Popular Post Simon Shasha Posted September 2, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted September 2, 2016 Hey guys, I wanted to share with you an awesome and affordable monitor made by IKAN that can, with a tiny bit of work, be used as an EVF. The main reason I wanted an EVF + loupe for my Micro setup was to create a fourth-point of contact between my Micro and my body. With my right-hand on the ENG grip, left-hand on the len's focus-ring, chest-pad against my right-shoulder, having the IKAN + loupe pressed up against my right-eye added that extra piece of stability I have been looking for - not to mention being able to monitor and pull focus perfectly in bright daylight. For those interested, the monitor is called the IKAN VL35 and can be had for as little as $259USD: http://ikancorp.com/productdetail.php?id=1738 I rigged it together with an old ViewFinder that I used to use with my A7S and A7RII. Having sold those cameras, I decided to use it as a loupe for my IKAN VL35. It doesn't fit the VL35 perfectly (as it is designed for 3" monitors, and the VL35 is a 3.5" monitor), but it will do for now. However, the good news is IKAN recently told me that they will be releasing a loupe specifically designed for the VL35 - and given the affordability of the monitor itself, I'm sure the loupe will be priced very nicely. As for the quality of the monitor itself - all I can say is that it's great Very similar to the monitor on the BMPCC. I haven't conducted any scientific or methodical tests yet, such as running down the battery or precisely measuring colour and luminosity, but I have used it plenty in the real-world, and it has functioned flawlessly and beautifully. Highly recommended for those looking for a setup like this Anyway, here are some pictures for those that are interested Inazuma, Thpriest, Mmmbeats and 14 others 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majoraxis Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 @ Simon Shasha - Great idea! I have similar plans, but for the Neway CT500HO. I purchased mine off Alibaba, but you could also get it from Personal-View under deals for $289. Anyways, if you want to use your regular 3" EVF it has and EVF mode which shrinks the images so that my 3" EVF covers the top and bottom but does not cover the sides completely, which is not a big deal to me. Looks like the EVF mode images covers more than have the screen so the resolution is greater than 540 x 960 might be closer to 720. Here is an image that gives the specs... Neway also make a 5.5" with SDI but it does not natively handle 4K via HDMI like the 5" so the Pixel to Pixel resolution is 1/4 as resolved as on the 5". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum MacPhail Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 You could try the Hoodman Hoodriser. It upgrades 3" loupes to cover 3.5" and 4" screens. I bought one along with the HCAM4 strap super cheaply on eBay (I was lucky there was auctions, they are mostly buy it now). Combined with another lucky purchase, an LCDVF 3" loupe on eBay (cost £10), I built a loupe for my C100. Not as efficiently designed as the dedicated Zacuto loupe, but it works well enough. If you can get the hoodriser cheaply enough, it might just solve your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Shasha Posted September 3, 2016 Author Share Posted September 3, 2016 8 hours ago, majoraxis said: @ Simon Shasha - Great idea! I have similar plans, but for the Neway CT500HO. I purchased mine off Alibaba, but you could also get it from Personal-View under deals for $289. Anyways, if you want to use your regular 3" EVF it has and EVF mode which shrinks the images so that my 3" EVF covers the top and bottom but does not cover the sides completely, which is not a big deal to me. Looks like the EVF mode images covers more than have the screen so the resolution is greater than 540 x 960 might be closer to 720. Here is an image that gives the specs... Neway also make a 5.5" with SDI but it does not natively handle 4K via HDMI like the 5" so the Pixel to Pixel resolution is 1/4 as resolved as on the 5". Hey mate, that Neway looks like a great find I have the Blackmagic Video Assist, which I love, and was using it with my setup, but I found it to be just too big for the kind of rig I was attempting to design - hence why I began my search for a 3.5" monitor. If you're going for a 5" monitor, you might be interested in the IKAN DH5e: http://ikancorp.com/productdetail.php?id=1710&categoryname=on-camera-monitors&model=dh5e They have a really cool cage/loupe in the works for it too, which you can see here at the 48-second mark: 7 hours ago, Calum MacPhail said: You could try the Hoodman Hoodriser. It upgrades 3" loupes to cover 3.5" and 4" screens. I bought one along with the HCAM4 strap super cheaply on eBay (I was lucky there was auctions, they are mostly buy it now). Combined with another lucky purchase, an LCDVF 3" loupe on eBay (cost £10), I built a loupe for my C100. Not as efficiently designed as the dedicated Zacuto loupe, but it works well enough. If you can get the hoodriser cheaply enough, it might just solve your problem. That's an awesome little setup you've put together, Calum! Thanks for the suggestions Will definitely look into it if the IKAN loupe takes a really long time to get to market. They've told me it's only about a month away, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liszon Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 The Feelworld S350 would probably work as well, besides HDMI it has SDI too. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Feelworld-3-5-RGB-SDI-HDMI-Electronic-View-Finder-F-BMCC-BMPCC-BMPC-DSLR-5D-II-/191673451555 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chris Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 On September 2, 2016 at 5:10 AM, Simon Shasha said: Anyway, here are some pictures for those that are interested What's the shoulder pad you're using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil A Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 10 minutes ago, The Chris said: What's the shoulder pad you're using? That's from Kamerar. It comes alone for a bit over 60$ or as part of their Socom shoulder rig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweak Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 3 hours ago, Liszon said: The Feelworld S350 would probably work as well, besides HDMI it has SDI too. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Feelworld-3-5-RGB-SDI-HDMI-Electronic-View-Finder-F-BMCC-BMPCC-BMPC-DSLR-5D-II-/191673451555 I had one of these, honestly it was rubbish. The Loupe the monitor all of it. 5 dollar Loupes for Canon on Ebay are better quality than this Loupe and the screen was borderline useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majoraxis Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 @ Simon Shasha - looks like the IKAN DH5e and the Neway CT500HO are the same monitor. It is very lightweight without the battery and it has function buttons and a push-dial-select-encoder-wheel so it can easily be run without the touch screen with a loupe attached. I am thinking seriously about getting the GRID 5" EVF loupe https://www.gridaccessories.com/products/grid-5-0-viewfinder/ (which has a glass diopter, I am told) and is about $200, but I want to wait to see what Neway offers as an optional loupe that is designed specifically for the CT500HO before make a purchase decision. I also don't know if the GRID 5" has the same exact aspect ratio as the CT500HO as it is designed for the BMCC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liszon Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 58 minutes ago, tweak said: I had one of these, honestly it was rubbish. The Loupe the monitor all of it. 5 dollar Loupes for Canon on Ebay are better quality than this Loupe and the screen was borderline useless. Yeah I never had these, I use an old Zacuto. Reviewers seem to like the monitor itself, most of them agreed the loupe is bad. I was thinking about getting one, the Zacuto might be feature packed but the quality of motion is ugly. What was so wrong with the Feelworld's screen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweak Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Just now, Liszon said: Yeah I never had these, I use an old Zacuto. Reviewers seem to like the monitor itself, most of them agreed the loupe is bad. I was thinking about getting one, the Zacuto might be feature packed but the quality of motion is ugly. What was so wrong with the Feelworld's screen? Colour, resolution, viewing angle... it's a cheap POS. Liszon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kisaha Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 These Neway seem really interesting. They are not native 4K though. Do they have any quality construction, or are they going to fall apart asap in the field?! Ikan are not much better thought, actually they seem quite expensive for what they offer (the expensive models). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldolega Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Of course they're not native 4K, not even phone screens are 4K in that size yet. Personally I think 1080p is plenty for 4", especially with a loupe, as long as it can accept a 4K signal. Are there even any 4K on-camera monitors in any size yet? It would seem Neway is Ikan's manufacturer. On Personal-View you can get the 5" for $289 and Vitaliy just put up a 5.5" version, with an ugly rubber bumper cover ala the newer Shoguns, for about $400, that has waveform, vector scope, false color etc. I'm actually surprised none of the Chinese brands have come out with an affordable 5" loupe, for the Video Assist, PIX-E5, and these cheaper 5-inchers. I did just express this on P-V and Vitally said they're working on it, though. Kisaha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Shasha Posted September 4, 2016 Author Share Posted September 4, 2016 MONITOR: http://ikancorp.com/productdetail.php?id=1738 CAGE: http://www.came-tv.com/cametv-cage-for-blackmagic-micro-cinema-camera-p-721.html ENG GRIP: http://varavon.com/products/eng-grip-b-type?variant=860241427 SHOULDER PAD: http://kamerar.com/collections/rigs-stabilizer/products/shoulder-pad RODS + CLAMPS - all from SmallRig: http://www.smallrig.com/ Kisaha, Cinegain and Phil A 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fil Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 On 3 September 2016 at 8:17 PM, aldolega said: Of course they're not native 4K, not even phone screens are 4K in that size yet. Personally I think 1080p is plenty for 4", especially with a loupe, as long as it can accept a 4K signal. Are there even any 4K on-camera monitors in any size yet? It would seem Neway is Ikan's manufacturer. On Personal-View you can get the 5" for $289 and Vitaliy just put up a 5.5" version, with an ugly rubber bumper cover ala the newer Shoguns, for about $400, that has waveform, vector scope, false color etc. I'm actually surprised none of the Chinese brands have come out with an affordable 5" loupe, for the Video Assist, PIX-E5, and these cheaper 5-inchers. I did just express this on P-V and Vitally said they're working on it, though. This one might be worth a look...https://www.gridaccessories.com/products/grid-5-0-viewfinder/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Sewell Posted September 16, 2016 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Quote GRID 5" EVF loupe https://www.gridaccessories.com/products/grid-5-0-viewfinder/ (which has a glass diopter, I am told) and is about $200 I have one of these and there's no adjustable diopter - if that's what you mean. Of course it may have changed - I see they're calling it new - but the images on the website look exactly the same as mine. I'm a glasses wearer, so I had to construct an adjustable sleeve to get it to the right distance from my BMDVA screen. It's definitely well made, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSS Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 Does the VL35 have a 1/4-20" mount on the bottom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Y Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 @Simon Shasha, can it playback 50 or 60fps of bmmcc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Ofca Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 Simon, I have the bmpcc 4k and the exact loupe you have. I'm looking into buying the Ikan 3.5" myself but am concerned of whether or not the resolution of 800x480 will be enough for me to get accurate focusing through it. Has this been a problem for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 18 hours ago, Gabe Ofca said: Simon, I have the bmpcc 4k and the exact loupe you have. I'm looking into buying the Ikan 3.5" myself but am concerned of whether or not the resolution of 800x480 will be enough for me to get accurate focusing through it. Has this been a problem for you? Not sure if this answers your question, but it has a punch-in feature that can be assigned to one of the buttons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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