Minolta DiMAGE A1Minolta updates their revolutionary five-megapixel electronic SLR with faster shutter speeds, an Anti-Shake mode, 14-bit A/D, and a tilting LCD monitor, among other improvements.<<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:ViewfinderReview First Posted: 08/08/2003, Updated: 11/10/03 |
Viewfinder
The
electronic viewfinder (EVF) is one area in which the DiMAGE A1 marks a significant
departure from the tradition established by the 7, 7i, and 7Hi. The earlier
cameras used a unique reflective ferroelectric LCD for their EVFs, which had
both strengths and weaknesses. On the positive side, the image was very smooth-looking
, with little or no visible pixelation, because each pixel of the ferroelectric
LCD displayed full color. (Rather than just red, green, or blue, as with conventional
LCD displays.) The 7-series cameras also had the first EVFs that I considered
truly usable in low light shooting conditions. On the downside, because the
ferroelectric LCD's pixels were time-multiplexed (they actually switched very
rapidly between red, green, and blue) and were fairly coarse with abrupt rectangular
edges, the EVF displayed odd "crackled glass" artifacts in response
to camera or subject motion. The net of all this is that people tended to either
love or hate the EVFs on the 7-series cameras, with the net vote probably coming
down on the side of not liking it.
In the DiMAGE A1, Minolta has gone back to a more ordinary EVF design, based on conventional TFT LCD technology. In doing so though, they've at least used a very high-resolution LCD, so the resulting display is still very smooth, detailed, and easy on the eyes. (I don't have a spec on the EVF's pixel count, but it does seem to be pretty high resolution.) With a normal LCD, there's none of the "crackled glass" look, regardless of any camera or subject movement, and Minolta seems to have also managed to preserve the remarkable light sensitivity I saw in the EVFs of the earlier cameras. Overall, I think the EVF in the A1 is a worthy upgrade from that of the 7Hi and others before. it.
To expand a bit on the subject of EVFs, let me note that I've long held a hearty
dislike of them, for a variety of reasons. For one, resolution is often considerably
less than on the rear-panel LCD, and the view doesn't remotely compare to that
through a purely optical viewfinder. A bigger concern though, is that most EVF
displays are woefully inadequate for low-light shooting. The high refresh rate
required to provide a "live" view of the subject means that the CCD
just can't collect enough light in each frame to make the EVF display usable.
Time and again, I've seen EVF-equipped digicams that are capable of taking pictures
in conditions far darker than levels at which you can see what you're shooting
in the EVF. Without a low-light-capable viewfinder, you're reduced to guessing
where your subject is in the viewfinder.
That said, Minolta's EVFs in the DiMAGE 7, 7i, 7Hi, and now the A1 have proven
exceptions to my thinking. The Dimage A1's EVF works down to incredibly low
light levels, and also has very high resolution under normal lighting. I had
previously attributed the usability of the DiMAGE 7's EVF to its use of ferroelectric
LCD technology, but it now appears that it's other factors within the camera
itself that results in the excellent low-light performance. Below a certain
light level, it switches from a color display to a monochrome one (although
the final camera images are still captured in color), apparently as a way of
increasing sensitivity and reducing image noise. Whatever the case, the net
result is that the EVF on the Dimage A1 is about as sensitive as my own
eyes at a given illumination level, making it eminently usable at any light
level most users will care to shoot at. Given that it's about as sensitive as
the average eyeball, it's fair to say that a purely optical viewfinder wouldn't
improve low-light capability a great deal.
The Dimage A1's EVF also features the innovative auto-switching capability first
seen in the original Dimage 7. You can choose to have the viewfinder display
always appear on either the LCD or EVF, or switch between the two automatically.
Inset behind a pair of vertical windows on the right side of the viewfinder,
a set of infrared sensors detects your eye as it approaches the viewfinder,
switching the view to the EVF and disabling the LCD monitor if you have the
auto-switching option enabled. To save on battery power, you can optionally
(through the Setup menu) set the Auto mode to simply turn the EVF on and off,
keeping the LCD monitor disabled.
Minolta also addressed the only complaint I had about the auto-on feature of
the EVF. Previously, if you left the camera hanging from its neckstrap, the
EVF eyepiece would press against your chest, triggering the infrared eyeball-detector
circuit. While you could avoid the problem by flipping the tilting eyepiece
up when carrying the camera, that was a bit of a hassle, and easy to forget
to do. A new setup menu option fixes this problem by optionally coupling the
eyeball detector with the hand grip sensor. You can set up the A1 so its EVF
only turns on when you're looking through the EVF and your hand is on
the handgrip. Kudos to Minolta for a very clever solution to a minor but annoying
usability issue.
As noted, the electronic viewfinder eyepiece tilts upward 90 degrees, offering
a range of viewing angles. A Diopter Control dial adjusts the viewfinder to
accommodate eyeglass wearers, across a range of -5 to +0.5 diopters. (This covers
a wider range of eyesight than I'm accustomed to seeing in eyepiece adjustments.
It handled my 20/200 vision with no trouble at all.) The viewfinder has a reasonably
high eyepoint, making it fairly usable with eyeglasses, but the field of view
is slightly restricted when your eye is further from the eyepiece.
The
rear-panel, 1.8-inch, TFT color LCD monitor is also offers a bright, clear image
display. New to the A1, the LCD monitor lifts off of the rear panel, and can
tilt upwards about 90 degrees, or downward by about 15 degrees. Like the electronic
viewfinder, the LCD monitor displays a range of exposure and camera information
in both Record and Playback modes, activated by the "i+" button. A
Histogram setting displays a small "live" histogram overlaid on the
viewfinder image, showing the distribution of tonal information in the image.
This is handy tool for determining any potential over or underexposure, before
capturing an image.
I've
often found digicam manual focus features of limited utility, largely because
it can be so hard to tell when you've achieved proper focus. LCD screens just
don't display enough image detail to be able to tell whether an image is exactly
in focus or not. Some manufacturers offer modes in which the viewfinder image
optionally can be magnified by 2x or 4x but even that often falls a little short.
(2x is clearly inadequate in my view, 4x starts to be useful.) In the A1, Minolta
offers viewfinder magnification of 2x or 8x to assist with manual focusing,
and the 8x level works very well for determining critical focus. Kudos again
for this feature, I'd like to see other manufacturers emulate it.
In
Playback mode, the Dimage A1 optionally displays a fair amount of image information,
which is again controlled by the i+ button. The same button also accesses an
index display mode, which you can set via a menu option to show either four
or nine thumbnail images to a page. The Magnify button enlarges captured images,
so that you can more closely check on fine details. A histogram feature is also
available in Playback mode, by pressing the up arrow key.
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