C100: Monitor or EVF

Doug_EX

Doug_EX

Well-known member
Hi,

I have a C100 and loving it, but... The position of the LCD is far from perfect in some situations, not to mention its not an amazing quality LCD. It happens from time to time that some of my shot are out of focus because the lcd is not facing me...now, here is my question. Should I buy a EVF like the new Zacuto Gratical or a monitor like the Shogun or Odyssey? I know that outdoor the monitor will be close to useless and a EVF would be more practical, but a monitor would be more useful inside, not to mention I would have a good recorder which I don't already have. Again, I could buy a good EVF and a ninja star.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!
 
The Ninja Blade is about the most practical and cost-effective solution... it's almost been purpose-built for the C100 and opens up the possibility of pro codecs with a top-grade monitor. The sun hood solutions aren't perfect for it, but are useable.

If the recorder isn't critical, something like the SmallHD DP4 could serve as both EVF and LCD for side viewing.

Dumping money on a Gratical for use the the C100 is silly, when you could upgrade to a C100.2 instead for less money. The Shogun and Odyssey are great monitors, but in several ways inferior to the Ninja Blade for a C100 user. I've always hated the old Zacuto EVF.
 
I've been using a Z-Finder on my C100 for well over a year. I never use the internal finder, and I use the LCD pretty much only for menus. - I handhold 80-90% of the time, the C100 is clunky out of the box, but properly set up it works well.

I think the Gratical is overkill for the C100 personally - unless they drop the price by at least half I'm sticking with the Z... If you need 422, the Ninja is very good, but not as an EVF. I've used it that way, and it throws off the ergonomics for non-tripod work in my opinion, HDMI can be scary, plus it adds power issues. Simpler the better.
 
mcbob said:
The Ninja Blade is about the most practical and cost-effective solution... it's almost been purpose-built for the C100 and opens up the possibility of pro codecs with a top-grade monitor. The sun hood solutions aren't perfect for it, but are useable.

If the recorder isn't critical, something like the SmallHD DP4 could serve as both EVF and LCD for side viewing.

Dumping money on a Gratical for use the the C100 is silly, when you could upgrade to a C100.2 instead for less money. The Shogun and Odyssey are great monitors, but in several ways inferior to the Ninja Blade for a C100 user. I've always hated the old Zacuto EVF.
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Thanks! But is the blade's screen better than the C100's LCD? I heard that you can't punch in with the blade...maybe not a deal breaker but definately not great.
 
Doug_EX said:
Thanks! But is the blade's screen better than the C100's LCD? I heard that you can't punch in with the blade...maybe not a deal breaker but definately not great.
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The Ninja Blade has a great screen. It's a good deal considering and if you want one I'll sell you mine :-D

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...corder&p=1986507382&highlight=#post1986507382

I still prefer larger monitor. I'm far sighted so thats why. The Gratical HD is expensive but it is a product that no one else is making and I would love to have one. The idea that it can be used on so many cameras is cool. The LT version is going to be cheaper but no one has seen it yet.
 
The Zacuto C100 Z Finder Pro will get you the biggest bang for your buck! I have one New in the Box with All Accessories, that I can sell to you!
 
Depending on your need... a Z-finder is good IF only operating only directly behind the camera. Since the C100.1 offers no ability to monitor the camera from the side or in front, a small monitor (DP4, Blade, etc) can offer that additional basic functionality. This is also the problem with some EVFs, like the Gratical.

Something like the DP4 isn't noticeably better than the stock LCD, except that you can actually turn it to face somewhere other than straight back... and it also can be used as an EVF with its loupe.
 
Maybe I'll wait for the Gratical LT. I like the fact that it can be fitted on any camera. Buy once, cry once. Then again, even if I buy a EVF, I will surely be needing a good monitor too.
5'' is pretty small...don't think I would like that.
 
mcbob said:
Depending on your need... a Z-finder is good IF only operating only directly behind the camera. Since the C100.1 offers no ability to monitor the camera from the side or in front, a small monitor (DP4, Blade, etc) can offer that additional basic functionality. This is also the problem with some EVFs, like the Gratical.

Something like the DP4 isn't noticeably better than the stock LCD, except that you can actually turn it to face somewhere other than straight back... and it also can be used as an EVF with its loupe.
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The loupe for the DP4 doesn't seem to have diopter adjustment..if so, it's a big no no for me.
 
I was thinking about the Gratical, but realized that it was being oversold as the be all, end all of EVF's. My biggest problem is that it still only accepts 1080p/60. At that price, I would expect it to be able to interpret 4K. Otherwise, it's just going to go obsolete on your next 4K camera anyway.
 
cpreston said:
I was thinking about the Gratical, but realized that it was being oversold as the be all, end all of EVF's. My biggest problem is that it still only accepts 1080p/60. At that price, I would expect it to be able to interpret 4K. Otherwise, it's just going to go obsolete on your next 4K camera anyway.
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Not necessarily. Lets take for example the new S35 VariCam. Yes, it has a native OLED VF, but it also has a dedicated SDI VF feed along with MONITOR feeds(not talking about the 4x SDI feeds used to output a 4k signal). Pretty sure none of those are outputting a 4K or UHD signal(listed as 1.5G SDI/3G SDI). The native VF signal is listed as 1080/60p(50, 59.94 & 60) with a panel rez of 2.76M pixels. So here's a 4K camera and it's native VF and VF out's aren't even capable of 4K, they're doing 1080/60. Pretty sure that no 4K and up cameras currently have VF feeds that are UHD or 4K. There aren't any 4K VF's to my knowledge, either. The camera's D/C internally to HD to feed the VF's. That's what's going on now and I imagine that's the way it will be for a while. How possible/practicle(not to mention affordable) would it be to even build an ENG style EVF with a native rez of 4K/UHD? And at that size, would it even benefit us? I believe the PPI on the Graticle HD is beyond our visual acuity, anyway (listed as 5.4M pixels/2687 PPI).

So, long story short, I don't think you have to really worry about 4K cameras making the Graticle VF obsolete.

And that being said, I'm on the pre-order list with my dealer for one and can't wait till they ship(Zacuto is saying Feb, now, instead of Jan). I played with the Graticle at NAB and it was beautiful. I don't think it's the Holy Grail of VF's, but it's probably the best of all the third party unit's out there, right now. The best two VF's that I put my eye up two were the new VariCam OLED VF and the Graticle OLED VF. As a side note, I was kind of shocked at how bad the VF on the Amira was. Horrible optics in the VF for such a high end cam. At first I thought it was just me or my contacts, until I looked through some other VF's immediately after. I've also heard other people have had complaints about the Arri VF, too.
 
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cpreston said:
I was thinking about the Gratical, but realized that it was being oversold as the be all, end all of EVF's. My biggest problem is that it still only accepts 1080p/60. At that price, I would expect it to be able to interpret 4K. Otherwise, it's just going to go obsolete on your next 4K camera anyway.
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your worries has nothing to do with the real world. the fact is - u cant see more then 720p in evf, u just will not be able to see the whole image at once! make more and all u ll do is running your eyes around the corners of the image. sony f5/55/65 4k cams , and EVF is 720p,- arri evf 720p,- very cam - the same.
 
Regarding 4K, I think you miss my point. Sure, on a small monitor you can't see the resolution. I'm not saying that I want a high res EVF. What I do want is an EVF that can help me get critical focus when I punch in for 1:1 pixel mapping or use peaking. If you are shooting 4K with a 1080p only EVF, how do you make sure that you've actually hit optimum focus? Look over at your magnified LCD panel? Sure, most cameras only output 1080p for external monitors right now, but that's a problem. I primarily need an EVF for either shoulder mount or for focusing in bright light. If the EVF leaves me no option for checking critical focus, that is a problem. I might as well just attach a loupe to the LCD Panel and use magnification or autofocus like I do with my 1DC. And that is a pretty big problem with the 1DC as there is no way to check critical focus when shooting 4K once the camera starts rolling.

I've ran into this problem with my 800p OLED Small HD monitor. I couldn't see the magnified image on my C100 so I was using the SmallHD to figure out focus at an event. Turned in the footage and the editor told me it was out of focus for some of the event. It looked fantastic on my 800p monitor. Nice and crisp. But, it wasn't actually in focus at 1080p.
 
The Gratical LT will probably be available in august or september and will cost about 1800$. Ayone tried the SmallHD OLED?
 
Doug_EX said:
The Gratical LT will probably be available in august or september and will cost about 1800$. Ayone tried the SmallHD OLED?
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If you're referring to the DP7Pro OLED, it's awesome. My favorite monitor.

BTW, I received my Graticle a few weeks ago. Well built and good image, but there are a some bugs right now. Zacuto knows about some and I have contacted them about some others I have encountered.
 
Having previously owned 2 evf's(zacuto and alphatron) I just don't see the point anymore(especially if your on smaller productions). I guess in the end it comes down to preference, but I think owning a solid external monitor with a good sunhood trumps a VF any day of the week.
 
Anyone here used the 3.5" KINOTEHNIK LCDVF for BMPC and CANON C100 vs the Zacuto Z finder?
I read this review that the 3.5" KINOTEHNIK lens don´t burn the LCD with the sun because the angle of the bean don´t converge to much like the z finder that burn the lcd in small dots in seconds !
Any feedback its welcome, i am looking to buy a viwefinder solution for my c100 lcd



 
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