How important are field monitors with waveform, vectorscope,..?

[BrandonDor]

Hello, 
i am a newbie in the video world. How important are field monitors with scopes like Waveform, Vectorscope, RGB Parade for the work in an interview setting. I thought about buying an Atomos shogun for this, i don't need the recording with my G7. Is the Aotmos hype or a an important tool on the set?

[Snowfun]

I'm new to it too so take what I say with the appropriate caution. I use a Shogun with my A7S partly for the 4k external recording but, more importantly, it lets me see what's going on. I reason that if I know what's going on, I'll learn more (albeit I do this for fun so no pressure). No matter where the camera is pointing, the monitor can be angled so I can conveniently see it. The coloured wave forms are big and easy to use. As is the focus peaking, zebras and overlays (I'm a "scissors" anamorphic type...). I recently took my bmpcc to Oslo for a long weekend and found it very difficult to use because of the poor display - definitely missed the Shogun (although obviously not in keeping with walking aroung with the Pocket).  

With the A7S, it makes the whole experience more enjoyable - therefore I go out to shoot more often etc. So, to me, yes, it is an important tool. But whether in terms of important functionality it is, is another issue. 

[IronFilm]

You might want to go with the heaps cheaper Aputure FineHD VS-2 over a Shogun.

 

http://www.newsshooter.com/2015/12/21/a-7-full-hd-hdmi-field-monitor-for-less-than-200-aputure-launch-vs-1-finehd-monitor/

[NX1user]

I recently got the VS-2 Fine HD for my Samsung NX1. Since your G7 is also a 4K camera, you may find that using focus peaking on external monitors is inaccurate. The VS-2 Fine HD is 1920x1200 resolution and seems to be about as accurate as the focus peaking on my camera. 

But to answer your question, the VS-2 FineHD has false color which makes getting proper exposure quick and easy. If yo don't need recording, get a good monitor instead and spend that money you saved on lights.

A quick explanation of false color: 

 

[jax_rox]

Waveform is incredibly important with digital, IMO. 

Vectorscope, not so much for acquisition, but can be handy.

I'd take Waveform over False Colour if I had to - however I tend to use False Colour more often (though I rely a lot more on the waveform).

[Mattias Burling]

Its not important at all. Definetelly not if you are a beginner. Its better to learn the basics of exposure and then add a bunch of helping features.

Its nice to have, yes. I would love to have it in evert camera. But not important. People, both hobby and Hollywood have gotten on without it for years and years, and still do.

When I started out it TV some years ago, the wave form was read of a huge box sitting in the Studio. The vectorscope was in another. The camera only had zebra. No peaking, waveform, histogram or vectorscope.

But we got along 

So "important"? nope you should be able to expose without. "Nice to have"? Yes, very.

[NX1user]

9 hours ago, jax_rox said:

Waveform is incredibly important with digital, IMO. 

Vectorscope, not so much for acquisition, but can be handy.

I'd take Waveform over False Colour if I had to - however I tend to use False Colour more often (though I rely a lot more on the waveform).

I'm still learning all this stuff and I'm curious why you prefer Waveform over False Color. TO me, Waveform seems to tell you general areas of exposure whereas with False Color, I could look and see "Oh it's that guy's forehead that is overexposed." Like I said, I'm super new to all this so please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Jonesy Jones]

On March 18, 2016 at 6:00 AM, BrandonDor said:

Hello, 
i am a newbie in the video world. How important are field monitors with scopes like Waveform, Vectorscope, RGB Parade for the work in an interview setting. I thought about buying an Atomos shogun for this, i don't need the recording with my G7. Is the Aotmos hype or a an important tool on the set?

As mentioned already, false color is one of the more helpful exposure tools, but you can definitely get by without it. I shot a whole feature without it, so it's possible, but I wouldn't do that again. I attended one of Shane Hurlbut's workshops and other than his eyes, false color is all he uses for exposure. If you don't need the recording, definitely don't go with Atomos. The Aputure ones seems great. I picked up a lilliput 665 for super cheap on eBay. Works great. I also just recently bought a Kenko light meter which I've never used before. I'm not sure how I lived without it. But I still end up using false color for making exposure decisions. The light meter is more for knowing what's going on in the room and perhaps tuning the lighting in the room to suit the scene better. But that's probably a bit more than you're trying to do right now. Bottom line, if you can find an inexpensive monitor that has false color, I'd go for it. Es muy bueno!

[jax_rox]

12 hours ago, NX1user said:

I'm still learning all this stuff and I'm curious why you prefer Waveform over False Color. TO me, Waveform seems to tell you general areas of exposure whereas with False Color, I could look and see "Oh it's that guy's forehead that is overexposed." Like I said, I'm super new to all this so please correct me if I'm wrong.

That's exactly what a waveform tells you, except that it tells you exactly where the exposure is sitting, with much more detail and accuracy than a 3 or 5 step False Colour. I will say I tend to use False Colour more as a quick reference/check, but Waveform is important and I use it a lot in digital (obviously neither are of any use in film).

My recommendation would be to at least buy a light meter, and then use at least one of either False Colour or Waveform - preferably both.

The hard part about using neither is you have to put a lot of faith in what your monitor is telling you and unless you've calibrated it yourself, you can't really do that. Also, using a combination of the above three (false colour, waveform, light meter) you have an exact idea of where your exposure is sitting. Without that, you won't know. You might be able to get some kind of idea of where your skin is sitting if you set your zebras correctly, but it's far from ideal.

[Livianna]

great learning about these features of filed monitor, like this monitor featured with all

http://feelworld.com.cn/ShowInfo.aspx?id=370&py=7-Aluminum-Design-IPS-1280x800-Camera-Top-Monitor-with-Waveform-Vectorscope-Color-Histogram-A7

[j.f.r.]

On March 20, 2016 at 2:04 AM, Mattias Burling said:

Its not important at all. Definetelly not if you are a beginner. Its better to learn the basics of exposure and then add a bunch of helping features.

Its nice to have, yes. I would love to have it in evert camera. But not important. People, both hobby and Hollywood have gotten on without it for years and years, and still do.

When I started out it TV some years ago, the wave form was read of a huge box sitting in the Studio. The vectorscope was in another. The camera only had zebra. No peaking, waveform, histogram or vectorscope.

But we got along 

So "important"? nope you should be able to expose without. "Nice to have"? Yes, very.

Post really is contradicting itself, not important but yes it's nice to have. but yeah you should learn to expose without it... lol

 

Truth is YES it's important and VERY IMPORTANT as stated, but more importantly it's important because it allows you to nail exposure correctly with almost perfect accuracy. Just like a DP would use a light meter, hand, etc. Technology has advanced and if starting new today then use ALL of the tools created to make your shooting experience easier and more enjoyable. Having used waveform monitors it's like almost shooting blind when I don't have one now (very rare).