low light EVF

Hey All,

I've posted some dissatisfaction with the EVF on this board and I was labeled as negative, a troll, told to quit whining and sell my camera. Well I have another observation

The big argument for the EVF is how great it is in low light. See the scene below.

This was an hour after sunset. The moon was half full and bright in the sky, you can see from the shadow on the tree. I could plainly see the scene with my eyes although darker than what is pictured.

So I pulled out my trusty A77 with WYSIWYG EVF and great low light functionality and I could see... absolutely nothing, black noise. Ramped up the iso, aperture wide open, nada. Back screen showed the same.

I've done this type of photography quite a bit with my 580 and while admittedly you wouldn't see much through the OVF, in this light I know I could get a pretty decent framing, FCLV would let me see enough to at least focus on a star.

A77… set lens to infinity, point in the general direction... shoot. By the time I was done messing with the ever so responsive A77 the wind had picked up and ruined the shot anyway.

Although the sigma 10-20 is certainly not the ideal lens for this, the result seems noisy. The trees are about 80 feet tall and I needed it. You need to ramp up iso on these shots to avoid star trails. The image is from RAW though lightroom no processing.

So honestly, what am I doing wrong?

Cheers,

Pierre

You may want to spend a minute or two reading the user's manual....
Turn off live view....

Nice shot by the way

The OP stated that he was using the a77, which is limited to only live view operation. Turning off live view would mean turning off the camera.

Jeandphoto said:

You may want to spend a minute or two reading the user's manual....
Turn off live view....

Click to expand...

That said, I'm puzzled at why there would be any difference between the a77 and the a580 in live view mode. I'm guessing that it wasn't a dumb lens cap issue or something like that, since he was able to take a picture.

If you were in manual exposure mode, was the a77's live view feed black because you were underexposing? In other words, would turning the mode dial to an automatic exposure mode (like P,A,S) give you a usable preview? In P, A, or S mode, does increasing the exposure compensation improve things?

To save a few seconds:
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/SLT-A77_A77V.pdf

On the bottom of page 89 it says:

Jeandphoto said:

MENU button t 2 t [Live View Display] t [Setting Effect OFF]"

When [Setting Effect OFF] is selected, the Live View image in M mode is always displayed with the appropriate brightness

Click to expand...

I think this is what a few people have referred to.

As to having ruined the shot? Perhaps in full size, but on the site it at least made me smile. So, thank you. :]

Note that I am not an A77 owner, just an interested third party.

That's a good question since with my a65 dark scenes are brighter in the EVF than reality, if a bit grainy.
--
Tom

Look at the picture, not the pixels

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63683676@N07/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25301400@N00/

Hey Chlam,

I was in manual, aperture wide open tried shutter all the way to bulb. I did not think to try different modes I will give that a shot next time.

Thanks.

Hey thanks for the compliment, you should see them in real life, very impressive.

I did actually try that effect setting, had no effect.

Yes this is usually the case for me as well, but when it gets dark, I think the OVF still has the advantage.

Very interesting "discovery". Ever since I sold my A55 (jumped to Canon 7D) I have been reading various A77 posts. I am glad I didn't take the gamle with A77 but...I remember my previous A55 allow me to gain up LCD/EVF at night (a bit grainy though). Perhaps you should try aperture priority and let camera pick up shutter speed and see what happens.

PJR_68 said:

Yes this is usually the case for me as well, but when it gets dark, I think the OVF still has the advantage.

Click to expand...

No it doesn't. In dark conditions when compared side by side with my old A100 I could still see an image in the viewfinder when I saw nothing but darkness in the OVF.

--
Tom

Look at the picture, not the pixels

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63683676@N07/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25301400@N00/

tbcass said:

In dark conditions when compared side by side with my old A100 I could still see an image in the viewfinder when I saw nothing but darkness in the OVF.

Click to expand...

This is my experience with the A77 as well. Using the EVF in low light, the scene seems brighter and it's easier to compose my shot. However, I'm not sure whether this is really all that useful. I never shoot in complete darkness. And the EVF does give you that extremely noisy view that resembles night-vision goggles. At the moment I simply accept this as the way the A77's EVF works.

Will

OVF in the dark is better HAHA! Learn to use your camera...

PJR_68 said:

Yes this is usually the case for me as well, but when it gets dark, I think the OVF still has the advantage.

Click to expand...

PJR_68 said:

I did actually try that effect setting, had no effect.

Click to expand...

If you are in manual and you turn off Live View Effect you will see as well or better than with the A700. I just tried both in my darkened studio and I could barely see through the OVF of the A77 then I tried with my A77 and could see the same or a little better with it, although grainy.

Nice answer. Sorry buddy but you're a complete looser who brings absolutely nothing to this forum except RAW RAW SONY IS GREAT.

I have yet to see any photography from you or conversations about photography, your stupid review threads turn into nothing but shitshows. Cameras are for taking pictures, not reading reviews about.

I have been doing photography for years, show a scene that I was photographing, explain what I saw. You come back with nothing useful at all, worst actually, an insult.

The FACT is in moonlight, the EVF is a dark pile of noise. OVF at least allowed me to see the outline of the trees to frame a shot, you know, that whole taking pictures thing. For those who say differently. I say maybe actually go try it in the same conditions before saying I am wrong.

If I am an idiot as you imply and don't know what I am doing then please enlighten me with your infinite knowledge about the camera.

Otherwise... Get a life.

Sorry for this everyone else but this guy is such a twit.

Pierre

Thanks for the reply, I did try that setting.

I think there is quite a difference being outside in moonlight with a starry sky back drop then in a dark room.

PJR_68 said:

Thanks for the reply, I did try that setting.

I think there is quite a difference being outside in moonlight with a starry sky back drop then in a dark room.

Click to expand...

Maybe you are right. I have never tried nor desired to take photos in those conditions unless I was actually taking pictures of the Moon so the next time there is a clear moon lit night I'll take a look. Apparently none of the other responders have either. As I said, it's nothing I'm interested in photographing but if you say the EVF is no good for that I'll believe you unless I try and find differently.

--
Tom

Look at the picture, not the pixels

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63683676@N07/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25301400@N00/

Did you try setting the EVF brightness up as far as it would go? That's all I can think of that might help.
--
AEH
http://aehass.zenfolio.com/
Question: What do you do all week?
Answer: Mon to Fri. Nothing, Sat & Sun I rest!

Yep, to each his own. Thanks for the reply.

Thanks Ed....I think it was on auto but I will check next time.

chlamchowder said:

The OP stated that he was using the a77, which is limited to only live view operation. Turning off live view would mean turning off the camera.

chlamchowder said:

You may want to spend a minute or two reading the user's manual....
Turn off live view....

Click to expand...

That said, I'm puzzled at why there would be any difference between the a77 and the a580 in live view mode. I'm guessing that it wasn't a dumb lens cap issue or something like that, since he was able to take a picture.

If you were in manual exposure mode, was the a77's live view feed black because you were underexposing? In other words, would turning the mode dial to an automatic exposure mode (like P,A,S) give you a usable preview? In P, A, or S mode, does increasing the exposure compensation improve things?

Click to expand...

Live View is the term used for real time preview on the back LCD. It has nothing to do with EVF/OVF and the viewfinder. - TF