Seagull LCD Viewfinder: Pretty darn good for the money!

[John C. Chu]

After living with my DIY cheap foam hood for the 5D--- I found the Seagull LCD Viewfinder for only $102 on Amazon. It appears to be a knock off of the famous Zacuto Z Finder.

I'm very pleased. Solid construction and the glass magnifier is nice and clear and no distortion. There is also a diopter adjustment on the thing.

Highly recommended. It should work well as it will give me another point of stability when shooting video with the 5D.

[Jordan Brindle]

Looks nice, thanks.

[Jordan Brindle]

Just got my Seagull Viewfinder thanks to this thread John. I would say it's a nice bit of kit, well made, sturdy, clips on and off the LCD guard nicely and decently priced at £82 from Amazon. At first i thought the image stank but then i realized you really have to dial the diopter right back to bring it back into focus, so all good.

Am i being stupid or is there no way to connect the neck strap to it?

[John C. Chu]

I think we need some kind of eyelet screw that fits on the side hole. [which is not included] Or attach the case to the camera's neck strap?

Luckily, it does seem the unit attaches securely to frame, so I'm not worried about it falling off. But could be annoying when one has to remove it when not needed in the field.

On another note, maybe I'm just not used to using an eyecup but I find a bit of neck strain using these things. I need to relax more.

[Les Wilson]

The US made Zacuto has the eyelet and comes with a nice lanyard. The Zacuto also comes with this lifetime warranty: "Zacuto USA warrants for the life of each Zacuto product, that it is free from defects in material and workmanship. "

The omission of the eyelet and lanyard on an otherwise seemingly identical casting is typical of a Chinese company stealing the design, making it China and selling it on manipulated currency. No doubt there are other shortcuts as well such as the anti fogging coating and who knows what shortcuts were made on the optics.

[Jordan Brindle]

Originally Posted by Les Wilson

The US made Zacuto has the eyelet and comes with a nice lanyard. The Zacuto also comes with this lifetime warranty: "Zacuto USA warrants for the life of each Zacuto product, that it is free from defects in material and workmanship. "

The omission of the eyelet and lanyard on an otherwise seemingly identical casting is typical of a Chinese company stealing the design, making it China and selling it on manipulated currency. No doubt there are other shortcuts as well such as the anti fogging coating and who knows what shortcuts were made on the optics.

Maybe so Les but i personally can't justify $300+ on an item i may not even use that often, at least for now any way.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Les Wilson

The US made Zacuto has the eyelet and comes with a nice lanyard. The Zacuto also comes with this lifetime warranty: "Zacuto USA warrants for the life of each Zacuto product, that it is free from defects in material and workmanship. "

Glad to see that Zacuto clarify that the lifetime warranty applies to the lifetime of the product. Personally I would prefer a lifetime warranty to apply to my lifetime or even better that of my 20 year old daughter:-)

[Wayne Avanson]

Is the size of the clip on end exactly the same size as Zacuto's does anyone know? I already have the Z-Finder but two cameras, both cams have the Z-Finder clip- frame attached. If it doesn't clip on that, there's no point me getting one.

Thanks

[John C. Chu]

I can confirm that the mounting frame is the same for Seagull and Zacuto.

I bought an extra frame [Zacuto brand] for $6 for my other camera and the Seagull will mount on it too.

[Wayne Avanson]

Thanks for that John, I will order a Seagull now then. Thanks for your help.

[Wayne Avanson]

Well it arrived today and I must agree with the original post. Not bad at all for the money.