Faint viewfinder info in MZ5/MZ5N

I use an MZ5N, wear spectacles (varilux) and find that when I try to use manual exposure settings especially against the light on a sunny day that I can hardly see the bar graph. I like to use slide film and a ND grad if the sky is too bright this makes the camera very slow to use.
I see in a recent spec that the MZ5N has variable brightness view finder info.
Is this new ? - my camera is 3 years old.
Thanks