S1/R vs SL viewfinder

[sebben]

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Curious to know if Panasonic has improved the quality of the view finder over the Leica SL.

More specifically, what bothers me about the SL finder is:

1. When under exposing the image by more than a stop the blacks become very milky and you can't see much detail in the shadows (Often required to prevent highlight clipping)

2. It’s not very bright causing difficulties in bright conditions 

3. Difficult to judge focus unless magnifying the image (I have 20/20 vision) 

 

 

[thighslapper]

1. Never noticed this much on the SL .... but appears fine on the S1R

2. I never had much trouble with the SL either ..... but the EVF seems deeper set in the S1R which blocks ambient light better .... plus you have the optional eye cup. I've had no issues even in bright midday cloudless skies. 

3. The SL EVF is trade marked as 'Eye Res' and theoretically should show detail at a resolution equivalent to normal visual limits ...... the S1R is as close to optical as you can get. I've had no problems with AF accuracy or manually focussing, even with a Noctilux. Peaking is much easier to see and seems more accurate than on the SL if required. There is an auto magnification function (x6) which pops up a window in the centre of the image anyway to help you.

[ron777]

50 minutes ago, sebben said:

Curious to know if Panasonic has improved the quality of the view finder over the Leica SL.

More specifically, what bothers me about the SL finder is:

1. When under exposing the image by more than a stop the blacks become very milky and you can't see much detail in the shadows (Often required to prevent highlight clipping)

2. It’s not very bright causing difficulties in bright conditions 

3. Difficult to judge focus unless magnifying the image (I have 20/20 vision) 

 

 

I have encountered the SL EVF issues described, particularly the dimming of the EVF due to light penetration that makes focusing and framing all but impossible when it appears.  That said, I have had no such issues with e S1R's EVF, no matter how hard I have tried to reproduce the SL's problem the S1R is always bright and easy to focus.  And as has been noted, S1R/S1's focus peaking is much better than that of the SL.

[Stuart Richardson]

Hey Sebben. If this is the Sebben I know, you can come to the studio at some point and look at the S1. The EVF is really very good. I think it still looks terrible compared to any good OVF, and any idea that it has the same resolution of the eye strikes me as highly unlikely. Or perhaps resolution is not the main issue...they all still look like television screens, and in bright daylight they are fine, but no matter how good they are they slow down and get grainy in low light. You are making a trade off -- you get to see all the electronic information and viewfinder aids you want...peaking, magnification, overlays etc, but what you give up is the crystal clarity and immediacy of viewing the reflected light from the scene. 

[sebben]

Hey Stuart, I will drop by, didn't know you had the S1!

A direct test will defiantly answer my questions 😁

 

 

 

[Stuart Richardson]

I just brought it back from Berlin yesterday, so you are in luck...