Terrible is not a strong enough word.
After paying off my Canon 5D Mark IV I decided that my camera cost me way too much to risk damaging the screen. With my Canon 70D, the screen is protected because the door will flip closed. But with the 5D Mark IV, the screen is exposed to the elements 100% of the time. Fortunately, there are screen protectors available for cameras — just like there are for phones. I found this screen protection option from VKO and decided to give it a try.
Details
The VKO LCD screen protectors come in a 2-pack, which is great in case the installation goes awry. The covers are meant to protect your screen from dirt, scratches, sweat, smears, and other damage. The screen protector is also supposed to reduce UV rays. It’s made from ultra-thin optical glass with a hardness rating of 9H. The screen protectors come with a full installation kit including wet and dry wipes. The screen protectors are compatible with Canon EOS, 5D Mark IV, 5DS, and 5DS R DSLR cameras.
User Experience
I looked at a lot of different glass screen protectors on Amazon but settled on this product. Even though it was an Amazon Prime item, delivery took much longer than the promised 2-day shipment. When it arrived, it was in a small box with a just enough writing to know what it was. The box was dinged up a bit, but not destroyed.
As I mentioned above, it comes with cleaning wipes and stickers to pull the dust from it. Installation was actually pretty easy. The screen protectors were a perfect fit with my 5D Mark IV’s display and the cover stuck to it easily once I cleaned the surface. I did, unfortunately, discover after installing the first of the two screen protectors that there was a scratch/flaw on the surface (pictured below). I know that there was a second one included, but I felt that I shouldn’t have to use the second one right away. I am sure this will still help protect my screen from accidental bumps or metal from my camera straps bumping it but still a bit aggravating to buy something new and it is already scratched up.
Besides that, one of the things in the description that caused me to purchase this over some of the others was the fact that they say it’s smear and fingerprint proof glass. You can see the part about smears in the first part of the description of the item. I have copied that part of the description right from the seller’s page and included it below in quotes.
“FUNCTIONS:Shield your screen from dirt, scratches, sweat, smears,damage;Reduce UV rays while allowing visible light in”
Next is the fingerprint claim.
“VKO VTG Tempered Glass Protector is a sheet of 0.01” ultra-thin optical glass used to protect your camera’s LCD screen. High transmittance helps the clear image display on LCD screen. The surface hardness rating of 9 H and six layers of protective material shield your screen from dirt, scratches, sweat, smears and light impact. The shatter-proof glass helps to reduce UV rays while allowing visible light in. The protector surface is also resistant to water, oil and fingerprints. 2.5D round edge provides a very comfortable and smooth surface to grip and prevent the edge from scratching fingers during installation. The glass protector is easy to install without trapping any air bubbles, and is just as simple to remove. The static adhesion method leaves no sticky residue behind your screen.”
As you can read in the above description they claim “The protector surface is also resistant to water, oil and fingerprints.” As you can see in my photo above, that this is a total lie. I understand fingerprints can get on the glass when touching but I have owned glass screen protectors for iPhones that claim they are fingerprint proof and deliver on the claim. If I was not worried about my screen getting damaged I would return this but because they are glass and fit correctly I will keep them. I just think they could have been better when having the claims like they do.
Conclusion
While the DSLR screen protectors from VKO fit the camera screen properly, they do not deliver on quality. I was sorely disappointed in this product out of the box and wouldn’t recommend it based on the fact that the smudging makes it nearly impossible to use.
