Marshall vs Ikan vs ???

btownproductions

btownproductions

Well-known member
I've been searching through the forums and the rest of the net trying to decide on the most cost effecient monitor to get, and so far I'm down to 3 main choices. I just have a few questions about them that I'm hoping someone on here may be able to help me out with....

Is there any reason to choose the Ikan V8000HD over the Marshall V-R70DP? I realize that the Ikan is about half the weight and an inch larger, and there are a lot of people that would say go with the Marshall just because they are a better name. But is the Marshall really that much better in this case? The price for the two is almost the same....

On another note, I was thinking about saving some money and going for the Ikan V8000w, at about half the price of the other 2 monitors, it seems like a pretty good buy. It claims to have a pretty high resolution for not being true HD, and I've heard a couple testimonials that it has enough resolution for getting good focus on an HVX with a 35mm adapter. If anyone here has experience with this monitor and a 35mm adapter, I'd sure love to hear what you thought about it, because I basically just need the monitor for framing and focus pulls, so if I can save around $400 and go with the V8000w, that would be awesome.

Also, if anyone has any other monitor suggestions, that would be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
The Ikan and the Marshalls are nowhere even close to the same price. The Marshall is $1300, $1600 with the battery modification, and the Ikan is $750. And obviously there are no contests between the two. The Marshall is better. It's better built, has underscan, blue gun. The Ikan V8000w would require an adapter of some kind to accept VGA input. It's resolution is the same as the V8000HD and the Marshall.

If I have the cash, I would look at the Carrion monitor for $1550. It's got the highest resolution screen in its class, with plenty of features and is very reasonably priced.
 
Cost efficient? Ikan by far. Some love it. Some hate it. I own one and for the price it's not bad. You don't get the tweaking functions of some of the higher priced monitors.

Now as an owner of the Ikan... I shoot and edit. I'm not shooting 20 days out of the month and if I did, and wanted a monitor for my rig, I would look at either the Nebtek or the Carrion. I've rented the Marshall enough to grow a strong hatred for it and for the price / performance, I don't feel as though the $$ difference is justified between that and the Ikan. Is the Marshall built better? Yes. Display that much better? No. IMO

The big issue is the pixel dimenion in the HD monitors. Most are 800x480 and therefore you have a downconvertion process taking place between the camera and monitor. Some downconvert really well. Ikan isn't bad for the price again. The Nebtek monitor is 800x480 but the downconvertion to that size LCD is the best I've seen. Again, my opinion.

So.. if you're trying to save as much money as possible, the Ikan is a great, cost-effective solution. Not the best but it depends on how much you're going to use it.

If I was to buy a better LCD, which I will do here shortly, I'd seriously look at the Carrion by LSdesign (Siniarch on the forum) - 1028x760 resolution and for the price, which is around $1800 for starter model, it's still cheaper than any of the LCDs in that particular class range.

cheno
 
Is there any reason I couldn't just use the s-video input on the V-R70DP? It's only a small screen so I'm not that worried about getting true HD, as long as I get a high resolution for focusing on.
 
S-video do not support the monitor's full resolution. 800 x 480 is already pushing it for focusing even with component input.
 
Hmmm i see... so I guess my only options are shelling out $800 or so for the Ikan v8000 HD or cheaping out for the v8000w

I may just go with the 8000w and put the other $400ish towards something else. I still need a good tripod
 
I know there are some DIY'ers over at HV20.com that have built some fairly inexpensive monitors, if you're up to that task. Considerably cheaper than the IKAN HD one too. May be worth looking into.
 
I'm gonna look into getting a B-Stock v8000HD. I was talking to an Ikan rep in Texas, and I'm just waiting for an email with some prices. I don't really mind if there is a pixel or 2 out on the monitor, I just need it for framing and focus
 
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