Why does my mirrorless EVF look brighter than the scene in a dark room?
Asked 6/12/2020
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On my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II, when I’m in a dark room the electronic viewfinder can show the room as if it were much brighter than it looks through the lens. It almost seems like the camera is using an extremely high ISO just for the EVF. Is this happening because the EVF has lower resolution, or is there another reason mirrorless viewfinders can appear much brighter than the actual scene?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
1
You basically already told yourself. The EVF or electronic view finder is not limited to use the visible light as seen by the lens. It takes the sensor data which can be amplified to give you a brighter image.
Most mirrorless cameras have two modes:
- Simulate the exposure - this will lead to the evf show whatever the exposure settings will yield as image. This mode can be used for exposure preview.
- Non-Preview mode - this can be used when you use the camera in a studio setting with flash. Or during long exposures and astro photography. So basically this is the effect you see, where the camera just brightens the view finder to a comfortable level. This has nothing to do with the iso setting, however, as iso is just the same as sensor gain, this is very similar, but only for the evf.
Originally by user88965. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user88965
6y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
An EVF shows a processed video feed from the camera sensor, not direct optical light like an optical viewfinder. The camera can amplify that sensor signal and brighten the display so you can compose and focus in dim light, even when the real scene looks much darker.
Many mirrorless cameras offer two general behaviors:
- exposure simulation / preview: the EVF tries to show how your current exposure settings will affect the final image
- non-preview / boosted display: the EVF is brightened to a comfortable viewing level, which is useful in dark scenes, studio flash work, long exposures, or astrophotography
So yes, it is similar in effect to raising gain, but it is not simply “because the EVF has lower resolution.” The brightness comes from electronic amplification and display processing of the sensor output. In short: the EVF can look brighter than the scene because the camera is boosting the live view signal for visibility.
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