Question about EVFs and sunglasses

[bakubo]

Today I was using my Canon S95 digicam and I discovered something rather surprising. This is the first camera I have had that has only a rear LCD (and I hate that). I turned the camera to take a vertical shot and suddenly the LCD went black. For a couple of seconds I thought the camera had died or had some other sort of malfunction, but it then occurred to me that I had my prescription sunglasses with polarized lenses on. I took them off and the LCD was fine. The LCD works when wearing sunglasses and taking horizontal photos. What a serious drawback to an LCD-only camera. I wonder if this is unique to the LCD on the S95? I then started wondering about EVFs. How are they? If you are wearing sunglasses and turn the camera for a vertical shot does the EVF turn black?

[mvanrheenen]

I can't answer your question, but a good discovery you made!

[bakubo]

I can't answer your question, but a good discovery you made!

There are so many people here who are using a NEX or DSLT it seems like someone will know the answer.

[edrice]

This is something I have fought with on my S95 and now my S100. Always had to lower my polarized sunglasses on my nose and look over them at the LCD.

The NEX-7 has a different effect. You can turn the camera and LCD is still visible (and the EVF) but the blue sky darkens just as if you had a polarizer on the front of the lens. Same thing happens in the EVF.

Don't even ask me...

Ed

[bakubo]

The NEX-7 has a different effect. You can turn the camera and LCD is still visible (and the EVF) but the blue sky darkens just as if you had a polarizer on the front of the lens. Same thing happens in the EVF.

Thanks for that info.

Don't even ask me...

Don't even ask you what?

[edrice]

Don't even ask you what?

How that polarizing effect works.

Maybe you know, so I'll ask you. What makes that EVF/LCD polarize the sky image with sunglasses?

Maybe I asked that backwards.

[David Kilpatrick]

Different angle of polarisation on the RGB elements of the screen would be the only thing I can think of - a coincidence in effect.

David

[edrice]

Maybe some of the rest of the image on LCD was darkening too but if it did, it was not as noticeable as the sky, which is quite apparent. The sky turns a rather dull and muddy dark blue.

I use the EVF almost exclusively and remove sunglasses for that anyway, so it's not an issue. I wish the LCD would turn inward on the NEX-7 like the A65 (et al). With the eyepiece hood mounted, at least my nose stays away from the LCD (I'm left-eyed) but it's still prone to fingerprints and I tend to be a neatnick. But minor in the realm of things.

[mikeriach]

This happenes to me with the radio/CD LCD on my VW Passat.
Put on the sunglasses and the screen goes black, handy in a car!

Mike

[Ron Dunnington]

My former camera had EVF blackout with polarized glasses in vertical position. That is precisely why I bought the Sony a580 with prisim viewfinder.

Ron

[edrice]

My former camera had EVF blackout with polarized glasses in vertical position. That is precisely why I bought the Sony a580 with prisim viewfinder.

Ron

I took sunglasses off for my Hi-Matic 9, SRT101, my X700, my Maxxums, 5D, A100, A350, A55, A65 and now the NEX-7. I'm a creature of habit. However I didn't take them off for my Autocord.

Ed

Edit - BTW, Now that you mention it, I do have the A580 too and take the sunglasses off for that.

[bakubo]

My former camera had EVF blackout with polarized glasses in vertical position. That is precisely why I bought the Sony a580 with prisim viewfinder.

Ron, what was your former camera?

[bakubo]

Yesterday I had a chance to do some checking of various EVFs with my polarized sunglasses:

1. NEX 7 -- horizontal is okay, vertical is okay

2. Olympus EM-5 -- horizontal has strange oof black pattern almost like a honeycomb, vertical is okay

3. Panasonic G3 -- horizontal is okay, vertical has strange oof black pattern almost like a honeycomb

Strange that different EVFs reacted differently. Possibly with a different brand of polarized sunglasses the results would be a bit different. For most people this is completely uninteresting. For a few people it is somewhat disappointing. And maybe for a very few it is a big deal. I am in the second camp. I usually try to avoid wearing sunglasses when shooting, but occasionally in very bright conditions when I suddenly need to react to take a photo I have them on. In Hawaii the sun is often very bright during the day so wearing sunglasses when shooting around the beach worked fine with my DSLR OVFs. Also, when I travel it is not so uncommon to have them on when I am walking around with my eyes peeled looking for photo opportunities.

The next time I am in a store I will try to remember to try the EVFs for a few more cameras. Panasonic GH2, Nikon V1, etc.

[edrice]

Speaking of suddenly reacting, yesterday was my first real outing with the NEX-7 with 18-55 and 55-210 on a long hike up in the Santa Ana Mountains of southern California. Since I've only had it less than two weeks, most of my shooting has been backyard testing verifying everything that has ever been written about corners and such.

Anyway, hiking with dogs who will not by nature necessarily pose for you or hold a position long enough for you to set up, one of them went up to the edge of a cliff peering over and in the interest of speed, I brought the camera up and used the LCD with sunglasses still on in blazing sunlight. It's rare for me to do that and normally I go straight for the viewfinder but as I brought it up I saw the image on the LCD and just went with that for several shots. It worked fine with the sunglasses, not ideal, but unlike my S95 or S100, I didn't have to drop the sunglasses down on my nose to see the LCD.

So that introduced a new paradigm for me when quickness is of the essence. With the A55 and now the A65, I always kept the LCD folded in and the NEX won't do that, so there is an advantage to using it in certain situations.

One thing I need to add is that I've used the CZ16-80 through the A350, A55 and now A65. But after seeing the results with the 18-55 yesterday, I am now confronting my inner ego. For that type of shooting, at those f-stops, I'm not seeing where the CZ offers any distinct advantage except in terms of focal range. But the 55-210, which acted superbly, more than makes up the difference even if less conveniently because of switching. So much so that I have now decided to part with my 100-300 APO D which was always my lighter more compact hiking zoom telephoto. So the transition begins. This is being hard on my emotional attachments but I'm starting to ease up. Carrying that tiny kit up the mountain was a dream come true.

Ed