Different VF's
 

On another board someone has jury rigged a DV500 vf to an HDV Canon A1 and is getting great results. Anyone tried it with the HSD100.200.250?

Jvc Vf
 

I called a rental house in town and they said the JVC HD110 has a unique VF connector so a higher grade VF is out of the question. I don't know if this is true or not. Most good HD VF's cost more than the camera itself, anyway.

wanna buy a used DV500 viewfinder...
 

The viewfinder on the JVC HD*00 series is pretty decent, and in fact one of it's strengths over the competition. The focus assist works. I have a GY-DV500 (that is for sale, as my HD200 arrives next week), and the viewfinder is decent for this camera - better than other DV cameras, but I can't imagine dealing with it for HD. It probably is better than stock finders for the little consumer HD cameras if they can connect to it. Not where I'd want to be though...

I think the HD200 series and the more recent 100's have pretty good VFs. Some of the early 100's were inconsistent, though. I have rejected my first camera based on the fact that the VF was too purple. My friend's camera's VF has also some purple hue in it.

Eventhough the recent cameras have been better, they still don't get even close to the quality of the VF and LCD of the Z1U. I much prefer the JVC HD series cameras but, man, I wish that JVC used the same LCDs as SONY. Oh, well...not in the stars, I guess, that Sony would share their technology or suppliers with JVC.

And it's not only the colour reproduction of the Sony that's much better but the daylight (read: direct sunlight) performance of the LCD is absolutely SUPERIOR to the JVC LCD.

I find the JVC viewfinder and LCD as sharp if not sharper than the Z1. Maybe it's the focus assist that makes me think that...

I'd love to see a B&W CRT viewfinder option for the HD100... I had one of those when I worked with a XL1s and it was fantastic. The one thing I miss on the XL1s compared to the HD100.

if the JVC VF connector puts out composite video *and* can supply enough juice to run a CRT based VF, its straight forward to do. get a VF connector, wire it up, and figure out the VF mount. if there is not enough juice there, it would mean going to the battery mount and getting power. you could just drill a hole into it, and get the power, or use a power tap connector if it has one. I've found the VF to really be useless. I just shot a couple of b roll shots and they where not dead on focused. I'm *never* out of focus. you have to zoom in everytime, focus, then pull back out. this gets to wear thin, and for some types of shooting its not really feasable where you need continous run. Focus assist is a big help, but its still not ideal. a high quality VF its really needed, even if it means grafting on a used JVC or Sony VF. as for BW, I really don't like them, but you do learn how to use them. I'd love a color CRT VF where you could flip the color on and off. BW for focus checks, but leave color on for better exposure.


Steve Oakley

I'm hoping to hear from someone who has already attempted this modification. Does anyone recall any threads dealing with this?

Would a JVC VF-116 fit/work without modification or is it another plug and won't it work?

No, no other viewfinder will work with the HD100. Although JVC is pretty secretive about it, God knows why, it seems the viewfinder is actually inside the camera. Meaning the actual EVF is just a monitor. All the EVF functions are performed in the camera itself. That's why you have no contrast, brightness, zebras or any controls on the EVF itself like is the case with other EVFs. I'm not sure that makes sense but that's all I could "extract" from a JVC rep., and I have tried writing to a couple dozen of them in a half dozen different languages since they all were extremely reluctant in giving me any info on the EVF. It's almost like it's a forbidden question or something. The moment I asked about it they all either changed subjected or just plain ignored my question. In my search for more information I have come across some others, a few of which members here too, that also felt they were given the cold shoulder when asking about it and couldn't get any useful info on it. Makes you wonder. In my opinion they may have handicapped the EVF and other functions on purpose. Either because they were planning to release the HD7000 and wanted to protect it's market or wanted to leave some features to be released in later versions and charge more for them. Who knows. Have you noticed once they dumped the HD7000 idea how more and more pro features started appearing on the 1/3" series? One of the handicaps that really sets me off every time I shoot and have me thinking about dumping the HD100 and just buy a Sony F330 is the limitation of only one monitor possible for monitoring. That really upsets me.
Anyways, forget about using another viewfinder out of the HD100 EVF connector. The only possible way is connecting the other viewfinder to the video out and feeding a battery to it. But then you will not be able to send any signal to a set monitor. Doesn't it sound like it was actually planned? All possibilities closed.

The VF is one of the cam's biggest weak spots. It's all but impossible to focus in bright daylight with it (one of the reasons being that in bright daylight, the focus assist seems to think everything's in focus, regardless if it is or not).

It's tough to nail focus w/it under any circumstances, pure and simple. Never quite feel like I have the focus nailed... The finder is very small and just doesn't have any where near the needed resolution.

Too bad there's no alternative.
john
evilgeniusentertainment.com

Michael,

Have you ever disassembled the viewfinder itself?...I'm just wondering if the monitor can be rotated and remounted. I would like to talk to someone who has attempted this mod before I begin unscrewing things without a schematic. Thanks for the rest of your post. I share the same frustration...I guess it boils down to "you get what you pay for."

The EVF is so tiny its not funny. The LCD itself is smaller than a fingernail on your pinky. It seems crazy that a larger LCD with higher resolution isn't used on a HD camera (heck, can we stretch to thumbnail size?). It is certainly somthing I hope they address with the next generation cameras whenever they are developed.

I've had the VF appart three times to fix it. keeps bending/breaking with just the smallest amount of pressure. a sony betaSP VF this ain't. now those could take a licking ! not much in there to see.


Steve Oakleu

Cost of an HD VF for a SonyF900; $10,500. Cost of an HD110 $5000.

Need I say more?