5D External Monitor

ROCKMORE

ROCKMORE

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Any tips on a budget external monitor for the 5D, 7D, and 500D?
I've seen a lot of 12v monitors for cars, will they do the job?
 
I purchased a lilliput monitor with HDMI input and for the price ($180 shipped) it is awesome. Head over to cinema5d.com and check out the thread on the monitor.
 
http://www.cinema5d.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&p=43990

Note: Despite what the guys say on there, I really don't think that the LCD panel's actual resolution is higher than 800x480. I've done a lot of research into small, affordable LCDs over the past couple of years, and I've never heard anything close to 1080p in a 7" monitor. If such a panel were to exist, then it would be found in more products than just this one. And it would be fabulously expensive. (The $800 SmallHD DP1, an 8.9" monitor, is "only" 1280x728.)

When the product page says that it supports resolutions up to 1920x1400, that simply means that it can accept an input signal of that resolution. The LCD then scales it down to native resolution, 800x480.
 
Is there anything thin and small on the market, say 3 or 4 inch, which can just sit on top of the hotshoe? That screen is nice... but bulky.

I am thinking more media-player style, as thin as possible, like an iPhone with an HDMI input.
 
Do you need Majic Lantern software to view the 5DII as it's recording on a external monitor or will the Canon do this with it's native software?
 
i went first with the ikan now i have the manhatten lcd 720p ....wow what a difference. it is what you need. mine fits right on the flash shoe. any 12v power supply will do.
 
f64manray said:
Do you need Majic Lantern software to view the 5DII as it's recording on a external monitor or will the Canon do this with it's native software?
Click to expand...
The 5D always allowed monitoring via HDMI while recording. The issue was that the video signal was only 480p, until Tramm Hudson found a way around it and enabled 1080i monitoring.
 
ydgmdlu said:
The 5D always allowed monitoring via HDMI while recording. The issue was that the video signal was only 480p, until Tramm Hudson found a way around it and enabled 1080i monitoring.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Is it still possible to focus with 480P pretty well?
 
After seeing you in the DSLR forums here for these last several months, I'm very surprised that you weren't already aware of this.

f64manray said:
Thanks! Is it still possible to focus with 480P pretty well?
Click to expand...
It's possible. I mean Kholi claims to be able to focus his 5D with a 2.5" monitor with QVGA (320x240) resolution. But some do find 480p difficult for critical focus. The only way to know is to try it yourself.
 
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ydgmdlu said:
After seeing you in the DSLR forums here for these last several months, I'm very surprised that you weren't already aware of this.


.
Click to expand...

Yeah, when you responded, it was one of those "Oh yeah, I remember now" moments. When it was first discussed, it just wasn't a feature that was that important to me since the Marshall was around $1,000 dollars, but at $200 ...I'm Interested!

Thank god I didn't get the Zacuto Z Finder because I can get the finder and follow focus for $449
http://www.idcphotography.com/kart/index.php?p=product&id=122&parent=26

and the U Boat commander for around $200
http://www.idcphotography.com/kart/index.php?p=product&id=127&parent=26

and it's all quality military grade stuff.

I'll be out the door with follow focus, finder, monitor (Liliput) for way under $1,500.


Just a note about the Zfinder just in case some didn't know (I just found out yesterday) Laforet just mentioned in a previous blog entry and he works closely with Canon so I assume he got from the horses mouth:

(it (The IDC finder) doesn’t need to stick/tape/velcro to the back of your LCD screen - it screws in at the base of the camera. This is a very good thing btw - as it’s an EXTREMELY bad idea to velcro / tape anything to the rear of any Canon camera - the plastic screen on the back of these cameras is held in there with double-sided tape… so it’s only a matter of time until you end up pulling the plastic off the back of your camera..)

yes, you could detach your screen one day. The IDC finder with follow focus is all attached with a bottom screw to the camera and it doesn't allow light to leak out (per military spec) so light obviously doesn't leak in.
 
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Boy that is interesting........

Boy that is interesting........

f64manray said:
Yeah, when you responded, it was one of those "Oh yeah, I remember now" moments. When it was first discussed, it just wasn't a feature that was that important to me since the Marshall was around $1,000 dollars, but at $200 ...I'm Interested!

Thank god I didn't get the Zacuto Z Finder because I can get the finder and follow focus for $449
http://www.idcphotography.com/kart/index.php?p=product&id=122&parent=26

and the U Boat commander for around $200
http://www.idcphotography.com/kart/index.php?p=product&id=127&parent=26

and it's all quality military grade stuff.

I'll be out the door with follow focus, finder, monitor (Liliput) for way under $1,500.


Just a note about the Zfinder just in case some didn't know (I just found out yesterday) Laforet just mentioned in a previous blog entry and he works closely with Canon so I assume he got from the horses mouth:

(it (The IDC finder) doesn’t need to stick/tape/velcro to the back of your LCD screen - it screws in at the base of the camera. This is a very good thing btw - as it’s an EXTREMELY bad idea to velcro / tape anything to the rear of any Canon camera - the plastic screen on the back of these cameras is held in there with double-sided tape… so it’s only a matter of time until you end up pulling the plastic off the back of your camera..)

yes, you could detach your screen one day. The IDC finder with follow focus is all attached with a bottom screw to the camera and it doesn't allow light to leak out (per military spec) so light obviously doesn't leak in.
Click to expand...

Boy, that's interesting. Canon asked us (Zacuto) to outfit 5DMK2's & 7D's on display at B&H photo as well as other stores and at trade shows including NAB, HD Expo & Cine Gear. I'm currently ReFrame in San Francisco (an event video workshop) and the canon rep here also has a Z-Finder on his camera. I have never heard of even one case of an LCD coming out of the camera. Apparently the above mentioned horses mouth is not so close to Canon as is thought. Read the forums, don't you think if someones screen came out it would be all over here. I'm not trying to put down the IDC option, someone had it here at ReFrame and I though it was kind of cool. I like lots of options for different types and levels of shooters. No one system is perfect for every application. The reason I designed my unit to quickly snap on and off is because in practice you are contantly needing to take the viewfinder on and off. At this conference we went on camera shootouts and people were taking their viewfinders off to show others their video and on for video recording, off for photos, back on for checking focus on photos, off from some quick wide angle low to the ground shots and then back on for video shooting. Off again for Glidecam/Steadicam shots, etc., etc. You need to be able to do this with extreme ease and quickly or you won't bother taking it off and you'll be forced to shoot with it all of the time, and it's just not right for everything. That's the reason we created Z-Finder the way it is. Believe me, we thought about hard mounting it, it's much easier for us to do that, after creating prototypes and testing them in actual field use, we opted to go another way.
Steve
 
I have tested several smaller on-camera LCD monitors and I really liked the iKan v5600. It's not too expensive, has HDMI, several battery options, features a Toshiba panel, and the resolution for it's size is stellar, 1024x600. Think of it this way, the more pixels you cram into a smaller, physical size, the greater the "apparent" resolution. It's no different than buying a huge 52" 1080p television and then wondering why the 32" 1080p looks better when viewed from the same distance. My personal opinion is anything larger than a 5.6" on a small camera like the 5D, 7D, or even the handheld models from Panasonic, is just overkill for the application.
 
I think the Ikan is amazing for production, but its still an attention grabber when you want to be stealthy in public. What about all the 7d/5d owners who just want the tilt/swivel experience they left behind on their video cameras. Somebody could step in with a product and find a large market here. A 4" 800x400 HDMI with a low profile ball joint hot shoe mount. And call it an LCD, not a monitor, so it can be under 400.00.
 
with the magic lantern hack for 1080i preview, is it possible to do hdmi through aja mini converter to SDI for people who have existing monitors, like the panasonic 8 inch?
 
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