Portkeys has announced its new LEYE SDI HD EVF. The Portkeys LEYE SDI is a 2.4″ LCD Electronic Viewfinder and is a follow-up to their popular LEYE 4K HDMI 2.4″ LCD Electronic Viewfinder.
This is not the first time Portkeys has made an EVF with SDI capabilities. they already have the OEYE 4K 3G-SDI/HDMI EVF with RED Camera Menu Control. However, the new LEYE SDI HD EVF is a much more affordable option.
The EVF has a resolution of 1440 x 900, and it is an 8-bit display with a claimed contrast ratio of 1100:1 and 450nits of brightness. It comes with a Round Sponge Eye Mask and a Red Oak Diopter Swivel with an adjustment range of +8D~-3D.
The LEYE SDI HD EVF not only features a single 3G-SDI input and an HDMI input as well.
It supports image flip, image crop, peaking, grids, frame guides, waveform, and 3D LUTS.
The LEYE SDI HD EVF features a passive heatsink vent, and Portkeys claims that it has better heat dissipation performance than the original LEYE.
The EFV can be powered via the self-locking 4 pin Aviation power connector or a Canon LP battery.
Portkeys gives you a 4-pin to D-tap power cable with the EVF.
Other viewing assist tools include:
- Zebras
- Histogram
- Audio meters
- Guides
- Cross hair
- False color
- Underscan
- H/V Delay
- Anamorphic de-squeeze
- Sharpness
- Check field
- Contrast
- Backlight
- Brightness
- Chroma
- Color temperature
- Tint
- Battery voltage
Price & Availability
The Portkeys LEYE SDI HD EVF is now available for $549 USD. As a comparison the Portkeys LEYE 4K HDMI 2.4″ LCD Electronic Viewfinder is $399 USD and the Portkeys OEYE 4K 3G-SDI/HDMI EVF with RED Camera Menu Control is $1,399 USD.
The biggest issue with third-party EVFs is how to mount them. This can be a difficult task and it is often hard to get them positioned in the right place for easy use.
Competition
There is not a lot of competition when it comes to after-market EVFs that can work with any camera. The only real competition comes in the form of the Zacuto Gratical Eye Micro OLED EVF which retails for $1,450 USD.
There is also the Laizeske 3.5″ 3G-SDI & HDMI LCD Electronic Viewfinder ($239 USD), but it has very bad reviews.
