Mirrorless cameras and studio photography work: I recently attended a studio photo shoot. The output of the strobes was set to give a correct exposure at ISO 100, 1/100sec., f/8.

CO

I recently attended a studio photo shoot. The output of the strobes was set to give a correct exposure at ISO 100, 1/100sec., f/8. Everybody set their cameras to those settings. One gal who was shooting with a Sony mirrorless camera said that she wanted to focus manually but her viewfinder was too dark. I know that with DSLR cameras, the lens is held at its maximum aperture until an instant before the shutter opens. This is to allow as much light in as possible to help the autofocus and to make the view through the viewfinder as bright as possible. Is the mirrorless camera stopping the aperture down to f/8 right away even though it might be an f/2.8 lens? I'm not trying to bash mirrorless cameras. Just wondering why the view through her viewfinder was dark.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

I just tried an experiment with my Sony. I opened the pop up flash (not firing it) to grab the correct focus. It lit up the EVF just fine. Then I shut the flash and took the shot. It seemed to work.

HOT Texas Loc: From the Heart of Texas

Is the mirrorless camera stopping the aperture down to f/8 right away even though it might be an f/2.8 lens? No, it is not, it's going to shoot it what ever f/stop you have it set at., If you are shooting manual mode.

BebuLamar

I think the camera doesn't know that you're going to use a strobe because it's a studio strobe. So it displays an image approximately what she would get if there is no flash which is dark.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

CO wrote:

I recently attended a studio photo shoot. The outp... (show quote)

Mirrorless cameras are used in studios all over the world every single day. The owner of the Sony must have been clueless about her camera. How can you even think that "that" is normal with mirrorless cameras? I'm shaking my head.

CO

HOT Texas wrote:

Is the mirrorless camera stopping the aperture down to f/8 right away even though it might be an f/2.8 lens? No, it is not, it's going to shoot it what ever f/stop you have it set at., If you are shooting manual mode.

This is what I thought was happening. The electronic viewfinder is showing exactly how the scene is with our settings of ISO 100, 1/100sec, f/8. I've always had DSLR cameras. I've never owned a mirrorless. I wasn't completely sure how a mirrorless cameras would work under those circumstances.

CO

tdekany wrote:

Mirrorless cameras are used in studios all over the world every single day. The owner of the Sony must have been clueless about her camera. How can you even think that "that" is normal with mirrorless cameras? I'm shaking my head.

I've never owned a mirrorless camera. I was just wondering about how DSLR and mirrorless camera work differently under those circumstances. The DSLR will hold the lens aperture wide open until an instant before shutter opens which is yielding a brighter view through the viewfinder.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

CO wrote:

I've never owned a mirrorless camera. I was just wondering about how DSLR and mirrorless camera work differently under those circumstances. The DSLR will hold the lens aperture wide open until an instant before shutter opens which is yielding a brighter view through the viewfinder.

My understanding is that Sony doesn't do that - but someone like Cholly would have to give a definite answer. At one time, a Sony partisan who was a regular at the Pentax forum gave "true WYSIWYG" as a benefit of using Sony. In his case, he was carefully examining DOF before taking a picture. My understanding was that he didn't have to specially stop down the lens - that it was that way normally.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

CO wrote:

This is what I thought was happening. The electronic viewfinder is showing exactly how the scene is with our settings of ISO 100, 1/100sec, f/8. I've always had DSLR cameras. I've never owned a mirrorless. I wasn't completely sure how a mirrorless cameras would work under those circumstances.

I have a Fuji X-T2. It can be set to either show the scene bright enough to look normally lit or set to show the scene as the actual exposure without the flash would be.

ejrmaine Loc: South Carolina

CO wrote:

I recently attended a studio photo shoot. The outp... (show quote)

Remember in a mirrorless camera you're seeing Live view. If she was in manual, all she had to do was open the aperture up wide, and she should have sufficient light. If the wide aperture won't provide enough light, lengthen the shutter speed and the live view will adjust so you can focus. Then re-set the exposure for the flash.

JohnCl Loc: Central Arizona

I have a Sony A6000 and there is a menu setting that switches the Live View WYSIWYG "on" or "off". I set it to "off" when working with flash in the studio to see what the lens sees.

jackpinoh Loc: Kettering, OH 45419

CO wrote:

I recently attended a studio photo shoot. The outp... (show quote)

She had her camera set up incorrectly.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

HOT Texas wrote:

Is the mirrorless camera stopping the aperture down to f/8 right away even though it might be an f/2.8 lens? No, it is not, it's going to shoot it what ever f/stop you have it set at., If you are shooting manual mode.

The answer is actually yes
My Sony's (a7ii) aperture stops down as the f stop is changed, so if you set manual you are going to see a dark screen because it is going to show you the, 1/125 sec f8 view you are set at, not the the actual view. To see you have to switch back to one of the auto exposure settings or change your settings for an existing light shot to see.

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

JohnCl wrote:

I have a Sony A6000 and there is a menu setting that switches the Live View WYSIWYG "on" or "off". I set it to "off" when working with flash in the studio to see what the lens sees.

I'm going to have to look into this with my a7II.

bengbeng Loc: Houston, Texas

Not sure about her specific Sony, but for a Nikon Coolpix A ( Nikon's discontinued APS-C fixed lens mirrorless ) in manual mode the aperture DOES reduce and stay at, say, f/8 while composing and trying to focus.

By looking at the front of the lens you can see if the the aperture is open or reduced.

Indoors the screen darkens and autofocus can hunt/fail and manual focus is harder :-/
This is an old camera but maybe its down to her specific model.