We stumbled across the China-based Aputure company in the corner of a press event at the PMA show and are glad we did. Aputure’s new Gigtube DSLR Wireless Viewfinder seems like an ideal product for anyone who wants to live frame their shots or video without being tethered to the camera’s LCD.

The bright, 3.5-inch LCD uses 2.4G transfer technology to wirelessly beam the live feed from your camera to the screen. You can also control the camera using the wireless viewfinder. Range is up to 100 meters.

The Gigtube system uses a radio transmitter that’s mounted on your camera’s hot shoe to send the signal to the 230,000-dot display. There’s also a screen shade hood on the viewfinder to cut down on sun glare.

The system seemed to work pretty well during the demo we saw at PMA but we’d like to do some further testing before we give it the full thumbs up. Aputure says the Gigtube DSLR Wireless Viewfinder;which uses 433MHZ and 2.4GHz frequencies—has a “strong resistance to interference”—but as with all radio transfer technology that can be subjective.

Aputure says the wireless system is compatible with a wide range of cameras, including everything from the Canon EOS 7D to the Nikon D300s, and Olympus EP-1 and EP-2. The company does say that when using the Canon 7D, 1D Mark IV, or Rebel T1i an additional “AV adapter” is needed but it’s provided in the Gigtube package.

Cost: $259
Further information: www.aputure.com