Electronic View Finder FDAEV1MK - The Must-Have Accessory for Your Sony RX1/RX1R

I have owned my RX1 for more than a year and I have been enjoying its superb image quality and portable size. However, I still somewhat miss my old days of DSLR while I could the camera near my eye and frame the picture in the view finder. It is not just about the professional feeling (well, it certainly helps me feel better!), it also helps stablize the camera and view the framing in direct sunlight. 

Sony has provided RX1 two options for view finder, first is the Zeiss optical view finder and the other is its electronic view finder. Zeiss view finder is nothing but a piece of glass with no other information supplied, and it’s priced at such a high premium (SGD 800+!!!). People with some sanity would choose the latter one. The electronic view finder, called FDAEV1MK, is so much more powerful and cheaper as well.

Well, when I say cheaper, it is not that cheap if you look at the absolute value (that’s probably true to most of Sony accessories..). But let’s admit that’s the only option I have for RX1. In Singapore, it’s priced at SGD 629. You are able to get a good point-n-shoot camera with that much of money. So I ordered this overseas from Amazon Japan and got my friend to bring it back. Thanks to the weaker yen and Japanese domestic pricing, I only spent about 400 SGD on this view finder, which is indeed a good deal.

Ok, let’s first start with the usual unboxing..

  

The package comes with the viewfinder itself, a smaller eyecup for change, a leather case and a piece of wiping cloth.

A close up of the view finder.

Made in Japan.

The viewfinder with the smaller eyecup on.

The view finder and RX1! Looks really cool.

And of course it can be adjusted to different angles, up till 90 degrees, and suits different shooting situations.  

This is what you see through the viewfinder. It displays the same information you could see from the panel screen. You can even switch to settings, playback pictures, etc.

In the camera settings, you can set the viewfinder as auto on/off. So when your eyes are close enough, it automatically switches on the view finder and turns off when eyes are away. That’s very convenient for shooting and viewing. 

I’ve tried both eyecups and personally I feel the bigger eyecup suits me better. My nose touches the screen if I’m using the smaller eyecup which caused some discomfort. It’s probably better for people wearing glasses. 

So here is my conclusion of this electronic view finder:

1. It’s very well made and the image is bright, sharp and clear, the lag is very minimal.

2. It helps shooting and viewing under direct sunlight and it greatly reduces the shake when pressing the shutter.

3. The only drawback I found: there is no lock for the viewfinder. So I always have the worry that it will come off if I’m walking and it’s hanging around my body. But frankly speaking, the port is pretty tight and I don’t think it will come off that easily.

Thanks for the reading and enjoy your weekend!

Technorati Tags: Accessory, Camera, RX1, Sony

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The Gear for the Gamer: Hands on with Steelseries Siberia Elite

When it comes to headset, the usual names coming up are Bose, Sennhesier, Beats, etc.. Although they all pursue better sound quality, the market segments they are tapping are slightly different. For example, Bose is thought as more business while Beats is more favoured by the younger generation. What I’m bringing today, is again something different from them, Steelseries’s latest headset, Siberia Elite. 

You may have not heard about Steelseries before if you are not a hardcore gamer. They manufacture all kinds of computer gaming related gears such as keyboard, mouse, mousepad and so on. Gamers want everything that makes their gaming experience better. Headset is definitely on the list of gears they will invest. A good headset puts games right into the scene and great sound quality is an essential part of the gaming experience. Clearly, Steelseries has something ready for them. 

To be frank, I am not a big fan of computer games, at least for the past 7, 8 years, so I don’t have much relevant experience I can speak about. This hands-on is more likely from a perspective of an outsider and if you are just looking for something that suits your need, you may find it useful. 

The package is of very good quality. 

Inside is the headset itself, it’s pure white which echoes its name Siberia. It has LED light on both ear cups, which will be shown later.

The headband part isn’t like most other headsets that are adjustable by pulling out extra part in the slot. It’s elastic so it will automatically adjust when you wear it. 

The microphone can be extended and position can be adjusted to make the sound reception better. 

The cable that attaches to the headphone is using a micro USB port, but don’t worry, it has provided adapters for 3.5mm jacket, and flight port. 

The USB sound card is the one which brings the best ability out of the headset. 

Here is size comparison with my Beats Solo HD. Beats Solo HD is about the normal size of a headphone. Clearly, Siberia Elite is much more bulky than Beats. That makes it less portable.   

When connecting the Siberia Elite to the computer via the sound card, you will be able to customise the headset. Before that, you need to download the software Steelseries Engine 3. That can be easily found from its official website. 

In the interface, you can customise the sound quality as most of the audio software provides. What I want to mention here is also the ability to customise the illumination color of the LED lights. It can be set to certain color or shift between colors. That is pretty cool, although nothing much related to the sound quality.

Another thing is the Dolby headphone option. If you use a normal headphone before you would notice that the sound is very much constrained in the ear cups. In other words, you know that the sound is from the headphone. However, if you switch on the Dolby effect, it completely turns the sound into stereo. By saying stereo, I mean, you would have thought the sound is filled in your room, from your computer. That’s something I can only experience in cinema theatres, which is amazing.

In terms of sound quality, I can feel that the bass is pretty strong and the higher range isn’t too harsh. The sound resolution isn’t as high as other professional headphones but I think it’s good enough for gaming use. 

So here comes my verdict.

Good:

1. Very comfortable and great sound quality and highly customisable.

2. Really cool LED lights (well, this isn’t something you expect headset to have, but it is eye catching)

3. Convenient control over the ear cup.  

Bad:

1. The huge size makes it only suitable for desktop gaming, rather than day to day use.

2. The big cushions are comfortable but they keep the ears too warm if they are used for long time.

3. For the price tag, you may find other good alternatives. 

Well, I have to admit that I don’t have enough time with testing out this headphone so many of my impression could really be first impression. If one day I’m diving into the gaming world, I’ll definitely considering it as one of my gaming gears. Hope you find the review useful. Ciao!

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