Sony FDA-EV1S EVF for NEX-5N - Some Observations

For me, the major flaw of the Sony NEX-5N was the lack of a built-in viewfinder, optical or electronic.  Without a viewfinder, it's difficult to see anything under bright lights.  This is especially bad for manual focus lens users.  If you can't see clearly, you can focus accurately.

Fortunately, Sony made an optional EVF for the NEX-5N, the FDA-EV1S external viewfinder. Unfortunately, it's not cheap; it costs slightly more than half of the NEX-5N with a kit lens.  I bought mine used from Adam, but it was defective.  Took it to Sony's repair center and I was given a brand new one.  Haven been using it for about two weeks. Below is my impression of using it.

Bleeding Hearts -- NEX-5N & Kodak Printing Ektar 93mm f4.5. Click for larger.

Without doubt, the EVF helps a great deal in a few areas.  It addresses the biggest issue of unreadable LCD screen in the sun.  Another advantage is when using long lenses.  The EVF helps to stabilize the lens and thus reduces handshake.  These are the major concerns that I have, and the EVF does its job well.

It's not perfect, of course, and this is not even taking into the account of the high price.  First of all, there is no locking mechanism on the adjustable viewer.  Very frequently, I find my glasses pushes the eye piece and moved it upwards, when I really want to see horizontally.  This annoys me a great deal.  Secondly, I find the image inside the viewfinder to be of very low contrast, which makes it very difficult to focus on something that's not very contrasty. In this aspect, I find the EVF on the G1 much better for manual focusing.  Lastly, light leaks too easily into the viewfinder through the eye piece.  Again, the G1 has none of this problem, because the eye-piece is very large and soft that forms to the eyeglass.  The eye piece on the Sony EVF is very hard and small, compared to that of the G1's eye piece.  The blocked up shadow area problem that many people have, is not too much of an issue with me.  I am actually OK with it, but the three problems listed above just bothers me.  I guess if you don't wear eye glasses, you have fewer problems.

Despite the issues I have with the EVF, I find it indispensable for shooting in day light, or with longer lenses.

Sony's FDA-EV1S OLED Viewfinder for NEX-5N

Window -- NEX-5N & Leitz Hektor 135mm f4.5

I noticed that when I got the EVF from Adam yesterday, that it would not give me a flat screen in the finder and instead, the picture looks warped.  Only the center looks in focus, the two sides are not.  This can be fixed temporarily by sliding the diopter all the way to the back, and then readjust.  However, after a little while, or you turn it on the next time, it happens again.  At the moment, I am not sure if it's the EVF or my camera.  Hopefully I can test this next week with Adam's NEX-5N.

Other than that, I love this EVF.  It's super high resolution and is quite a bit better than the one in my Panasonic G1.  Focusing with manual lenses are so much easier, and now I can actually SEE what I am shooting in bright day light.  Having the EVF also allows me to shoot at a slower shutter speed and still get sharp pictures.

The only worry I have is that it looks very flimsy.  I normally just toss my camera in my bag and I don't know how much abuse it could take.

In any case, I hope the problem can be fixed, or this will drive me crazy every time I look through the EVF.