Zigview-R review (ping: Jim Kramer)
Jim requested some feedback once I got into this a bit. I'm starting a
new thread for this as I wasn't able to get to it right away and the
old thread is buried a bit.
Zigview-R SC-V100R
- Disclaimer: My review, based on initial observations, mostly while
reading the manual and playing with it while sitting in my recliner
watching baseball. Take it for what it's worth.
- Eye-piece Mount: It comes with attachments for several cameras of
various models and manufacturers. It came with the one for my Canon
10D, but I had to buy an additional adapter that fit both my Elan 7e
and EOS5. That was an additional $30. The eye-piece adapter screws on
the unit with four very small screws, which makes it stable, but also
makes quick changes impossible. It does come with a tiny screwdriver,
which helps. I can imagine that it would be very easy to lose a screw
if one were making a change in a chaotic environment. The unit does
rotate, which is nice and handy.
It should be noted that it also comes with one cable from the unit to
the camera's cable release connection. For me it fit my Elan 7e, but
not the other two. I had to buy an additional cable, again for $30,
for the 10D. They do not have one available for the EOS5. This unit
also works as a basic cable-release if you don't already have one,
which is nice.
- Screen: It is nowhere near the clarity shown in promo pics or on the
box. Those give the impression of plasma tv-like clarity, and it just
ain't happening. It is pretty good, though, and certainly clear enough
to see what you're doing, though not on a fully dark subject. The
picture on the box of the basic version shows the exposure info that
you see in the viewfinder, and this upgraded version does not do that,
which I find disappointing. You can switch the display from color to
black & white to negative.
- Basic Use: Using for holding a camera to the side, or over the head,
or on the ground, this thing is invaluable and very handy, and to me
the main basic purpose. This is what I would use it for the vast
majority of the time, at least initially.
The menus are cumbersome, IMHO, and depend virtually entirely on a
little joystick-like switch that you have to move in various
directions, in specific sequences of course, to get where you want.
Not impossible, but unless you use this thing all the time, I can see
where one would forget less common functions, and it may be a good idea
to keep the instructions in your camera bag.
- Bulb Shot and T Shutter modes: You must have a bulb mode on your
camera to use these. My 10D does not have a bulb mode. Full manual
does not seem to work as a substitute. I tried that. This does affect
some of the more advanced features, also, as mentioned below.
- Interval shots: Two modes, simple and advanced. Simple is just
that... simple. Very easy to do and understand. I think this one is
great! Advanced is more cumbersome, but doable. If I understand it
correctly, you can set varying times between different shots, but you
must use the bulb setting for that. I was able to get it to work in a
basic sense for some of the advanced stuff, but not all of it because
of the lack of a bulb setting.
- Motion detection: This has the potential to be fantastic. Again,
ideally, you need a bulb setting, but I was able to get it to work
pretty well without it. You have a choice of 1 overall zone or 9 zones
to detect motion. It's pretty flexible. They give good examples of
how to set for fast or slow moving objects. I could see myself using
this alot. It's pretty cool. I did not try the camera wake-up
function, though it looks pretty straight forward.
- Wrap up, thus far: Overall, I like it, am glad I bought it, and see
myself making use of it. Just doing flowers from the ground up, or a
scene from ground level, without having to lay on the ground would be a
nice change in my shooting life.
My only real complaint, and I feel the most glaring shortcoming, is the
reliance too much on the bulb setting when so many modern cameras don't
seem to have one. I suppose some would say "buy a different camera",
but that's not the point. It would help if the instructions gave
better information for, or if the program were written better to
accommodate, the lack of a bulb setting. I'd really like to know how
to work around the bulb setting. It seems to me that I should have the
choice to use full manual if I want to, at least for motion detection
and interval shots. As long as I'm setting the shutter duration (and
maybe not exceeding any internal maximum time for the camera itself), I
don't see what the problem would be.
Hope that helps. If anyone has any specific questions, let me know and
I'll do my best to give a decent answer.
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