Sony Viewfinder input

[Paul Cronin]

I am looking at two Sony viewfinders:
HDVF-C30W
HDVF-C35W

Would like to hear from people who have used both and which they prefer?

I have had the opportunity to look through the 3.7" and it looks great. I know the 2.7" has the same resolution but that is a lot of area to loose.

So is size the only real difference?

I have been to the Sony site and reviewed all the specs.

The other catch is I have found a C30W used but have not found a C35W used yet.

[Mike Marriage]

Is this for your 350? If so don't you like the stock VF?

[Paul Cronin]

Originally Posted by Mike Marriage

Is this for your 350?

No!

Mike do you have experience with the two viewfinders?

[Paul Cronin]

Sorry Mike quick answer last time I was running out the door.

No the 350 view finder is great. This is for another project.

[Alister Chapman]

I've only ever used the older C30W and newer C35W. The new C30WR is supposed to be very nice. The old C30W was really, really easy to damage by pointing it at the sun, even just for a few moments during a pan. The C35W is more robust in this respect, but watch out for used finders with pink blotches (sun damage).
The C35W is certainly a nice finder. I would not buy the old C30W as it's too susceptible to sun damage for my liking. There is not much difference in the performance.

[Paul Cronin]

Good input thanks Alister. What do you use on your 700?

[Alister Chapman]

HDVF-20A. If I keep the PDW-700 I will be trying to get a C35W, but I also want a new wide lens and at the moment I don't have the budget for either.

[Doug Jensen]

There was no way I was going back to a B&W viewfinder when I was configuring my F800, so I went for the C35W. I'll never regret that decision. Of course, it helped that I found a great deal from Sony's BPC Value website for a b-stock unit. At the time, they had 6 of them for $5,500 a piece, which is about 1/2 the normal price. All gone now, I'm sorry to say.

[Peter Corbett]

Do you know the 35 can be easily plug retro-fitted to a 2700 or 3700 varicam?

[Paul Cronin]

Doug I would by the C35W for that price today.

[Uli Mors]

I used both.

a) C35W... is a very sharp 3.5" Viewfinder, and its versatily because you can dismount the loupe and fold the lcd towards you (use it as a fold out LCD screen).

b) C30W is a 2.8" VF, but its exactly half Full HD (960x540) - so no resizing necessary. Used in 1920x1080 this VF is even more sharp than the C35W.
Because of its design it cant be fold out, but you can dismount the loupe in a way that you can still see onto the mirror (without the loupe) - so its ease to use it similar to the c35w.
Beneath b/w function the c30w can also insert grayscales (with selectable color area - instead of zebra for example) and colour peaking - unfortunately different to the one used in the EX1...

Both VF feature zoom in (focus mag.) middle/upperleft/upperright/lowerleft/lowerright.

If I could choose from both I´d like the c30w a bit more.
The 35w makes a good pic and if you like the fold out mechnism its the better choice then.

If you try one of them be sure to go into the pdw700/800 VF menu and dial down "VF DETAIL" (internal peaking for VF output) at -60 to -80.
If you do so, the VF signal is virtually noisefree - do any peaking on the VF knobs itself.

Best regards

ULI

[Paul Cronin]

Uli thank you,

That is exactly the info I was looking for to help decide on one or the other.

With the C30W it was the C30W not C30WR correct?

When you say dial down the "VF DETAIL" does the peaking still have your choice of color outline on what is in focus? Not sure what you meant when said it is different then the EX1 peaking.

Thanks for your help.

[Paul Cronin]

Uli I had a chance to check out the peaking so I now know what that is about.

So you would go for the C30W even though it has the screen burn out problem and the C35W does not? I am down to a day of making my decision and the 35 is a little bit more.

[Thierry Humeau]

I have been using a PMW-350 in Africa for the last 3 weeks and I have to say, it does not have the quality and features of the HDVF-30WR or HDVF-35WR but it is still a good one and is incredibly convenient. With it, I color balance the camera to my taste and to the picture tone I like. It's going hard to transition back to the F800 and a BW viewfinder. I am hooked, may have to make a purchase soon...

Thierry.

[Doug Jensen]

Originally Posted by Thierry Humeau

With it, I color balance the camera to my taste and to the picture tone I like. It's going hard to transition back to the F800 and a BW viewfinder.

Thierry,

I couldn't agree more. I have the 35W on my F800 and I rarely ever use a "normal" white balance anymore. Back in the days of using a B&W viewfinder I always played it safe if I didn't have a color monitor to check the shot. Now I have the freedom to be much more creative with the white balancing and push the envelope a bit. What I see in the VF is pretty damn close to what I see in post. So, I could argue that my raw footage is better than it would be if I was still using a B&W viewfinder. That is a significant benefit.