FS7: I'm planning to buy a new monitor for 4K productions.

kerrigan

kerrigan

Well-known member
I'm planning to buy a new monitor.
I shoot mostly docs, so my production equipment must be small and serve multiple functions. I've just sold my smallHD DP4 and would like to replace it with a 7" monitor for 4K productions. It should have, LUT SUPPORT, 1280 x 800, SDI & HDMI, FOCUS ASSIST, WAVEFORM, PEAKING, ZEBRAS and AUDIO DISPLAY.

For budget reasons I was researching monitors only...
But this week I've been considering the Odyssey 7, 7Q, and 7Q+.
(I've been given advice not to buy the Shogun.)
Sound Device will release the PIX-E7 this year, but who knows when we will see delivery.


In summery I'm using a FS7 and A7s and need something now for focus, lighting, waveform and LUTs... and I don't mind selling after 12 months.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Bill Kerrigan DP
Montreal Quebec Canada
KerriKart - The new Matthews slider / cart
http://kerrikart.com
http://www.kerrigan.ca/kerrikart.html
 
Bill - I've been in a similar situation ever since getting my FS7 back in December. I have the Panasonic BT-LT1850 monitor which is my "client" monitor (and does up to 1080/60p) - and use a cheap 7" Elvid HDMI monitor for framing purposes only on-camera and steadicam and doc run-n-gun work. But really like the idea of being able to play back footage with Lut support - and in the future - perhaps even the ability to give a director/client different "looks" on set by simply loading/selecting different lut at monitor.
And I have pretty much ruled out the Shogun. Which I believe leaves the Ody 7Q series and the Small 502 for getting the specs you want. As of today, both are promising more lut support in future firmware. I like the small size of the 502 - and is still in the running - but hesitate mostly because of the ? of whether it will receive an upgrade to send out lut signal to another external monitor and other users reports of running thru batteries quickly. The Ody should be releasing update to firmware very soon which will allow many options with Luts... see Mitch's response to my question is this thread.
So...even though I don't plan on using it to record - seems there is more value in the 7Q+ even though it sits at a higher price point. But I haven't pulled the trigger yet... would really like the firmware to be actually working before buying...
Some of my thoughts at the moment..
 
I believe the Shogun is rated brighter than the Odyssey, but I can not attest to it myself as I have never used either. For any outdoor use, and possibly even mounting on steadicam you might want to consider brightness in your specs requirements as well.

Can I ask what advised you against the Shogun? To me it looks great (on paper anyway).

Cheers
 
starcentral said:
Can I ask what advised you against the Shogun? To me it looks great (on paper anyway).

Cheers
Click to expand...

Not trying to pull your from your 7Q here at all, having Mitch on the forum to answer q's is almost worth the price of entry alone, however I have used the Shogun and thought it was a fantastic monitor so to repeat Dennis I am curious as to why you were advised against it as well.
 
Afterwards I read on facebook that Alister had been using it in Finland where the weather is colder and it had stopped working. Having said that a colleague of mine here in Toronto was on a shoot in Detroit and other cities in very cold weather and it performed just fine.
 
The shogun is poorly made - it breaks a lot - the screen cracks and the SSD drives are not reliable for recording 4k Pro res - which takes a lot of data throughput to do. Beware of the shogun. The sound devices recorder looks interesting too though - as another option.
 
I compared the shogun to a 7Q and the small HD 7" OLED and the Shogun picture didn't compare to the other 2. Small HD has a great picture but won't pass LUT's to secondary monitor which is a huge deal to me. I used to prefer the small HD picture as it matched my flanders perfectly. But i recently dialed the Blue channel gain down on the 7Q and so far it seems pretty good.
 
I suppose that I am one of the vocal nay-sayers about Shogun, having had one here for a while for review (not certain whether we've run the story yet-- I write the pieces and then never look at the magazines). My primary critique is extremely poor construction. The top grille is open and exposes electronics. Battery pins are flimsy. SSD mounts only by friction guides on plastic body and protrudes from side of unit. Screen seems bright but I've put Shogun and Odyssey siode by side and prefer Odyssey. This is a matter of personal preference and not to be construed as a criticism of Shogun. With only one recording media Shogun cannot achieve high frame rates. I also cannot imagine that with one SSD it could ever record 4K 60p. I definitely do not like the i/o pigtail that can hang off the unit. I think tension could damage the port. Then there have been reports (I have not experienced the issues and I don't believe everything I read on the internet) of cracked screens and undependable writes to SSD.

That's another issue-- consumer SSD's are not consistent, even when a manufacturer qualifies the device. I am pleased with the proprietary SSD's of Odyssey despite the price. I can be confident they will work. I will buy a couple of Samsung EVO 850 1TB SSD's that have been qualified by CD when that firmware update is available and I feel a little more secure knowing that CD has tested a number of devices and only came up with this drive.

I have great hopes for the Video Devices Pix-E series and while they still have only one drive and may be limited in terms of higher end acquisition, the construction on these units is rock solid. Had some hands on time with them at NAB and looking forward to the full review-- including dropping the review unit to show that the Corning Gorilla Glass screen doesn't break. Gotta find a Phantom to record that in extreme slo-mo ;)

I'll have a SmallHD 502 here as soon as they can ship me one with the Sidefinder. Actually even pondering that as replacement for FS7 viewfinder.

Now, for those Shogun owners who are satisfied all I say is I'm glad you're satisfied. The above comments simply represent my opinion based on observation, professional experience, field testing and of course my own subjectivity.

Ned Soltz
 
I have the 7Q and it's great on the FS7. I have it rigged so it's very minimal on the FS7 and is powered from the D-Tap from the Swit BPU batteries. Also, it's really nice to have the 7Q record a backup copy of everything from the FS7 SDI, especially on bigger jobs in case one of the cards dies on the FS7. Hasn't happened yet, but if it ever does happen it will be a life saver.

I usually just have the FS7 LCD display the image with the LUT 709a LUT, and see the flat image on the 7Q with the waveform. Great combo, best of both worlds. I didn't bring the 7Q on a few pre-pro / tests shoots just because I was lazy, and while the LUT on the LCD was OK, I really have come to rely on the waveform. I felt a little sketched out without it.

I've spoken with several dealers and also from what most people who have used both the 7Q and Shogun, the unanimous consensus is that the 7Q is in a league above.
 
replaced the Sony Fs7 VF with the SmallHD 502 (getting the sidefinder asap)... couldn't be happier! Though having to constantly worry about LPE6 battery life while shooting is annoying.
 
Yes, I met Alister last Saturday during a Sony event, and based on his experience in the cold, he advised against it.
Since then, others owners have told me their Shoguns work fine.

Bill Kerrigan
KerriKart - The new Matthews slider / cart
http://kerrikart.com
 
I own both an Odyssey and a Shogun. Both are excellent products. I added the Shape cage to the Shogun which solved my biggest concern about it.

The Odyssey has an excellent picture, although the Shogun has perhaps a more realistic image as most people won't be looking at Oled screens when they watch your material. The Shogun can be calibrated, which is essential, in my view, for todays log cameras. The Shogun is also easier to use, and I have not had any issues recording 4K (or anything else) with it. SSD performance has been fine. The audio harness shipped with the Shogun is pretty useless, but there are plenty of options, although I doubt many people are using it for recording sound. I power either monitor off Dtap and the Shogun uses much less power than the Oydssey. The DNxHR record codec is a huge asset as recording. Cinema DNG files on either monitor is unworkable, from my standpoint both because the files are huge and NLE support spotty. There are over 15,000 Shoguns out there and probably as many Odysseys, and you can't go wrong either way. Sound Devices is one of my favorite companies, but the cost and weight of their new monitor makes it a non-starter compared to the others. Recall that all three companies have had growing pains with software, so no clear winners there. Try one of each - there are plenty around, and ignore the bozo internet rumors about any of them. Ask someone like Abel for objective feedback and I think you'll find that both the CD and Shogun work fine, and choose the one with the feature set that works best for you.
 
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