3rd party Viewfinder or External LCD... at DVinfo.net

George David · April 22nd, 2008, 05:49 PM

Is there a 3rd party, broadcast viewfinder or LCD that I could plug in to the viewfinder connector on the right side of the lens. The reason being is that I would like to be able to use the focus assist while using a better viewfinder or external LCD.

If not, time to create hack for this "old" HD100 perhaps?

Robert Bale · April 22nd, 2008, 10:50 PM

i would be also interested.

Liam Hall · April 23rd, 2008, 02:30 AM

You can plug in an external monitor via component.

If you want a small lightweight solution, I'd recommend Swit.

http://www.swit-battery.com/swit2006...roductlist.asp

Brian Drysdale · April 23rd, 2008, 02:40 AM

Most broadcast viewfinders are B & W, so the coloured focus assist wouldn't work. However, you can get a lot of useful information from a correctly set up B & W CTR viewfinder that you can't get on low cost LCD colour V/F.

Mark Silva · April 25th, 2008, 10:23 AM

There's no way to get the viewfinder output in any way with focus assist.

I had a conversation with a JVC engineer about this.

Real shame too, I had an idea for a short film based entirely on the look of the outlining glow of the focus assist.

Does anyone here know exactly what the focus assist does in hardware to get the sharp edges to glow? Thats something I regret not asking that engineer when I had his ear.

George David · April 25th, 2008, 04:00 PM

Thank you all. I think I may be up to something. I removed the viewfinder and looking at placing the LCD in it's place ala Z1/FX1. It requires some serious internal surgery. Why am I doing this? I want to shoot shoulder mount with heads up display and focus assist. Is this possible? Who knows. Maybe JVC will put the LCD somewhere up there on the next version.

Jad Meouchy · April 26th, 2008, 04:31 PM

the hd200 monitor output is identical to what you see in the viewfinder

Jim Andrada · April 26th, 2008, 04:46 PM

Hi George,

I got your e-mail a couple of days back re issues with my HD110 viewfinder. Apologies for not getting back to you sooner , but I just got back from a couple of week business trip to Tokyo. Used to live there so always glad to go back. I speak Japanese, so it feels like home.

So far no solution to the basic problem which is that there isn't anywhere near enough adjustment in the viewfinder to permit me to see it very well with my right eye (which is really bad!)

I'm thinking of taking the whole camera over to the eye doctor to see if he could either come up with an auxiliary lens that I could insert into the viewfinder, or a customized pair of glasses that would let me focus on it. I know that even if I could see it perfectly it would be less than ideal.

When I have the camera on a tripod I have a little 7" LCD with hood that I hang on it - also not the best but way better than the viewfinder.

April 22nd, 2008, 05:49 PM	#1
George David Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Utah Posts: 150	3rd party Viewfinder or External LCD... Is there a 3rd party, broadcast viewfinder or LCD that I could plug in to the viewfinder connector on the right side of the lens. The reason being is that I would like to be able to use the focus assist while using a better viewfinder or external LCD. If not, time to create hack for this "old" HD100 perhaps?

April 22nd, 2008, 10:50 PM	#2
Robert Bale Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: australia Posts: 407	i would be also interested. __________________ Rob. www.rpbproductions.com robert@rpbproductions.com HD101/G5 Mac/4gig Ram/1TB HDD/30" Cinema Display/FCP.

April 23rd, 2008, 02:30 AM	#3
Liam Hall Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: London, England Posts: 969	You can plug in an external monitor via component. If you want a small lightweight solution, I'd recommend Swit. http://www.swit-battery.com/swit2006...roductlist.asp __________________ Writer-Director-DOP www.liamhall.net

April 26th, 2008, 04:31 PM	#7
Jad Meouchy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 663	the hd200 monitor output is identical to what you see in the viewfinder __________________ software engineer

April 23rd, 2008, 02:40 AM	#4
Brian Drysdale Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Belfast, UK Posts: 6,152	Most broadcast viewfinders are B & W, so the coloured focus assist wouldn't work. However, you can get a lot of useful information from a correctly set up B & W CTR viewfinder that you can't get on low cost LCD colour V/F.

April 25th, 2008, 10:23 AM	#5
Mark Silva Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pacific NW Posts: 431	There's no way to get the viewfinder output in any way with focus assist. I had a conversation with a JVC engineer about this. Real shame too, I had an idea for a short film based entirely on the look of the outlining glow of the focus assist. Does anyone here know exactly what the focus assist does in hardware to get the sharp edges to glow? Thats something I regret not asking that engineer when I had his ear.

April 25th, 2008, 04:00 PM	#6
George David Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Utah Posts: 150	Thank you all. I think I may be up to something. I removed the viewfinder and looking at placing the LCD in it's place ala Z1/FX1. It requires some serious internal surgery. Why am I doing this? I want to shoot shoulder mount with heads up display and focus assist. Is this possible? Who knows. Maybe JVC will put the LCD somewhere up there on the next version.

April 26th, 2008, 04:46 PM	#8
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	Hi George, I got your e-mail a couple of days back re issues with my HD110 viewfinder. Apologies for not getting back to you sooner , but I just got back from a couple of week business trip to Tokyo. Used to live there so always glad to go back. I speak Japanese, so it feels like home. So far no solution to the basic problem which is that there isn't anywhere near enough adjustment in the viewfinder to permit me to see it very well with my right eye (which is really bad!) I'm thinking of taking the whole camera over to the eye doctor to see if he could either come up with an auxiliary lens that I could insert into the viewfinder, or a customized pair of glasses that would let me focus on it. I know that even if I could see it perfectly it would be less than ideal. When I have the camera on a tripod I have a little 7" LCD with hood that I hang on it - also not the best but way better than the viewfinder.