Small, portable 3.5 LCD?

B

bogpetri

Active member
Hello,

I am looking for a small, portable 3.5 (or so) LCD to use with my camera. I am NOT interested in pulling focus or judging colors obviously, just attaching it to the camera and framing with it. It needs to be as light as possible and as slim as possible.

Are there any around that you would suggest? I really don't want one of those bulky ones... but small - almost like a regular video camera LCD and that's it. All I've seen are too big and inapropriate for a small camera to go handheld.

Thanks!
 
Most of the low cost and small video monitors are not all that appropriate for your intended application as they exhibit overscan. This can be a real problem as you can miss things (C-Stand, flag, boom op, etc) at the edge of the frame.

Be certain to check it with a digital generated image so that you can be certain of its overscan characteristics.
 
Overscan does not concern me that much. It's not for my main recording device but for a "director's viewfinder" with a small minidv camera attached I want to finish.

Since it's gonna be a hand-held device, I need a very small, light LCD sceen that I can attach to the camera. Most solutions I found so far are too large, I want something closer in size to a 3.5LCD you find on regular cameras, but detachable and portable.

Any leads?
 
You're probably not going to find something that small (not without it costing quite a bit) as most inexpensive 3.5" LCD's still come with a good size housing. I've got a 5" Varizoom monitor that works rather well, but it sounds like it would still be too bulky for your intended use. From the sound of it you want something small (like a video iPod or PSP) just so that the director can check what's going on, right? In the past I've used the second screen that came with my mobile DVD player as a "monitor" of sorts. Like you said, it's not for pulling focus or color, but it can give the director an eye on the action.
 
Don't underestimate the value of having "eyes on" a monitor somewhere that isn't overscanned. It can be really important to prevent problems. The problem with all these prosumer cameras is that the LCD and EVF are both overscanned, so the camera op / DP is still capable of missing an intrusion into the frame.

Its happened to me and its a real piss off.
 
 
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