Field monitor: worth the money?

I say yes, you don't want to be using the tiny screen to judge focus, sharpness...plus cheap monitors can be had for ~$150 and up...
 
I guess HDMI connection right? BUt i read it forces you to record 1080. Do you know?
Also how do you integrate the monitor to tripod/camera set up?
 
You can record any HD setup and use the monitor. it doesn't affect recording.

You can (as I recall, I sold my 150 for an AC 130) get a totally clean display or select different levels of info.

The HMC screen... I found it to be really crappy, bad color, bad for judging exposure, really bad for focus. I get the little 5" Marshall HDMI monitor (which turn up used for $250 - $350 or so) and a panasonic battery plate for it, great combo.

You can mount it with a simple swivel-ball mount to the hot shoe, use an arm, mount it on rails, whatever. A decent monitor will have at least one 1/4-20 threaded hole.

I don't know that a $150 monitor would be worth the hassle, but there may be something good out there. Buy a good one and it will outlast your next 5 cameras, at least until you move up to SDI stuff.

You want something that you can set to blue-only so you can calibrate it using the built in color bars from the camera.

Bonus: You can also get a cheap card for your NLE (Blackmagic Intensity starts at $175 or so) and use it as a color-correct editing monitor. Even at the small size, you can judge color work much more accurately (assuming you can calibrate the thing). (Cards like this or stuff from Matrox takes only the edit window from FCP, Premiere, After effects, etc and sends it via HDMI - no menus, etc - just what someone would see on a BluRay or broadcast. You can get a $10 splitter and use a big HDTV for detail and clients, and use the calibrated monitor to check color.

It's often difficult to use sliders or dollys without one - and impossible to do much with a crane.
 
I recently got a 7" field monitor and for accurate focus it's crucial, at least if you only have a 3" display with no magnification feature as i do.

It's also help with exposure and framing as my camera LCD is all but trust worthy as far as exposure goes, i do use a light meter but it's nice to have a monitor that is more accurate and has, zebras, false color etc.

Now i can't see my self shooting without one.
 
I have a question regarding field monitors: lets say you get a small one (7") that does 720p (do any that size do 1080 yet?). How valid is using that with a 4k cam? Youre looking at something thats about 33% of the true resolution at that point. Is this still viable for focus, color, contrast (if you trusted it before, that is)? Im thinking of how future proof it would be, in other words.
 
vainlord said:
I recently got a 7" field monitor and for accurate focus it's crucial, at least if you only have a 3" display with no magnification feature as i do.
Click to expand...
which one do you have?


[/QUOTE]It's also help with exposure and framing as my camera LCD is all but trust worthy as far as exposure goes, [/QUOTE]

this means that you field monitor is calibrated then? or else how could you trust it?
 
I got the Aputure VS-3 7" (native 1024x600). Yes according to the manufacturer it's "pre-calibrated" (color) from the factory, you can of course change it manually if you want as well. To check the exposure i use Zebras.

Now this is a entry level field monitor that cost no more then pocket change. Still it got some neat features at this price.

Pros

Price
Features (many like the far more expensive models and brands has)
Resolution (at this price)
24 months warranty
comes with battery (in Sweden at least)

Cons

A bit bulky for a 7" field monitor
No battery indicator or way to check the battery



 
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Well everything is relative..:-) When i say pocket change i'm referring to prices to brand name monitors with similar feature set. But also to the fact that compared to many other pieces in a photographers kit it's not that much, say compared to cameras, lenses, lighting and sound equipment.

Considering how it helps you'r production by enabling you to actually set and pull focus (on dslr lenses with no marking and short throw it's invaluable) and get a better view on framing and exposure i really regret not getting one sooner.

If i had knew how much easier it would be with a monitor i would have purchased it before my Zacuto Z-finder Pro. Don't get me wrong i love the Zacuto but unless I'm on hand held rig i'd take the Aputure monitor over it any day of the week.

Yes you can assign shortcuts to the 4-way button, so you can assign 4 different shortcuts. Quite useful for turning on zebras, false colors, zoom, peaking etc. without having to entering the menu.
 
Thanks Paul.
Yeah I know what you're saying with the pocket change :-)
It's my first paid gig and I had to purchase the HMC40 ($550 with Rode mic and XLR adapter) so I don't have much left to "invest".
I think I might need a ilght kit since the room has huge windows on one side...
I know i could rent the lights but I never used light before so I'd like to play around with them beforehand....
 
I hear you, one have to prioritize and pick up the gear as you go along.

While I'm a commercial still photographer, I'm very much a newbie at filming.

My first gig (and paid) was early this year and i got into by a friend who needed me to do a infomercial for the Swedish Railway, he had made a product for them.

I got two weeks to gear/read up, so i really understand that renting in the beginning isn't an option as one need time to familiarize with the gear and learn at the same time.

What kind of gig are you preparing for ?
 
Finally someone who undersands me!!!! :-)
Sometimes people who are genuinally helping don't understand where we come from when we just booked our first gig. SUre if we could spend 2 K in equipment we wouldn't be asking for advices.
BTW congrats on your 1sr paid gig as a videographer! Share a link.
Mine is for a company. They want me to tape the meeting they have every quarter for new employees so they can use this video for the future.
It's very straight forward but also challenging since i't s a 4 hour presentation: SD cards limitations, sound, and no way to ask for another take! Everything HAS TO work! So i hired a sound guy as I felt it was too much to handle video and audio.
I think i'll pass on the field monitor. Might use the money for a lighting kit. Did you use one for your video?
 
:)

Yes well i can tell you i barely broken even on my first gig as i pretty much started from scratch (except for camera and lenses). I spent little over 3,8k in gear alone...:Drogar-Dum(DBG):

Here's is my first video ever, keep in mind this was the first time for just about everything for me.

Things like cutting, grading, sound etc. was all new to me. (still is)

Handling slider, steady cam, writing a script and doing shot list etc.

It was good learning experience and i'm happy i got the chance to do it as it enables me to do more of that kind of work.


Sounds like cool gig!

Good job on hiring a sound guy! Something many will skip out on.

As i mentioned before the field monitor really helps, but it also depends on what and how you shoot. For you'r first paid gig i certainly don't think it's crucial. After all it can be nice to make some money! (unlike my first gig lol)

I used a small led light for some of the closeup shots. The highest i went in terms of ISO was 1600 and i was mostly at F/4 to not get to shallow dof.

If i was to do the job again today i would have done A LOT of things differently..:grin: But that's the beauty of it, we learn as we go along.
 
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It looks really really good, serioulsy. Great music. I love the handheld shots.
Overall very stylish spot.
Mine won't be like this at all!! I wished it'd be :-). Boring talking head.
and yeah, i'll skip the field monitor for now since I've found out that relying on them for exposure is tricky unless you buy a great one.

For me the whole experience isn't completely new. I work in TV as a promo editor and on the side I produce and edit spots for social networking adgencies. They usuallly send me the footage but this time they asked if I'd be interested in shooting myself since it's a simple shoot. So here we are.... But it's great because eventually I want to fade out of TV and leave L.A. and have my own video prod company .
But first things first.
 
xavpil said:
It looks really really good, serioulsy. Great music. I love the handheld shots.
Overall very stylish spot.
Mine won't be like this at all!! I wished it'd be :-). Boring talking head.
and yeah, i'll skip the field monitor for now since I've found out that relying on them for exposure is tricky unless you buy a great one.

For me the whole experience isn't completely new. I work in TV as a promo editor and on the side I produce and edit spots for social networking adgencies. They usuallly send me the footage but this time they asked if I'd be interested in shooting myself since it's a simple shoot. So here we are.... But it's great because eventually I want to fade out of TV and leave L.A. and have my own video prod company .
But first things first.
Click to expand...

Thanx! Majority of the shots are taken with my newly (at the time) acquired steadycam, which i'm now am little more confident in using. :Drogar-Happy(DBG):

Well it might be boring :-) But it's a good learning experience (would be for me at least) shooting under those conditions with the sound being a big part etc. Corporate gigs like that (from my experience) might not be as fun creatively but often pays more in terms of time spent.

Oh then your miles ahead of me, as you'r already familiar with many aspects of video production. I'm sure you will be up and running in no time!

Yes first thing first! Good luck on the gig!
 
Favoritest thing on a field monitor (well two, one being accurate exposure and color) is a 1-1 pixel button for checking focus. One you have that at the touch of a button, you'll wonder how you lived without it.
 
Michael Carter said:
Favoritest thing on a field monitor (well two, one being accurate exposure and color) is a 1-1 pixel button for checking focus. One you have that at the touch of a button, you'll wonder how you lived without it.
Click to expand...
is this true with <$300 monitors?
which one do you own?
 
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