[robj144]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Good post, and thanks for all the thoughts!

You're quite right about the EVF at least as it applies to my now 5-year-old X-T1, the image in the viewfinder is far more contrasty that the actual capture, despite the sales pitch that you see the actual exposure in the EVF. Is the X-T3 that much better? I hear it is, but not sure it eliminates what you're talking about. It is nice however to be able to see the exposure and DOF immediately and be able to correct it by hand with a dial on top of the camera. It's very fast and intuitive. And WRT to optical viewfinders, well the captures from my 6D don't look like what I see in that viewfinder either, so there's translation either way. But I can see why folks like opticals better, it does feel so much more natural and organic. When I picked up a Sony A7III it was just so...electronic, and so much happening in the EVF with focus highlighting and everything else they throw at you. I had a strong initial negative reaction to the experience of that camera.

Battery life is bad on the Fuji X series, but is reputed to be far better on the Sony A series. They just use a much bigger battery. But yes, the EVF and the LCD are much more of a power suck. But batteries are cheap, light, and easy to swap out.

I would disagree with caveats on the gripe about size. My 6D is small for a full-frame mirrorless, and it feels comically large after using the X-T1 for a few weeks. While it's true that full-frame mirrorless have just as large and heavy of lenses as a DSLR (or very close), what's nice for me about the Fuji system is that the ASP-C lenses are much smaller, and much cheaper than full-frame lenses for mirrorless or DSLR cameras. And the sharpness of these much more modern lenses is incredible compared to the very nice L glass I have for my Canon. My Fujinon 56mm 1.2 is dramatically sharper than any L glass I've ever had. The R lenses from Canon are said to be on this level, but I haven't seen an EF mount lens that can touch it. I was genuinely surprised by this, difference, it's not subtle. You certainly don't get the same shallowness in your DOF with APS-C, but with fast primes I get as much as I'd ever want. The overall size experience with a mirrorless APS-C is quite different than a full-frame DSLR. For me I want fast lenses as I shoot in the city at night a lot, and I love the shallow DOF for portraits, etc.

Good discussion.

The EVF in the Sony has several modes and most of the things that were on when you used it can be turned off.