sonyalpharumors

Sony will use electronic viewfinders only. But is there a Sony future for Hybrid viewfinders a là Fuji X100?

Optical or electronic Viewfinder? It doesn’t matter anymore what you prefer! If you want to stick with Sony than electronic viewfinder is the only possible future. As you remember Sony officially announced they will drop the classic optical viewfinder technology. So is there really no other option?

Yes there is one…The hybrid Viewfinder! The new Fuji X100 offers a dual EVF/OVF vision. The bad news is that such technology works with fixed lens only. I thought you might be curious to see how it works (see the video on top). The question now is, can the X100 technology be improved? In short yes. Sony should learn from the Contax G2 that has the best viewfinder ever put in a rangefinder camera. It zooms as you change lenses, so it always has the perfect size! (Click here to read the review made by Ken Rockwell). Now the dreamers question:

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I would love to get my hands on that camera!

You can preorder the Fuji X100 at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Amazon UK. There is also one single camera on auction at eBay (Click here). It will not be cheap!
Check out the Contax G2 auctions on eBay (Click here).

JTec announces the introduction of three precision machined components for the Sony NEX-5.

New Sony A580, A55 and NEX-3 reviews

Sky_walker

2 years ago | Reply

“The bad news is that such technology works with fixed lens only.” – nope, not true. Leica made rangefinders with interchangeable lenses, and X100 is a rangefinder so there’s no theoretical problem with making NEX-hybrid-viewfinder-rangefinder (lol, what a name!).
But I doubt we’ll ever see rangefinder NEX. (though: who knows?! I’d be super-happy if they would make it)

Hybrid VF might work with SLT design & Alpha mount camera, but… it’s kinda overkill – many ppl doubt it’s even doable in a first place, but even if it is – the complexity level of such system is huge, same with amount of possible issues.

Paul W

A separate OV will always suffer from parallax problems…that was the great advantage of SLRs viewing through the taking lens.

Plus I would see very big problems with a hybrid for an interchangeable camera with potential lenses ranging from say 8mm to 500mm or more.

I guess you could use an OVF for a limited range but outside that automatically switch to EVF…or when focusing close enough to involve parallax framing problems. Possible but complicated and expensive to do I would guess…hence Fuji sticking to a fixed focal length lens design

Eric

I’d imagine a viewfinder like that could work with interchangeable lenses, albeit in a limited capacity. You could probably use it in optical mode with 35mm, 50mm, and maybe 75mm lenses; the EVF would just have to project different size framing lines for each focal length. Like a traditional rangefinder it will have some parallax issues with framing, but it could work. Then you could just use a standard EVF mode for all other focal lengths.

JSWinNYC

Sony could learn something else from the G2, which had in-some-ways the best AF system I have ever used (it is also my all-time favorite camera). The camera used 2 methods of AF – distance measurement and a precise digital “rangefinder”. The AF system used a passive infrared beam to get approximate focus instantly, followed by a second very precise active rangefinder system to achieve exact focus. Why this system isn’t used in a camera like NEX – replacing RF with CDAF – I don’t know. CDAF has a major advantage over PDAF – accuracy. How many front-focus, back-focus problems do users report with phase detection? Lots. Those problems don’t exist with CDAF. I understand that there is an interest in on-sensor PDAF, but such a system doesn’t solve the accuracy problem – if and when it comes, it may still need to be combined with CDAF to solve that problem. In the meantime, why not turn to proven (and inexpensive) technology like that used in the G2 AF system for the NEX7?

Disinto

Andrea – I saw you doing the same mistake several times… You should write “à la” instead of “a là”

Adi

Fuji system works for rangefinder camera type, in other words you need a separate light input for the viewfinder.This creates the paralax problem Paul W speaks about. All Alfa and Nex use a TTL system (light to viewfinder, optical or electronic comes through the lens). Fuji system can work for a compact PPS camera (or “rangefinder type” like Fuji X100) but not to a TTL one. I don’t see how this can be used by Sony. I personaly don’t like angefinder camera design, and I think there are big advantages to the TTL system. If Sony ever builds one will bemore like a niche camera on the same pricerange as Fuji X100 and will be a very limited edition one.

Tony

Has anyone that’s not happy with the change actually tried the A55? I have the A55 and A580 and prefer the vf on the 55. It’s bright and easy to manually focus.

Steve Jones

Still some people don’t yet realise where the future is. Never mind, in five years’ time they’ll almost all have forgotten they ever preferred OVF over EVF, just as the same happened with auto-focus, digital and a host of other features.

EE
2 years ago | Reply

Good news, because the electronic viewfinder is the future and the future is NOW.

Sony is widening the technological gap of its competitors…competitors, who are, in contrast, appearing less sophisticated with each passing day.

Carl

It’s a shame more cameras with viewfinders don’t have zooming ones. It was very hard to design stuff like that back in the 50s when lenses were all hand ground glass, but in this age of plastic molded aspherics I don’t see why they couldn’t make one that at least covered, say, 18-200mm in APS terms.

GH

Like it or not, EVF is the future, and I doubt Sony will waste resources on new hybrid OVF tech that is expensive to develop. They’ll gladly leave that to the fringe camera companies, for better or worse.

Almond

It would be more productive of Sony to concentrate on improving the pure EVF instead of making a Fuji-like hybrid which has limited usability on a SLR anyway.

My opinion.

nuxar

Could anybody point me the source of this: “Sony officially announced they will drop the classic optical viewfinder technology”, please?
I want to share with my friend…

Sky_walker
2 years ago | Reply

Here: http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sr5-sony-says-it-all-future-alpha-cameras-will-be-translucent/
Keep in mind though that it’s statement from local Sony Spain representative – official statement in regards of total conversion to EVF wasn’t published from Sony HQ. All we got is Sony Alpha boss – Katsumoto telling that:
“The decision has not yet been made, especially for devices with 24×36 mm sensor. I think, one of the electronic viewfinders can even compete with the optical viewfinders of those models. But not in the near future, regarding the fact that the resolution of a 24×36 mm optical viewfinder is very high.“
- nuxar
  2 years ago | Reply
  
  Thx, Sky_wolker. Seems, not to be so official statement.

Camaman

Sony wont bother with devoloping technologies that will lige for 2yrs
I am surprised they did’t the semi transparant mirror idea.
But that was cheap to make and willnlive another 2yrs…:-/

Darren Grant

I’ll stick with OVF thanks even if that means my next camera upgrade isn’t a sony.