EPL6 Live View in A and S modes not displaying actual final exposure.

jsaras wrote:

I have "Live Boost" turned off, but no matter how I set the overall exposure the screen will never display a completely dark screen although the final photo WILL have that appearance. Interestingly, in full Manual mode the screen will go completely dark when the shutter/ISO/aperture settings are set accordingly, i.e., there's no surprises after the fact.
What gives?

Without digging out a camera to check I seem to remember that the display "bottoms" or "tops out" if you adjust too far.

The purpose of the screen is to allow easy framing, not necessarily to see the final image. So framing would be a bit harder if you adjusted things so the screen was totally black or totally white (why?).

On an image quality note, it is always better to expose properly (more to the right) and then adjust the look or brightness in post process.

Regards....... Guy

jsaras wrote:

I have "Live Boost" turned off, but no matter how I set the overall exposure the screen will never display a completely dark screen although the final photo WILL have that appearance. Interestingly, in full Manual mode the screen will go completely dark when the shutter/ISO/aperture settings are set accordingly, i.e., there's no surprises after the fact.
What gives?

The live view only shows exposure to +/-3 EV. After that, iirc, the yellow scale indicator flashes to warn that you have exceeded the visual limit.

You can set an exposure preview, but in that mode it is laggy as heck. If you need to use that, I suggest you set it to a Fn button.

From memory, that's how I recall it works with the G6 anyhow.

jsaras wrote:

I have "Live Boost" turned off, but no matter how I set the overall exposure the screen will never display a completely dark screen although the final photo WILL have that appearance. Interestingly, in full Manual mode the screen will go completely dark when the shutter/ISO/aperture settings are set accordingly, i.e., there's no surprises after the fact.
What gives?

If we consider the 'evidence', 'full Manual mode' is fully manual (!) which means you are controlling the exposure parameters 100%. And the camera shows you the result while you are controlling 'everything'. If you adjust for a 'black' photo, the camera shows it to you. No assisting from the camera.

A and S modes are somewhat 'semi-automatic' , i.e. you decide aperture or shutter speed and the camera fills in what is needed for the exposure (compensated for your EC input), which means the camera is assisting you. While it's not showing a black screen when you are totally 'off', it still 'helps' you with giving you a 'clue' that you are very 'off' (or doesn't it?) for a normal exposure, besides letting you know what (to some extent?) you are pointing you lens at so you have a starting point for exposure compensation or to take other measures.

To sum up: In A and S modes you get at least some help from the camera (or at least it tries to). In Manual you get no help.

Just my thoughts.

thinker wrote:

jsaras wrote:

I have "Live Boost" turned off, but no matter how I set the overall exposure the screen will never display a completely dark screen although the final photo WILL have that appearance. Interestingly, in full Manual mode the screen will go completely dark when the shutter/ISO/aperture settings are set accordingly, i.e., there's no surprises after the fact.
What gives?

If we consider the 'evidence', 'full Manual mode' is fully manual (!) which means you are controlling the exposure parameters 100%. And the camera shows you the result while you are controlling 'everything'. If you adjust for a 'black' photo, the camera shows it to you. No assisting from the camera.

A and S modes are somewhat 'semi-automatic' , i.e. you decide aperture or shutter speed and the camera fills in what is needed for the exposure (compensated for your EC input), which means the camera is assisting you. While it's not showing a black screen when you are totally 'off', it still 'helps' you with giving you a 'clue' that you are very 'off' (or doesn't it?) for a normal exposure, besides letting you know what (to some extent?) you are pointing you lens at so you have a starting point for exposure compensation or to take other measures.

To sum up: In A and S modes you get at least some help from the camera (or at least it tries to). In Manual you get no help.

Just my thoughts.

Yes, all true.

Olympus are trying to help the user.

Imagine what would happen if they displayed the actual proposed exposure, more complaints about "I can't see what I'm framing when I set my exposure way out of limits".

For the OP, treat the screen as a device for menus and for framing help, and not as a reference monitor and you will do fine.

Regards....... Guy

Guy Parsons wrote:

thinker wrote:

jsaras wrote:

I have "Live Boost" turned off, but no matter how I set the overall exposure the screen will never display a completely dark screen although the final photo WILL have that appearance. Interestingly, in full Manual mode the screen will go completely dark when the shutter/ISO/aperture settings are set accordingly, i.e., there's no surprises after the fact.
What gives?

If we consider the 'evidence', 'full Manual mode' is fully manual (!) which means you are controlling the exposure parameters 100%. And the camera shows you the result while you are controlling 'everything'. If you adjust for a 'black' photo, the camera shows it to you. No assisting from the camera.

A and S modes are somewhat 'semi-automatic' , i.e. you decide aperture or shutter speed and the camera fills in what is needed for the exposure (compensated for your EC input), which means the camera is assisting you. While it's not showing a black screen when you are totally 'off', it still 'helps' you with giving you a 'clue' that you are very 'off' (or doesn't it?) for a normal exposure, besides letting you know what (to some extent?) you are pointing you lens at so you have a starting point for exposure compensation or to take other measures.

To sum up: In A and S modes you get at least some help from the camera (or at least it tries to). In Manual you get no help.

Just my thoughts.

Yes, all true.

Olympus are trying to help the user.

Imagine what would happen if they displayed the actual proposed exposure, more complaints about "I can't see what I'm framing when I set my exposure way out of limits".

For the OP, treat the screen as a device for menus and for framing help, and not as a reference monitor and you will do fine.

Regards....... Guy

Thanks for the support!  What I didn't emphasize strongly enough is my belief that A and S mode's pupose / starting point is a properly taken normal exposure. So why then show exactly what you get when you are  so very off?  There are other 'tools' for venturing into the 'dark side'... Like Manual, LiveTime, LiveBulb, LiveComposite...

jsaras wrote:

So is the purpose of "Live View Boost" to apply this (mis)behavior in Manual mode? If that's the case, it would seem to make sense to make the converse option available in A and S modes.

Live View Boost makes you able to see and frame and manually focus on a subject under so little light you can't even see it if ones syes are over 50 years old (within limits of course). And this makes it a very handy tool for M mode as a tool for venturing into 'the dark side'. The English manual for fw2 page 102 says:

"Live View Boost Shoot while checking the subject even under low-light conditions. In M mode, you can use this setting when shooting with BULB/TIME shooting and live composite.
[ON1]: Prioritize smoothness of display.
[ON2]: Prioritize image visibility in dark conditions. This will make the response to button operations on the camera slower".

After framing and focusing you can actually turn it off, which is very quick to do if you have set custom menu D -> Menu Recall to Recall.

Notice that particularly "M mode, BULB/TIME shooting and live composite" are mentioned which I earlier suggested for 'tools' for venturing into 'the dark side'.

No, I don't see the point to "make the converse option available in A and S modes", but this is just a matter of opinion. To me there is a logic to it, but if you want/wish things to be different you are free to wish and want that.