As a pre-order, it came as no surprise really that the shipping date slipped due to manufacturing complications – these things happen – the question is was it worth the wait?

I do not own any of the products offered by existing competitors (Zacuto being the predominant player in this particular market) so I cannot draw any comparisons, but here is my hopefully unbiased initial review.

The Pretext

Go to Letus DSLR Product Page

So why choose the Hawk over a rival product such as the ZFinder Pro?

As good a product line as Zacuto has, Letus has the edge when it comes to glass. They have been manufacturing and selling what are considered to be the definitive DoF adapters for professional and consumer level Camcorders for the past number of years and have established a massive community during this time. When it comes down to it, all a viewfinder is is a lens and a lightweight frame to hold the lens in place. With this in mind, the biggest consideration one should make when choosing a viewfinder, in my opinion, should be made firmly on the quality of the optics.

In no way is this a put-down for Zacuto. Indeed, I almost purchased the ZFinder Pro 2.5 on more than one occasion and the support they have from key industry pro’s is impressive to say the least.

For me, when reviewing both the manufacturers specifications and forum discussion on sites such as Philip Blooms blog and EosHD, Letus seems to have hit a sweet spot with its 2.75x magnification. From using the product for a short time only, I think a factor of 2.5 would not be quite enough and 3.o would most definitely exhibit signs of pixellation (2.75 is pushing it in terms of visible resolution)

The Positives

• 2.75x zoom factor hits the sweet spot in terms of resolution and magnification
• Build quality is very good – built like a tank and feels very durable when operating and adjusting the eye piece
• Minimal distortion of magnified image (see below)
• No visible light around or within the housing and the join between the camera body, even in bright direct sunlight
• Excellent base plate feels secure and holds the viewfinder firmly in place (although I did feel a little cautious when tightening the small screws holding the housing to the base plate)
• Haven’t experienced any lens fogging so far, but this is with relatively minor use
• Eye piece feels comfortable and helps shield against light

The Negatives

• A little on the heavy side. I had anticipated that the carbon fiber housing would keep the weight to a minimum, but it has a thick plastic coating that adds quite a bit of mass. On a 7D with the 17-40mm L series lens this extra weight is noticeable
• Some minor manufacturing blemishes – some visible adhesive on inside of housing. This is not distracting in any way once mounted and I’m sure it will improve as the manufacturing process matures
• The tiniest amount of barrel distortion from the lens, but again, not a distraction. I have a feeling this will be even less apparent to others
• No documentation. This again isn’t too much of an issue as using the viewfinder is not rocket science, however, things like lens adjustment are not clear as there seems to be 2 rotating components and it would be nice if Letus could indicate what each one does. (I am happy they have minimized paper products, but a this time the wiki could do with some information)

Conclusion

I am a happy customer! The overall improvements to the ergonomics of using a DSLR for video make this product (and those like it) well worth the investment. Since I cannot make any direct comparisons to the competition, I can only recommend the Letus Hawk based on its strengths as a product and in my opinion it shines. Yes it has its issues and those are minor, but overall the Hawk is a delight to use. I have it mounted on a Canon 7D and I’ve even been using it for compsing still images as an alternative to the regular viewfinder on the 7D body.

Well worth the money, hopefully Letus will be able to get the first round of pre-orders delivered and open up the doors to everyone else.

I would recommend the Hawk to any potential buyer without hesitation.

Recently we spent a week at Blackrock working on concepts for potential internal projects. Since Disney’s exciting acquisition of Marvel, there has been a lot of discussion within Disney Interactive Studios about how the wealth of intellectual property this brings can be utilized. Suffice to say, I was on one of a number of projects using various Marvel IP’s and had the opportunity to flex my dusty modelling skills and put together the following model of Iron Man.

Since we had extremely limited time and had to complete a small prototype as well as the pitch itself, I only had 2 days to do the model and a further day or so to put together a skeleton, do the weighting and knock out a bunch of simple animations (mainly poses).

Since the character would appear quite small on screen, I didn’t have to focus on any details, instead using the time to push the silhouette and proportions in order to make the model pop when viewed at a distance – enlarged hands and feet as well as a larger power source being the predominant features.

I’m not really open to feedback at this point since the session has come and gone and I’m not planning on taking the model further, but feel free to let me know what you think of it…

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