bodies as I looking to upgrade from my a200. Initially I was thinking maybe to switch over to canon or nikon, but as I have got a bit sony a-mount glass already I thought maybe upgrading along the sony path would be more economical.

The guy in tthe store said the usual suspect like the 580, 700 ect are discontinued, but sony have released new models A35, A55 and A65. In store they had a 55, so I thought ok i'll give it a go.

I pick up the camera look in the view finder and though wow, thats pretty bright. I think the guy saw my suprise and then proceeded to tell me that this range uses a translucent mirror ? and that the viewfinder is like a mini live view as it uses OLED technology ?

The next tthought that entred my head was no way, thats what I used to have on my bridge camera 5 years ago so that can't be good surely.

Does anyone have one of the new sony's and if so how are you finding the view finder. I played around with the camera in store for about 30 mins or so and I simply couldn't really get used to it. I also got the feeling that the view finder wasn't really giving me a WYSIWYG view as everything seemed unaturally bright compared to what my eye was intereprting

 

[33L]

not my cup of teal either, exactly why i went DSLR from bridge many moons ago. couldnt shoot all day with that one eye on the view finder and the other open to check whats happeing. My head will hurt after 5 mins.
Optical viewfinder any day!

 

[D.P.]

As above, the lack of optical viewfinder has too many downfalls with no real benefit unless you shoot video, in which case you should choose video camera not a DSLR or SLT.

SLTs (translucent mirror cameras like these Sony's) are interesting and have been used before by the likes of Canon in the 1970s. Now a days we have pentile mirror assemblies that are happy to swing out the way at 12FPS with a lifespan of 300,000 exposures or more so the benefits of SLT are largely gone, but the underlying physics dictates that you are sacrificing a lot of other performance aspects such as bright optical viewfinder, exposure to sensor and increased noise, limited light for AF sensors.
For consumer cameras this is not such a big deal, but is not at place in a DSLR really.

 

[Demon]

The SLT EVF's (electronic viewfinders) actually are very interesting.

For example, they are much brighter/ larger then normal APS-C viewfinders, they can show a much better approximation of exposure and depth of field, they can show a mass of lve info such as histogram and not to mention focus peaking etc. Then the electronic shutter mode allows 12fps at a cheap price point.and can be silent. Oh, and they gain up in low light and remain usable.

Of course the SLT has its downsides, as mentioned it robs about half a stop of light, so although sensors are naturally improving, above ISO 3200 comparitively suffers. Saying that, it has lots of Multiframe modes that can more then negate any deficiencies in a lot of cases. The multiframe stuff also allows, proper in camera HDR and Panoramas..

The A65 and A77 have the newer EVFs, even better then the A55. And of course the A77 has on balance won a lot of praise and awards from several mags, it also scores well compared to its peers on DPreview.

I'm waiting to see what Nikon bring out, but the A77 + excellent kit 16-80 f/2.8 lenses is on my list for my next camera.

 

[=XDC=FluphyBunny]

I think if you were to consider any of the sony offerings you would be looking at the A65 / A77. They have had some good reviews but the viewfinder is deffinately try before you buy, panning for fast moving shots been a disadvantage that seems to get mentioned.

Image quality wise at low ISO its as good as any of its competitors, plus you can crop for ever with that 24MB sensor.

I honestly don't know which one I would go with if looking to buy now, but the Sony A65/A77 would be on the list.

 

[wildman]

I think if you were to consider any of the sony offerings you would be looking at the A65 / A77. They have had some good reviews but the viewfinder is deffinately try before you buy, panning for fast moving shots been a disadvantage that seems to get mentioned.

Image quality wise at low ISO its as good as any of its competitors, plus you can crop for ever with that 24MB sensor.

I honestly don't know which one I would go with if looking to buy now, but the Sony A65/A77 would be on the list.

So if the EVF on the 65/75 is better than the junior models then its worth considering to get one of these. However that then makes me stop to think

The A65 is around £650 for the body
The A77 is a grand for the body

for these prices wouldn't it be better to say go for the canon 550D with a decent lens or a 60D body or even a Nikon D90 ?

I haven't had a chance to try the 65 or the 77 yet as my local store had none in stock, but I have had the other 3 in my hands and a Nikon D7000 and a canon 7D. The D7000 and the 7D were really nice ergonomically speaking but I am having a hard time justifying the outlay for them which is why I looked at the Sony A55.

hmmmmm maybe I just like old school things, I am still drawn to that 2nd hand A700 with sony grip they had for 499.

 

[chrismscotland]

I've been a bit wary of an EVF, I've never really like them on the lower end Alpha's and while the add-on EVF for my Olympus EP2 is good its not the same as an OVF.

Very interested in the A65/A77 though as I had 2 A700's before and I'm considering making the move back to a DSLR from my Olympus Pen, will need to see how good these new EVF's really are.

 

[Lunawolfy]

Isn't a big problem of the EVF the lag, if you wanna get a candid moment, you cant sit around waiting for the image to load :/

Optical anyday =]

 

[Reemul]

Isn't a big problem of the EVF the lag, if you wanna get a candid moment, you cant sit around waiting for the image to load :/

Optical anyday =]

Maybe in low light but pretty much no issue at all on the new A65/A77 as far as I am aware.

However opinions of people who have never used them are always worth listening to.

 

[Moorron]

Posted this in the wrong thread earlier.

I have just upgraded from the A230 to the A65. A huge inporvement and thats using my old A230 kit lense so i hope i will see even better results with a new better lense.

The viewfinder for me was better, as it means i could see what i was shooting quicker and also pick up better settings for the shot. Yes it does become slow and grainy in dark rooms but is more clearer (if that makes sense), it also makes those who wear glasses easier to use.

Its not my main hobby so doesnt get used as much as some but i wouldnt hesitate to recomend it as an upgrade. I do think the A77 extra features dont warrant the extra cost, but its upto you what you do with the money in your bank!

Good look.

 

[wildman]

Posted this in the wrong thread earlier.

I have just upgraded from the A230 to the A65. A huge inporvement and thats using my old A230 kit lense so i hope i will see even better results with a new better lense.

The viewfinder for me was better, as it means i could see what i was shooting quicker and also pick up better settings for the shot. Yes it does become slow and grainy in dark rooms but is more clearer (if that makes sense), it also makes those who wear glasses easier to use.

Its not my main hobby so doesnt get used as much as some but i wouldnt hesitate to recomend it as an upgrade. I do think the A77 extra features dont warrant the extra cost, but its upto you what you do with the money in your bank!

Good look.

Good to hear experiences from actual users...

1 question though, does the EVF actually replicate accurately what your eye is seeing ? What worries me is that because it is forcibly bright your eye and the EVF will disagree a lot ? That in turn might lead to you unecessarilly stopping down thinking you might over expose ?

The EVF on the A55 was retina burningly bright when I tried it and it made me uncomfortable as I was always looking up from the EVF then looking back as it was a bit decpetive. Maybe its something you just get used to over time ?

 

[D.P.]

Maybe in low light but pretty much no issue at all on the new A65/A77 as far as I am aware.

However opinions of people who have never used them are always worth listening to.

I've used them in shops quite a few times, especially in airports with several hours to waste.

I would never touch a DSLR (well DSLT) that had a current generation EVF.

Maybe in the distant future the technology will be up to scratch but I don't really see the point. You have a perfect optical viewfinder, a true representation of the real world. That is what makes DSLR a DSLR, take that away and you are basically back at a bridge camera with a larger sensor.

You compromise a lot jut to get rid of the mirror, which really only helps if you are shooting video. In which case buy a video camera.

 

[Demon]

You have a perfect optical viewfinder, a true representation of the real world.

Say what? You do realise that whilst it's looking at the real world through glass, your actual capture images are using a limited dynamic range sensor with it's own 'tone curves' and processed image quality?

OVF's have their own set of pretty obvious limitations

- Small (regarding APS-C sensor size DSLRs)
- Dim under lowish light
- Can't show the limited dynamic range of the sensor accurately either (probably worse in a lot of cases)
- Can't display some of the more meaningful information (focus peaking/histogram)

I'm not saying EVF is perfect or better, but you have to try to be objective and open about these things, I see a lot of benefit from the latest EVF's I've used (A65/A77) as well as the limitations.. To start deriding an EVF bearing camera as not a DSLR and akin to a bridge camera is exceedingly wide of the mark (IMO).

You compromise a lot jut to get rid of the mirror, which really only helps if you are shooting video. In which case buy a video camera.

Don't agree with that either..
just the presentation of a live histogram, or focus peaking overlay, or the fact you can get 10-12fps in a "cheaply", or the fact it can be usable in very low light, or the fact it gives more of an approximation in most situations of the final output, or it can do in-camera HDR, or multishot noise reduction.
The main thing it gives up is just over 1/2 stop of light to achieve all that.. luckily with sensor technology progressing, whilst that does have a comparative difference at ISO3200+, it's not as if it's unusable at high ISO (far from it with PP noise solutions, or the multi-frame in-camera features)..

I do agree that it's an ever improving technology, and whilst I think I can bear it in the newer A65/A77, I do have a balanced list of pros and cons that are balancing out as a credible choice for my next camera. (Albeit I also have OVF DSLR's on there as well).

What's interesting is if Nikon/Canon would adopt such a thing.. Like in-body IS, I can't see them doing it for a while, although Nikon surprised me with their ONE system, which might be a pre-cursor to this kind of thing.

 

[ChazHurst]

When I bought my a580 (last of Sony's full mirror/prism cameras), I tried the a55 and didn't get along with the EVF in that. But that was 1st generation technology.

From what I've read the a65/a77 have vastly improved the design, functionality and performance to come as close as possible to tradition OVF's. They are actually larger and brighter than normal APS-C OVF's, closer to a full frame OVF. I'm not denying they have drawbacks, but that list will only get shorter as the tech progresses.

 

[Moorron]

Im no expert but ive never used the image in the viewfinder to set my shots. I shoot in A or S most of the time and let the cam set the rest. You can also adjust the brightness of the viewfinder if you find its off putting. I feel the only off putting part of the new Alpha series is the light it robs from the main sensor as mentioned above, but for my skillset, experience and cheap lenses it doesnt really annoy me.

Maybe after getting a new fast lense i might notice the effects or if i was using it every day for my job or main hobby which i dont.

I would try them out if you can in a shop or off a friend but i dont feel ive wasted my money on my A65.