The chinese EVF 290 dollars shipped

[Brellivids]

Finally one made by the chinese. 

Price is much more reasonable. 

 

Has anyone tested one out allready?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-EVF-HD-Electronic-ViewFinder-HDMI-LCD-Screen-With-F750-Battery-For-5D3-7D-/251318461720?pt=US_Viewfinders_Eyecups&hash=item3a83bf6518

 

YES i'm not a friend of those ~20X profit margins of Zacuto products  ;)

 

 

 

 

 

[richg101]

Finally one made by the chinese. 

Price is much more reasonable. 

 

Has anyone tested one out allready?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5-EVF-HD-Electronic-ViewFinder-HDMI-LCD-Screen-With-F750-Battery-For-5D3-7D-/251318461720?pt=US_Viewfinders_Eyecups&hash=item3a83bf6518

 

YES i'm not a friend of those ~20X profit margins of Zacuto products  ;)

 

 

the '20x' profit margins go to pay off the huge initial R+D expenses that these companies like zucuto put into their products.  Zacuto will actually see less than half of the retail price.  for that money you get customer support as well as a top quality product,  Since the Chinese only need to purchase a single zacuto evf to copy, their r+d costs are as much as it costs to buy the product they intend to copy.  
Though it is often nice to benefit from the cost effective chinese knock offs, the more we do, the less progress will happen with new products since the pioneers will go bust leaving the chinese with no one to copy.

[Axel]

Chinese products (I buy them too, sometimes) are junk. They let our key economies die on the long run. I own nothing more from Zacuto but a 15 $ rubber eyepiece for my GH2, but that's enough to show me how good the stuff is.

[ronjbase]

Agree with richg101, yes Zucato is expensive, but worth it. Customer service is topnotch. My Zfinder wouldn't stay connected to the zframes. I had one of the original, prefog models. Sent them an emai,

had a new "skirt' as they called it with-in 5 business days.

[CRFilms]

I've always felt this...the people who would buy the cheap knock offs would NEVER buy the name brand product at the list price, because they don't have the money.  So Zacuto or whoever wouldn't get that money anyway.  I don't have the $8-900/1k for the Zacuto product.  I do have the $2-300 for the no name brand.  

 

Either way, I either don't buy anything in which case Zacuto get's nothing.  Or I buy the knockoff, and they get nothing then as well.  Also, since I'm not a "Pro", I don't need Pro stuff at Pro prices.  Even then half the pro's think the cheap stuff is pretty good.

 

I was on a shoot a while back and I had this rig: http://www.amazon.com/Polaroid-Stabilizer-Support-Cameras-Camcorders/dp/B005MRXPE4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378104276&sr=8-1&keywords=polaroid+shoulder+rig  I had 2 photo/videographers ask me what it was.  I told them and said the price....they were stunned at how good it looked and how cheap it was.  One was using a T2i for video and the other was using a Nikon D800 for stills.  The stills guy was especially like, "$60 bucks, seriously?"

 

I appreciate Zacuto paving the way, but they ain't getting money I don't have.

[Brellivids]

I'm all good about Zacuto doing great products and having financial success.. But like CRFilms wrote I could only ever consider a Zacuto product if I found one from the used market. This situation mayby different later on the line. If financials improve in the future I will gladly pay premium for optimal gear. Naturally even then it's a consideration about price and performance. Brands have very little meaning.. Functionality and quality at a reasonable price is key.

[tehgeek]

I have a Z-Finder Pro and it's so fucking well made it's crazy, you really are paying for quality. 

[jgharding]

The idea that Chinese companies just steal designs and products is rather dated I think. Some do, many do not. Also, all the R&D in the world will do nothing if the thing can't be made, the relationship here is symbiotic.

 

I think 15mm aluminium tubes, baseplates and so on have been around forever too... the pricing of some-such rigs is obscene and unjustifiable. Claiming R&D on those is not defensible.

[ntblowz]

If you have the money to buy brand name stuff, that is good for you

 

But if you aren't well financed then there is cheaper option, and you can use that extra money to buy other gear instead or just save up for home loans and stuff.

[MOONGOAT]

If you have the money to buy brand name stuff, that is good for you

 

But if you aren't well financed then there is cheaper option, and you can use that extra money to buy other gear instead or just save up for home loans and stuff.

 

In my experience you usually save money by going for the legit 'more expensive' option. And not just in cameras. Often the knockoffs will break or be too unreliable to use.

 

That's not to say all these Chinese manufacturers are bad. Some of them are great.

[jgharding]

Knockoffs breaking is fair enough in electronics, but an aluminium tube is just that really. I've had my aluminium rig (similar to Zacuto) from ebay) since 2010 or 2009. It's rock solid and still gets used.

 

Also the LCDVF is great, a friend had a cheaper version! No different! We swapped and I didn't realise...

 

The LED panels are inferior though, electronics is hit and miss cos cheap usually means QC fail from the same factory as brand stuff... Like Komputerbay cards.

[PANDETTA]

Sometimes, I found very frustrating when manufacturers announce an affordable product cost more then $1000....

I think they tend to forget whatever the price is, and just snap affordable on it....