Benefits of A-mount

Jozioau wrote: On DSLT cameras, to me the single greatest benefit of the EVF is the WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) real time preview of each and every adjustment you make before pressing the shutter release - exposure compensation, white balance, ISO, the viewfinder shows you EXACTLY what each tweak is doing to the image you're about to take. Similarly, the focus peaking in manual focus shows you exactly what spot or parts of your subject is/are in focus. All the perceived disadvantages of EVF are things one gets used to, and these undeniable advantages have made a huge difference for the positive. Like @Bob J says, you can basically stop chimping.

Guess in a way e-mount depending on the lens used has an advantage there since some depending on focusing mode stop the lens down and will show you DOF in the viewfinder unlike what A-mount ever will.
Plus not familiar with E-mount as I do not use them but A-mount cheats us for exposure compensation and WYSIWYG, ever since the A77 it's claimed +-5EV but the A77/A99 generation only ever showed +-2 EV in the EVF, A99ii will do +-3 but anything outside of those settings will never show until the shot is taken.

Done lots of bright overcast BIF situations with my A77 when dialing in massive EV compensations could be needed, once I go past +2 the EVF stops showing a true WYSIWYG result.

Not only depth of field preview, but also the more accurate option of shot result preview which displays all corrections. EMount has that ability as well.

Live DOF can seem like an advantage. Wish it were an option on EMount, rather than a mandate. A few shoots ago I needed smaller aperture in a very dark environment. The a7RIII EVF gets really really grainy, whereas a99II EVF does not because it can view at open aperture, while still accommodating DOF preview if desired.

This became apparent on a product shot a few months ago where I thought the GM24-70 was right lens for job. Needed to shoot at f16 manual focus. Impossible to see distinctions and the accelerated fly-wire focus made it worse. Solution, use the ZA24-70 with LAEA3 adapter, focus wide open without fly-wire acceleration.

The GM is better on test charts. The ZA is better on jobs.

I find an EVF is bad enough as it is when it comes to seeing what I'm doing*, if it incorporated live DOF and I couldn't switch that off, it would drive me mad. I didn't realise that E-mount made it mandatory. What's the technical reason for that (I assume there is one)? It seems deeply counter-intuitive not to offer the option of not having it.

* I will grant, now I have had the 99ii for a few days, that its EVF is easily the best I have seen. I still don't actually like it, though, and would still prefer an OVF, but I suppose in time when I have used it more for jobs rather than just tentatively tested it to explore the settings, I may change my mind. Its first big test will be when I take it horseracing- this weekend, weather permitting.

Eclipse wrote: ...I didn't realise that E-mount made it mandatory. What's the technical reason for that (I assume there is one)?

I've tried to determine that many times. My thoughts are that it may have something to do with focus shift, but I'm not convinced that's true in all cases because the behaviors are so different from lens to lens.

First, live DOF hasn't always been the case. With GM24-70 and a7RII original FW, it focused wide open aperture. Then somewhere along the way with the third or fourth FW update, the behavior changed to always stopped down. I noticed this by happenstance with studio strobes, shooting f16 with only the modeling lights for viewing. The GM immediately started having focus hunting problems. No mention of the new aperture protocols in the FW update. Sony just did it.

(They did the same thing with the 18-105G distortion and lens corrections. Now they're always on with no option to turn off. This is true even shooting RAW). The lens had bad rep for terrible distortion. I liked it for some creative things. Now the distortion is unavailable.

Then I notice that some lenses open their apertures while focusing, and some don't, instead just gaining up the EVF for a quick flash then back to normal. So I don't think focus shift is the entire reason. But it may be the reason for some lenses, and Sony just decided to make it mandatory across the board for all lenses, simply to ease the protocols.

I really don't know. But it should be an option.

Eclipse wrote: I find an EVF is bad enough as it is when it comes to seeing what I'm doing*, if it incorporated live DOF and I couldn't switch that off, it would drive me mad. I didn't realise that E-mount made it mandatory. What's the technical reason for that (I assume there is one)? It seems deeply counter-intuitive not to offer the option of not having it. * I will grant, now I have had the 99ii for a few days, that its EVF is easily the best I have seen. I still don't actually like it, though, and would still prefer an OVF, but I suppose in time when I have used it more for jobs rather than just tentatively tested it to explore the settings, I may change my mind. Its first big test will be when I take it horseracing- this weekend, weather permitting.

The discussion about OVF vs. EVF is not a new one. Ever since Sony stopped producing camera's with OVF some folks argue that either one is better for their demands.

For E-mount it is a non issue. E-mount has EVF or no viewfinder at all. Period.
For A-mount both options are possible although Sony since introduction of SLT's completely embarked on EVF.
First it must be said there are viewfinders and viewfinders. OVF's can vary in brightness and magnifcation factor, EVF's can vary in resolution and responsiveness.

Since I use both types of camera I have learned to value the benefits of either. When I walk around and want to react on a sudden opportunity to take a picture, you are already too late with EVF. The camera has to wake up before you see anything in the EVF at all. And then if you have a PZ-lens, it has to wake up before it responds to your zooming and focussing demand. An OVF shows instantaneously what you could frame in your picture and the camera focuses itself in a split second. With EVF you are constanly draining your battery, whereas with OVF you can confidently use your camera for the whole day.

On the other hand, in dim ambient light the EVF gives you a much brighter view of your picture, and shows the effect of your camera settings on the fly, but blacks out for too long after a picture (except when you can afford an A9)

QuietOC wrote: I would like to be able to use depth-of-field/shot result preview along with focus magnification.

There's a way to get DOF preview + focus magnifier with A-mount although you have to give up some other capabilities to get it. You probably know what that is.

Worse still that the lenses have different natures. Some accelerate super fast, some fast, some medium and slow. Some like the 85GM and 70-200GM don't accelerate at all. The inconsistency is bewildering.

Fuji received some good DPR praise for addressing flywire acceleration and giving options to users. My Samung NX1 has options for fast, medium, slow. The medium setting seems quite linear.