Viewfinder

[Bill Pryor]

I found out about that Cavision one yesterday and got email back today. It has a swing out feature too for quick still shooting, and the bottom of the bracket has a 1/4" tripod socket, so you can mount it to a tripod or use it handheld. Price is less than half the Zacuto unit. All Zacuto products I've seen are top-notch and beautifully made, but expensive. This one might be closer to what people want to spend.

[Michael Maier]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Specifications are identical between the 5D Mk. II and 7D LCD displays...

TFT, 3.0 in., appx. 920,000 dots (VGA), appx. 100% coverage, viewing angle: 170°

This is higher resolution than the EX1's LCD right? If so it should be ok for focusing as the EX1 is.

[Michael Maier]

Originally Posted by Bill Koehler

Another one to consider might be the one discussed here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/photo-hd-...ef-s-lens.html

Or you can watch his video here:

Shallow DOF on T1i with Canon EF/EF-S lenses on Vimeo

It appears he is using this unit from CAVision:

Cavision | DSLR LCD Viewfinder Set for the Canon 5D | MHE52-RCM

Mr. Bruce Foreman is using it on the Canon T1i (500D) but B&H lists it as being for the 5DM2, so it will very likely work on the 7D as well. And it's a lot less expensive than $400 USD.

Interesting. But how does it compare to the Zacuto performance wise?

[Ian G. Thompson]

Originally Posted by Michael Maier

This is higher resolution than the EX1's LCD right? If so it should be ok for focusing as the EX1 is.

According to Phil Bloom the LCD is much better on the 7D than the 5Dll.

Edit: Then again he was talking about the use of an external monitor and how the HDMI does not drop down in resolution when in use.

[Don Miller]

I believe the 7D and the 5DII have the same LCD. It is certainly better than the EX1, but that's not saying much.
I don't have any problem with initial focus, but I don't do much follow focus with small DOF.
Also, the lens can be focused in still mode before flipping over to video. The LCD was designed to be viewable from an angle, which is one nice thing about it.

[Dan Brockett]

Yes, I read Philip's report as well amd I am somewhat confused by exactly what the 7D outputs via HDMI when recording. I keep reading that it doesn't lose resolution while recording, yet I also read that the output is 4x3 LB? I can't understand how you can be viewing full HD resolution if the signal is somehow reduced in size and letterboxed?

I know that the 5D MKII does drop it's output to 480 when recording, which is useless for tracking focus, but I am a little foggy about what exactly you are seeing on the HDMI output of the 7D when recording. Regardless, it doesn't look as if it is full 1920x1080 HD in any case.

I guess it remains to be seen if the output is high enough resolution to accurately track focus on the 7D.

Dan

[Don Miller]

Originally Posted by Michael Maier

Interesting. But how does it compare to the Zacuto performance wise?

If you're going to be shooting hand held, just give up and get the Z finder. Your other choice is to buy a less expensive product and then the Z finder. You may as well avoid purchasing a finder twice.

[Don Miller]

Originally Posted by Dan Brockett

.............

I know that the 5D MKII does drop it's output to 480 when recording, which is useless for tracking focus, but I am a little foggy about what exactly you are seeing on the HDMI output of the 7D when recording. Regardless, it doesn't look as if it is full 1920x1080 HD in any case.

I guess it remains to be seen if the output is high enough resolution to accurately track focus on the 7D.

Dan

You don't feel you can track focus with 480 on a high quality monitor like Marshall? Some of the inexpensive monitors are only 200 or so lines.

[Bruce Foreman]

Both provide a magnified view, 3X for the Zacuto and 6X for the CAVISION. If you are placing the viewfinder on the LCD by hand and holding it in place for the time necessary to focus as needed (like the Hoodman Hoodloupe on a neck lanyard), performance should be almost identical (I do like the idea of 6X though, faster focusing for me).

Mounted on the camera is a bit different. From what I've read on the Zacuto once you have attached the mounting frame to the camera mounting the Zacuto viewfinder is simpler and quicker. The CAVISION takes me about 2 to 3 minutes to attach to my Canon T1i (I have an extra riser plate necessary to get the viewfinder in vertical position over the LCD, the mounting plate bolts to that, and then I have a Manfrotto quick release plate to attach to the bottom of that), If I did it a lot I could probably get that time down to a minute or minute and a half.

All in all the Zacuto may very well be the better product but both are very well engineered in my opinion. The CAVISION cost me (with mounting hardware) somewhere around half of what I hear the Zacuto product sells for and I am very satisfied with the way it works for me. But for most of us using DSLR's for video I feel like one or the other will make life a lot easier.

Bruce Foreman

[Ian G. Thompson]

Originally Posted by Dan Brockett

Yes, I read Philip's report as well amd I am somewhat confused by exactly what the 7D outputs via HDMI when recording. I keep reading that it doesn't lose resolution while recording, yet I also read that the output is 4x3 LB? I can't understand how you can be viewing full HD resolution if the signal is somehow reduced in size and letterboxed?

I know that the 5D MKII does drop it's output to 480 when recording, which is useless for tracking focus, but I am a little foggy about what exactly you are seeing on the HDMI output of the 7D when recording. Regardless, it doesn't look as if it is full 1920x1080 HD in any case.

I guess it remains to be seen if the output is high enough resolution to accurately track focus on the 7D.

Dan

Well…it’s probably similar to what it did accidentally with my HV20. With the HV20, while in picture mode, I was able to capture a (30p) 29.97fps image over the PC's firewire (we all know the HV20 doesn’t do 30p). I was able to select all the picture modes while doing this (16:9-1920x1080, 16:9-1440x1080 …and 4:3 25##x 1538) . That last aspect ratio I was able to use the entire sensor…but because it was a size bigger than the 16:9 it basically letterboxed the image on the LCD…and it also recorded the 4:3 within a 16:9 frame. So that mode, though it used the entire sensor, turned out to be useless for me because of the pillar-boxing. I’m only assuming that this is what’s happening in the 7D….which would mean a diminished resolution.

[Dan Brockett]

Originally Posted by Don Miller

You don't feel you can track focus with 480 on a high quality monitor like Marshall? Some of the inexpensive monitors are only 200 or so lines.

No, definitely not. I have been down that road with numerous other cameras. I cannot track focus accurately when trying to view HD on an SD monitor. How could you, SD does not have enough sharpness and resolution to tell when an HD image falls into sharp focus.

I lived that nightmare first with the Sony Z1, there was not any affordable Hi Def monitors available to me at the time and with the HVX200, which really has an SD LCD monitor but shoots Hi Def images. I have used both cameras and the 5D MKII with SD monitors and it is useless, you cannot hit focus at all.

Dan