On Camera Monitor advice

7in is IMO too big for a DSLR.

Consider a 5in.

Personally Id be looking at the Atomos not SmallHD - I think Small have dropped the ball a bit.

S
 
morgan_moore said:
7in is IMO too big for a DSLR.

Consider a 5in.

Personally Id be looking at the Atomos not SmallHD - I think Small have dropped the ball a bit.

S
Click to expand...


I love smallHD's older stuff. I have at least four of their old-school monitors, including two of the awesome DP7Pro OLED's that have touchscreen menus. But their recent stuff... You have to have a PhD to figure out their menus. A monitor should not be that complicated. Even guys I know that own them hate the menus and say they're overly complicated. I'd rather have my camera stolen than my DP7. Insurance will replace the camera. They don't make the monitors anymore.
 
Small have gotten expensive (they were taken over by Vitec) - maybe some of the bright screens are worth it.

Unlike RnG I do love modern Small menues - completely the best system - Id love it in a robust enclosure.

Fundamentally the joystick and SDi are weak and a liability on a $1000+ professional tool, and the customer service is gone.

I think the sands have shifted somewhat.. and china is winning.

My chum has good experience with the Feelworld F570! A good place to start. (and buy a spare!)

I dont think you can equate price to build quality today unfortuanately.

(BTW I have Dp1, Dp6, DP502 and atomos)
 
As always I can only tell you my personal experience. Practically everyone in town I work with who has a small or on cam monitor has a SmallHD. Very popular here. They go on sale occasionally half price at B&H (B&H has a daily--not counting Saturday-- "deal zone" item that gets a decent discount. I've caught the 702 Bright twice this year on sale, got one the second time.
 
morgan_moore said:
Small have gotten expensive (they were taken over by Vitec) - maybe some of the bright screens are worth it.

Unlike RnG I do love modern Small menues - completely the best system - Id love it in a robust enclosure.

Fundamentally the joystick and SDi are weak and a liability on a $1000+ professional tool, and the customer service is gone.

I think the sands have shifted somewhat.. and china is winning.

My chum has good experience with the Feelworld F570! A good place to start. (and buy a spare!)

I dont think you can equate price to build quality today unfortuanately.

(BTW I have Dp1, Dp6, DP502 and atomos)
Click to expand...

When I first found out about smallHD, you could only buy directly from them(at least here in the US) and their customer service was absolutely second to none. And in no small part, because of that, I would recommend them to anyone that was looking for a monitor, back then. But I haven't really been a fan of what they've been bringing to market the last few years. At least not for the money. If you noticed, they have dropped the 24" and 32" monitors from their line-up(no longer on their site) and once again have a touchscreen OLED on-camera monitor(albeit just a 5"). I would actually like to get my hands on the Focus OLED SDI and see how it compares to the original DP7 Pro OLED.
 
The discontinuation of those larger monitors is a disgrace. I guess there's no one to blame but yourself if you get burned by "investing" in electronics in 2018.

OFF TOPIC:

It's intersting that Vitec owns wooden camera, yet WC's "about us" page pushes their story, as if it was a M+P operation.

+1 for Atomos SUMO.
 
I would also add that for the price of certain monitors like the 702 in your OP (and I prefer the 5" size for solo op) - it made sense to me to invest a just little more dough and get recorder/monitor combo. I own the Vid Devices Pix E5 and it is very well built and I've had zero issues with it.
 
morgan_moore said:
True in 2010. Times change.
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Yep. And that was my point, as well. It's been a mixed bag dealing with Vitec for customer service the last few years(smallHD was not part of Vitec back then). I had a warranty issue with an A/B battery several years ago and it was almost impossible trying to get information out of them and when I finally got the battery back, they couldn't tell me what they did to it or what was wrong originally. They couldn't find any paperwork on it, but I sent it to them and they obviously sent it back. And my experience with Litepanels last year on a repair of some Astra's(one in and one out of warranty) was almost comical(extremely frustrating, really) if it wasn't really happening to me. But the Gemini rotary dial issue that just happened, they were on it like stink on $*&% and one of the higher-ups even called me personally.
 
rob norton said:
The discontinuation of those larger monitors is a disgrace. I guess there's no one to blame but yourself if you get burned by "investing" in electronics in 2018.

OFF TOPIC:

It's intersting that Vitec owns wooden camera, yet WC's "about us" page pushes their story, as if it was a M+P operation.

+1 for Atomos SUMO.
Click to expand...

Well, I think the companies are still "run" by their founders, etc., they are just under the Vitec umbrella, but obviously, some things change when you're part of a huge multi-national corporation, like that. A/B and LP service is all in the same place in CT and feels like the same corporate structure/procedure, but if you call smallHD, your still gonna get one of the folks here in their office in NC.

Way way off-topic, I've always found it odd that LP and A/B are both owned by Vitec, but the P-tap/D-tap connectors on LP cables are not "genuine" A/B connectors on the Sola ENG's.
 
My monitor - a 502 is basically essential to my camera, when the SDI stopped working (after a minor bump - it sticks straight out the front unlike for example my Transvideo) I was able to get out of jail by swapping to the HDMI - at some cost because the FS7 loses some capabilities when HDMI is engaged.

Ive been running in 'emergency mode' for a couple of years now but the camera is too busy for me to send the monitor back for repair. This makes me feel insecure relying on HDMI. And I have to loop my HDMI directors monitor out through the Small meaning cable fudge hell.

I always take my FS7 crappy screen to get me out of jail on the day the Small dies - a month ago I thought that had happened because the 'joy' stick became unresponsive and I was stuck punched in for a few seconds.

Ive emailed Wes and Linkedin messages to him - no response.

Yes my 502 is as old as my FS7 and has had a hard life - but my annoyance is that it feels like it is about to die.. my DP1, DP1x and DP6 do not feel like they are about to die - great tools! My FS7 does not feel like it is about to die, or my EX1, or GH4 or Atomos or Transvideo monitors, my Small is my stress.

Overall what would I do today?

Id buy an atomos and a feelworld/neweer* (in reserve) - or two feelworlds on a budget - or If I went Small Id buy a spare/reserve monitor.

Whatever situation I would not want put any job/my reputation onto the ownership of a single monitor or cabling system. (cameras with HDMI and SDi are good in this respect if you get a dead port either end)

*these brands and pricepoints just did not exist when I bought all my monitors, they have to be worth a try at under $200 even if relegated to spare/bCam
 
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Hey Morgan,

Like you, I have a DP6 and run it on HDMI; no more component cams....mine isn't the SDI model. One thing about an external monitor if you aren't depending on it to record (like an Atmos) is that if the cable pops out, it isn't the end of the world; usually.

Question: I never bothered to update the original firmware. Is it worth the bother?

Regards,
Grant
 
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