EVFs?

K

KrocanX

Well-known member
Hi,

I am unfortunately EVF guy. Even though I have ultra bright monitor I would rather have an EVF. I did my research, but maybe I missed someting. I hope I missed something :).

It looks like there is only one option on the market right now. And that option is Zacuto Gratical HD. Eye looks great but lack of HDMI is deal breaker for me. Anyone has Gratical HD? How bad is screen burn in from menu from camera?

Or is there any other option? BM viefinder looks good too, but I don't want to do WC hw hack.

Thanks
 
KrocanX said:
Hi,

I am unfortunately EVF guy. Even though I have ultra bright monitor I would rather have an EVF. I did my research, but maybe I missed someting. I hope I missed something :).

It looks like there is only one option on the market right now. And that option is Zacuto Gratical HD. Eye looks great but lack of HDMI is deal breaker for me. Anyone has Gratical HD? How bad is screen burn in from menu from camera?

Or is there any other option? BM viefinder looks good too, but I don't want to do WC hw hack.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Gratical HD supports HDMI or SDI, it's right there on the Zacuto page for it. There have been some good deals in the Marketplace on them too.
https://www.zacuto.com/gratical-hd?...medium=chart graphic&utm_campaign=gratical hd
 
Ursa Viewfinder if you can feed it with 1080p sdi signal. Beautiful , just beutiful. Manage to get one for 750 dollars just few days ago :)
 
I'm actually not that impressed with the Amira viewfinder. I find the SmallHD 702 to be a lot sharper and easier to pull focus with.

While I love how the flip out screen is attached to the Amira viewfinder, I wish it was bigger as I don't find it large enough to pull focus with and mostly use it for reference and menu control. The monitor that comes with the C300/C200 for example I find suitable for focus pulling, so if they could up the size of the Amira flip out monitor to that size, and upgrade the viewfinder quality, I'd be happy.
 
My dream combo is an Amira with a Cabrio and a set of Atlas Anamorphics :).... till then running with a F3 Element Technica ( poor's man Alexa :)))))) they say ) ....
 
puredrifting said:
Gratical HD supports HDMI or SDI, it's right there on the Zacuto page for it. There have been some good deals in the Marketplace on them too.
https://www.zacuto.com/gratical-hd?...medium=chart graphic&utm_campaign=gratical hd
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I know, I meant Gratical Eye. It is SDI only.

Eric Coughlin said:
I used to be like you. Instead of investing my money in a viewfinder, I invested in viewfinder conversion therapy, and now I happily use monitors instead.
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Good advice, I will work on it. Which monitor do you have? I have Inferno, brightness is totaly fine but reflective screen is pain in the a**. Since I am really tall I usually have monitor lower than head and all I see is sky :). I have ordered new 3000 nits Swit because I got super good deal for it so I will see if my GAS for EVF will fade away.
 
I've been shooting for over 22 years and I'm a viewfinder guy, too. I have nice "on-camera" monitors that I use when I shoot sit-downs, so that I can back away from the camera a little on long interviews, but when I'm actually operating(more than a slight pan of tilt to keep someone properly framed in an interview), I want and need a real, quality EVF. There's nothing quite like it. You are much closer to the camera and "in-touch", not just physically. The majority of the time when I see someone operating with a monitor instead of VF, it's usually a younger guy with a RED or Canon C series(and/or with an Easyrig). For most people, when you start to hit your mid-late thirties, your up-close vision starts to go on you and you need a VF with a diopter, because your eyes just can't focus as close anymore. Some guys wear reading glasses. I'm not that bad, yet.

But anyway... I have the Graticle HD for my C300 and the image is great. I preordered just after NAB '14 when they had the prototype on display. Mine was probably one of the first shipping production units(serial number is like 100). I just had to send it for repair last year to replace the OLED screen(image became posterized), but I've never had any issue with burn-in and I'd say I have on-screen display info up 99% of the time when using it. It is a little big and heavy, but if you need HDMI or to loop signals out, because of limited camera outputs like on a C300, it rules out the Eye.

Re: Amira VF. I have a client with several Amira's and I've actually never been overly impressed with the VF image, either. And they've actually improved the VF optics since the original release, because of complaints. I remember looking through one at NAB right after the Amira release and thinking it was complete sh!t and how in the world could Arri make something like that. Even the new ones are not as good as the Zacuto Graticle, Sony OLED(100 or 200) or Panasonic OLED.
 
KrocanX said:
I know, I meant Gratical Eye. It is SDI only.



Good advice, I will work on it. Which monitor do you have? I have Inferno, brightness is totaly fine but reflective screen is pain in the a**. Since I am really tall I usually have monitor lower than head and all I see is sky :). I have ordered new 3000 nits Swit because I got super good deal for it so I will see if my GAS for EVF will fade away.
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As mentioned, the SmallHD 702 Bright. I've always found it bright enough for outdoor use, and a bit too bright for indoor use (just have to be careful about judging exposure off of it; I do use the viewfinder for exposure).


Run&Gun said:
Re: Amira VF. I have a client with several Amira's and I've actually never been overly impressed with the VF image, either. And they've actually improved the VF optics since the original release, because of complaints. I remember looking through one at NAB right after the Amira release and thinking it was complete sh!t and how in the world could Arri make something like that. Even the new ones are not as good as the Zacuto Graticle, Sony OLED(100 or 200) or Panasonic OLED.
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Yeah, I was happy with the Alexa XT viewfinder (which I think sells for around $8k-$9k), but not so much the Amira one. I'm happy with the colors and image, it's just lacking in resolution (and size?) for easy focus pulling. Varicam LT viewfinder was pretty nice. Haven't used the F55, Gratical, or C700 viewfinder. I recall when originally looking to buy an Amira I was looking at the used market and wanted to make sure if I got one used that it'd come with the optical upgrade, but I ended up buying new and I believe all the new ones at the time came upgraded. I recently bought a second pretty heavily used Amira and haven't really done any testing with it yet, so hopefully the viewfinder has the optical upgrade.

With the C300, I don't even bother with the SmallHD 702 or a viewfinder, I find that little screen quite sufficient for my purposes. Only reason I'll sometimes setup a monitor is for the client. It's nice to be young and have good eye sight! Both of my parents needed glasses in their teens, but my older sister and I are both going strong without a need for glasses so far!
 
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There's also the Alphatron EVF. Sharp, decent color. It used to burn in badly from the sun if you didn't cap the diopter. Then they came up with a diopter element that prevents a lot of the burn risk, but old guys with lesser eye sight can't get it to focus. So there are some tradeoffs...but if you have young eyes, or use the lesser filtered diopter and exercise good sun discipline, it's worth a look.

I also was impressed with the early Graticle(except for the hefty price tag) but since I do a lot of dolly and low walking shots, having a viewfinder that can flip open was a bigger selling point for me.
 
captslomo said:
There's also the Alphatron EVF. Sharp, decent color. It used to burn in badly from the sun if you didn't cap the diopter. Then they came up with a diopter element that prevents a lot of the burn risk, but old guys with lesser eye sight can't get it to focus. So there are some tradeoffs...but if you have young eyes, or use the lesser filtered diopter and exercise good sun discipline, it's worth a look.

I also was impressed with the early Graticle(except for the hefty price tag) but since I do a lot of dolly and low walking shots, having a viewfinder that can flip open was a bigger selling point for me.
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I wish all of our VF's had the flip-up diopter design to reveal direct view of the panel(why don't they build an OLED[3.5"] with flip-up diopter?) or the Amira style with a flip out panel so that you can see the image for quick high or low shots(especially for those of us that shoot a lot of sports related content).

I bought the Alphatron(built-in shutter) shortly after getting my original C300 and at the time, it was very good. But now, not so much. Especially if you've used something better. I had to break mine out last year when I sent my Graticle in for repair. I was shocked at how "bad" it was today. The image was much softer than my Graticle(or my Sony or my Panasonic LCD) and I had a hard time focusing and there is an annoying green reflection inside from the screen onto the back of the diopter. I was glad to get my Graticle back.
 
I have to say, I am not impressed AT ALL with the Sony LCD that is on my F55. Almost impossible to focus unless peaking is set at max. While I'm wrangling gear today, I might take a moment and hook one of the Alphatrons up and see if it's really the LCD, or the feed coming to it.

Out of curiosity, what are you using on your F55?
 
captslomo said:
I have to say, I am not impressed AT ALL with the Sony LCD that is on my F55. Almost impossible to focus unless peaking is set at max. While I'm wrangling gear today, I might take a moment and hook one of the Alphatrons up and see if it's really the LCD, or the feed coming to it.

Out of curiosity, what are you using on your F55?
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I have the Sony OLED(original model) on mine. It can be a little dark sometimes(common complaint from most users) and the diopter adjustment ring was poorly designed(it has no tension), but otherwise the image is good. I wanted to buy the new model(200) that the Venice uses, but it’s still over $5K and then you have to buy a mounting and cable kit for it to work with the 55/5, because the 200 is a Lemo connector, so you are $6k in. If I could be out the door for ~$4K, I probably would have already done it.
 
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Yep...I tried the Alphatron via SDI cable. Against the stock LCD with no peaking, night and day difference in favor of the Alphatron. With the LCD peaking turned all the way up to 99, the ability to see sharp focus came back to about 90% of the Alphatron, but at the cost of color and ability to quickly eyeball exposure.

OTOH, the easy access one touch mag button on the LCD is a nice tool.
 
One caution on the Alphatron- I could not get the image in focus for my aged eyesight. The range of adjustment on the Alphatron diopter is limited compared to most other diopters. And there is no way to swap out the diopter or add another element of magnification to it. That part of the Alphatron is sealed with no means of getting to it without busting the thing apart. I didn't realize this until I found myself on set. I had to get creative and remove a plastic lens from my reading glasses and, as best I could, wedge the lens from my eyeglasses under the rubber eyepiece. That solved things enough to operate. But for the entire day I'm having to look at my phone with a pair of reading glasses that is missing a lens, much to the amusement of my Sound guy. I got him back by removing the shotgun mic from his blimp when he went to take a leak and thoroughly enjoying watching him being befuddled, turning knobs and flipping switches as he tried to figure out why he wasn't hearing his boom.
 
You scamp, you! It's rude to make the audio guy get up out of his chair.

What I had to do with all my Alphatrons after they introduced the super anti-burn film on the front diopter glass was contact the company and get one of the old "2 second burn protection" diopters. The high protection diopter for me meant the focus adjustment tube would have had to telescope out another couple inches or so. It's a known problem for them, and they seemed happy to send out old-guy replacement glass.

However; you do have to disassemble the EVF iris-capping system, and then take apart the bracket that holds the glass in place to do the switch, which involves a number of tiny little soft screws; so you need a clean work surface, lots of patience, and an electron miscroscope to find the screws once they've bounced across the table a time or two.

It can be done, but it's not for the faint of heart. :eek:
 
captslomo said:
I have to say, I am not impressed AT ALL with the Sony LCD that is on my F55.
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I love the Sony LCD viewfinder on my F55. Fantastic. It suits my needs perfectly. Very sharp, good color, bright, and excellent peaking. Perhaps yours has a problem.
 
You know, Doug...I wondered about that, although I have heard tales of others who have less than unbridled love for their LCD. One of these days I'll be shooting alongside someone with a "very sharp, good color, bright, and excellent peaking" LCD and we can swap VFs to do a test.
 
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