C500: How to get Canon's display/menus to show up on Odyssey 7q?

chris f

Veteran
I'm toying around with rigging my newly acquired C500 (that's right, I hopped on the C500 bargain train!) with my Ronin & obviously doing so with the Canon LCD attached isn't going to happen. I've got it all balanced out and have my Odyssey 7q mounted on my top ronin arm to act as both recorder & monitor, BUT I can't for the life of me get the C500's display or menus to show up on the monitor. Is this possible? Being able to see my camera settings & navigate the menu system to change frame rates/resolutions is a must out in the field.


Ps. I've got it connected via the 3G-SDI output.
 
I'm toying around with rigging my newly acquired C500 (that's right, I hopped on the C500 bargain train!) with my Ronin & obviously doing so with the Canon LCD attached isn't going to happen. I've got it all balanced out and have my Odyssey 7q mounted on my top ronin arm to act as both recorder & monitor, BUT I can't for the life of me get the C500's display or menus to show up on the monitor. Is this possible? Being able to see my camera settings & navigate the menu system to change frame rates/resolutions is a must out in the field.

Ps. I've got it connected via the 3G-SDI output.

I've had this dilemma before. AFAIK you can't turn the characters on in the C500 on the RAW out, if that's what you are feeding the 7Q.

Here are 4 possible solutions assuming you are recording 4K RAW to ProRes:

1. Use a secondary monitor in addition to the 7Q and feed from Monitor Out on C500 w/character on (RAW still feeding to 7Q)

2. Send your LCD in to Canon for modification with longer cables (expensive, imho). Or buy one used off Ebay. You can get any C300mk1 or C500 LCD unit, they're the same.

3. Load 4KRAWtoProRes and 422 ProRes mode onto 7Q and fast switch 7Q between these modes. Use Monitor Out on C500 w/character for making menu adjustments & and 3G-SDI out for recording.

4. Switch off Ronin and temporarily connect LCD unit to make adjustments.


The problem with using option 3 is that you would normally load two modes in the 7Q for fast switching when shooting with the C500: 4KRAW to ProRes & Canon RAW .RMF, then fast switch between those two (RAW .RMF for shooting above 30fps). So any switching to 422 ProRes involves a 3 minute reboot and then a 3 minute reboot back. Which is imho really only for emergencies when there's no other options. Much better to turn off the Ronin and connect the LCD temporarily.

Of course, if Convergent Design for some reason found it worth their time to add 60P in 4KRAW to ProRes (and 4KHalfRAW to ProRes at 120P), then you could fast switch back and forth between 422 ProRes & 4KRAW to ProRes....
 
3. Load 4KRAWtoProRes and 422 ProRes mode onto 7Q and fast switch 7Q between these modes. Use Monitor Out on C500 w/character for making menu adjustments & and 3G-SDI out for recording.

Thanks Parrot, this is super helpful. Option 3 seems to be the best solution (forgoing highspeed framerates), but how do I fast switch between these modes?
 
Thanks Parrot, this is super helpful. Option 3 seems to be the best solution (forgoing highspeed framerates), but how do I fast switch between these modes?

Load first Canon 4K RAW or 4K RAWtoProRes, then load 422 ProRes. Both should then be loaded in Fast Memory and you can switch modes relatively quickly. You then need to switch BNC connectors between 3G out and Monitor out.
 
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