Z7ii questions

[Palouse]

Zebra's or blinkies on the evf before shooting changed the whole exposure game for me.
I now essentially always shoot in manual- picking the aperture and shutterspeed needed.
I have my iso set up on one of the rear camera dials, and I can just dial in what iso I need- and it takes less than a second. You do have to pay attention.
But when a white egret pops up next to the heron I was shooting- the blinkies make me immediately aware I have to dial down iso before even my first shot.
It makes my life easier- of coarse I am getting older and dumber so I need all the help I can get.
gary

I shoot landscapes; they give me more than a mere second!

 

[Clix Pix]

Zebra's or blinkies on the evf before shooting changed the whole exposure game for me.
I now essentially always shoot in manual- picking the aperture and shutterspeed needed.
I have my iso set up on one of the rear camera dials, and I can just dial in what iso I need- and it takes less than a second. You do have to pay attention.
But when a white egret pops up next to the heron I was shooting- the blinkies make me immediately aware I have to dial down iso before even my first shot.
It makes my life easier- of coarse I am getting older and dumber so I need all the help I can get.
gary

After years of shooting in Aperture priority, this past summer I finally got frustrated a few times and went to manual, with Auto ISO and have been shooting that way ever since. At times Auto ISO can be problematic, too, though, so yes, easy enough to make adjustments and dial in exactly what is required.

 

[Mike Buckley]

I shoot landscapes; they give me more than a mere second!

I've got you beat: the light never changes in my makeshift studio unless the electricity goes out.

 

[MNglass]

There may be some technical reason that they cannot do it -- I don't think any mirrorless camera brands offer the use of blinkies in the EVF; the zebra function would be a replacement for that, which is what Sony has done. I don't know how Canon handles things.

Olympus EM1-II (and I assume III and the X) offer not blinks but colored blown highlights and shadows in the EVF. Effectively the same thing.

 

[gnagel]

Earlier today, I discovered another benefit of mirrorless. I no longer have to cover the viewfinder like I did with my dSLR. The mirrorless viewfinder is electronic so light won’t leak in from there. With my D850 I got so much use out of the eyepiece cover that the spring wore out. It was $150 repair!

Glenn

 

[Mike Buckley]

The mirrorless viewfinder is electronic so light won’t leak in from there. With my D850 I got so much use out of the eyepiece cover that the spring wore out. It was $150 repair!

You could have saved the $150 and put two fingers over the viewfinder. That's what I always did and I never noticed any effects of light leak.

Even so, why would light leak through a DSLR viewfinder and not a mirrorless viewfinder? I realize the differences between the two types of systems regarding how the image is displayed in the viewfinders but I don't understand how that would affect whether light leaks through the viewfinder.

 

[gnagel]

You could have saved the $150 and put two fingers over the viewfinder. That's what I always did and I never noticed any effects of light leak.

Even so, why would light leak through a DSLR viewfinder and not a mirrorless viewfinder? I realize the differences between the two types of systems regarding how the image is displayed in the viewfinders but I don't understand how that would affect whether light leaks through the viewfinder.

Holding my fingers over the viewfinder for long exposures (sometimes up to 10 minutes) is not something I wanted to make a habit out of. And the issue is that the cover was falling into the closed position rather than staying open.

When learning how to photograph long exposures and night images, I learned to cover the eyepiece to avoid light entering there...and this was back in the film days. That carried over into the dSLR cameras as they experienced the same issue (perhaps due to the mirror?).

I don’t know the electronics well enough to understand why light enters there, but my internet research confirms that. The only reason I started looking into it again is that I was shooting with the Z7ii yesterday and couldn’t find the eyepiece cover. So, I looked up the reason and saw that light doesn’t enter because it is an electronic viewfinder rather than an optical one. That’s an advantage for me.

Glenn

 

[Mike Buckley]

light doesn’t enter because it is an electronic viewfinder rather than an optical one.

I've got a guess, but just a guess, about that. My hunch is that light leaks into the electronic viewfinder. However, unlike in a DSLR where the mirror in the raised position somehow redirects a small amount of that light onto the sensor, the mirrorless camera doesn't do that. Another way of putting it is that though a small amount of light enters the inside of the mirrorless camera, the light maybe becomes absorbed by the black chamber and doesn't fall upon the sensor.

EDIT: Another possibility is that the electronic display built into the viewfinder is installed around the eyepiece in such a way that it really does prevent light from entering the chamber. Now that I've thought about it, that's probably more likely.

 

[Palouse]

Mike, a mirror reflects light in 2 directions; an electronic circuit is a one-way street.

 

[Mike Buckley]

an electronic circuit is a one-way street.

Considering that the light leak has to do with light entering from outside directly through viewfinder, what does the electronic circuit have to do with it?

 

[Palouse]

Considering that the light leak has to do with light entering from outside directly through viewfinder, what does the electronic circuit have to do with it?

The EVF is electronic—basically a high definition TV.

 

[Mike Buckley]

The EVF is electronic—basically a high definition TV.

I understand that it's an electronic display. Again, what does that in itself have to do with light not entering from the outside?

My hunch is that there is either a seal around the perimeter of the display, that the display is sufficiently larger than the eyepiece (enough so to prevent outside light from entering the chamber), or both.

 

[Palouse]

Mike, on a DSLR light does not leak in—it just goes in right through the eyepiece. Not around the edges, not leaking past seals, etc.—. That light path is not available to a mirrorless camera.

 

[Palouse]

From Thom's D850 book:

"One last gotcha to exposure: if you’re shooting on a tripod without your eye at the viewfinder, close the eyepiece! Yes, it makes a difference. I’ve measured it at over a stop in some situations.
What’s going on? The metering sensor is in the prism just in front of the eyepiece. It’s looking at the same thing you are (the focus screen), but light most definitely can come in from the viewfinder and get into the metering path. Normally, having your eye at the viewfinder is enough to block that. But put the camera on a tripod and step away from the viewfinder and all bets are off. Learn to block the eyepiece using the eyepiece shutter."

 

[mike3996]

I just have to throw my 2 cents on the discussion and say that the lack of blinkies or zebras was a sufficient factor for me to rule Z cameras out, for the time being. Not because it's such a dealbreaker not to have it, rather, simply because there are other strong candidates that have it and the feature makes for a fun, unobstructive way to watch my exposure.

I'm following the news on the Z6ii firmware updates to see whether the feature makes an appearance.

 

[mike3996]

"One last gotcha to exposure: if you’re shooting on a tripod without your eye at the viewfinder, close the eyepiece! Yes, it makes a difference. I’ve measured it at over a stop in some situations.
What’s going on? The metering sensor is in the prism just in front of the eyepiece. It’s looking at the same thing you are (the focus screen), but light most definitely can come in from the viewfinder and get into the metering path. Normally, having your eye at the viewfinder is enough to block that. But put the camera on a tripod and step away from the viewfinder and all bets are off. Learn to block the eyepiece using the eyepiece shutter."

I've wondered about this:

If you have everything set manually and the camera's opinion about correct exposure doesn't matter to you, are there still adverse effects not blocking the eye piece?

 

[Palouse]

I've wondered about this:

If you have everything set manually and the camera's opinion about correct exposure doesn't matter to you, are there still adverse effects not blocking the eye piece?

This is on the D850.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Mike, on a DSLR light does not leak in—it just goes in right through the eyepiece. Not around the edges, not leaking past seals, etc.—. That light path is not available to a mirrorless camera.

I have good news for you, Nick: you can now stop banging your head against the wall. Seriously, thanks to your explanation, I finally get it. (With luck, I'll even remember it a week from now.)

 

[Palouse]

I have good news for you, Nick: you can now stop banging your head against the wall. Seriously, thanks to your explanation, I finally get it. (With luck, I'll even remember it a week from now.)

Phew! I was beginning to suspect my coffee had gotten decaffeinated. Was almost ready to reach for the wine—and it's not yet 9 am here!

 

[Lance B]

I wouldn't use "blinkies" even if it were available, I just use the histogram.
As for remote release, I use the Nikon WR-R10 and WR-T10 remote or use Snapbridge via my phone. You can even control aperture, shutter speed etc with Snapbridge via your phone.
I use the SmallRig L-bracket which can be adjusted so the vertical section can move away from the body and connections. However, I do not usually ever use the vertical part of the L-bracket preferring to use the ball head to move toi vertical orientation.