Jump to content

stephen

Members
  • Posts

    233
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Reputation Activity

  1. Like
    stephen got a reaction from kye in Idly thinking about an EF speedbooster   
    I've used Metabones Ultra 0.64x speed booster with my Blackmagic Pocket 4K. Compared to 0.71x is moves your crop factor a tad closer to FF 0.64x -> 1.28x vs 0.71 -> 1.42x  and gives you a little bit more light (1/3 stops) and a little bit more DOF. You can use it not only with Canon EF but all lenses which have flange distance > than Canon EF. Like Contax Yashica, Nikon, m42, Pentax. Biggest issues for me is the weird crop factor. x2x0.64 = x1.28. Now I want an angle of view equivalent to 35mm in FF. Which lens should I use ? 28mm as 28x1.28=35.84 And so on. That's why I moved to FF. 35mm is 35mm no matter if lens is vintage or modern, plus I can use Minolta MD, and a bunch or other brands and bayonets. No need for speed boosters. Lens is used exactly as it was intended by the manufacturer. Sensor if big and has no problem with low light. For vintage lenses and in general for lenses alone FF is the way to go for me. I was tiered to calculate crop factors and deal with speed boosters.
  2. Like
    stephen got a reaction from j_one in RAW Video on a Smartphone   
    Programmer and creator of the application is different person not the one behind MotionCam. However he used the same msraw format/container as motioncam. As result workflow is exactly the same and motioncam MacOS or Windows application is needed to extract the DNG files.
    Yes agree image quality is indeed lovely. Limitations however lead to some frustration for me. I may reconsider and use it from time to time, we'll see.
     
  3. Like
    stephen reacted to FHDcrew in Interesting Lensrentals top gear charts 2025   
    The FX3 really is the 2025 version of what the C300 was in 2012…every…human…is…using it. I’ve met multiple talented wedding videographers who shoot with it. So many use it. It’s ubiquitous. 
  4. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Andrew - EOSHD in Nikon Zr is coming   
    Nikon ZR vs Arri Alexa Mini Color (R3D NE, N-Log, Log C)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgJGK3YpIx0 
     
  5. Like
    stephen got a reaction from ND64 in Nikon Zr is coming   
    Nikon ZR vs Arri Alexa Mini Color (R3D NE, N-Log, Log C)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgJGK3YpIx0 
     
  6. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Jahleh in Nikon Zr is coming   
    N-RAW Normal is still there and can be renamed to  RED RAW. I understand that's not an option for people who want to trim but then as Jahleh said why not use NRAW. I was impressed recently by some of the color grading done in the movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. It was shot on Sony Venice 2, (Sony A1 sensor) at 8K RAW and transferred to 4K Digital intermediate. Following Hollywood workflow another option would be to do the trimming plus some WB and exposure balance in Resolve and export in something like ProRes 4:4:4. RAW video workflow will usually more work.
    ProRes 10bit 4:2:2 4K is an alternative, cinema tools test shows texture of image is good. Or expose h.265 2 stops to the right. When I am shooting at night with Sony ZV-E1 and don't expose 1.7 to 2 stops to the right, there is plenty of noise in the shadows. 
    IMHO this is not a camera to get if you shoot a lot of 4K 60p or 120p and have a fast project turnaround that requires the use of x265. It is specifically for people who want to shoot predominately or at least 50:50  RAW video and are ready to absorb the cost in time and money. 
  7. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Jahleh in Nikon Zr is coming   
    I noticed that in Cinema Tools comparison between Nikon Z6 III and Sony FX3 in the first section both cameras use x265 codecs. Watched it on big OLED TV and didn't notice any visible differences in color. IMHO Nikon x265 is perfectly usable option if maximum compression and smaller files are needed. If still in doubt about x265 quality, ProRes 10 bit 4:2:2 at 4K is good alternative. 
    Here are the compression ratios of all Nikon codecs in Z8. We can easily extrapolate them to Z6 III / Zr
    https://zxi.mytechroad.com/blog/photography/nikon-z8-prores-prores-raw-bitrate-and-compression-ratio/ 
    NRAW / RED RAW normal has a compression ratio of 7.5 which is comparable to BRAW 8:1. NRAW / RED RAW high quality - 4.5 compression ratio comparable to BRAW 5:1. Those are very good compression ratios. ProRes HQ 422 10Bit - 5.2 ProRes RAW - 2. We have several RAW or non RAW codecs and compression options.
    Last Z6 III firmware version 2.0 brings shutter angle. Z6 III has wave form too. The few options that are missing are open gate, anamorphic desqueez and LUTs. I don't need the first two and can have the last one with external monitor.
    Overall Nikon Zr / Z6 III are great cameras and quite affordable compared to the image quality in video they give. 
  8. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Danyyyel in Nikon Zr is coming   
    I noticed that in Cinema Tools comparison between Nikon Z6 III and Sony FX3 in the first section both cameras use x265 codecs. Watched it on big OLED TV and didn't notice any visible differences in color. IMHO Nikon x265 is perfectly usable option if maximum compression and smaller files are needed. If still in doubt about x265 quality, ProRes 10 bit 4:2:2 at 4K is good alternative. 
    Here are the compression ratios of all Nikon codecs in Z8. We can easily extrapolate them to Z6 III / Zr
    https://zxi.mytechroad.com/blog/photography/nikon-z8-prores-prores-raw-bitrate-and-compression-ratio/ 
    NRAW / RED RAW normal has a compression ratio of 7.5 which is comparable to BRAW 8:1. NRAW / RED RAW high quality - 4.5 compression ratio comparable to BRAW 5:1. Those are very good compression ratios. ProRes HQ 422 10Bit - 5.2 ProRes RAW - 2. We have several RAW or non RAW codecs and compression options.
    Last Z6 III firmware version 2.0 brings shutter angle. Z6 III has wave form too. The few options that are missing are open gate, anamorphic desqueez and LUTs. I don't need the first two and can have the last one with external monitor.
    Overall Nikon Zr / Z6 III are great cameras and quite affordable compared to the image quality in video they give. 
  9. Like
    stephen got a reaction from gethin in Nikon Zr is coming   
    Here is my understanding about 4K NRAW in Nikon Z6 III / Zr and Z8. I don't have the camera just gathered info from Internet. Correct me if I am wrong.
    Z8 as others already mentioned uses two different methods to get 4.1K NRAW / RED RAW from 8K.
    Gerald Undone gets a lot of criticism on this forum but he mentioned those methods in his Z8 review while many other reviews don't. Typically for all 4.1K from 24fps to 60fps and 120fps Nikon Z8 uses line skipping with all artifacts that come with this method. Only for 24p,25p and 30p Nikon Z8 has a special EXTENDED OVERSAMPLING mode. This method of course gives more detailed / better image. It is not without it's own issues. Those issues becomes logical when we ask ourself how do they over sample a RAW video stream and at the end get another RAW video stream ? 
    https://alikgriffin.com/nikon-z8-color-shifts-4k24p-nraw/
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyyiKwlRXCA 
    IMHO this small green cast in the shadows will be easy to fix. Still will require some work and time. The extended oversampling is not available for 60p and 120p. In this case APS-C crop is an option for better non line skipped image.
    Nikon Z6 III / Zr 4K NRAW is line skipped, but 6K full sensor width NRAW has only slightly higher bit rates when shooting with NORMAL quality. They are comparable to Sony Intraframe codecs. 
    IMHO for RAW video 24Mpx sensors represents the best balance between resolution and speed. Too many mega pixels and large portion of them should be discarded somehow for 4K RAW video or we have to deal with huge 8K filesand do the down scaling in editing. 12Mpx sensor on the other side actually has less pixels  than theory suggest are needed for perfect 4K DCI debayering. Rumors about what Sony using probably a fully stacked 24Mpx sensor in next FX3 make sense. 
    Nikon Z6 III / Zr Achilles heel in NRAW so far is dynamic range / latitude. All tests of Nikon Z6 III so for show 1 stop less of both dynamic range and latitude compared to sensors in Nikon Z8, Sony 12Mpx one in ZV-E1, A7S III, FX3, FX6, 50 MPx one in A1, Sony Venice 2. They all have dynamic range between 12 and 13 stops and 8 stops of latitude. I really hope Red Raw better log profile, chroma noise reduction and 6K to 4K resolution down-scaling will give one more stop of DR and make this sensor on par with the rest. After all same sensor in non DR Boost mode in Panasonic S1 II when using ProRes RAW codec   reached 9 stops of latitude. It is hard to believe Nikon used some trimmed down version of the same sensor. 
    x265 10bit 4:2:0 in latest Nikon hybrid cameras is visibly of lower quality compared to RAW video but it may turn out to be perfectly fine for most tasks and most people. Nikon x265 10 bit 4:2:0 may turn out to be as good as other brands x265 10bit 4:2:2. I don't know until I try it myself or see a detailed test.   
    Between Nikon Z6 III and Zr I would choose Z6 III. It has good EVF, shutter, Full HDMI port and is a true hybrid. Internally for video they are practically the same and by renaming NRAW video files we get access to the better RED RAW pipeline and color science in Resolve. Current Nikon Z6 III price in a local photo shop is 2050E. Nikon Zr price is 2375 Euro and camera is not yet available. Nikon Z6 III doesn't sell well, price was decreased significantly from original 2500-2800 Еuro most likely because it doesn't offer significant upgrade for photo shooters and all those talks about lower dynamic range. Second hand Z6 III bodies pop up locally from time to time in the 1700-1800 Euro range and still with warranty.
    IMHO Nikon Z6 III and Zr are for people who want to shoot RAW video. Theory and practice tell us 10bit 4:2:2 is equally good but sometimes we just want something 🙂, for whatever reason. 12bit NRAW with RED RAW hack is really a great choice because it offers fairly compressed industry standard RAW codec. ProRes RAW has higher bit rates. 
    I edited in Resolve some sample NRAW video clips from Nikon Z8 and Z6 III and can say that if video is exposed properly there is no need of noise reduction. Editing, color correcting and  grading them is not more difficult or time consuming than SLog3 internal footage from Sony.  They take more space but still nothing crazy and  for certain projects and people it could be acceptable.  
    Bottom line: If you want to shoot RAW Nikon Zr, Z6 III and Z8 as well are great options, first two being quite affordable. I am worming up to the idea to get Nikon Z6 III. Use it some time and compared it with Sony ZV-E1 which has one of the best Sony sensors for video. Then eventually keep one of the two and sell the other. 
  10. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Jahleh in Nikon Zr is coming   
    Here is my understanding about 4K NRAW in Nikon Z6 III / Zr and Z8. I don't have the camera just gathered info from Internet. Correct me if I am wrong.
    Z8 as others already mentioned uses two different methods to get 4.1K NRAW / RED RAW from 8K.
    Gerald Undone gets a lot of criticism on this forum but he mentioned those methods in his Z8 review while many other reviews don't. Typically for all 4.1K from 24fps to 60fps and 120fps Nikon Z8 uses line skipping with all artifacts that come with this method. Only for 24p,25p and 30p Nikon Z8 has a special EXTENDED OVERSAMPLING mode. This method of course gives more detailed / better image. It is not without it's own issues. Those issues becomes logical when we ask ourself how do they over sample a RAW video stream and at the end get another RAW video stream ? 
    https://alikgriffin.com/nikon-z8-color-shifts-4k24p-nraw/
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyyiKwlRXCA 
    IMHO this small green cast in the shadows will be easy to fix. Still will require some work and time. The extended oversampling is not available for 60p and 120p. In this case APS-C crop is an option for better non line skipped image.
    Nikon Z6 III / Zr 4K NRAW is line skipped, but 6K full sensor width NRAW has only slightly higher bit rates when shooting with NORMAL quality. They are comparable to Sony Intraframe codecs. 
    IMHO for RAW video 24Mpx sensors represents the best balance between resolution and speed. Too many mega pixels and large portion of them should be discarded somehow for 4K RAW video or we have to deal with huge 8K filesand do the down scaling in editing. 12Mpx sensor on the other side actually has less pixels  than theory suggest are needed for perfect 4K DCI debayering. Rumors about what Sony using probably a fully stacked 24Mpx sensor in next FX3 make sense. 
    Nikon Z6 III / Zr Achilles heel in NRAW so far is dynamic range / latitude. All tests of Nikon Z6 III so for show 1 stop less of both dynamic range and latitude compared to sensors in Nikon Z8, Sony 12Mpx one in ZV-E1, A7S III, FX3, FX6, 50 MPx one in A1, Sony Venice 2. They all have dynamic range between 12 and 13 stops and 8 stops of latitude. I really hope Red Raw better log profile, chroma noise reduction and 6K to 4K resolution down-scaling will give one more stop of DR and make this sensor on par with the rest. After all same sensor in non DR Boost mode in Panasonic S1 II when using ProRes RAW codec   reached 9 stops of latitude. It is hard to believe Nikon used some trimmed down version of the same sensor. 
    x265 10bit 4:2:0 in latest Nikon hybrid cameras is visibly of lower quality compared to RAW video but it may turn out to be perfectly fine for most tasks and most people. Nikon x265 10 bit 4:2:0 may turn out to be as good as other brands x265 10bit 4:2:2. I don't know until I try it myself or see a detailed test.   
    Between Nikon Z6 III and Zr I would choose Z6 III. It has good EVF, shutter, Full HDMI port and is a true hybrid. Internally for video they are practically the same and by renaming NRAW video files we get access to the better RED RAW pipeline and color science in Resolve. Current Nikon Z6 III price in a local photo shop is 2050E. Nikon Zr price is 2375 Euro and camera is not yet available. Nikon Z6 III doesn't sell well, price was decreased significantly from original 2500-2800 Еuro most likely because it doesn't offer significant upgrade for photo shooters and all those talks about lower dynamic range. Second hand Z6 III bodies pop up locally from time to time in the 1700-1800 Euro range and still with warranty.
    IMHO Nikon Z6 III and Zr are for people who want to shoot RAW video. Theory and practice tell us 10bit 4:2:2 is equally good but sometimes we just want something 🙂, for whatever reason. 12bit NRAW with RED RAW hack is really a great choice because it offers fairly compressed industry standard RAW codec. ProRes RAW has higher bit rates. 
    I edited in Resolve some sample NRAW video clips from Nikon Z8 and Z6 III and can say that if video is exposed properly there is no need of noise reduction. Editing, color correcting and  grading them is not more difficult or time consuming than SLog3 internal footage from Sony.  They take more space but still nothing crazy and  for certain projects and people it could be acceptable.  
    Bottom line: If you want to shoot RAW Nikon Zr, Z6 III and Z8 as well are great options, first two being quite affordable. I am worming up to the idea to get Nikon Z6 III. Use it some time and compared it with Sony ZV-E1 which has one of the best Sony sensors for video. Then eventually keep one of the two and sell the other. 
  11. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Danyyyel in Nikon Zr is coming   
    Agree. My point is that we can see for the first time FX3 and Zr image side by side. Nikon Zr image when R3D codec is used looks good. 
  12. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Danyyyel in Nikon Zr is coming   
    Good test and comparison with Sony FX3. 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCBg8Tsc7Xw
     
  13. Like
    stephen got a reaction from eatstoomuchjam in Nikon Zr is coming   
    It looks like it is.  It also look like original RED RAW codec doesn't show any superiority over ProRes RAW codec
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtTRoOWaw-w
    With ProRes RAW footage in Davinci Resolve you can choose between many Log profiles including Panasonic V-Log, Sony S-Log3, Canon C-Log2 and avoid using Nikon NLog.
    In this case Nikon Z6 III for me is a better camera. It has the same sensor, but also great EVF, mechanical shutter, full HDMI port. Nikon Zr main selling point is R3D NE or RED RAW lite if we can call it. 
     
  14. Thanks
    stephen reacted to ND64 in Nikon Zr is coming   
    No translation, but you don't need to.
     
  15. Like
    stephen got a reaction from eatstoomuchjam in Nikon Zr is coming   
    Nikon Zr uses EXPEED 7 processor same that is in Z6 III, Z8, Z9, etc. Developing a new processor is quite expensive. This basically means that Z6 III, Z8, Z9 also could receive  R3D NE and LUT support via firmware update. If this happens Z6 III and Z8 will be better choices as hybrid cameras. Lets see if Nikon will do this or will keep  R3D NE exclusive to Zr and future Cinema cameras. I am also interested to see how R3D NE compares to NRAW. Nikon Zr is a cool camera but agree with others - it is a strange animal. Part vlogging similar to Sony ZV-E1 part cinema camera. 
  16. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Ninpo33 in ProRes RAW finally coming to Resolve?   
    Yes ! Great news for all Resolve users !
  17. Like
    stephen got a reaction from eatstoomuchjam in Vintage Lenses - "Super Slow" Set   
    Just discovered that Minolta MD 35-70mm f3.5 is parfocal. 🙂 
  18. Like
    stephen got a reaction from John Matthews in Vintage Lenses - "Super Slow" Set   
    Just discovered that Minolta MD 35-70mm f3.5 is parfocal. 🙂 
  19. Like
    stephen reacted to Al Dolega in The Return of Magic Lantern -- New Developer Team   
    I feel similar mostly. If the new team can successfully and stably move it to the new Canons that is one thing but nowadays, with ML at its current level of capability/compatibility I see it as great for those who are way short on funds but way long on free time, or are just tinkerers in general, but anyone whose priority is actual shooting instead of fiddling/tinkering is much better off just grabbing a used GH5, S5, S1 etc for well under $1K and getting to it.
  20. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Juank in Surprisingly good and afordable external HDMI EVF   
    @Noli - IMHO the other 2 buttons are none functional. I don't feel or hear any click. Original functionality of previous versions of this EVF was related to industrial instruments/devices. It was meant to be put on a protective helmet. Video input was AV. This previous version industrial EVF was fit with higher resolution sensor, HDMI input and adapted to another application - camera EVF.
    After your posting decided to test the EVF with other cameras. Borrowed a Sony A7CR from a friend. With this camera EVF had the same or similar problem to what you describe. Interestingly when I switch HDMI output on Sony A7CR to 1080i interlaced, there is no flickering or garbage but of course split on 2 and can see only the upper half portion.
    If I choose auto or 1080p - then initially picture in EVF is some flickering garbage. I have found that have to wait certain time, quite long - 5 to 7 min. After this when I switch EVF off / on picture becomes good and clear. It works as it suppose to work. If I a switch briefly camera off / then on again it still works. But if camera is switched off for longer is stops working and have to wait again.
    I used also external monitor with HDMI out. Camera is plugged in HDMI IN of the monitor and EVF in HDMI OUT of the monitor. It works without a problem.
    IMHO your conclusion that problem is related to power delivery from camera trough HDMI to EVF is correct. It is strange than after some time , EVF or Camera worms up and it works on certain cameras. Curious to see if HDMI cable with additional USB power delivery will solve problem. It won't be the best solution but at least it will work reliably. 
    Have to warn everybody who wants to get this EVF that it doesn't work with all cameras. Guess I was lucky as it works without those problems on Sony ZV-E1.
  21. Like
    stephen got a reaction from John Matthews in Surprisingly good and afordable external HDMI EVF   
    Recently saw a second hand Sony ZV-E1 on a local online market place. Price was good and I bought it. Great video camera but lacks EVF. Same is true for it's pro oriented brother FX3.
    Typically those type of cameras are used with external monitor on professional shoots or with camera LCD display only when vlogging. If you like EVFs and want to add one,  choice is not great. No external add-on EVF from Sony like the one Sigma FP has. Portkeys LEYE III modified with better loupe is the cheapest one at 450-500 E/$ but I wouldn't call it small. Then Kinefinity EVF for 1250 E/$. Great one but definitely not affordable. There is an obvious gap and need for a relatively small, high quality, affordable external EVFs for cinema / hybrid cameras.
    I was looking for quite some time on AliExpress for Mini OLED displays (0.39'' to 0.7'') as a building blocks for DIY External EVF. Usually they come with controller board with HDMI input too. Almost bought some components preparing to do some 3D design and printing around them. Surprisingly found an EVF ready to be used. This type of EVFs were designed to be used with industrial instruments and were on AliExpress for quite some time. They all had lower resolution and AV video inputs in the past. For the first time saw one with 1920x1080 resolution on a 0.7'' mini OLED display and HDMI input. Also for the first time this type of EVFs is targeted toward cameras. Price was good too at 230E/$ so I decided to give it a try.
    Received the EVF few days ago and am happy to report that it is better than expected. Here is the list of things that I like and few that I don't like:
    What I Like:
    High resolution 1920x1080 ( equivalent to 6 220 800 dot camera EVF).  Cameras EVFs have 4:3 ratio to cover 3:2 frame + some black strips on top and bottom to display information like exposure and other camera settings. The sensor on this one has 16:9 aspect ratio. To get 3:2 ratio the EVF crops the image to 1620x1080. Still great resolution at the level of ~5 mln dots EVFs like the one in Panasonic S1 series. I see in the EVF exactly what I see on the LCD screen of Sony ZV-E1 minus peaking. This is a rather good thing. Solid, all metal outer shell, good, even great quality of craftsmanship. Eye cup is big, made from rubber and fits around the eye much better than traditional camera EVFs. Big and bright screen - has at least 10 levels of brightness that can be changed and controlled manually. Picture inside looks big and bright, quite easy to see. Smooth focusing / diopter correction ring. HDMI cable is integrated, ready to be plugged into a camera. HDMI cable looks to have good quality. No need of additional power or battery. It gets small amount of power (500mA) from HDMI. This is a huge plus for me. Has mounting thread, can easily be mounted on rigs or cages or even on camera hot shoe. Can be tilted  and placed in any position you want. Another huge plus. I've simply put it on monitor holder for hot shoe, which is mounted on the camera cage. EVF sits higher and is slightly tilted. It also provides 3rd point of contact and add stability. I am able to hold the camera lower and closer to the chest, which makes it more stable when shooting.  Optimal size for me ! Not too small and not too big. Relatively light. Another huge plus. Optics made of glass, look high quality. Great price for what it offers - 200 Euro ($) including shipping and taxes after some Aliexpress discount. Because EVF receives its power from HDMI you don't have to switch it on separately. It has its own ON/OFF switch but if you stop the camera, EVF stops too as it doesn't receive power from HDMI. This is very convenient because it semi integrates with the camera, you don't have to switch it on/off separately.
    What could be better:
    While loupe (optics) craftsmanship is high quality, optical schema is probably not the best. Seeing tower end of the frame and in the corners is kind of difficult. In photo mode EVF has to show picture with 3:2 ratio. It crops the display at 1620x1080 to achieve this ratio. Same is true for video. This is great because this way corners of the OLED display are always cropped and dark while picture in the EVF is still high quality and resolution is still great too. So you always look at a picture which is in focus from end to end and you can see the whole of it. Brightness control  has many steps but goes only in one direction. Adjusting it when you want to make picture darker or go at the opposite direction is difficult. You have to cycle trough all settings value until arriving before the setting you were a moment ago. Brightness control button is too small and uncomfortable to use. Both are not huge issues because eye cup completely isolates your eye and cuts external light at almost 100%. Once you set the brightness level you rarely need to adjust it. It doesn't have the additional tools a pro external viewfinder usually has - like peaking, False color, zebras, etc. Because it takes power from camera and becomes additional consumer, battery is drained a little faster. Hard to say how much faster. I still prefer this compared to EVF that have their own battery. Picture is not as clear as in a high quality camera viewfinder. Native camera EVF receives video stream that already has noise reduced. Image on HDMI out from the camera is more like RAW video, lots of noise in the shadows at high ISO, some noise even at lower ISO. I guess the same would be with any external EVF, even expensive PRO ones. It's not EVF's fault. I also see sometimes some texture like noise, not sure because of this particular OLED display or because of the HDMI out stream. Overall picture quality is not up to what you see in a camera integrated EVF but it is close. Surprisingly noise in the shadows helps me better judge exposure and use successfully ETTR. I live in a PAL region but camera was set to NTSC to have 24fps. There was a lot of flicker in EVF image even when only natural (sun) light was available. Maybe this can be avoided with some additional camera settings. No such problem when camera is set to PAL and 25fps. Sometimes when adjusting brightness, EVF looses sync and doesn't display any image. Have to switch camera on/off one time and problem is resolved. Not a big deal but it happened once or twice. HDMI cable is integrated. A PRO EVF has just HDMI out socket and you can choose your own HDMI cable. This one can be easily modified IMHO.   Size: L=~50mm; Diameter ~43mm; weight 188g with the integrated HDMI cable

    Overall I like it a lot. There is nothing like it on the market and especially at this price point. I am surprised it took Chinese manufactures so long to figure out that a good market for external EVFs exists. I prefer it over modified Portkey LEYE III because of the smaller size and no need to plug and charge another battery. I may buy another one. 🙂 Now my Sony ZV-E1 has an EVF and a great one too. 🙂 
    Here is the link:
    On Aliexpress
    You can find it on ebay too. Search for V780H EVF
    Here how it sits on top of Sony ZV-E1


  22. Thanks
    stephen got a reaction from Noli in Surprisingly good and afordable external HDMI EVF   
    Recently saw a second hand Sony ZV-E1 on a local online market place. Price was good and I bought it. Great video camera but lacks EVF. Same is true for it's pro oriented brother FX3.
    Typically those type of cameras are used with external monitor on professional shoots or with camera LCD display only when vlogging. If you like EVFs and want to add one,  choice is not great. No external add-on EVF from Sony like the one Sigma FP has. Portkeys LEYE III modified with better loupe is the cheapest one at 450-500 E/$ but I wouldn't call it small. Then Kinefinity EVF for 1250 E/$. Great one but definitely not affordable. There is an obvious gap and need for a relatively small, high quality, affordable external EVFs for cinema / hybrid cameras.
    I was looking for quite some time on AliExpress for Mini OLED displays (0.39'' to 0.7'') as a building blocks for DIY External EVF. Usually they come with controller board with HDMI input too. Almost bought some components preparing to do some 3D design and printing around them. Surprisingly found an EVF ready to be used. This type of EVFs were designed to be used with industrial instruments and were on AliExpress for quite some time. They all had lower resolution and AV video inputs in the past. For the first time saw one with 1920x1080 resolution on a 0.7'' mini OLED display and HDMI input. Also for the first time this type of EVFs is targeted toward cameras. Price was good too at 230E/$ so I decided to give it a try.
    Received the EVF few days ago and am happy to report that it is better than expected. Here is the list of things that I like and few that I don't like:
    What I Like:
    High resolution 1920x1080 ( equivalent to 6 220 800 dot camera EVF).  Cameras EVFs have 4:3 ratio to cover 3:2 frame + some black strips on top and bottom to display information like exposure and other camera settings. The sensor on this one has 16:9 aspect ratio. To get 3:2 ratio the EVF crops the image to 1620x1080. Still great resolution at the level of ~5 mln dots EVFs like the one in Panasonic S1 series. I see in the EVF exactly what I see on the LCD screen of Sony ZV-E1 minus peaking. This is a rather good thing. Solid, all metal outer shell, good, even great quality of craftsmanship. Eye cup is big, made from rubber and fits around the eye much better than traditional camera EVFs. Big and bright screen - has at least 10 levels of brightness that can be changed and controlled manually. Picture inside looks big and bright, quite easy to see. Smooth focusing / diopter correction ring. HDMI cable is integrated, ready to be plugged into a camera. HDMI cable looks to have good quality. No need of additional power or battery. It gets small amount of power (500mA) from HDMI. This is a huge plus for me. Has mounting thread, can easily be mounted on rigs or cages or even on camera hot shoe. Can be tilted  and placed in any position you want. Another huge plus. I've simply put it on monitor holder for hot shoe, which is mounted on the camera cage. EVF sits higher and is slightly tilted. It also provides 3rd point of contact and add stability. I am able to hold the camera lower and closer to the chest, which makes it more stable when shooting.  Optimal size for me ! Not too small and not too big. Relatively light. Another huge plus. Optics made of glass, look high quality. Great price for what it offers - 200 Euro ($) including shipping and taxes after some Aliexpress discount. Because EVF receives its power from HDMI you don't have to switch it on separately. It has its own ON/OFF switch but if you stop the camera, EVF stops too as it doesn't receive power from HDMI. This is very convenient because it semi integrates with the camera, you don't have to switch it on/off separately.
    What could be better:
    While loupe (optics) craftsmanship is high quality, optical schema is probably not the best. Seeing tower end of the frame and in the corners is kind of difficult. In photo mode EVF has to show picture with 3:2 ratio. It crops the display at 1620x1080 to achieve this ratio. Same is true for video. This is great because this way corners of the OLED display are always cropped and dark while picture in the EVF is still high quality and resolution is still great too. So you always look at a picture which is in focus from end to end and you can see the whole of it. Brightness control  has many steps but goes only in one direction. Adjusting it when you want to make picture darker or go at the opposite direction is difficult. You have to cycle trough all settings value until arriving before the setting you were a moment ago. Brightness control button is too small and uncomfortable to use. Both are not huge issues because eye cup completely isolates your eye and cuts external light at almost 100%. Once you set the brightness level you rarely need to adjust it. It doesn't have the additional tools a pro external viewfinder usually has - like peaking, False color, zebras, etc. Because it takes power from camera and becomes additional consumer, battery is drained a little faster. Hard to say how much faster. I still prefer this compared to EVF that have their own battery. Picture is not as clear as in a high quality camera viewfinder. Native camera EVF receives video stream that already has noise reduced. Image on HDMI out from the camera is more like RAW video, lots of noise in the shadows at high ISO, some noise even at lower ISO. I guess the same would be with any external EVF, even expensive PRO ones. It's not EVF's fault. I also see sometimes some texture like noise, not sure because of this particular OLED display or because of the HDMI out stream. Overall picture quality is not up to what you see in a camera integrated EVF but it is close. Surprisingly noise in the shadows helps me better judge exposure and use successfully ETTR. I live in a PAL region but camera was set to NTSC to have 24fps. There was a lot of flicker in EVF image even when only natural (sun) light was available. Maybe this can be avoided with some additional camera settings. No such problem when camera is set to PAL and 25fps. Sometimes when adjusting brightness, EVF looses sync and doesn't display any image. Have to switch camera on/off one time and problem is resolved. Not a big deal but it happened once or twice. HDMI cable is integrated. A PRO EVF has just HDMI out socket and you can choose your own HDMI cable. This one can be easily modified IMHO.   Size: L=~50mm; Diameter ~43mm; weight 188g with the integrated HDMI cable

    Overall I like it a lot. There is nothing like it on the market and especially at this price point. I am surprised it took Chinese manufactures so long to figure out that a good market for external EVFs exists. I prefer it over modified Portkey LEYE III because of the smaller size and no need to plug and charge another battery. I may buy another one. 🙂 Now my Sony ZV-E1 has an EVF and a great one too. 🙂 
    Here is the link:
    On Aliexpress
    You can find it on ebay too. Search for V780H EVF
    Here how it sits on top of Sony ZV-E1


  23. Like
    stephen got a reaction from Juank in Surprisingly good and afordable external HDMI EVF   
    Few additional findings and notes:
    Tested it in bright sunlight conditions. It is great. Fully isolates the eye. Because it perfectly isolates the eye from external light, once brightness is adjusted there is no need to change it. Optics actually are better than thought initially. It has several lenses not just one loupe. Most likely metal housing was designed and used for smaller sensors - 0.5''. Current one is bigger at 0.7'' that's why far end corners aren't perfectly visible. I saw this only when was feeding it with signal from my laptop. When shooting with Sony ZV-E1 as already mentioned it displays a 3:2 crop at 1620x1080px and everything is perfectly visible and in focus. one relatively simple modification would be to cut the current cable and solder a female HDMI and probably glue it to the side of the EVF. This would allow to use better or custom HDMI cables. size is just perfect for cameras like Sony ZV-E1 and all other mirrorless cameras, especially when you don't want to use a rig and have just the camera and a lens, probably also a cage as it is in my case. Nice experience. Makes shooting with an EVF really comfortable. The more I use it, the more I like it  😀
  24. Thanks
    stephen got a reaction from Juank in Surprisingly good and afordable external HDMI EVF   
    Recently saw a second hand Sony ZV-E1 on a local online market place. Price was good and I bought it. Great video camera but lacks EVF. Same is true for it's pro oriented brother FX3.
    Typically those type of cameras are used with external monitor on professional shoots or with camera LCD display only when vlogging. If you like EVFs and want to add one,  choice is not great. No external add-on EVF from Sony like the one Sigma FP has. Portkeys LEYE III modified with better loupe is the cheapest one at 450-500 E/$ but I wouldn't call it small. Then Kinefinity EVF for 1250 E/$. Great one but definitely not affordable. There is an obvious gap and need for a relatively small, high quality, affordable external EVFs for cinema / hybrid cameras.
    I was looking for quite some time on AliExpress for Mini OLED displays (0.39'' to 0.7'') as a building blocks for DIY External EVF. Usually they come with controller board with HDMI input too. Almost bought some components preparing to do some 3D design and printing around them. Surprisingly found an EVF ready to be used. This type of EVFs were designed to be used with industrial instruments and were on AliExpress for quite some time. They all had lower resolution and AV video inputs in the past. For the first time saw one with 1920x1080 resolution on a 0.7'' mini OLED display and HDMI input. Also for the first time this type of EVFs is targeted toward cameras. Price was good too at 230E/$ so I decided to give it a try.
    Received the EVF few days ago and am happy to report that it is better than expected. Here is the list of things that I like and few that I don't like:
    What I Like:
    High resolution 1920x1080 ( equivalent to 6 220 800 dot camera EVF).  Cameras EVFs have 4:3 ratio to cover 3:2 frame + some black strips on top and bottom to display information like exposure and other camera settings. The sensor on this one has 16:9 aspect ratio. To get 3:2 ratio the EVF crops the image to 1620x1080. Still great resolution at the level of ~5 mln dots EVFs like the one in Panasonic S1 series. I see in the EVF exactly what I see on the LCD screen of Sony ZV-E1 minus peaking. This is a rather good thing. Solid, all metal outer shell, good, even great quality of craftsmanship. Eye cup is big, made from rubber and fits around the eye much better than traditional camera EVFs. Big and bright screen - has at least 10 levels of brightness that can be changed and controlled manually. Picture inside looks big and bright, quite easy to see. Smooth focusing / diopter correction ring. HDMI cable is integrated, ready to be plugged into a camera. HDMI cable looks to have good quality. No need of additional power or battery. It gets small amount of power (500mA) from HDMI. This is a huge plus for me. Has mounting thread, can easily be mounted on rigs or cages or even on camera hot shoe. Can be tilted  and placed in any position you want. Another huge plus. I've simply put it on monitor holder for hot shoe, which is mounted on the camera cage. EVF sits higher and is slightly tilted. It also provides 3rd point of contact and add stability. I am able to hold the camera lower and closer to the chest, which makes it more stable when shooting.  Optimal size for me ! Not too small and not too big. Relatively light. Another huge plus. Optics made of glass, look high quality. Great price for what it offers - 200 Euro ($) including shipping and taxes after some Aliexpress discount. Because EVF receives its power from HDMI you don't have to switch it on separately. It has its own ON/OFF switch but if you stop the camera, EVF stops too as it doesn't receive power from HDMI. This is very convenient because it semi integrates with the camera, you don't have to switch it on/off separately.
    What could be better:
    While loupe (optics) craftsmanship is high quality, optical schema is probably not the best. Seeing tower end of the frame and in the corners is kind of difficult. In photo mode EVF has to show picture with 3:2 ratio. It crops the display at 1620x1080 to achieve this ratio. Same is true for video. This is great because this way corners of the OLED display are always cropped and dark while picture in the EVF is still high quality and resolution is still great too. So you always look at a picture which is in focus from end to end and you can see the whole of it. Brightness control  has many steps but goes only in one direction. Adjusting it when you want to make picture darker or go at the opposite direction is difficult. You have to cycle trough all settings value until arriving before the setting you were a moment ago. Brightness control button is too small and uncomfortable to use. Both are not huge issues because eye cup completely isolates your eye and cuts external light at almost 100%. Once you set the brightness level you rarely need to adjust it. It doesn't have the additional tools a pro external viewfinder usually has - like peaking, False color, zebras, etc. Because it takes power from camera and becomes additional consumer, battery is drained a little faster. Hard to say how much faster. I still prefer this compared to EVF that have their own battery. Picture is not as clear as in a high quality camera viewfinder. Native camera EVF receives video stream that already has noise reduced. Image on HDMI out from the camera is more like RAW video, lots of noise in the shadows at high ISO, some noise even at lower ISO. I guess the same would be with any external EVF, even expensive PRO ones. It's not EVF's fault. I also see sometimes some texture like noise, not sure because of this particular OLED display or because of the HDMI out stream. Overall picture quality is not up to what you see in a camera integrated EVF but it is close. Surprisingly noise in the shadows helps me better judge exposure and use successfully ETTR. I live in a PAL region but camera was set to NTSC to have 24fps. There was a lot of flicker in EVF image even when only natural (sun) light was available. Maybe this can be avoided with some additional camera settings. No such problem when camera is set to PAL and 25fps. Sometimes when adjusting brightness, EVF looses sync and doesn't display any image. Have to switch camera on/off one time and problem is resolved. Not a big deal but it happened once or twice. HDMI cable is integrated. A PRO EVF has just HDMI out socket and you can choose your own HDMI cable. This one can be easily modified IMHO.   Size: L=~50mm; Diameter ~43mm; weight 188g with the integrated HDMI cable

    Overall I like it a lot. There is nothing like it on the market and especially at this price point. I am surprised it took Chinese manufactures so long to figure out that a good market for external EVFs exists. I prefer it over modified Portkey LEYE III because of the smaller size and no need to plug and charge another battery. I may buy another one. 🙂 Now my Sony ZV-E1 has an EVF and a great one too. 🙂 
    Here is the link:
    On Aliexpress
    You can find it on ebay too. Search for V780H EVF
    Here how it sits on top of Sony ZV-E1


  25. Thanks
    stephen got a reaction from Juank in Xiaomi 14 Ultra camera and RAW video mode   
    Have the older Xiaomi 13 Ultra for almost 2 years. Same sensors and lenses except 75mm telephoto one is 62mm in reality.  My idea was to use it as a pocket video / cinema camera that is all the time with me. And also as my main and only camera on some trips where I don't want to bring additional photo / video equipment.
    Still use it from time to time but not as much as thought would be using it. It has many limitations that make getting good footage difficult and ruin as a whole the joy to shoot.
    Maybe as a photo camera it would be better
    The good:
        Picture and video quality from main sensor is really good. Can be treated as BM BRAW video in Resolve. Can easily color grade it and get great results. Really impressive picture quality from a smartphone and tiny camera that is always in my pocket     Main 1 inch sensor (23mm) lens is good in low light     All 4 sensors/lenses are capable of shooting RAW video at 4K 24fps, 30fps and 60fps     As you said, those smartphones have standard case that makes attaching ND filters really easy. I use 67mm magnetic ND filters and they work like a charm. The not so good or the shortcomings and limitations
        Lens optical IS should be working in MotionCam but in practice I can't get stable handled footage by just using the phone with a simple plastic case for the filters. Gimbal or special metal case with  two handles are needed which totally kills the idea of pocket cinema camera for me. This was not the case with iPhone which I could use and get stable handheld footage by simply holding it and even when walking with no additional support.     Main sensor is good in low light but the other (three) 1/2'' inch sensors are not.     Multiple dot like flares when shooting at night. This is common problem with all smartphones including iPhone. Because of the lenses being so small at night when there are multiple light sources on some occasions you can get multiple small bright dots dancing in your frame. It can completely ruin the footage.     Limited lens focal lengths. My preferred focal length for video are 35mm and 50mm. Xiaomi best sensor is on the 23mm lens. MotionCam can't crop the sensor. It can't even properly frame to 35mm or any given focal length other than native one. Can zoom in the screen which is also the viewfinder but there is no indicators to which focal length it corresponds. Video still will be shot at 23mm and I have to crop in post to get 35mm or 28mm eqv. focal length field of view     Bad ergonomics.  Yes I can get the shots but there is no joy in the process.     While picture quality is impressive for a smartphone it can't match a Full Frame sensor or even APS-C sensor. As you said it can't bend the law of physics     I need to look from time to time trough a viewfinder. Old habit and addiction that I can't overcome. 🙂 Bottom line: I still prefer a hybrid camera and a lens and I don't use much Xiaomi 13 Ultra as camera.
    Watched a video about street photography where the author argued that having a tilting screen and shooting from waist  level is the best if we want to take stealth photos where people don't stare at the camera. We can even keep interacting and talking with the people while shooting. This would be impossible with a smartphone.
    Anyway this is my experience, hope it will work better for you.
×
×
  • Create New...