Sony A7RII… EVF preview is way off from actual exposure

I purchased an EX+ condition A7R2 from KEH 10 days ago. I'm using the camera with a Metabones adapter for Leica M lenses (50 & 35mm Summicrons).

 

RAW and jpg images look great, but brightness of the image through the EVF prior to exposure does not come close to accurately predicting the actual output. In aperture priority, I can set exposure composition to -5.0 stops and the EVF preview can look quite reasonable, but as one would expect, the file produced is way underexposed, like a good 3 stops away from what the EVF previewed

prior to releasing the shutter!

 

I've gone through the menus numerous times, discussed the issue with a friend who uses an A7RIV, and haven't found any discussion

of this kind of issue with the camera on the internet.

 

I'm wondering if the particular camera's EVF I was sent is malfunctioning, or if it has something to do with the lenses being adapted, where the lens isn't communicating pertinent info to the body. My friend says he doesn't see how it would have to do with the lens.

 

With Leica M240 and external viewfinder, the EVF image is generally within 1/2 stop of the actual exposure, so I know it can be done!

 

 

Thanks in advance

Try resetting everything and see how that works. It sounds like one or more settings are off. Mine with Leica lenses or any other adapted lenses doesn't exhibit the behavior you describe.

Thanks SCL, I may have to try that eventually- after notating my current settings of course.

 

Boy, photo.net sure seems to have dried up from what it once was.

Used to be there’d be 5 or 10 or more responses to these kinds of questions.

You have the option to display certain effects or not, and the basic brightness of the EVF. However it's never a good indicator of exposure. The histogram gives you an overall idea about exposure, and data in the display gives you an estimate of the over/under exposure level in 1/3rd stop increments.

 

The alternative would be a display unusable at f/5.6 or smaller, like an SLR.

Thanks Ed. I think I’ve realized it is working properly, it’s just less obvious visually than what I’ve been used to with a Leica M240 and external EVF. It’s even less useful in very low light and can be way off in that situation. There’s also a lot of noise in the finder in dim light, something I don’t see at all with the Leica plug-in EVF with the M240.

Ray. - I still think your settings are misleading you. I do a lot of low light shooting and see very little noise in the viewfinder. I think if you methodically go thru each setting in the menu, you will find the balance providing optimal conditions for your use. It takes a little time, but is very much worth it.

Sony's menus are complex and initially confusing, but very comprehensive.

So the 1st thing I'd do is check the Setup (toolbox icon) menu section-

Checking the EVF brightness and colour settings as well as this item in the Custom menu -

 

If that doesn't work, then check the

firmware revision and update it if necessary. Then do a factory reset - which can be a bit painful if you've already assigned custom button functions and suchlike.

 

In fact it wouldn't hurt to check and update the firmware revision anyway.

Thanks SCL and rodeo joe.

 

I’ve been through the menus a dozen times and think I have the most pertinent settings set. I still have a few that seem to be of lesser importance to check on.

 

The noise in the finder seems only to be when ISO is set high -1600 or 3200, shooting in extremely dim light, where I am trying to match the exposure to the dimness of the scene.

 

* will check on the firmware

If all that doesn't work, your camera is not in Ex+ condition. This may have been the reason the original owner got rid of it.

When the light level drops below a certain level, the refresh rate of the EVF slows considerably. Roughly, it's related to shutter speed, about 1/15 second (Sony measures the exposure with the aperture closed). I've composed and focused shots in light too dim to see numbers on the dials.

 

The extreme situation I've experienced is shooting starry sky photos in the Cascade Mountains, miles from any town. Starting well after sunset there's a 2 hour period called "astronomical twilight" when the sky appears dark and you can see most of the starts. The EVF is still useable. You can see brighter starts but the background starts to get swirly and noisy. After twilight comes "dark sky" which is really dark. All you see in the EVF is noise. Even bright stars are lost in the mess. Point the camera is guesswork only. As an aid, I have a laser reflex sight which mounts in the flash shoe. It can be adjusted within a few seconds of a degree, and you can view through it using binoculars for dim subjects like comets and deep space objects.

Well, I think I finally figured out what the problem was, and not surprisingly I suppose, it was one setting I overlooked. One of the first things I did with the camera was to set viewfinder brightness to +2, because set zeroed out the view looked so dimmed down in sunlight. Since I'd done that, what was most noticeable to me was shooting in very low light, where I'd end up setting exposure compensation to -3 to try to match the viewfinder to the scene. I was trying to overcome the extra brightness I had set the viewfinder to, so the exposure would end up a stop or two under from what it needed to be. SCL saying "It sounds like one or more settings are off" was exactly right. Sorry guys!

 

Quite off topic, I've decided shooting JPG instead of RAW on the A7R2 may be what I will do. I noticed shooting RAW + jpg and processing the RAW files with Raw Therapee that the jpg files from the camera looked sharper with improved contrast than what I got from processing RAW. The first year or two after I got a Canon 5D in 2007 I was just shooting jpg and was never disappointed with the images. Then I read about RAW and assumed from then on that was the only way to go.

With the Leica M240 the jpgs are clearly inferior to converted RAW files, so with that camera I'll continue shooting RAW. I also did a comparison on the Sony on a tripod, shooting jpg extra fine, fine, and standard and I can't say I see any difference between the 3 quality settings at full resolution. On a Sunday outing I shot jpg fine and am quite happy with the quality.

So I don't know, perhaps, depending on the camera, Ken Rockwell was right all along?! I can see if you're doing professional work you might want to shoot RAW at least as a back-up and in case exposures are off, but for me, until further notice, I'll take the smaller jpg files with high resolution that can still be tweaked…

OK wait… I wasn't totally crazy I don't think. My lens adapted with a Metabones adapter, is not fully communicating the aperture settings to the EVF.

So shooting in aperture priority, when I change aperture on the lens, the viewfinder darkens or lightens accordingly. Even though shutter speed automatically compensates for the change in aperture for the exposure, that information does not translate to the viewfinder brightness. Do I have that right?!

Quite off topic, I've decided shooting JPG instead of RAW on the A7R2 may be what I will do. I noticed shooting RAW + jpg and processing the RAW files with Raw Therapee that the jpg files from the camera looked sharper with improved contrast than what I got from processing RAW.

Point is, that a RAW file can have as much or as little sharpening applied as you like, or as is necessary. OTOH, you can't easily remove the sharpening artefacts (mainly 'halo' outlining) from a JPG file, because it's baked in.

 

Most RAW conversion software will take the 'as shot' camera settings as default, and produce an image that's almost indistinguishable from the camera JPG. It's down to you to direct the RAW converter to change those defaults to taste - parameters like Sharpness, Colour Temperature, Tint, Exposure, Contrast, Highlight/Shadow preservation, etc, etc.

 

Should you ever need to enlarge a tight crop, you'll quickly see that the default JPG sharpening artefacts get obtrusive, while the RAW file can be left 'soft' and only as much sharpening as is acceptable need be applied. Likewise, if you ever need to lift deep shadow detail, or alter the colour balance drastically, then the JPG will lose quality much more readily than the 12 or 14 bit data depth of the RAW file.

 

If you never do anything like that, or may never want to do that in future, then JPGs will do just fine. But it never hurts to have that ability in hand. And since high capacity memory cards are pretty cheap, setting the camera to RAW + JPG is no big hardship. Best of both worlds: Speed and simplicity of JPG - Adjustment headroom of RAW.

Just to follow up, the 35mm Loxia I obtained this week communicates f/stop to the camera such that brightness level in the viewfinder stays consistent when changing aperture in aperture priority mode, whereas with the Metabones adapted lens the finder darkens or lightens. Still useable with an adapted lens, just not ideal. That resolves most of the issue, and in sunny or contrasty conditions, zebra is helpful.

 

Today I shot a few sample shots with RAW+jpg, adjusting both in post, and about all I can say is the results were different- neither better than the other. If a scene seems special or extraordinary enough, I may opt for shooting RAW+jpg to have a comparison and additional option. With the Leica (if I keep it) I'll continue to shoot RAW because on that camera the jpgs are clearly inferior.

Edited July 31, 2022 by ray .

Re the viewfinder darkening after changing aperture in the AP mode. I've found that a light touch of the shutter button after changing aperture restores the brightness of the EVF.