SL2-S viewfinder in low light/high ISO

[Bikie John]

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One of the things that is tempting me about the SL2-S is it's superb high ISO performance - there are plenty of examples here showing that it is real and not just marketing hype. I am wondering though - how good is the viewfinder display in bad light and at high ISO, say 6,400 and up? I would expect to use it some of the time with manual focus M lenses on subjects which insist on moving (musicians performing live on badly-lit stages) so I am wondering if the clarity of the viewfinder will enable reasonably fast focussing.

@LocalHero1953 - you have plenty of examples of stage performers, how do you find it? What sort of ISO do you run at? I've a feeling that actors like to be better lit than musicians, specially when there is a lighting guy who just likes to make all musicians magenta!

Thanks in anticipation ... John

[LocalHero1953]

Hi John. In terms of whether you can view, focus and shoot in very low light, I have found that the SL2-S is better than my eyesight. In this case, I had difficulty seeing the performer the other side of the room with my naked eye, but the viewfinder showed her better and focused OK. This is with the 90-280SL zoom at 100mm, 1/80s and ISO 25000. I have set my AutoISO limit at 25000. For this image I have changed the WB quite a bit, but done nothing extreme to exposure. The first one is as-shot, the second is after cleaning up a bit in Lightroom.

Edit: I usually set focusing to iAF and body/face/eye recognition. I may switch to spot if the scene is crowded.

 

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Edited September 10, 2021 by LocalHero1953

[LocalHero1953]

And a third version after using Topaz Denoise AI instead of Lightroom for noise reduction

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Edited September 10, 2021 by LocalHero1953

[LocalHero1953]

For actual stage performances rather than rehearsals you usually have better lighting, so one ought to be able to use lower ISO. It is certainly easier to see the subject's face in the viewfinder. In practice, though, I would rather have faster shutter speeds than lower ISO, given how tolerant the SL2-S is. The same girl (as Puck, in an outdoor performance of A Midsummer's Night Dream.)
SL2-S + 90-280 @200mm, 1/400s, ISO 25000.

 

 

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Edited September 10, 2021 by LocalHero1953

[LocalHero1953]

Oh, and I agree about stage lighting guys. They are just animals.

[Bikie John]

Thanks Paul, pretty impressive at 25K! Have you tried manual focus at those high ISOs? My worry is that the viewfinder image might be rather indistinct or flickery, which can make it hard to focus manually. Your 90-280 seems to have coped admirably, but we don't have the option of AF with the M lenses.

John

[LocalHero1953]

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3 hours ago, Bikie John said:

Thanks Paul, pretty impressive at 25K! Have you tried manual focus at those high ISOs? My worry is that the viewfinder image might be rather indistinct or flickery, which can make it hard to focus manually. Your 90-280 seems to have coped admirably, but we don't have the option of AF with the M lenses.

John

Thanks, John. No, I don't use manual focus, and never tried it in such scenarios. These days I only use MF for things like macro, and video from a fixed tripod. The only M lenses I now own are a Thambar (which I haven't used much since covid, because I haven't done many straight portrait sessions) and a Summilux-M 35 v2, just acquired with a M4! I prefer using lenses on the mount they were designed for. 

Edit: As for the EVF in such low light, I didn't notice it going flickery in the rehearsal sessions; I wasn't watching for it - performances happen so quickly that unless it hits me in the eye and stops me taking a shot, I tend not to notice such things. I noticed an occasional missed focus (and quite a few with blurred movement), but I was rather marvelling at how few there were - and I actually commented to the director that I could see better through the lens than not.

Edited September 10, 2021 by LocalHero1953

[Bikie John]

Thanks Paul, that sounds encouraging.

John