LCD Viewfinders NO Good for 7D ??

G

George D.

Well-known member
Hello everybody.

I hope you're all well.

In setting up my new Canon 7D for video, I'm running into a rather annoying problem.

I have already purchased and returned "three" different optical LCD viewfinders for this camera; the Zacuto Pro3, the Zacuto Pro2, and the LCDVF LCD Viewfinder, and none of them are any good.

I don't know who's been designing these, but he doesn't know a thing about shooting with a "cinema" camera. You just can't have the viewfinder image so big that it's "in your face" to the point where you have to roll your eye to see the corners, and the corners are distorted, and the focus is not adjustable "enough" to compensate for glasses, etc, etc. It's like sitting in the "front" row of the Cinerama Dome when watching a movie. I have shot with dozens of different cinema cameras, and not one blows up the viewfinder to that extent.

The 3" LCD screen is already big enough. What is needed is just a viewfinder that will allow you to focus up "that" close, and either not blow up the image at all, or not more than maybe 1.5 times, and be focusable to the extent a pro cinema camera like a Arriflex would be.

Does anyone know a solution to this problem, or knows of a viewfinder that will work for this camera and not blow up the image more than 1.5 times, and is focusable, or at least can be moved backward until it comes into focus?

Thanks.
 
well i know Hoodman has or had a model that didnt have a glass element. was basically a sunshade for ur eye. But that clearly wasnt focusable. I use the zfinder jr which is magnification 2.5 and its fine for me. I stayed away from the 3x one cuz i know that would have been 2 large. 2x should be also good.
 
George D. said:
I don't know who's been designing these, but he doesn't know a thing about shooting with a "cinema" camera.
Click to expand...

Last time I checked, the DSLR was not a "cinema" camera. Not even close. It's a completely new and different form factor (unless you come from a world of still photography), and will take some getting used to. It has its strengths, but it also and most certainly has weaknesses and challenges.

The viewfinder adapters that you are talking about are but one type of solution for monitoring, and if it doesn't work for your style then so be it. There's one from Canon that runs around $180, though I've never seen one in use nor have I heard/read any reviews on it. Or, you could go with the external LCD monitor.
 
Don't get too excited, Jam. That does not let you monitor the live-view LCD screen. It's basically an angled viewfinder that attaches to the optical VF. Pretty useless for video.
 
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