Letus Hawk Reviewed on HDSLR Coalition

Dan Carr over at HDSLRCoalition has put up a thorough look at the new aluminum version of the Letus Hawk LCD viewfinder with quick release system.

None of the viewfinders out there are inexpensive and when you are paying good money for a product its great to get the feeling in your hand that it was money well spent and that you have a dependable accessory in your bag. Limited use with the plastic-bodied Z-Finder left it quickly scratched and looking worse for wear but not so with this Hawk and its anodized coating. The modular design of the optics and the shroud also allows for new shroud sizes to be made in the future to accommodate new screen sizes when the inevitable transition to something bigger than 3” occurs – Dan Carr

Upgradeability is a nice feature and I’m glad to see Letus future proofing their product. Viewing loupes can be an expensive investment and I’m not sure that all the units on the market are worth their price optically or materially and with the new Redrock microEVF, the decision to spend that kind of money on an viewing loupe becomes a bit tougher.

A while back I wrote an overview about LCD viewfinders here on PCN where I mentioned the Hawk as a good “money is no object” choice. … Continue Reading

Electronic View Finders Heat Up for HDSLR

At the recent PhotoCine Expo, Brian Valente from Redrock Micro announced an EVF (Electronic View Finder) for HDSLR cameras. Up until now, your viewing choices were limited to attaching a viewing loupe to the cameras LCD screen and positioning the whole rig so that it lined up properly to your eye when shooting, or to attach a battery powered LCD monitor to your rig and position it in the line of sight for the operator and quite often the focus puller. There are pro’s and con’s to each set up but the flexibility and placement options that filmmakers are used to on traditional movie cameras has been missing.

An EVF changes everything by allowing flexible placement, quick ergonomic changes and by shrinking the rig size/weight. Having an EVF that isn’t attached to the camera allows the camera to be placed anywhere along the rails. With the camera further back on a shoulder rig, the counter weights needed to balance what is usually a front heavy situation can be lightened and brought closer into the body creating a shorter and lighter shoulder rig.

Getting the viewing angle dialed in and being able to make ergonomic changes when your neck gets tired is also a huge benefit. Normally, you get set up and shoot all day, adjusting your body and posture to the rig because once dialed in, it’s not always practical to change the set up while shooting. The microEVF allows for quick and easy adjustments in a sleek and well designed package for around $600.

Several other manufacturers are also releasing products in the EVF category but they have taken a less streamlined approach by developing small LCD monitors that work in conjunction with existing products – viewing loupes. Zacuto announced their Z-Finder EVF right on the tail of Redrock’s announcement. It’s expected to cost … Continue Reading