Has anyone upgraded the HPX viewfinder?

focusing can be a little tricky granted especially wide on a sd lens in low contrast conditions, but I can pretty much always tell when it's in. Like my good friend Gavin says up the contrast, I rack anyway cause it can always be more in (depth of 'acceptable' field) harks back to the days when we was rangefinding.

Also as Jan would probably agree they had to be cutting costs somewhere to bring such gear to us at the amazing price... (btw open to commisions presently in Pakistan shooting for channel 4 UK, thanks).
 
OK, so I was picking up gear at my local rental house, and while I was there, I shot some rez charts with both SD and HD lenses (those will come soon) but I also put the VF from the SDX900 on my HPX. I must say folks. It's amazingly better. YOU CAN ACTUALLY PULL A GOOD FOCUS! I forgot to check the model number on the VF, I know some SDX have a 1.5" VF, but I'm pretty sure this was the 2"
 
AJ HVF21G
Panasonic - 2" HD viewfinder for AJ-HDX900E, AJ-HPX2100E and AJ-HPX3000G

will this work with hpx500 ?
 
To anyone using the AJ-VF20WB handheld

To anyone using the AJ-VF20WB handheld

I assume the AJ-VF20WB's a CRT, and after over a year I am ready to spring for one.... but...

How much heavier is it? And how much more power does it draw? Those are important considerations too.
 
The VF20 is only very very slightly heavier, and I have a very hard time noticing the difference. Because it has a larger CRT I assume it will draw more power, however I have yet to notice any significant hit on battery life. Both are fair considerations... but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't notice a difference either.

What I can say is that it is much easier to focus with, is built better, the knobs feel better, and you can screw in optical magnifiers (a big one if you need a little help in the eye department).

Andy
 
Hi all, I have to say I am a bit disappointed.

Today I tried the AJ-VF20WB on the HPX and, while it was marginally better, I would honestly say it was no more than 10% better.

To me - and this is my gripe with the standard VF on the HPX - there is not enough gain on the Peaking control. It is almost as if the thing needs to go 1/2 a turn more to get enough peaking.

Sure, the AJ-VF20WB is better than the original vf, but definitely not $3000 better.

Now this brings me to another possibility....is the resolution of the vf limited by the utput of the camera INTO the vf? This could mean that, no matter what vf you put on there, it is always going to be what appears to be low-res or "softish" and hard to focus with.

And one of the reasons I say this is because a friend of mine has an older 900 series DVCPRO camera with the AJ-VF20WB on it, and it is MUCH clearer and MUCH easier to focus with. Perhaps it all relates to the output from the camera.

Food for thought.
 
The viewfinder is definitely the biggest let down on this camera for me...hate it.
When I'm shooting on the fly I'm paranoid about my shots being in focus all the time. When Panasonic decide to bring out a new 500 model they need to take this VF area more seriously and make great camera an awesome camera.



Just thought I would add my shots in the end always end up in focus, but its the effort you have to put into it to ensure that they are in focus is the most annoying part, it shouldn’t be that way.
I hired the camera a few times before I decided to purchase one so I was well aware of the low res VF but it was the other features and the price tag that sold me.
I agree with the peaking David, just a little more might just be enough.
 
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I have sent an email to the local Panasonic rep to see if we can get an answer on whether or not the video output of the camera to the viewfinder is limited, meaning, no matter what viewfinder you have on the camera, the picture is always going to look soft.

The AJ-VF20WB did not improve things enough for me to warrant a purchase.
 
Gary Parkinson said:

Just thought I would add my shots in the end always end up in focus, but its the effort you have to put into it to ensure that they are in focus is the most annoying part, it shouldn’t be that way.
I hired the camera a few times before I decided to purchase one so I was well aware of the low res VF but it was the other features and the price tag that sold me.
I agree with the peaking David, just a little more might just be enough.
Click to expand...
I couldn't believe it when I saw this....this is exactly what I experience, Gary. The shots are always in focus, but the stress I experience whilst shooting (I shoot news with the cam, so there is never time for constantly checking focus). means you finish your day more exhausted then usual. A whole lot of worry for nothing.

I shot a press conference yesterday. Rushed and tense as usual. I zoomed in and focused, pulled back and then spent the rest of the time wondering if (and hoping that) the shot was in focus, as it didn't look like it was. I did zoom in once (and the focus was fine), but news is like shooting a wedding most times...no second chances.

The other thing is, getting the focus right is like choosing the best of a bad bunch. It still doesn't look in focus in the viewfinder, but it is the best you can get.
 
I had an idea and I'd like to see how everyone feels about it.

Option 1: At Abel we could create a cable to that would take the component output from the back of the camera and go to a VF port for a Panasonic HD viewfinder. This could work the AJ-HVF21G - the 1080i viewfinder on all the higher camera models. Actually we could make it work with the new color viewfinder as well when it comes out. This would be a true HD signal and that viewfinder is night and day better then the one that the camera comes with. The talley light, save light, and !LED should work if we cable it right.This is very similar to what we did with the MovieTube ST.

The downsides... With this solution you would lose the back output of the camera and have a cable running around. Also that output is easy to disconnect (as I'm sure we have all experienced). To get on screen information you would have to turn on the character display. And it will NOT work in SD mode.

Option 2: This would take some testing.. but we could modifiy the camera internally to accomplish the same thing. This would pass through the Talley and other light information and would leave the back output open. We would still have the other two issues of no SD output and the characters would require the switch being on. Also the internal mod would not be reversible easily. OH and this would probably void your warranty..

What does everyone think? Would it be worth it? Not sure on the cost yet. How many people would actually do this? It would require purchasing an HD viewfinder that lists for around $3,500.

Let me know what you think.

Andy
 
David See said:
I have sent an email to the local Panasonic rep to see if we can get an answer on whether or not the video output of the camera to the viewfinder is limited, meaning, no matter what viewfinder you have on the camera, the picture is always going to look soft.
Click to expand...
It is my understanding that the viewfinder output is a black & white standard-def signal. I've seen a BT-LH80W used in "viewfinder" mode on the HPX500 and it's B&W SD. I never use it that way, I always route the HD-SDI cable to get HD & color.

If I'm correct that the VF output is only B&W SD, then obviously there's limited room for improvement in the area of a VF. Tweaking the peaking can make a huge difference though, as it has for the HPX170 vs. the original HVX200.
 
Gary Parkinson said:
The viewfinder is definitely the biggest let down on this camera for me...hate it.
When I'm shooting on the fly I'm paranoid about my shots being in focus all the time. When Panasonic decide to bring out a new 500 model they need to take this VF area more seriously and make great camera an awesome camera.



Just thought I would add my shots in the end always end up in focus, but its the effort you have to put into it to ensure that they are in focus is the most annoying part, it shouldn’t be that way.
I hired the camera a few times before I decided to purchase one so I was well aware of the low res VF but it was the other features and the price tag that sold me.
I agree with the peaking David, just a little more might just be enough.
Click to expand...


oh man, do I ever agree with this, However I have had onetime where my shots werent in focus! turns out my backfocus was out and all my wide shots were slightly soft. definitely made me look like a bad shooter. I've gotten int he habit of bringing a focus chart to every non-monitor shoot and making totally sure my backfocus is set.

Now, my experience with the vf20 was a little more positive and I found it to be MUCH easier to focus than the original viewfinder. I'm confident that on that night my backfocus was out, has I had the vf20, I would have been able to tell.
 
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