New AbelCine Pro VF Mount Kit

Am I the only one here???
It was all fine until I saw that "viewfinder is not included"...
1K+ for a few cables and a connector??
Come on, we are all professionals but to charge this much for few milled out alu. pieces and few plugs and wires... I will keep my clunky DP4 EVF, thank you...
 
Well, It says "ProVFM Viewfinder Mounting Kit"....

It is not a viewfinder kit. That Panasonic viewfinder on the video is almost $4K (new).

Anyway, this mounting kit is definitely not cheap!
 
Well, for any guys like me that have an older, dying or dead HDW/HDX/SDX series camera sitting on a shelf with a perfectly good VF on it, this is a very, very cool development at any price. The Sony VF20's in particular are very sharp and make judging exposure and focus very easy. For old-school guys like me that have used B/W Vf's for decades, the lack of color is just not an issue. When I bought the F3, I immediately bought a Zfinder Pro. I found it works as advertised, but it has always felt like a compromise to me...my problem is not really the Z Pro's image, but rather it's bulk and configuration...it's a big long box that sort of blocks my view and hampers access to the lens.

The thought of having a more compact ENG-style VF has a lot of appeal for me. Just the fact that you can flick it up or down and actually have it stay put makes a huge difference during a long day of shooting...especially when you're on and off the tripod all day. To me, this single accessory alone puts the F3 several steps closer to the Alexa as far as user-friendly functionality goes.

If anyone out there is tempted to actually go out and buy a new/used Sony or Panasonic VF to go with this mount, I would recommend the Sony. I have both and the Sony really is superior in my opinion.

Finally, Mitch...as much as I love the idea of this new product, I see one design issue. The "black box" opposite the VF is in the prime (remaining) real estate on the Berkey plate exactly where I would mount an Israeli-type arm for my monitor. I realize you only have so much VF cable to work with so it has to be close...but isn't it possible to move it elsewhere? Perhaps under the handle or under the front plate? Just a thought...
 
Thanks, you are exactly the client we made the product for: a working DP who is used to a certain functionality and has legacy equipment on the shelf. For others there are viewfinders available off eBay and Craig's List. We made the price as low as we could justify, really cutting into our margins. Some of those parts are quite expensive, and custom cables ain't cheap. Neither is the time for the designer or the machinist, and all the R&D has to be factored in. In the video you only see the last prototype -- the release product will be far sleeker with the same functionality if not more. We have a dozen or so prototypes on the bench which will never be sold. These things cost money and take time. The Berkey plate has many mounting points, part of why we like it. The electrical box will look a little different in the final design (the mechanical mount is sleeker as well). We need to clear space in case the client wants to use the camera's mike mount. We can't go in front or below either, because that would block either the viewfinder or any fatter lenses. In fact we had to find just the right VF mount height so that it was comfortable to the eye while not hitting the lens or most matteboxes. Trust me that there is still real estate for mounting a monitor, and depending where you want it to go we have some tricks still up our sleeves.
JCummings said:
Well, for any guys like me that have an older, dying or dead HDW/HDX/SDX series camera sitting on a shelf with a perfectly good VF on it, this is a very, very cool development at any price. The Sony VF20's in particular are very sharp and make judging exposure and focus very easy. For old-school guys like me that have used B/W Vf's for decades, the lack of color is just not an issue. When I bought the F3, I immediately bought a Zfinder Pro. I found it works as advertised, but it has always felt like a compromise to me...my problem is not really the Z Pro's image, but rather it's bulk and configuration...it's a big long box that sort of blocks my view and hampers access to the lens. The thought of having a more compact ENG-style VF has a lot of appeal for me. Just the fact that you can flick it up or down and actually have it stay put makes a huge difference during a long day of shooting...especially when you're on and off the tripod all day. To me, this single accessory alone puts the F3 several steps closer to the Alexa as far as user-friendly functionality goes.If anyone out there is tempted to actually go out and buy a new/used Sony or Panasonic VF to go with this mount, I would recommend the Sony. I have both and the Sony really is superior in my opinion.Finally, Mitch...as much as I love the idea of this new product, I see one design issue. The "black box" opposite the VF is in the prime (remaining) real estate on the Berkey plate exactly where I would mount an Israeli-type arm for my monitor. I realize you only have so much VF cable to work with so it has to be close...but isn't it possible to move it elsewhere? Perhaps under the handle or under the front plate? Just a thought...
Click to expand...
 
We can't go under the handle either because there are camera control buttons there, plus people like to use their top handles so we didn't want to block it.
 
i was wondering, it seem that you are using the video out from the F3 to provide an image in the EVF so the evf will be sd and not hd ?
Except for Color evf that will be using hdsdi with the use BMD sdi to component ?
do i miss understood the product ?
Overall it seem a good idea
 
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Thee PMW-F3 Video out can provide an HD-Y signal... basically, the luma channel of component... which is black and white HD.

So, if the viewfinder is only black and white, this is all it needs.

The only high definition color outputs are the HDMI, SDI, and dual link SDI, hence the requirement to use a converter from HD-SDI to component for a color HD viewfinder.
 
Can you get zebras with these? I would think not and that would be a serious negative.

Mitch is this the exciting development you posted about not long ago?
 
No Zebras since these are not carried over the Video Out. But one can tune one's viewfinder to get used to the relative brightness and contrast in order to help find exposure. I personally rarely ever used zebras as I find them a distraction. I light by eye with the viewfinder and would sometimes set the zebra to 100% just to see when I'd clip. But that's me. There's always the onboard LCD you could glance down to if you needed to check the zebra. Yes it is a compromise but it's what's available out of the camera without hacking it up. Peaking is a function of the viewfinder itself so that remains.

Yes, this is the product I referred to. For anyone used to working with a traditional shouldermount camera, this will be a very welcome development. Especially if they already own the legacy equipment. You have know idea how many emails and calls have flooded in from our Panasonic and Sony 2/3" camera clients. This is a no-brainer for them.
 
Here's a list of compatible viewfinders for the AbelCine ProVFM on the Sony PMW-F3.


Panasonic
AJ-HVF21G
AJ-HVF21KG
AJ-HVF20B
AJ-CVF100G (color)

Sony
HDVF200
HDVF20A
HDVFC30W (color)
HDVFC30WR (color)
HDVFC35W (color)

Accuscene
All models (Sony or Panasonic cables)
 
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