EVF for Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera

[tweak]

18 hours ago, tupp said:

Thanks for your opinion.  Can you give any details as to why you think it is a waste of money?

Use search - 

 

[tupp]

1 hour ago, Fil said:

Do you use a monitor ?

That's like asking, "do you eat salad."

 

 

I use a monitor (and eat salad) on occasion, and frequently.  When one is shooting with a client or with a director, a monitor is usually necessary (at least with the main camera).  A client/director monitor is usually 7" or bigger, and it sometimes gets some sort of video village, anti-glare set-up or a hood, especially if it is at a daytime exterior.  When possible, it is nice to have a huge monitor next to the camera for the focus puller.

 

 

If I am shooting solo, I prefer to travel extremely light, so I generally use the camera LCD and a viewfinder (loupe) and jettison the monitor.  I use the weight savings to carry extra lighting gear.  Also, with no monitor (nor EVF) mounted to a cage, I can use smaller, lighter tripod/head.  I recently shot pick-ups with a director who was cool with such a minimal set-up.

[tupp]

54 minutes ago, tweak said:

Use search

Why would one search?  How is one supposed to know that you might have made some earlier comment?

 

 

54 minutes ago, tweak said:

 

You can directly link your posts:

Not much additional helpful info in these posts to add to the vague negative comment already in this thread.

 

Can you be a little more specific?  ... Was the loupe off focus?  ... Was the color and resolution so far off that it couldn't be used for framing and focusing?  ... the viewing angle didn't work with the loupe?  ... was something defective?  ... etc.

 

Also, where is your Feelworld EVF now?

[M Carter]

I've got a feelworld (branded "SeeTec" but the same thing). I've used it once or twice (I shoot in Texas and it's been helpful outdoors). Used it for crane shots, stuck it on its own stand. It's worth about the $175 they ask for it. Distorted, wonky color, typical "wow, everything's in focus, I had no idea" peaking. You can do accurate work with it, but if you're used to a modern electronic EVF (Damn, the NX1's is awesome) or even a decent one (like on many video cameras) you'll have to wrap your brain around it and be sure of focus.

All you guys wanting a thousand-nits-super-bright OLED you can see with the noon sun behind it and light cigarettes off the screen... would be awesome to have, maybe we'll see more things like that, but that's where an EVF really, umm, shines. Except for steadicam anyway. A decent EVF with SDI and HDMI seems like something fairly future-proof that would outlive a lot of gear and allow you to rent all kinds of cameras.

I bought the headset parts for a nightvision scope and started messing with 3D printing to get the feelworld mounted to my head, never completed that wackiness. Thought it might be a decent steadicam-in-sunlight solution if I could find a way to keep the cable from messing with balance. Wireless HDMI could make that work I suppose. May sound nuts, but man, steadicam at high noon around here - that's a lot of crossed fingers as far as focus goes. Can't believe there's not already a wireless, head-mounted viewfinder for outdoor work on cranes, rigs, drones, etc.

 

 

[Fil]

56 minutes ago, tupp said:

That's like asking, "do you eat salad."

 

 

I use a monitor (and eat salad) on occasion, and frequently.  When one is shooting with a client or with a director, a monitor is usually necessary (at least with the main camera).  A client/director monitor is usually 7" or bigger, and it sometimes gets some sort of video village, anti-glare set-up or a hood, especially if it is at a daytime exterior.  When possible, it is nice to have a huge monitor next to the camera for the focus puller.

 

 

If I am shooting solo, I prefer to travel extremely light, so I generally use the camera LCD and a viewfinder (loupe) and jettison the monitor.  I use the weight savings to carry extra lighting gear.  Also, with no monitor (nor EVF) mounted to a cage, I can use smaller, lighter tripod/head.  I recently shot pick-ups with a director who was cool with such a minimal set-up.

Like asking "do you eat salad?"...not really, given I mentioned earlier about focussing in bright conditions, some might use a bright display quite happily whereas others (prob most) stick with an evf. Different people like to operate with different setups depending on their needs. Enjoy that salad!

Appreciate your info on how you shoot.

Thanks.

 

[tupp]

1 hour ago, Fil said:

Like asking "do you eat salad?"...not really, given I mentioned earlier about focussing in bright conditions, some might use a bright display quite happily whereas others (prob most) stick with an evf. Different people like to operate with different setups depending on their needs

Hence, my salad analogy -- sometimes one uses an monitor or EVF, or not, sometimes one eats salad, or not.

 

 

1 hour ago, Fil said:

some might use a bright display quite happily whereas others (prob most) stick with an evf.

I disagree here.  A lot of shooting is done with clients and directors, and video village is usually a necessity in such situations.

 

By the way, use of an EVF or a monitor is not mutually exclusive.  In fact, when an EVF is in use, there is almost always at least one monitor somewhere for others to see the shot, even on-camera.  The EVF is for the operator and the on-camera monitor is for the focus puller and/or director/DP, along with another monitor for the  client (in video village).  Multiple monitors are commonplace on medium or larger shoots.

[Fil]

22 minutes ago, tupp said:

I disagree here.  A lot of shooting is done with clients and directors, and video village is usually a necessity in such situations.

 

By the way, use of an EVF or a monitor is not mutually exclusive.  In fact, when an EVF is in use, there is almost always at least one monitor somewhere for others to see the shot, even on-camera.  The EVF is for the operator and the on-camera monitor is for the focus puller and/or director/DP, along with another monitor for the  client (in video village).  Multiple monitors are commonplace on medium or larger shoots.

Sure, I can see you can use an evf and monitor both but for the conditions and purpose I have specified I think my money is going on a decent evf, particularly when out in the field.

[John Brawley]

I've used many EVFs. I'm a fan generally of EVFs over monitors for framing and exposure. The BM EVF is very underrated. It's as good as any of the more expensive EVFs.  I love the original Alexa EVF but the newer Amira and Alexa Mini EVFs don't compare to the Blackmagic in my view for image IQ. They do offer important functionality of course but I've been using the BM EVF on Alexa Mini's for a while. With the Wooden Camera mod it becomes easier to do this with other cameras. 

JB 

[tweak]

19 hours ago, tupp said:

Why would one search?  How is one supposed to know that you might have made some earlier comment?

Why would one use search? Are you serious or just trolling? One would use search to find info relative to the questions he is asking forum members, this helps to not litter forum with same questions over and over again. EVF and Micro as keywords would have pulled up this thread with relevant info on EVF use with BMMCC which had been discussed only recently (on page 5).

As for stating my opinion as "vague" I'm not really sure what else I can add. The EVF is of poor build quality, it's of a shitty plastic construction and likely will break if anything at all happens to it. The LCD itself is also of very poor quality, the resolution, brightness, viewing angle and accurate colour reproduction is far worse than any LCD that comes on a decent spec interchangeable lens camera these days. If you really had no other option you could use this EVF, but it's pretty much useless to rely on for anything other than framing a shot. The Loupe is worse quality than any 8dollar loupe you can buy on Ebay.