FS7: The FS7 flimsy viewfinder.

Amadou

Amadou

Carbonite Member
It looks flimsy. It looks cheap. It is flimsy. It is cheap... yes I am talking about the FS7 viewfinder extention. Ours broke at the first accidental fall... namely a day into the production. Whatever went through Sony's design team's heads when they designed this remains a mystery.
 
Amadou said:
It looks flimsy. It looks cheap. It is flimsy. It is cheap... yes I am talking about the FS7 viewfinder extention. Ours broke at the first accidental fall... namely a day into the production. Whatever went through Sony's design team's heads when they designed this remains a mystery.
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The viewfinder extension that came with my Fs7 is constructed of heavy-guage, thick-walled extruded aluminum and is highly durable. I think you got ripped off. Did you buy or rent from a reputable provider? You should have done your research in advance, Amadou. Quite careless of you, really.
 
You may remember my comment from the other thread..

'I was so angry with the viewfinder I bought an external monitor'

You raise a fair point.
 
That's tough. First accidental fall on the first day.

FS7 is a prosumer camera, not as robust as a professional cinema camera. However, most cameras would likely be damaged in one way or another when dropped. I've never dropped, nor seen a camera dropped. The phrasing of first accidental fall seems to imply an expectation of multiple falls during production, and an expectation that the camera should not be affected by a fall.

Best of luck with your production, and I hope you're able to come up with a good solution. Primarily, setting up a workflow and strategies to minimize falls by at least 99%. Accidents do happen of course. But the stakes are too high for that to be one of them.
 
JPNola said:
The viewfinder extension that came with my Fs7 is constructed of heavy-guage, thick-walled extruded aluminum and is highly durable. I think you got ripped off. Did you buy or rent from a reputable provider? You should have done your research in advance, Amadou. Quite careless of you, really.
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I have the 2016 model with the titanium viewfinder. Dropped often, no scratch.
 
Ditch the viewfinder, turn the camera on it's side to shoot vertical and do everything by eye. It's what the cool kids do now. :)
 
Damn right! I don't need no stinkin' zebras or other exposure crutches, anyone should be able to do it just by looking at the image in the VF. If it looks good, it is good.
 
Doug Jensen said:
I drop my FS7 three, sometimes four, times a day. Never a problem. I coated it with butter because I like my cameras to look shiny and new.
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Yeah, you say that, Doug.

I followed the camera-buttering tip from your FS7 course.

Lousy tip - my FS7 always lands butter side down.
 
The secret is to do it like I do my waffles. Triple toast it. Put the camera in the toaster, run it a cycle, butter it, run it till it starts to melt, turn it 180 degree, then finish it. The butter is then EVERYWHERE.
 
bengiles said:
Yeah, you say that, Doug.

I followed the camera-buttering tip from your FS7 course.

Lousy tip - my FS7 always lands butter side down.
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Okay, okay. So I fibbed a little bit. I actually use margarine because real butter too expensive for my clients. Budgets aren't what they used to be. Try margarine and see if you have better results.
 
My father-in-law who was a features DoP, back in the days before vloggers called themselves cinematographers, gave me a great tip for keeping the viewfinder fog free that I still use today. What he suggested was to smear the the viewfinder with tabasco sauce. Works a treat.
 
Liam Hall said:
My father-in-law who was a features DoP, back in the days before vloggers called themselves cinematographers, gave me a great tip for keeping the viewfinder fog free that I still use today. What he suggested was to smear the the viewfinder with tabasco sauce. Works a treat.
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Actually soap does work. Same as the no fog stuff you can spray on your windshield.
 
But, unlike a dollop of Tabasco, it won’t give you that nice sting in the eye to remind you you’re alive, and to punish you for not doing a proper job.
 
abreu-canedo said:
That's tough. First accidental fall on the first day.

FS7 is a prosumer camera, not as robust as a professional cinema camera. However, most cameras would likely be damaged in one way or another when dropped. I've never dropped, nor seen a camera dropped. The phrasing of first accidental fall seems to imply an expectation of multiple falls during production, and an expectation that the camera should not be affected by a fall.

Best of luck with your production, and I hope you're able to come up with a good solution. Primarily, setting up a workflow and strategies to minimize falls by at least 99%. Accidents do happen of course. But the stakes are too high for that to be one of them.
Click to expand...

I bet the OP lacks a good AC on set, and has an unrealistic production schedule.

That is how falls happen.....
 
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