A7RVI Live View Issue
p.1 #1A7RVI Live View Issue
I recently upgraded from the A7RV to the A7RVI and started seeing a weird issue that I’m not sure I can fully explain.
First of all, the cameras are configured identically so I’d assume that the behavior would be identical, which is unfortunately not the case.
Some of the settings worth pointing out:
- Live View Display Setting: On
- DRO: Off
- AEL w/ Shutter: Auto
- Drive: Single
- Mode: Aperture Priority
- Minimum SS: 1/125
- Auto ISO: 100 - 12800
- Aperture Drive in AF: Standard
The gist of it is that there’s a weird thing that the auto exposure is doing, where the preview (either on the screen or EVF) doesn’t always match the captured image. The difference between the two can be even a full stop or higher. Once it starts happening, I feel like I’m shooting blind as there’s no way to know how the captured image will look like and how over/underexposed it will be.
Now, I’m not completely sure what the scenario to reproduce it is, but the last time I got it was when the shutter speed was already at its minimum, leaving the ISO to fluctuate. Electronic shutter also helps to make it obvious, since there’s no blackout and the camera will “hold” the captured image for a short time, meaning that it will constantly switch between “normal” live view and e.g. overexposed images while shooting. This also means that the live view doesn’t really sync with whatever the auto exposure did when capturing the image.
I’ve uploaded 3 images that showcase this. They were taken within 3 seconds, all of them have the same composition and focus point and yet all of them have wildly different exposures.
Link to the images:
https://imgur.com/a/l3xOAiB
Image 1: SS 1/125, f5.6, ISO 1250 (-0.7EV)
Image 2: SS 1/125, f5.6, ISO 400 (-0.7EV)
Image 3: SS 1/125, f5.6, ISO 1000 (-0.3EV) (not sure how it landed on ISO 1000)
The screen only ever showed the exposure of the second image, throughout the whole shooting sequence.
It all looks like a weird bug that’s hard to reproduce, but it’s driving me insane each time it happens.
Has anybody noticed something similar or is willing to give it a test and see if they are getting the same behavior?
Side note: I’m assuming A7V can also have the issue, but I don’t have it to confirm.
First of all, the cameras are configured identically so I’d assume that the behavior would be identical, which is unfortunately not the case.
Some of the settings worth pointing out:
- Live View Display Setting: On
- DRO: Off
- AEL w/ Shutter: Auto
- Drive: Single
- Mode: Aperture Priority
- Minimum SS: 1/125
- Auto ISO: 100 - 12800
- Aperture Drive in AF: Standard
The gist of it is that there’s a weird thing that the auto exposure is doing, where the preview (either on the screen or EVF) doesn’t always match the captured image. The difference between the two can be even a full stop or higher. Once it starts happening, I feel like I’m shooting blind as there’s no way to know how the captured image will look like and how over/underexposed it will be.
Now, I’m not completely sure what the scenario to reproduce it is, but the last time I got it was when the shutter speed was already at its minimum, leaving the ISO to fluctuate. Electronic shutter also helps to make it obvious, since there’s no blackout and the camera will “hold” the captured image for a short time, meaning that it will constantly switch between “normal” live view and e.g. overexposed images while shooting. This also means that the live view doesn’t really sync with whatever the auto exposure did when capturing the image.
I’ve uploaded 3 images that showcase this. They were taken within 3 seconds, all of them have the same composition and focus point and yet all of them have wildly different exposures.
Link to the images:
https://imgur.com/a/l3xOAiB
Image 1: SS 1/125, f5.6, ISO 1250 (-0.7EV)
Image 2: SS 1/125, f5.6, ISO 400 (-0.7EV)
Image 3: SS 1/125, f5.6, ISO 1000 (-0.3EV) (not sure how it landed on ISO 1000)
The screen only ever showed the exposure of the second image, throughout the whole shooting sequence.
It all looks like a weird bug that’s hard to reproduce, but it’s driving me insane each time it happens.
Has anybody noticed something similar or is willing to give it a test and see if they are getting the same behavior?
Side note: I’m assuming A7V can also have the issue, but I don’t have it to confirm.
Aug 04, 2026 at 04:03 PM
p.1 #2A7RVI Live View Issue
Updated the original post with the link to the images (but it needs to be copied and entered as a URL, not sure what this forum is doing when it’s prepending its own URL to it)
Aug 05, 2026 at 08:01 AM
p.1 #5A7RVI Live View Issue
Set it to manual and use zebras to see if you at least get consistent EVF/image exposures. Gave up on auto 10 years ago because of inconsistent results. Looks tricky a face in the shadows with dark glasses and light skin.
Note that if you are not familiar with Zebras you might want check how to set specifically for ensuring something like a face is properly exposed which is not the same as the settings for highlighting over exposed parts.
Note that if you are not familiar with Zebras you might want check how to set specifically for ensuring something like a face is properly exposed which is not the same as the settings for highlighting over exposed parts.
Aug 05, 2026 at 08:24 AM
p.1 #6A7RVI Live View Issue
I’m pretty sure manual would work fine as this only happens sometimes, but it’s very annoying. I’d say that 90% of the time it does exactly what A7RV would do, but the other 10% is an exposure juggling shit show.
Earlier I took a look at all the images I’ve taken in the last few weeks and every time it did this was when the subject was posed against a much brighter background (e.g. sky, sea). So I get that it’s a somewhat difficult situation for auto exposure, but A7RV would just transition between these changes much smoother.
It all looks like a firmware bug and that there’s a stray AE calculation that happens on full shutter press, but is never reflected on the monitor
Earlier I took a look at all the images I’ve taken in the last few weeks and every time it did this was when the subject was posed against a much brighter background (e.g. sky, sea). So I get that it’s a somewhat difficult situation for auto exposure, but A7RV would just transition between these changes much smoother.
It all looks like a firmware bug and that there’s a stray AE calculation that happens on full shutter press, but is never reflected on the monitor
Aug 05, 2026 at 08:34 AM
p.1 #7A7RVI Live View Issue
If you can share those three images and PM me the link I can do a deep-dive into the EXIF for clues.
Aug 05, 2026 at 12:30 PM
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p.1 #8A7RVI Live View Issue
I just tried sending you a PM and apparently I’m not allowed to. Can you send me a PM with your email and I’ll share the images that way?
Aug 05, 2026 at 02:35 PM
p.1 #9A7RVI Live View Issue
Thanks for the files. I did a three-way EXIF comparison and found the following differences that may appear noteworthy:
ISO : 1250
ISO : 400
ISO : 1000
Brightness Value : 4.63828125
Brightness Value : 4.75546875
Brightness Value : 4.67734375
Sony Exposure Time 2 : 12.3
Sony Exposure Time 2 : 3.7
Sony Exposure Time 2 : 10
Focus Position 2 : 201
Focus Position 2 : 203
Focus Position 2 : 204
Release Mode 2 : Continuous - Background defocus
Release Mode 2 : Normal
Release Mode 2 : Continuous - Exposure Bracketing
SonyExposureTime2 is not well documented and the values for ReleaseMode2 are likely being interprted wrong by exiftool since it's a new model camera.
But the BrightnessValue tag is something I have experience with. It's an APEX log-2 exposure notation that deontes the scene brightness as measured by the camera. Here are the values converted to EV(100):
APEX 4.63828125 = EV(100) 9.63828125
APEX 4.75546875 = EV(100) 9.75546875
APEX 4.67734375 = EV(100) 9.67734375
These are all almost identical, which implies the camera measured the scene brightness the same for all three photos. The fact the camera selected a different auto ISO for each image implies that it did so based on an exposure adjustment made by its evaluative ("multi") metering algorithm, which like most cameras is likely weighted by what's under the detected subject and/or active AF point. I don't see any EXIF tags that would relate to subject detection info so we can only guess what the camera is thinking but I think it's safe from the above info that it relates somethnig to the subject detection / precise AF point at the time of the last metering sample before each exposure.
ISO : 1250
ISO : 400
ISO : 1000
Brightness Value : 4.63828125
Brightness Value : 4.75546875
Brightness Value : 4.67734375
Sony Exposure Time 2 : 12.3
Sony Exposure Time 2 : 3.7
Sony Exposure Time 2 : 10
Focus Position 2 : 201
Focus Position 2 : 203
Focus Position 2 : 204
Release Mode 2 : Continuous - Background defocus
Release Mode 2 : Normal
Release Mode 2 : Continuous - Exposure Bracketing
SonyExposureTime2 is not well documented and the values for ReleaseMode2 are likely being interprted wrong by exiftool since it's a new model camera.
But the BrightnessValue tag is something I have experience with. It's an APEX log-2 exposure notation that deontes the scene brightness as measured by the camera. Here are the values converted to EV(100):
APEX 4.63828125 = EV(100) 9.63828125
APEX 4.75546875 = EV(100) 9.75546875
APEX 4.67734375 = EV(100) 9.67734375
These are all almost identical, which implies the camera measured the scene brightness the same for all three photos. The fact the camera selected a different auto ISO for each image implies that it did so based on an exposure adjustment made by its evaluative ("multi") metering algorithm, which like most cameras is likely weighted by what's under the detected subject and/or active AF point. I don't see any EXIF tags that would relate to subject detection info so we can only guess what the camera is thinking but I think it's safe from the above info that it relates somethnig to the subject detection / precise AF point at the time of the last metering sample before each exposure.
Aug 05, 2026 at 03:25 PM
p.1 #10A7RVI Live View Issue
showme wrote:
I’m pretty sure manual would work fine as this only happens sometimes, but it’s very annoying. I’d say that 90% of the time it does exactly what A7RV would do, but the other 10% is an exposure juggling shit show.
Earlier I took a look at all the images I’ve taken in the last few weeks and every time it did this was when the subject was posed against a much brighter background (e.g. sky, sea). So I get that it’s a somewhat difficult situation for auto exposure, but A7RV would just transition between these changes much smoother.
It all looks like...Show more →
Probably more likely it is the face detection that is picking a different region of the face and, for example, compensating for the dark glasses by raising the iso and then not doing it in the next frame.
Try using spot metering with metering point linked to the focus point.
I’m pretty sure manual would work fine as this only happens sometimes, but it’s very annoying. I’d say that 90% of the time it does exactly what A7RV would do, but the other 10% is an exposure juggling shit show.
Earlier I took a look at all the images I’ve taken in the last few weeks and every time it did this was when the subject was posed against a much brighter background (e.g. sky, sea). So I get that it’s a somewhat difficult situation for auto exposure, but A7RV would just transition between these changes much smoother.
It all looks like...Show more →
Probably more likely it is the face detection that is picking a different region of the face and, for example, compensating for the dark glasses by raising the iso and then not doing it in the next frame.
Try using spot metering with metering point linked to the focus point.
Aug 05, 2026 at 03:34 PM
p.1 #11A7RVI Live View Issue
Since I can’t yet quote and reply, I’ll do it this way.
@snapsy
Thanks for this, it definitely makes me feel better knowing that AE is not completely messed up. I’ll disable the face priority next and see if it happens again.
@duncangr
With snapsy’s findings, it definitely looks like face detection was at fault for this. I do still think that this might be a bug, because A7RV never did this and all of the exposure changes/transitions were much smoother (but it was a “slower” camera, so not sure if that’s the reason)
@snapsy
Thanks for this, it definitely makes me feel better knowing that AE is not completely messed up. I’ll disable the face priority next and see if it happens again.
@duncangr
With snapsy’s findings, it definitely looks like face detection was at fault for this. I do still think that this might be a bug, because A7RV never did this and all of the exposure changes/transitions were much smoother (but it was a “slower” camera, so not sure if that’s the reason)
Aug 05, 2026 at 03:58 PM
p.1 #12A7RVI Live View Issue
Just an update since I used the camera yesterday for a long time and disabled face priority in multi to test it out.
It seems like that setting is definitely causing the issue I mentioned - none of the images I’ve shot came out looking different to what the monitor showed, nor was there any exposure juggling.
I’ll continue using it without face priority and see if the issue ever pops back.
It seems like that setting is definitely causing the issue I mentioned - none of the images I’ve shot came out looking different to what the monitor showed, nor was there any exposure juggling.
I’ll continue using it without face priority and see if the issue ever pops back.
Aug 09, 2026 at 07:44 AM
p.1 #13A7RVI Live View Issue
If it were me I'd be operating in Manual mode forcing a set ap & shutter while keeping the ISO in Auto. JMTC 
Aug 09, 2026 at 07:58 AM
p.1 #14A7RVI Live View Issue
I’m honestly not sure if that would mitigate the issue as long as there’s anything in auto.
Aug 09, 2026 at 08:15 AM