D810 external monitor/recorder recommendations?

[salim]

3 hours ago, Kisaha said:

I say try for yourself. For me a 7" monitor for a dSLR/mirrorless rig is overkill. Even on a smaller C100/FS5/JVC LS300 setup 7" is overkill.

If you have a bigger camera/production, then a Feelworld monitor is silly. Imagine Feelworld quality when I did that documentary, when the camera and lenses were more than 100.000euros.

I was the one linked the F550/F570 monitors, but just if anyone needs absolutely the minimum, on the other hand, it is just a good (or bad) old Feelworld, on a better chassis.

One way or another, cheap monitors will disappoint you. Ask the people here how many Freeworld/Lilliput/Whatnot have on their closets. I am waiting for my Focus, and because, that too, is a cheap monitor will disappoint me in the end, I just believe it will be alright for a couple of years.

Monitors are like tripods. In the end, you will pay for them!

 

@Kisaha As someone who end up buying 4-5 different tripods before spending over 1000 on the good one. I get this argument. But I'm curious if Focus is the cheap brand, then what is a quality brand?

[Kisaha]

Focus isn't the cheap brand, it is the cheap model! SmallHD 502 is 2 times the price of Focus, and a little bit more. Professional monitoring is very expensive, on the studio, or on the field (for some similar, and some different reasons).

I have ordered the Focus, because I believe it would be fine for low dSLR/mirrorless jobs for the next couple of years, and the price is right, and seemingly, the size/weight too.

More, and different technologies are coming, and other solutions (and resolutions!) will be the norm a few years from now.

I am already waiting for a kickstarter thingy that turns mobile phones into monitors (it is on hold at the moment, I hope they will deliver February/before Eastern). New mobile phone SoC and operating systems have better imaging and viewing capabilities, with wider gamuts and super extra sharp OLED and IPS screens, and definitely have the processing power to do what modern monitors do, on a fraction of the cost. I can imagine an S9 will be enough to power and process not only monitoring, but also recording, etc etc

If you have access to a shop, go see a couple of those, especially check the size. I always thought that a 7" is a must have, but after I did some very demanding, but with small crew jobs the last couple of years, I am still on the search of a 5" (actually, the perfect for me is 5.5", like my phones!), and Focus is the closest so far.

I was considering this for some year, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073FDDDPP/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1 what stopped me was the FP batteries, I didn't want another kind of batteries on my workflow!

[salim]

2 hours ago, Kisaha said:

Focus isn't the cheap brand, it is the cheap model! SmallHD 502 is 2 times the price of Focus, and a little bit more. Professional monitoring is very expensive, on the studio, or on the field (for some similar, and some different reasons).

I saw some reviews of Focus.

1 - it seems to have the same OS. Which looks great in all the reviews. 

2 - the physical device also seems well built and seems light. 

3 - it does not have the crazy brightness of some of their top end models. 

To be honest, this seems like product segmentation by them. So I'm thinking the quality is pretty good. 

I fly drones, and the option for me would be CrystalSky expect I'm not seeing much reviews from it in that aspect. But it's bright and solid and I can use it to fly my drone in daylight and see where I'm going. 

[sondreg]

Brought home a 5" blackmagic video assist from the office over the weekend, pretty bulky of a monitor with clunky controls that I personally wouldn't get myself, but it convinced me that 5" is more than enough to judge focus. 

Still the questions stands, what justifies the 2x price of the 502? IMO the Focus looks better in every aspect except battery slots and SDI.

[Kisaha]

502 is full HD panel, Focus is 720 (441 vs 294 ppi), obviously it has a more expensive panel (there are also oled monitors if you look higher). It is built by rubberized aluminum, the other obvious things you mentioned. There is the 501 also which is very close to the Focus. If you add one, two, three things, it makes them more expensive, naturally. 

Videoassist is bulky, indeed.

[salim]

3 hours ago, sondreg said:

 

Still the questions stands, what justifies the 2x price of the 502? IMO the Focus looks better in every aspect except battery slots and SDI.

I agree! the Focus seems like a great deal size, weight and all the accessories that you get if you buy the kit. 

 

3 hours ago, Kisaha said:

502 is full HD panel, Focus is 720 (441 vs 294 ppi), obviously it has a more expensive panel

This is where testing is important. I'm not sure if on a 5" screen the DPI will make that much of a difference. Especially if you're viewing the screen from 1 foot away. Does the human eye has that kind of resolving power that after  1 foot you can see the difference between 720 and 1080. 
 

[Kisaha]

I do not know either, but you certainly have to pay for it!

[IronFilm]

22 hours ago, Kisaha said:

Videoassist is bulky, indeed.

Because it is a recorder too.

 

And cheap.

[Mark Romero 2]

On 12/8/2017 at 9:54 AM, salim said:

This is where testing is important. I'm not sure if on a 5" screen the DPI will make that much of a difference. Especially if you're viewing the screen from 1 foot away. Does the human eye has that kind of resolving power that after  1 foot you can see the difference between 720 and 1080. 
 

Well... can't say for sure anything about that. But I can tell you that the LCD panel on the back of my D750 makes it much easier to tell if things are in focus compared to the LCD panel on the back of my Sony a6300 / a6500, despite the physical sizes being quite similar. 

[Kisaha]

I am coming back to comment on the Focus monitor. So far is being excellent judging focus, and framing. 

I have only done a few tests, as I haven't any camera work at the time, but my opinion is very positive so far.

I wish there was a double tap - magnification option, instead of the 2 fingers action, it could be faster and move the camera less.

I wish it said there was a screen protector included, as I bought and installed an extra one (for 23euros! crazy expensive for what it is) and then I discovered the included one under everything!

[sondreg]

BHPhoto currently running a megadeal on some 7" monitors, including 700$ off the 702, I'm ready to hit order, but the weight and size scares me a little. I saw that both the Feelworld FW760 & iKan DH7 are both lighter

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1186278-REG/smallhd_mon_702_702_bright_7_daylight.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1261736-REG/feelworld_fw760_7_ips_ultra_thin_full.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1197329-REG/ikan_dh7_7_4k_full.html

[IronFilm]

1 hour ago, sondreg said:

BHPhoto currently running a megadeal on some 7" monitors, including 700$ off the 702, I'm ready to hit order, but the weight and size scares me a little. I saw that both the Feelworld FW760 & iKan DH7 are both lighter

The SmallHD is much much better! 

[Asmundma]

I will never buy a video camera with out good AF if you like to film things that move. Assuming one man crew. If you do, you risk static senes and boring videos. That means only Sony and Canon for the moment. 

All extra you put on the camra is a hassel for field work or if you travel. 

The best tool contains what you need as part of the camera. I have gone through all these phases and to day I have:

A7r3, 1dx2 and C200. So I am not using my Atomos any more..C200 shoots raw to CFast cards..... have the SmallHD, maybe on the Canon if on tripod. Its a good monitor.