New_Zealand
Veteran
is there a larger viewfinder for the C300? I usually like looking at the monitor for my focus but found myself using the viewfinder more and more.
C300: viewfinder
- Thread starter New_Zealand
- Start date
puredrifting
Major Contributor
Zacuto Gratical? The Canon EVF-V70 $6,000.00 EVF doesn't work with the C300 as far as I know, I don't think it has the right connections?
I'm shooting with the BMD UMP G2 today, I have to say, their EVF is superb, really nice for $1,500.00. And best of all, it's in the right spot, not at the rear of the camera where it's useless except for tripod.
I'm shooting with the BMD UMP G2 today, I have to say, their EVF is superb, really nice for $1,500.00. And best of all, it's in the right spot, not at the rear of the camera where it's useless except for tripod.
Run&Gun
Veteran
Gratical is great. It's what I run on my C300. The built--in "VF" is a joke. A complete piece of s h i t. The only thing that separates it from what used to be on consumer camcorders in the 80's & 90's, is that it's color and the consumer VF's had better optics. It's not even useful on a tripod, most of the time. It's 1/4 step better than shooting blind, and I'm being generous with that statement.
Eric Coughlin
Veteran
I've read that the Canon EVF-V70 is compatible with the C300 Mark II, however, you then lose that connection port on the camera so you could not have the C300 Mark II monitor connected at the same time.
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Run&Gun
Veteran
I have a client with some C300 MKII's and there are settings in the menu for the V70 EVF and the touchscreen monitor. But I believe New Zealand has an original 300.
puredrifting
Major Contributor
He was asking about his C300 MKI.
Hard disagree. Are you talking about the C300? Not the C100 Original? The EVF on the C300 is perfectly usable. Same with the C100 MKII, C300 MKII and C200.
Eric Coughlin
Veteran
Subjective based on the quality of your eyesight.
I'm typically quite content with the 4" C200 monitor on the C300 Mark II, but ask me again in 20 years if I need a bigger monitor.I haven't used the C300 Mark I as much since I didn't own it, but from what I recall the viewfinder was usable but not that great. A lot of people put down the position of the viewfinder, but if you cradle the camera as is commonly done with the C-series cams the position works fine, or if you're on tripod. I'd much rather the setup of the C300 than say a Sony FS7 or EVA-1 which has no viewfinder. The viewfinder adds very little size and weight to the camera, but is useful at times. I don't use the viewfinder a ton, but it's nice to have when I want it. I also like to keep my C-series cams bare bones most of the time, which means not adding the weight, batteries, cables, etc., of a separate viewfinder. For people like Run&Gun who do a lot of rigged shoulder mount work, yeah, the position makes the viewfinder useless, but for the cradlers and tripod users out there, it's all good.
The original C100 had a practically worthless viewfinder, but since the LCD on that camera was not bright, the viewfinder did sometimes help with judging exposure or even framing if the LCD was not viewable, but pulling focus from it was a bit difficult. The C300 Mark II's viewfinder is pretty decent, certainly usable, but not great, and same with the C100 Mark II.
The LCD on the C300 Mark II when you turn the backlight on is actually quite bright (brighter than the C100 or C300 Mark I), bright enough I rarely feel the need to use the viewfinder, plus the heavier weight of the C300 Mark II makes cradling more difficult. I used the viewfinder considerably more often on the C100 Mark II for those reasons.
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Run&Gun
Veteran
Talking about the original 300, especially as that was the OP's question.. I guess it depends on what you're used to, too. There's a saying that goes something like, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". If you don't use real, relatively huge in comparison, EVF's that are on broadcast and higher end cine cameras, then the VF may be perfectly acceptable to you. I'm used to full sized EVF's with large internal(3.5") LCD panels or high quality OLED panels all with great, sharp optics/large diopters. In comparison, the C300(original) VF is tiny piece of junk. Without too much effort, they could have actually made it very useable, which would have made the camera actually (more)useable in it's striped-down state, but it's a 'throw-away' that is just on there to say it's on there/included.
Eric Coughlin
Veteran
It's not a throw-away if people find it useful. Even the C100 Mark I's viewfinder, which is considerably worse than the C300 Mark I's viewfinder, was sometimes of use.
As I was suggesting, a lot of what is considered useful actually does come down to the quality of one's eyesight. I've also found that my eyes adjust to screens I'm used to looking at, so the longer I've been using a camera's LCD screen the better I can judge focus from it.
I once was shooting with some Panasonic Broadcast camera, and man, the viewfinder was horrible. Black and white for one, which I guess some people like that and are used to it, but I sure don't. Dynamic range on that camera was terrible and I was filming black people with white shirts in broad sunlight, so choices had to be made; judging exposure and focus off of that low res viewfinder was very difficult. And best of all, it had a super low quality flip out screen, that was, well, super low quality. This wasn't some cheap camcorder; it was a pro level broadcast camera. Then you don't even get a waveform, so I believe the only exposure tool available was zebras. It may have been an SD broadcast camera. Maybe some of the newer broadcast cameras have better viewfinders, but that one certainly didn't.
I shot with the popular HVX200 a few years ago, after mostly shooting on C-series, DSLRs, etc., and going back to the small sensor, deep depth of field, low resolution and sharpness, etc., it's really difficult to tell if you're in focus. Sure, you can zoom in to check focus since the lens is parfocal, but I was filming a live event with one camera, so that wasn't an option. There's a foot distance marker, so from what I recall that was the best way to guess at my focus. I think magnify while recording worked on that camera too, but could still be iffy due to the low resolution and not sure if you could adjust where in the frame it magnified to.
Having a shallow depth of field can actually help you judge if you're in focus. When the depth of field is deep, as it typically is on a broadcast camera, since there's less difference in focus points, it's more difficult to tell where the focus is. Not that it's something I do often, but you could even take say a Super35 sensor camera, open up to wide open, just to check focus, and then stop down back to your desired f-stop.
As I was suggesting, a lot of what is considered useful actually does come down to the quality of one's eyesight. I've also found that my eyes adjust to screens I'm used to looking at, so the longer I've been using a camera's LCD screen the better I can judge focus from it.
I once was shooting with some Panasonic Broadcast camera, and man, the viewfinder was horrible. Black and white for one, which I guess some people like that and are used to it, but I sure don't. Dynamic range on that camera was terrible and I was filming black people with white shirts in broad sunlight, so choices had to be made; judging exposure and focus off of that low res viewfinder was very difficult. And best of all, it had a super low quality flip out screen, that was, well, super low quality. This wasn't some cheap camcorder; it was a pro level broadcast camera. Then you don't even get a waveform, so I believe the only exposure tool available was zebras. It may have been an SD broadcast camera. Maybe some of the newer broadcast cameras have better viewfinders, but that one certainly didn't.
I shot with the popular HVX200 a few years ago, after mostly shooting on C-series, DSLRs, etc., and going back to the small sensor, deep depth of field, low resolution and sharpness, etc., it's really difficult to tell if you're in focus. Sure, you can zoom in to check focus since the lens is parfocal, but I was filming a live event with one camera, so that wasn't an option. There's a foot distance marker, so from what I recall that was the best way to guess at my focus. I think magnify while recording worked on that camera too, but could still be iffy due to the low resolution and not sure if you could adjust where in the frame it magnified to.
Having a shallow depth of field can actually help you judge if you're in focus. When the depth of field is deep, as it typically is on a broadcast camera, since there's less difference in focus points, it's more difficult to tell where the focus is. Not that it's something I do often, but you could even take say a Super35 sensor camera, open up to wide open, just to check focus, and then stop down back to your desired f-stop.
I highly recommend this as seen here.
https://www.cinema5d.com/deity-mira-quality-viewfinder-for-canon-c300-500/
I used the attachment with success and is very affordable.
Best
Jan
https://www.cinema5d.com/deity-mira-quality-viewfinder-for-canon-c300-500/
I used the attachment with success and is very affordable.
Best
Jan
puredrifting
Major Contributor
When did you buys your Jan and from who? It appears that he company that makes the Deity Mira has folded and the few retailers that have it listed, it says, "Discontinued". Might luck out and find a used one somewhere?
https://www.genustech.tv/VF-C300-C500-Deity-Mira-Viewfinder-for-Canon-C300-p/vf-c300-c500.htm
Run&Gun
Veteran
We will have to agree to disagree, then.
If it were a vehicle and all you needed to do was drive down the street to the grocery store and church once a week, it’s fine. But I wouldn’t want to drive it on the highway, a curvy road or take it on a two hour or longer trip.
Run&Gun
Veteran
I bought a Deity right after I received my original C300. At the time there weren’t a lot of choices and it seemed like a decent solution. I sent it back because you just couldn’t position the pods LCD panel in a good position to use it as an actual VF. Ordered the Alphatron and rocked it until the Zacuto Graticle came out.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just a primadonna. Or maybe I just realize how important a great VF is when you’re operating, especially shooting sports and in uncontrolled environments.
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