Martin S. , Feb 09, 2012; 06:49 p.m.
I’ve never been impressed by the image quality of EVs, but this is based on past experiences with bridge-type cameras from various manufacturers. I’m wondering whether things have changed substantially with the current generation of mirrorless cameras such as the Sony NEX, Olympus E-PL3 and Panasonic DMC-GX1.
The resolution of the available EVs is plenty, but do they display anything useful when shooting in the night enabling you to frame your image?
Matt Laur 
, Feb 09, 2012; 07:10 p.m.
I'm more interested in what they do to your night vision.
Leslie Cheung 
, Feb 09, 2012; 07:12 p.m.
I'm staying off this and future LCD/EVF/OVF threads. All I'll say is go try them out yourself. Go look at the Nex 7 (same as A77/65/5n) EVF. They are state of art and EVF is still progressing. VF and ways of framing are highly personal and one ought to check them out for themselves. Subject matter, eye sight, lenses, photographic style etc...all should be considered as components of the compromising equation.
Here is a recent PN somewhat relevant thread: http://photo.net/olympus-camera-forum/00ZxNl
Good luck!
Martin S. , Feb 09, 2012; 07:15 p.m.
Well, unless they improve it, they’re no bloody good at all :)
Laurentiu Cristofor , Feb 09, 2012; 07:21 p.m.
I never did long exposures, but I shot some scenes at night and had no issues with the LCD display (the EVF would display the same thing). If you are seeing it, the LCD will show it, albeit with some more noise - but it is still usable in terms of framing and checking focus.
I only once got into an issue when I underexposed by some 2 stops and it looks like the camera had trouble showing that exposure. It was very dark too.
If you are worried about long exposures, the new E-M5 seems to have some features to allow that - I've seen some mentions in the dpreview preview.
Sanford Edelstein 
, Feb 09, 2012; 10:21 p.m.
I used the Nikon D300 along side the Panasonic G2 today and I have to say, using the G2 viewfinder is an awful experience next to one of Nikon's best viewfinders. I've gotten used to the G2 over the last few months but the Nikon reminded me of how far these electronic viewfinders need to improve yet.
Leslie Cheung , Feb 10, 2012; 12:33 a.m.
Live time/bulb sounds neat tho;)
H. P. , Feb 10, 2012; 07:50 a.m.
As ever, people's mileages vary.
I find that all three of my EVF cameras (Olympus SP570, Panasonic G2 and Sony R1) are better than my Canon dSLRs for 'available darkness' shots. Yes, they get very slow and horribly "gritty" but they give me a clearer idea of what's going to happen, when I press the button, than do the optical finders on the Canons.
Dick Arnold , Feb 10, 2012; 09:08 a.m.
I have the Sony EVF on my NEX 5N. As opposed to an optical finder the EVF shows what the sensor sees based upon your exposure settings. The same is true for the LCD. I have the camera in my hand and just took it into a very dark room. As H.P. said it gets gritty and slow, but not that slow, in low light and the picture I took was spot on for exposure. That was with no AF illumination at 1/3 sec. at f4. The camera had no touble with AF in that light.
Sony NEX 5N with EVF. Multi frame anit motion blur at ISO 6400
Dick Arnold , Feb 10, 2012; 09:12 a.m.
The above picture showed up very well with EVF
