Got my Zacuto EVF today. Some thoughts...

Steve,

For the record, I have never compared your evf to the red or alexa. I don't know why you chose to quote my post and then go on about price. I mentioned price once in my original post and i only said that I paid a premium price for what I expected to be a premium product. I didnt even think about the red or alexa evf's, being that they are not compatible with any other cameras. I guess i would have to consider other proprietary evfs such as ones that come with eng cameras at that point. I did say zacuto stuff is expensive, which it is. My point was that if you are going to make high end, expensive products, people are going to expect a higher standard from you.

What about the ninja issue? Does the ninja work with your evf? Is the loop thru passive, or does it alter the signal in some way? I would like to know if the signal coming out of the evf is clean and unaltered from the original.

I don't want to bring down the whole product line by causing a lag just so I can have peaking in a color. If it's not possible, that's cool. I'll figure something else out. Maybe this evf just isn't for me. I realize others love it, but in it's current state, I don't. No biggie.
 
cheezweezl said:
What about the ninja issue? Does the ninja work with your evf? Is the loop thru passive, or does it alter the signal in some way? I would like to know if the signal coming out of the evf is clean and unaltered from the original.
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I got the impression that the Ninja's loop-through needed profiling, & any compatibility is not due to the EVF's loop-through. If I was rigging an EVF/Ninja package, the camera's HDMI signal would go through the Ninja first, & loop-through to the EVF, in order to minimize cabling.

I've looped-through Zacuto's EVF to a 6.5", & 5", Marshall monitors, & had no issues, so think my premise is most likely correct.

And while you might feel Zacuto's EVF is expensive, I find the opposite, & believe it is a bargain. Perhaps it's only that I've grown accustomed to the pricing of professional gear.

Regards,
Bern
 
Bern Caughey said:
I got the impression that the Ninja's loop-through needed profiling, & any compatibility is not due to the EVF's loop-through. If I was rigging an EVF/Ninja package, the camera's HDMI signal would go through the Ninja first, & loop-through to the EVF, in order to minimize cabling.

I've looped-through Zacuto's EVF to a 6.5", & 5", Marshall monitors, & had no issues, so think my premise is most likely correct.

And while you might feel Zacuto's EVF is expensive, I find the opposite, & believe it is a bargain. Perhaps it's only that I've grown accustomed to the pricing of professional gear.

Regards,
Bern
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hi,

i'd like steve to answer this. if he is sending the ninja to his engineers, i suspect it's not to resolve conflicts between a particular camera and the ninja, but problems when going thru the evf to the ninja. but maybe there is another explanation.

regardless, the ninja doesn't have an hdmi output, only an input, so it would have to go thru the evf first. so i'm afraid your solution to go thru the ninja first, just isn't possible.

and again, if you'll read my post. i NEVER said i felt the zacuto evf was expensive. i said, again, that i paid a premium price and expected a premium product, from zacuto, a company known for making premium products.

with that said, if i'm paying $700 for a 3" monitor, it better rock my socks off.

PS, the condescending remark about being accustomed to the price of pro gear, is completely unnecessary...
 
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cheezweezl said:
with that said, if i'm paying $700 for a 3" monitor, it better rock my socks off.

PS, the condescending remark about being accustomed to the price of pro gear, is completely unnecessary...
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Fair point about the lack of loop-through on the Ninja, & another reason I won't consider purchasing one.

My comment wasn't meant to be condescending, & sorry if it came off that way. Rather it's a reflection of the marketplace. Boutique products come at boutique prices.

Regards,
Bern
 
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Bern Caughey said:
Fair point about the lack of loop-through on the Ninja, & another reason I won't consider purchasing one.

My comment wasn't meant to be condescending, & sorry if it came off that way. Rather it's a reflection of the marketplace. Boutique products come at boutique prices.

Regards,
Bern
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i understand. thanks for the reply. i agree. i have spent ridiculous amounts of cash for stuff that seems like it should be cheap. it was nice explaining to my wife why a few pieces of metal, some screws, and a couple of rods (zacuto baseplate), cost more than our 42" plasma. but i pay for quality and don't like to deal with any BS. i realize that this evf is the be all end all for some folks, just not for me.

on that note, i would without even blinking, pay $1000-$1200 for an evf that has the features of the zacuto, and matches resolution and peaking of my sony cams...
 
Hi Steve,
Great to hear that you'll add some color peaking options! That's listening to the customer and it's another reason that the Zacuto gear is worth every penny.

Just wanted to echo the comments above about the EVF's approach to color peaking. It's well implemented, yes, but in some situations -- for example, a sitdown interview with framing and exposure all settled but shooting on a 5D with a very fast lens wide open -- focus is the ONLY thing you have to see. In a situation like that, the use of red or blue to show whether eyebrows or irises are still in focus after a subject has leaned in or repositioned himself ... well, the use of color to highlight what is in focus doesn't disturb the image at all -- it's critical to maintain focus.
For what it's worth, we think the color peaking on the AF100 is very effective is such a setting.

Anyway ... you know all that -- but just want to add my vote: having some color peaking options for different situations (and maybe even different colors?), that would make the EVF a keeper for us, too.
Sincerely,
Bradley
 
Got this in an email from Zacuto today.

"There are no changes to the peaking function on the EVF. There are no plans to have any made in a future firmware upgrade either."

I guess they changed their minds...
 
Has anyone made this EVF work with the FS100 at 1080p? When I hooked one up I am evaluating with anything but 480, it does not work right. I get a portion of the screen that is all stretched out and no amount of changing any presets (even the one that says FS-100) makes a difference.

The 7D and FS100 screen resolution is 640x480. The Zacuto EVF is 800x480 as is the Marshall 5". The DP4 is 1280x720. I've been reviewing all three of these, but I need to get the Zacuto to work first with my FS100 to really understand the IQ.
 
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