How I fixed the hyperactive A7 EVF eye sensor

I’m not heavily into the Sony system, but I have an original A7 to use with legacy glass. One thing that drove me completely insane was the eye detector to activate the EVF. The thing is cursed. Switches to EVF for no reason.

 

It turns out that it’s not the sensor that’s the real problem, it’s the rubber eyepiece that partly obscures the sensor. The newer models have a redesign of that, and the replacement I found - JJC model ES-EP18K2 - is a copy of the newer design and fits the A7.

 

Here’s a comparison:

 

 

JJC on the left, Sony on the right. See how on the Sony the rubber is thicker and comes closer to the notch at the top, which is where the eye sensor is?

 

The replacement fixes the issue and the camera is now much, much better to use.

In time the eye sensor gets dirty and shuts down the LCD prematurely. Removing the eye cup and cleaning the sensor helps.