SL2 eye sensor sensitivity issues

[trickness]

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Is anyone else who wears glasses having issues with the EVF eye sensor on their SL2? Sometimes mine stays dark, not recognizing I’m looking through the EVF and I have to keep trying to take my eye away and bring it back to get the EVF to turn on. SUPER annoying and never had an issue once with my SL. I’ve tried both high and low settings and seems to make no difference. Not sure if it’s a quirk of the SL2 or a mechanical defect

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[JeffWright]

6 hours ago, trickness said:

Is anyone else who wears glasses having issues with the EVF eye sensor on their SL2? Sometimes mine stays dark, not recognizing I’m looking through the EVF and I have to keep trying to take my eye away and bring it back to get the EVF to turn on. SUPER annoying and never had an issue once with my SL. I’ve tried both high and low settings and seems to make no difference. Not sure if it’s a quirk of the SL2 or a mechanical defect

It's a design "feature". This is a common complaint.

[Guest]

No such problem here.

[FrankX]

Same here! Annoying... 😕

[Joakim]

Yes I also have this issue, readjusting the angle between me (my glasses) and the camera helps but I am not sure if I will get so used to it I do it automatically.

[XRayGuy]

I also have this problem, and posted about it a few months ago on a different thread.  After a few replies, I believe it was Jeff who suggested that I try different pairs in case it was the coating on the glasses and sure enough, I have an old pair that I tried where I could not replicate the problem.  This led us to speculate that it was an issue with certain lenses not triggering the sensor.

I agree that it is incredibly annoying and something they should be able to improve in firmware but adjusting sensitivity.

[Jeff S]

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15 minutes ago, XRayGuy said:

I also have this problem, and posted about it a few months ago on a different thread.  After a few replies, I believe it was Jeff who suggested that I try different pairs in case it was the coating on the glasses and sure enough, I have an old pair that I tried where I could not replicate the problem. 

Indeed. I was also having the issue with vertical (portrait) orientation , not so much horizontal (landscape).  I finally determined that my preferred sunglasses (even though non-polarized) worked fine when I flipped the camera in the opposite direction vertically, which I probably should have always done for better handholding stability anyway.  Eyeglass lens materials, and coatings, can yield surprising effects. Thinner, more flexible frames can also allow one to press closer to the VF for better viewing, and perhaps better eye sensor recognition.  Finally, wearing a hat can sometimes help to prevent stray light from entering the VF.  

Jeff

[trickness]

I just wish there was an option just said that whenever you press the shutter once, the EVF stays on for a set interval. I get that they’re trying to save battery, so maybe give you an option to shut it off after five minutes if the shutter hasn’t been pressed. I can’t believe it made it out of the test lab given the way it functions currently

[Jeff S]

5 minutes ago, trickness said:

I just wish there was an option just said that whenever you press the shutter once, the EVF stays on for a set interval. I get that they’re trying to save battery, so maybe give you an option to shut it off after five minutes if the shutter hasn’t been pressed. I can’t believe it made it out of the test lab given the way it functions currently

You could use the dedicated button to turn the EVF constantly on while you’re in a ‘photo rich’ environment, then either switch display modes or power the camera off. I always carry an extra battery anyway, so no worries about battery drainage. No more hassle than carrying a few extra rolls of film back in the day. 
 

Jeff

[Luca]

same problem happened to me during a portrait session in a quite dark environment , really annoying but usually it works fine.

not sure if this happens in low light conditions

 

 

[Paul20]

Hi All,

As a glasses wearer and SL2 user, I also have this issue when the camera is held vertically. I wonder if anyone has heard of any firmware update or anything else that can be done to stop the EVF going off?

[Malabito]

Same issue here, very very disturbing

[trickness]

I started wearing my contacts and that was the best way to make the problem go away. Glasses are always going to be a challenge unfortunately

[hoolyproductions]

5 hours ago, Paul20 said:

Hi All,

As a glasses wearer and SL2 user, I also have this issue when the camera is held vertically. I wonder if anyone has heard of any firmware update or anything else that can be done to stop the EVF going off?

Just what was posted above by Jess S: you can turn off the automation and use the configurable button next to the viewfinder to select display mode

I use "EVF extended" most of the time anyway = EVF for shooting, LCD display for review and setting menus. Good for saving battery also.

Edited February 28, 2022 by hoolyproductions

[beewee]

2 hours ago, hoolyproductions said:

Just what was posted above by Jess S: you can turn off the automation and use the configurable button next to the viewfinder to select display mode

I use "EVF extended" most of the time anyway = EVF for shooting, LCD display for review and setting menus. Good for saving battery also.

I’ve always used EVF extended so I’ve never noticed the EVF detection issue in the vertical orientation but it’s certainly possible since the EVF sensor is on the top of the EVF. I can imagine if you orient the camera vertically and the EVF detection sensor is on the outside part of your face and you have a narrow face, it may have a hard time detecting your face. You could probably mitigate this by increasing the EVF eye detection sensitivity or orient the camera so that the EVF eye detection sensor is facing your nose instead.

[Photoworks]

19 hours ago, beewee said:

I’ve always used EVF extended so I’ve never noticed the EVF detection issue in the vertical orientation but it’s certainly possible since the EVF sensor is on the top of the EVF. I can imagine if you orient the camera vertically and the EVF detection sensor is on the outside part of your face and you have a narrow face, it may have a hard time detecting your face. You could probably mitigate this by increasing the EVF eye detection sensitivity or orient the camera so that the EVF eye detection sensor is facing your nose instead.

some people just hold the camera away from the face, I have noticed that when I gave my camera to somebody to take a snap.

EVF extended does fix the problem.

I have created a profile for in studio photography, included in it is EVF extended. maybe someone else will find it useful. 

[David Gao]

On 7/24/2020 at 7:19 PM, trickness said:

Is anyone else who wears glasses having issues with the EVF eye sensor on their SL2? Sometimes mine stays dark, not recognizing I’m looking through the EVF and I have to keep trying to take my eye away and bring it back to get the EVF to turn on. SUPER annoying and never had an issue once with my SL. I’ve tried both high and low settings and seems to make no difference. Not sure if it’s a quirk of the SL2 or a mechanical defect

I found the high sensitivity only helps keep the camera from going to sleep easily, as the camera know you are holding and moving it by measuring the light change. 

Maybe if the glass is closer to your eyes, that can make the sensor nearer your eyes, can help improve the issue. Or you have to use the button to switch LCD or EVF.

[giampo]

Yes it is an issue, and it is the same with or without glasses.

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[Paul20]

Thank you for posting about EVF Extended I will use this from now on. 

regards 

Paul