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
Today Redrock Micro released microTies to help clean up cable clutter on rigs:
