I wanted to share some observations regarding the viewfinder resolution of the A7rIV. I haven’t seen too much information about the EVF so i wanted to share what I’ve found. None of this is scientific, just what I’ve observed myself. This camera utilizes the 5mp chip found in cameras like the Panasonic S1 series. It’s a noticeable step up in resolution from the a7r3 and a9’s 3mp chip, and provides a very clean and clear image. Despite this, there are some instances in which the resolution will drop below the full 5mp, and I wanted to describe my findings below. Seems there is no such thing as a free lunch!
It appears there are 3 main EVF resolutions when normally operating the camera:
-Full resolution
-Mid Resolution
-Low Resolution
And these combinations of settings that affect the resolutions:
-Display Settings (Standard, High)
-Finder Frame Rate (Standard, High)
-Anti Flicker Shooting(Off, On)
Setting Display settings between Standard and High seems to give either mid resolution (Standard) or full resolution (High). To ensure maximum EVF quality, I recommend always leaving this on high. Standard will cause lower battery drain, but that’s about it. When using menus and reviewing images in the viewfinder, it’ll use the full resolution regardless of whether it’s set to standard or high.
Setting the refresh rate between standard and high will give either medium resolution (High refresh) or full resolution (Standard refresh). It does not seem that any of the cameras with the 5mp chip are able to provide higher than 60hz refresh and deliver the full viewfinder resolution, from the tidbits I have read. This is likely why the a9ii has the 3mp finder, as it’ll mostly be used in this situation, and will look sharper at native 3mp versus upscaled to 5mp.
Lastly, the Anti-Flicker greatly impacts the viewfinder resolution, when in photo preview mode (I.e. half pressing the shutter). When anti-flicker is enabled, the finder will drop to a low resolution mode to give you a shot preview. However, when anti-flicker is off you will maintain the full viewfinder resolution when half pressing the shutter. As long as you have anti-flicker enabled and are previewing a shot, this will significantly reduce the viewfinder resolution (and even the rear LCD resolution). This is important to note if you have a custom button set to AF/MF hold, as that will trigger shot preview and give you a low resolution preview, making manual focus pretty difficult. I highly suggest putting this setting in the My Menu area, and disabling it unless it is needed. The impact to taking photos is significant, I would estimate it drops from 5mp to below 1mp. This setting alone is much more significant than the viewfinder quality or refresh rate.
If anyone else has any thoughts or findings definitely share them, the more info out there the better!
I wanted to share some observations regarding the viewfinder resolution of the A7rIV. I haven’t seen too much information about the EVF so i wanted to share what I’ve found. None of this is scientific, just what I’ve observed myself. This camera utilizes the 5mp chip found in cameras like the Panasonic S1 series. It’s a noticeable step up in resolution from the a7r3 and a9’s 3mp chip, and provides a very clean and clear image. Despite this, there are some instances in which the resolution will drop below the full 5mp, and I wanted to describe my findings below. Seems there is no such thing as a free lunch!
It appears there are 3 main EVF resolutions when normally operating the camera:
-Full resolution
-Mid Resolution
-Low Resolution
And these combinations of settings that affect the resolutions:
-Display Settings (Standard, High)
-Finder Frame Rate (Standard, High)
-Anti Flicker Shooting(Off, On)
Setting Display settings between Standard and High seems to give either mid resolution (Standard) or full resolution (High). To ensure maximum EVF quality, I recommend always leaving this on high. Standard will cause lower battery drain, but that’s about it. When using menus and reviewing images in the viewfinder, it’ll use the full resolution regardless if it’s set to standard or high.
Setting the refresh rate between standard and high will give either medium resolution (High refresh) or full resolution (Standard refresh). It does not seem that any of the cameras with the 5mp chip are able to provide higher than 60hz refresh and deliver the full viewfinder resolution, from the tidbits I have read. This is likely why the a9ii has the 3mp finder, as it’ll mostly be used in this situation, and will look sharper at native 3mp versus upscaled to 5mp.
Lastly, the Anti-Flicker greatly impacts the viewfinder resolution, when in photo preview mode (I.e, half pressing the shutter). When anti-flicker is enabled, the finder will drop to a low resolution mode to give you a shot preview. However, when anti-flicker is off you will maintain the full viewfinder resolution when half pressing the shutter. As long as you have anti-flicker enabled and are previewing a shot, this will significantly reduces the viewfinder resolution (and evening the rear LCD resolution). This is important to note if you have a custom button set to AF/MF hold, as that will trigger shot preview and give you a low resolution preview, making manual focus pretty difficult. I highly suggest putting this setting in the My Menu area, and disabling it unless it is needed. The impact to taking photos is significant, I would estimate it drops from 5mp to below 1mp.
If anyone else has any thoughts or findings definitely share them, the more info out there the better!
I wanted to share some observations regarding the viewfinder resolution of the A7rIV. I haven’t seen too much information about the EVF so i wanted to share what I’ve found. None of this is scientific, just what I’ve observed myself. This camera utilizes the 5mp chip found in cameras like the Panasonic S1 series. It’s a noticeable step up in resolution from the a7r3 and a9’s 3mp chip, and provides a very clean and clear image. Despite this, there are some instances in which the resolution will drop below the full 5mp, and I wanted to describe my findings below. Seems there is no such thing as a free lunch!
It appears there are 3 main EVF resolutions when normally operating the camera:
-Full resolution
-Mid Resolution
-Low Resolution
And these combinations of settings that affect the resolutions:
-Display Settings (Standard, High)
-Finder Frame Rate (Standard, High)
-Silent Shooting (Off, On)
Setting Display settings between Standard and High seems to give either mid resolution (Standard) or full resolution (High). To ensure maximum EVF quality, I recommend always leaving this on high. Standard will cause lower battery drain, but that’s about it. When using menus and reviewing images in the viewfinder, it’ll use the full resolution regardless if it’s set to standard or high.
Setting the refresh rate between standard and high will give either medium resolution (High refresh) or full resolution (Standard refresh). It does not seem that any of the cameras with the 5mp chip are able to provide higher than 60hz refresh and deliver the full viewfinder resolution, from the tidbits I have read. This is likely why the a9ii has the 3mp finder, as it’ll mostly be used in this situation, and will look sharper at native 3mp versus upscaled to 5mp.
Lastly, electronic shutter greatly impacts the viewfinder resolution, when in photo preview mode (I.e, half pressing the shutter). When electronic shutter is off, the finder will drop to a low resolution mode to give you a shot preview. However, when silent shooting is on you will maintain the full viewfinder resolution when half pressing the shutter. Using electronic shutter is the only way I have found to maintain the full resolution when using shot preview. This is important to note if you have a custom button set to AF/MF hold, as that will trigger shot preview and give you a low resolution preview, making manual focus pretty difficult.
If anyone else has any thoughts or findings definitely share them, the more info out there the better!
Dec 18, 2019 at 02:42 PM
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