have the ex1r. the vf on the r is useless.
i use the hoodman loupe for the lcd and its great. turns lcd into a very sharp viewfinder. the optics on the hoodman loupe are very crisp. i always use it
hoodmanusa.com
olof at westsideav.com makes a great shoulder brace. i use anton bauer batteries and his has the ab mount, combine this with the hoodman loupe and its very balanced and runtimes are very long
forgot to mention the lowlight on this cam is very good. i used an led light for the reception am turned it up 1/3 and it was plenty . i was at an outdoor restaurant on the water and the lighting wasnt great, but i didnt need alot off the led, this cam has 1 1/3 inch exmor
i got the cx550 before bought my ex1r. this cam is amazing. just shot a wedding in greece last week and the footage is pristine. i use the xposure button manually, and wb manually. autofocus works great and ive got the studio 1 xlr adaptor for my audio input. its crisp.
overall you cant go wrong with it. i think the xr is the same or similar to the cx.
plus having the 3 1/2 inch screen is nice.i find myself using the viewfinder alot when im outside if im not using a lcd hood.
the batteries last forever. using the nv70. i bought 3 with me to greece and theyve lasted the whole week. im in chios now getting some beautiful footage for for my stock library. the water is so blue and clear here.
good luck