field monitor vs. viewfinder/flip out screen

[jamessilverman5678]

I have been shooting with and without a production field monitor.
however, I have been experiencing alot of inconsistency between the 2.
is the flip out screen "reliable"...or is it more wise to select the scene setting, focus, and most importantly exposure on which...I pay attention to the zebra stripes, however its hard to go with them confidently.
and even if you set zebra stripes, the images in the flip out finder seem skewed...can anyone help me?

thank you very much.

sincerely,
james

 

[Barry_S]

Re: field monitor vs. viewfinder/flip out screen

James--I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "skewed", but a field monitor is always going to superior to the flip-out LCD. The biggest drawbacks of the LCD are poor color reproduction, no underscan, and difficult to judge black levels and gamma. However, if you properly calibrate a production monitor and then calibrate your LCD against the monitor, then you have a reasonable approximation. Subtleties of scene settings like gamma and chroma are best viewed on a real monitor, but focusing (preferably with a chart) and setting exposure with zebras shouldn't be a problem with the LCD.