Adorama Aputure Gigtube, Digital Screen Remote Viewfinder for Canon 5D Mark II Camera

I have had the opportunity to work with my new Gigtube for the Canon 5D Mark II. I took it out of the box and tried it out both on Live View and normal functioning with a 4 second review.

It worked well and gave me what I would have expected. The screen was a mirror image of the 5D's LCD. It is bright and clear. It also gives you the ability to focus and shoot from the remote screen.

I then tried to find uses for it in my daily photography.

I think this will be valuable if you wanted to shoot wildlife while being hidden from view. Set the camera up in Live View on a tripod and duck out of sight.

A wedding and event photographer could use this to shoot elevated views. Hold the camera up high and shoot from the GigTube. This takes the hit or miss from these types of photos.

I am sure as time goes on many more uses will appear.

My only wish is that the camera's LCD would be on as well. Unfortunately the camera gives you an either or situation.

At the price it is an accessory which I will be glad to have in my camera case.

This product only works on the Canon 5D Mark II while the camera is in Live View mode.

You can trigger the shutter of the 5DII by fully depressing the red button on the Aputure Gigtube, but pressing the red button half way down prior to taking a shot will not successfully focus the camera lens as stated in product descriptions and reviews found on the web.

In Live View, the Canon 5D Mark II's shutter release and autofocus functions are performed by pressing two separate buttons on the camera body (the normal shutter release and the 'AF-On' button on the rear of the camera, respectively). The on-camera buttons work perfectly well when the Gigtube is attached and the Gigtube is a very useful product, however any review or user manual reference stating that you can autofocus a lens attached to the Canon 5D Mark II by pressing the Gigtube's red button half way down is incorrect.

Product descriptions on the web illustrate situations where a 5DII is mounted on a tall stand while a photographer uses a Gigtube attached with its long extension cable to remotely monitor the camera's viewfinder, focus and shoot. Others describe situations where a nature photographer could hide out of sight in the vicinity of a tripod-mounted 5DII using the the Gigtube to monitor, focus and shoot. This is not possible.

The Aputure Gigtube is still a good product, but when using it you will need to maintain access to the 5D Mark II's 'AF-On' button, unless you want to pre-focus the lens manually and wait for people, animals or events to step into your zone of focus.

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I am using the Aputure Gigtube for manual focus/tilt adjustment while the camera is very close to the ground. Thus I cannot clearly see the LCD on the camera (5DII). The Gigtube mounts in the hot shoe and rotates to face up or to the left, so it is horizontal and viewable in landscape or portrait orientation. It uses the video out, and the camera LCD is disabled while the video cable is plugged in. The resolution is barely good enough for this manual focus application, much like the camera LCD of the Canon 40D. However it does reproduce everything the LCD sees including 5-10X enlargements in Live View and menus. Contrast is so so and the color is not too good. The battery is not removable, but seems to hold up to its approximate 2 hour life on a fresh charge. Glare resistance is fair, even with shading. The shutter button is a plus, but I did not buy it for this capability. the Gigtube is small, relatively inexpensive and works, but if I were to do it again I may consider an HDMI screen with better resolution/contrast.

Read Best Reviews of Adorama Aputure Gigtube, Digital Screen Remote Viewfinder for Canon 5D Mark II Camera Here

1.Advantage: good to take compositions in extraordinary shooting positions, USB charging is sweet.

2.Disadvantages: barely viewable display under sunshine, shutter has no timer, battery not switchable, unable to AF in live-view mode (should blame 5DII)

An improvement is desirable.

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pos.

I use dslr's and point and shoots, music gear and all kinds of software; I'm not a newbie to tech, and this does not rate my seal of approval. keep looking.