General 5" LCD with peaking/zebras vs. 7" LCD without? (Canon EOS M)

GHKAM

GHKAM

Well-known member
The LCD on the Canon EOS M doesn't move and the 3" area is too small a viewing space for dependable focusing.

The going rate for a decent 7" external HDMI monitor is $199.

But for $239, I could get a Lilliput 5" monitor with focus peaking and zebras, (something the EOS M doesn't have without Magic Lantern/which I have tried but not interested in). I would find zebras and peaking on a monitor to be very useful.

The 5" LCD with peaking/zebras vs. a 7" with more viewing space/but without those functions - which would be worth it?

There are 7" Lilliput monitors, but this is probably getting into $ territory I don't want to spend, (unless others strongly suggest them?)
 
Peaking can be really useful - but on some DSLRs, the aliasing seems to fool it - lots of blurry stuff will read as in focus. My T2i was useless with a peaking monitor.

You should also consider viewing angle - and a monitor with blue-only is really handy. HDMI pass-through is handy as well, if you ever need a 2nd screen on set.

Used Marshall 5" VLCD50 screens show up used for under $300 and they're very very nice for the size, and take all kinds of battery plates. I think $400 or so new?
 
Michael Carter said:
Peaking can be really useful - but on some DSLRs, the aliasing seems to fool it - lots of blurry stuff will read as in focus. My T2i was useless with a peaking monitor.
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I didn't even know that was a thing - thanks for the info.
The zebras/showing overexposed areas would still be useful on their own.


Michael Carter said:
Used Marshall 5" VLCD50 screens show up used for under $300 and they're very very nice for the size, and take all kinds of battery plates. I think $400 or so new?
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Is that the same Marshall that makes guitar amps? Looks good, but even used is out of my range.
 
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GHKAM said:
Is that the same Marshall that makes guitar amps? Looks good, but even used is out of my range.
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Marshall is a well-regarded manufacturer of location and studio production monitors. the V-LCD50 was their answer to DSLR shooters and is (I believe) their only crazy-affordable screen.

(I have a Marshall monitor AND a Marshall 1960 4x12 slant cab. The logos are very different. The monitor weighs a half pound and the cabinet weighs about 50, so I can generally tell 'em apart. They are both the best things I've ever bought for their respective uses!)

It's a huge step up from all the Lilliputs and car-headrest screens being repurposed for video work. Really nice panel, wide viewing area, false color, peaking and (hell yeah) blue-only for calibration. If you can get a deal on a used one you can have a pretty pro-quality monitor for cheap. And you can buy battery plates for about $28 for a wide range of batteries. (Mine uses the same batteries as my Panasonic 130, so now I have a use for those little square batteries that came with it...)

My Marshall monitor:

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My Marshall Cabinet ("Dikkie Smythe" is my punk rock alter ego):

 
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