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EVF on NEX 6 hard to use
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 12:45 am    Post subject: EVF on NEX 6 hard to use Reply with quote

When comparing my OMD EM5 and my Sony Nex 6 EVF, I find the Sony EVF to be significantly harder to use. It seems small and squinty and I find that stray light gets in all the time. It may be that it's right off to the left and I find myself squinting a lot harder? The OMD has it right in the middle and I can easily rest my other eye against the body. It makes manual focussing with the Nex a little bit more painful than it should be with old lenses.

Does anyone else find the EVF a bit suboptimal? Coming from the OMD, I find it certainly less comfortable on the Sony. Is there any third party eyepiece I can get to make it more comfortable?

As much as I would like to use the liveview during the day outside, we get a lot of harsh bright light here in Australia and the LCD screen is washed out most of the time, even on the brightest settings.

Steve


PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a NEX 7 and its EVF is in the same location. Probably my biggest complaint with my NEX 7 -- and I actually have few -- is the EVF. In bright sun it is almost unusable because it isn't bright enough. There's lots of light that leaks in around the edges and it just washes out the screen, and I can't see anything. But that's not the worst. I really REALLY hate the location. I have a few decades experience shooting fast action events like auto races and air shows and I find it almost impossible to follow the action because of the position of the finder. I'm used to shooting with both eyes open. I follow the action with my other eye, keeping the lens trained in the general area, and I center the action and confirm focus with my camera eye. But because of the EVF's position, everything is off and I have an extremely difficult time centering the action in the viewfinder. It's enormously frustrating. What I've done to counter this problem is I've bought a hood-style viewer, like the Hoodman brand rubber hood with eyepiece. It attaches directly to the exterior screen, and the eyepiece is corrected properly so I can view the sceen from a few inches away. Plus the eyepiece has a wrap-around shroud that hugs the contours of my eye and eliminates stray light from entering the viewing area. I haven't tried it out yet in an action situation but I think it will take care of the problem because my eye will be centered behind the lens again, where it needs to be in order for me to track a subject properly.

The one I bought is similar to this one:

Click here to see on Ebay

Stay away from the cheap ones, though. They're junk and a waste of money. I spent about $40 on mine -- much cheaper than a Hoodman, but of equivalent quality, I feel. Mine is held in place by a set of very strong magnets.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 10:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've never had an issues with it. Indeed I think I prefer it to the middle position used in my Panasonics (it helps keep my nose of the screen)
It may depend on which eye you use but it doesn't sound like it from your description. (I use my right)


PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 7:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I completely agree. Light gets into the sides easily and washes out the EVF screen so as to make it difficult to use when any fine focus work is needed. As nice as the high quality EVF is, the placement and ergonomics are woeful. MY other pet peeve is the focus magnify function. I have mine mapped to the AEL button, which works well, but the zoom level is simply not enough. I have to push my thumb all the way down to the bottom to feel for a flat button to increase the zoom level. And there's no way of making 9.6x the default zoom level either. Just poor design really. The EM5 is so much easier to use in this department, except that the shutter in mine has developed the black frame problem in the past 6 months where at shutter speeds over 1/2000 it tends to produce black frames when first turned on. Kind of annoying.

I actually have the hood that you link to. It sits on my Nex 5, but quite honestly, it looks ridiculous and is just another thing to carry around in the bag. Despite this, it does work really well ! I may have to swallow my pride on this one.

I did actually order a Hoodman copy from China for the eyepiece. It sits out like a small cup, and I'm hoping it will block out the stray light and make it more usable. At this point, the Nex 6, while awesome in many ways, is not so awesome for manual focus lenses. I know people will go on about focus peaking, but with the LCD washed out in our Aussie sun light, and the focus peaking not exactly super accurate, I prefer focus magnify.

Steve


cooltouch wrote:
I have a NEX 7 and its EVF is in the same location. Probably my biggest complaint with my NEX 7 -- and I actually have few -- is the EVF. In bright sun it is almost unusable because it isn't bright enough. There's lots of light that leaks in around the edges and it just washes out the screen, and I can't see anything. But that's not the worst. I really REALLY hate the location. I have a few decades experience shooting fast action events like auto races and air shows and I find it almost impossible to follow the action because of the position of the finder. I'm used to shooting with both eyes open. I follow the action with my other eye, keeping the lens trained in the general area, and I center the action and confirm focus with my camera eye. But because of the EVF's position, everything is off and I have an extremely difficult time centering the action in the viewfinder. It's enormously frustrating. What I've done to counter this problem is I've bought a hood-style viewer, like the Hoodman brand rubber hood with eyepiece. It attaches directly to the exterior screen, and the eyepiece is corrected properly so I can view the sceen from a few inches away. Plus the eyepiece has a wrap-around shroud that hugs the contours of my eye and eliminates stray light from entering the viewing area. I haven't tried it out yet in an action situation but I think it will take care of the problem because my eye will be centered behind the lens again, where it needs to be in order for me to track a subject properly.

The one I bought is similar to this one:

Click here to see on Ebay

Stay away from the cheap ones, though. They're junk and a waste of money. I spent about $40 on mine -- much cheaper than a Hoodman, but of equivalent quality, I feel. Mine is held in place by a set of very strong magnets.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 7:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My right eye, so my left is squinted hard against the sunlight. I'm not sure where you are, but harsh sunlight is typical in Australia. It washes out the back LCD and gets into the sides of the EVF to make it a pain to use properly. This really only applies when using manual focus lenses where I need critical focus obviously. My EM5 on the other hand? I could stare into that EVF for a full five minutes and not have tired eyes and see every little focus point easily.

DConvert wrote:
I've never had an issues with it. Indeed I think I prefer it to the middle position used in my Panasonics (it helps keep my nose of the screen)
It may depend on which eye you use but it doesn't sound like it from your description. (I use my right)


PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 8:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

secludedsea wrote:
My right eye, so my left is squinted hard against the sunlight. I'm not sure where you are, but harsh sunlight is typical in Australia.

I'm in the UK so harsh sunlight is somewhat more of a rareity!


PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 6:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

secludedsea wrote:
My right eye, so my left is squinted hard against the sunlight. I'm not sure where you are, but harsh sunlight is typical in Australia.


I'm in Texas, and I'll wager our sunlight down here is every bit as bright as yours.

That hood I gave the eBay link to -- one of the aspects of it that allow it -- and hoods like it -- to work well in strong sunlight is that wrap-around shroud for the eyepiece. It does a decent job of sealing off exterior light from view and whether you prefer focus peaking or zooming in for better focusing, it will help. This hood has diopter correction so you can dial it in for your needs if you wear glasses. It has four very strong magnets and a steel frame that permanently mounts to your camera's screen. It will not slide off easily. Here's a photo of the one I bought:



If you can't find it on eBay, note the web address on the hood.


PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2019 2:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's cool. It's not a sunlight competition Smile I'm just aware that it's not as harsh in some other parts of the world. It makes the back LCD pretty much redundant on most occasions when I'd want to use it.

Yes, I have a similar hood with corrective lens and magnets for the Nex 5 (different tripod screw placement so I'd need to get another one). It works well, but I don't especially like the look of it on the camera and it's just an extra thing to carry in the bag. I ordered an eyecup that slots onto the existing eyepiece instead. It has the same hood that blocks out stray light. Hoping that brings much needed functionality to it.

Steve


cooltouch wrote:
secludedsea wrote:
My right eye, so my left is squinted hard against the sunlight. I'm not sure where you are, but harsh sunlight is typical in Australia.


I'm in Texas, and I'll wager our sunlight down here is every bit as bright as yours.

That hood I gave the eBay link to -- one of the aspects of it that allow it -- and hoods like it -- to work well in strong sunlight is that wrap-around shroud for the eyepiece. It does a decent job of sealing off exterior light from view and whether you prefer focus peaking or zooming in for better focusing, it will help. This hood has diopter correction so you can dial it in for your needs if you wear glasses. It has four very strong magnets and a steel frame that permanently mounts to your camera's screen. It will not slide off easily. Here's a photo of the one I bought:



If you can't find it on eBay, note the web address on the hood.


PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2019 8:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think the NEX 6 has a better EVF than the NEX 7, doesn't it? One of the things I don't care for, when I can see things in it, is the NEX 7 EVF doesn't have enough resolution to show when something is sharply in focus. So I always end up using the LCD screen, and if it's a brighly lit day, then frustration quickly sets in.

So if the NEX 6's EVF is better, then perhaps a good eyecup is all you'll need. I'd be curious to learn if the off-center EVF bothers you with fast moving subjects as it does with me. That was the whole point for me getting the LCD hood, so my vision would be on axis with the lens.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 4:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a Sony NEX 7 and a Sony NEX F3 which though lower end in build quality and not having an inbuilt EVF does take the top mounted Sony OLED Tru Finder. I would say without a doubt that the OLED Tru Finder is a better finder than that found on the Sony NEX 7. IMHO others are correct in saying that the NEX 7's finder somehow is lacking and I certainly struggle to use it for critical focusing. I often find that it is either too contrasty or too dark for really critical work. While focus peaking helps it never seems accurate enough to designate the precise point of maximum focus and requires me to also enlarge the image in order to be able to better view it for final focusing. This slows the whole process down and rather makes it a waste of time given that images tend to get missed. This is something of a disappointment. In other respects I like the NEX 7 (and I presume would like the NEX 6 as well) but Sony has "let the side down" in this respect for those like me who enjoy using vintage lenses on these otherwise very good cameras. There is one other respect in which the Sony NEX 7 is a lesser camera too - the larger number of pixels squeezed into the same sensor real estate means that the high ISO performance is not quite so good notwithstanding any firmware or software improvements made with this camera.

I will not go down the path of installing a rear LCD shade on these cameras as I do not much like them and much prefer to use an EVF even with its deficiencies. (If I did not wish to use an EVF I would not have bought an NEX 7).


PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 9:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of the reasons why I bought my NEX 7 was because of the EVF. I just considered it a requirement. But now that I've had it for some time, I find I almost never use it. The LCD is so much better, plus it's fairly accurate when I zoom in all the way, which allows me to adjust critical focus.

But I cannot emphasize strongly enough how frustrated I've become trying to use that camera at events such as auto and motorcycle races and airshows. I've been shooting at these events for over 35 years and I've never had such problems as I have with the NEX. Its dimness in strong sunlight is part of the problem, but actually a fairly minor one. My ability to track moving subjects using that off-center finder is what I find so frustrating. Thus my reason for buying the above LCD viewfinder. I'm not gonna know for sure until I can attend a race or an airshow, though. But I'm confident this will take care of the problem. If it doesn't, then I am totally clueless as to what is causing this. I've been doing this for too long to suspect my technique, especially when I don't have any problem at all capturing images at these events when using film SLRs or my DSLR.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a quick update: I received the JJC eyecup in the mail today. I popped the old eyecup off the NEX 6 and installed the new one. The new one is rigid plastic so it needs to be snapped into place, which is not ideal but it worked OK. I went outside on a cloudy day with very diffuse light where the normal eyepiece and the EVF would struggle because of too much stray light. Well, I can say that after a few photos with the Porst 55mm 1.4, even at 1.4, the eyecup is a world better!! I can actually see the EVF now and I can get good focus even at zoom 4.8x, where I struggled before.

This is the product I got: https://www.amazon.com/JJC-ES-A6300-Eyepiece-Viewfinder-FDA-EP10/dp/B0719B79P7

It suddenly turns the NEX 6 into a more compelling camera for my own use with old lenses. I dreaded having to manual focus with it before, but this seems to have done the trick and fixed the issue. More testing required obviously, but no complaints so far.

Steve

cooltouch wrote:
One of the reasons why I bought my NEX 7 was because of the EVF. I just considered it a requirement. But now that I've had it for some time, I find I almost never use it. The LCD is so much better, plus it's fairly accurate when I zoom in all the way, which allows me to adjust critical focus.

But I cannot emphasize strongly enough how frustrated I've become trying to use that camera at events such as auto and motorcycle races and airshows. I've been shooting at these events for over 35 years and I've never had such problems as I have with the NEX. Its dimness in strong sunlight is part of the problem, but actually a fairly minor one. My ability to track moving subjects using that off-center finder is what I find so frustrating. Thus my reason for buying the above LCD viewfinder. I'm not gonna know for sure until I can attend a race or an airshow, though. But I'm confident this will take care of the problem. If it doesn't, then I am totally clueless as to what is causing this. I've been doing this for too long to suspect my technique, especially when I don't have any problem at all capturing images at these events when using film SLRs or my DSLR.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2019 6:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think the problem is that the EVF is a bit of an afterthought for Sony on these cameras. It's a feature to sell rather than something to make using it easier. That said, if you're only using auto focus lenses, it's probably adequate enough even with the stray light hitting the small screen from the sides.

I can't see much at all on the rear LCD on a sunny day TBH. That makes it next to useless unless I'm inside or in dim or no light. I rather prefer the EVF on the OMD EM5 anyway, even though it lacks some resolution. Olympus actually put some thought into the design, whereas Sony love to cram in technology and features to make something desirable to people really into all the bells and whistles.

Of course, I truly doubt that vintage lenses users are Sony's target market anyway!

Steve


yoyomaoz wrote:
I have a Sony NEX 7 and a Sony NEX F3 which though lower end in build quality and not having an inbuilt EVF does take the top mounted Sony OLED Tru Finder. I would say without a doubt that the OLED Tru Finder is a better finder than that found on the Sony NEX 7. IMHO others are correct in saying that the NEX 7's finder somehow is lacking and I certainly struggle to use it for critical focusing. I often find that it is either too contrasty or too dark for really critical work. While focus peaking helps it never seems accurate enough to designate the precise point of maximum focus and requires me to also enlarge the image in order to be able to better view it for final focusing. This slows the whole process down and rather makes it a waste of time given that images tend to get missed. This is something of a disappointment. In other respects I like the NEX 7 (and I presume would like the NEX 6 as well) but Sony has "let the side down" in this respect for those like me who enjoy using vintage lenses on these otherwise very good cameras. There is one other respect in which the Sony NEX 7 is a lesser camera too - the larger number of pixels squeezed into the same sensor real estate means that the high ISO performance is not quite so good notwithstanding any firmware or software improvements made with this camera.

I will not go down the path of installing a rear LCD shade on these cameras as I do not much like them and much prefer to use an EVF even with its deficiencies. (If I did not wish to use an EVF I would not have bought an NEX 7).