Will Leica update to the VF-4 EVF?

[wlaidlaw]

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Now that Olympus have updated their viewfinder range to the VF-4 viewfinder with 2.36 M-Dot screen 0.74X magnification, will Leica adopt this finder? Was an upgrade path built into the M (I sincerely hope so)?

 

Whereas the EVF-2 is not bad, there is distinct room for improvement. When trying to focus a 300mm lens, the focus peaking is not quite sharp enough and it is distinctly easier on the rear LCD, sun dimming permitting. Having briefly used a Nex 7, it is very obvious how extra dots improve a finder. The new Oly finder has even more dots than the Nex 7.

 

Wilson

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[Ario Arioldi]

According to Olympus VF4 will be usable in older Olympus Cameras via a FW upgrade, hopefully a similar possibility will be given to M users, maybe this will happen only when a Leica re-branded VF4 is on the market.

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[rirakuma]

Unless Leica is planning a rebranded version to sell as their own I have doubts that they will do a firmware update for this. I hope I'm wrong though.

[dwbell]

Some more technical people on here have discussed it in a different thread (sorry can't remember where) and, if I remember rightly, concluded that it depends on which output the camera can 'give' the EVF. If that's limited then an upgrade is unlikely I believe was the thought.

[wlaidlaw]

Some more technical people on here have discussed it in a different thread (sorry can't remember where) and, if I remember rightly, concluded that it depends on which output the camera can 'give' the EVF. If that's limited then an upgrade is unlikely I believe was the thought.

 

If that is the case, it is/was desperately short sighted of Leica. I understand that I will be able to update my cheap old Olympus EP-2 to work with the VF-4. I do hope the naysayers are wrong.

 

Wilson

[mjh]

Now that Olympus have updated their viewfinder range to the VF-4 viewfinder with 2.36 M-Dot screen 0.74X magnification, will Leica adopt this finder?

We will see.

 

When trying to focus a 300mm lens, the focus peaking is not quite sharp enough and it is distinctly easier on the rear LCD, sun dimming permitting.

If focus peaking works better on the lower resolution rear LCD, how would increasing the resolution of the EVF help? (For what it’s worth, I much prefer focus peaking with the EVF, partly because of its 50% higher resolution.)

[dwbell]

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If that is the case, it is/was desperately short sighted of Leica. I understand that I will be able to update my cheap old Olympus EP-2 to work with the VF-4. I do hope the naysayers are wrong.

 

Wilson

 

If it's the case yes, but it was a forum conclusion based on best guess, so don't quote me. Maybe Michael (mjh above) knows more....

[wlaidlaw]

We will see.

 

 

If focus peaking works better on the lower resolution rear LCD, how would increasing the resolution of the EVF help? (For what it’s worth, I much prefer focus peaking with the EVF, partly because of its 50% higher resolution.)

 

Michael,

 

The size of focus peaking highlights often makes them difficult to see on the EVF, unless you have a nice long straight line to trigger the contrast detection ( a wire is very good to focus on). Particularly when I am wearing glasses, it is often quite difficult to see peaking at all. On lower contrast lenses, I sometimes cannot see it in the EFV at all. I hope that having more dots would make the peaking stand out more. From what I understand from early reports on the VF-4, is that the contrast ratio of the Epson screen is higher than the VF-2, as you would expect with the next generation. This too would make the focus peaking stand out better.

 

Wilson

[mjh]

Compared to the bandwidth requirements of a 1920 x 1080 pixel video stream at 25 fps, there shouldn’t be any problems supporting the VF-4, requiring roughly half that bandwith. But there may be issues I am not aware of so I don’t know for certain.

[k-hawinkler]

How about magnification on the M in the context of this thread?

On a tripod magnification seems to give better results at least for me on NEX and OMD.

[wlaidlaw]

Compared to the bandwidth requirements of a 1920 x 1080 pixel video stream at 25 fps, there shouldn’t be any problems supporting the VF-4, requiring roughly half that bandwith. But there may be issues I am not aware of so I don’t know for certain.

 

My daughter is going to bring an EP-5 body and VF-4 over from the USA for me but that is not going to be until the beginning of August. The dollar price is the same number as the £Stg price, especially if she buys it while going though Delaware State, where there is no sales tax.

 

Wilson

[mreddington]

For what it's worth, someone at the Leica Shop in Munich recently said he had heard there was a new EVF in the pipeline. Maybe this is it.

[wlaidlaw]

For what it's worth, someone at the Leica Shop in Munich recently said he had heard there was a new EVF in the pipeline. Maybe this is it.

 

Cross fingers

 

Wilson

[wlaidlaw]

There is now some more detail on DPReview. If it will work on the M, it sounds like really good news. One comment was that it is like "looking through the optical viewfinder of a top DSLR". More info on DP review quoted here:

Our first impressions of the VF-4 are very positive - it gives an experience that comes remarkably close to shooting with a conventional optical finder, but with the advantage of a detailed overlay of shooting information, including such things as electronic levels and a live histogram. The display lag is minimal (Olympus claims a mere 32ms), and the live view image sharp and detailed into the corners of the frame. About the only negative point is that the view is so large that spectacle wearers may struggle to see into the extreme corners.

 

Wilson

[dwbell]

Ooooooh, good job Olympus. Hope it's compitable.

[macjonny1]

It would bother me to have a new camera and be saddled with an obsolete EVF ...

[Brett Cambern]

I love that it has a built-in diopter. Let's hope it works on the M240.

[digitalfx]

I love that it has a built-in diopter. Let's hope it works on the M240.

so does the EVF-2

[viramati]

It would seem amazing if it didn't. after all the M is only just been released and Dpreview say it is compatible with older pen models. If it doesn't then leica have just released a £5000 camera that will only work with an obsolete EVF. I begin to wonder!!

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[dwbell]

It would seem amazing if it didn't. after all the M is only just been released and Dpreview say it is compatible with older pen models. If it doesn't then leica have just released a £5000 camera that will only work with an obsolete EVF. I begin to wonder!!

 

I'm sure it will be compatible, not even in the Leica bubble would the engineers be that short sighted. Let's wait and be excited for the upgrade.