EVF ideas for the Spark

Spark Series
1

Hi Sparkies 

I have been playing around with the idea of having dual use Monitor and EVF on my rig for certain projects. I love having a clean build with as little wires as possible lol..

Last night I was playing around with this. Kinefinity Eagle SDI EVF (HDMI would work too) mounted to my SMHD Ultra 5 monitor… For now I am feeding the monitor via HDMI and looping out SDI to my EVF. 

Current options to power the EVF since its very low draw 2.5w… 

  • Lemo to Dtap - Boring
  • Lemo to Fischer - Better and would give me R/S at the eye piece
  • USB-C from the camera to EVF, OK
  • Modify the back pogo pins on the SMHD to feed power to the EVF via Lemo, Custom…
  • My current fav idea is 5 pin lemo USB from the monitor to USB-C on the evf…. 

Any other idea’s 

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2

  Sounds like your Locking USB → USB-C adapter is genuinely the best option here — the side Micro-USB is input-only so that’s a dead end too. 

3

Yes, I agree… I have been able to find the pin outs and the 5 pin Lemo connectors arrive today, so hopefully I can get this soldered up with just two little wires :-) 

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Hi Lucus,

I got the Lemo parts in today and gave it a try… While I don’t recommend this to just anyone, since it requires soldering and understanding of pin-outs however It does work very well. 

I was able to Identify on the Small HD Ultra 5 that these pins were the 5V rail. 

So far this is a working, stable solution that brings power and video feed solely from the SMHD. Definitely a hack but maybe someone else will want to power a EVF this way on their monitor … So here you go… 

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5

Fewer, shorter cables almost always mean a more stable rig. Using the monitor as a sort of central power/video hub is a genuinely clever idea.

Curious — beyond the EVF and monitor, what other accessories do you usually end up rigging on? :raising_hands:

6

My projects vary in needs, so I am constantly changing my rig around. This EVF contraption works mainly because its compact and the power draw of the Eagle EVF is 2.5w. I find that to hit critical focus outdoors with my eyes I really do need the EVF. 

My cameras live on car rigs, coasters, helicopters, drones, other stabilized heads, handheld, the occasional tripod. So far I haven’t put one in an underwater rig yet but you never know. 

Third party gear being attached is frequently : 

  • 5 - 7’’ Monitors, I don’t know what the pogo pins support on the side however having an official pixboom external monitor would be awesome that doesn’t require power / sdi to be routed to it. Another design choice could be that you partner with a monitor company IE : Small HD or something else like Port keys or Osee and create a Pixboom control option within there monitors similar to RED control.

  • Follow Focus Motors 

  • Cine Tape 

  • Matte Box / Filters 

  • Side and Top Handles

  • Wireless Transmission via Teradek or DJI 

  • Gold mount batteries, While V mount works GM mount is just a more reliable connection and more widely used in the USA as the studio choice. For smaller teams, indie budgets you find the V mount being used more. I try not to be a hard liner here so in truth I use both.

  • Camera Cage, I like the included cage however I will be swapping to something with more rigging points when it comes available, I want a cage that wraps more around the camera body and gives many places to secure things or wires etc.

  • I hope digi ignite comes out with a Arri plate side load riser for the spark. If so I might look to them to base my cage system around. 

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