GH2 SmallHD DP4 alternatives for GH2?

F

Fresno Bob

Well-known member
Hi

I love the look of the SmallHD DP4. Looks exactly what I need, and isn't like the Loupes that are tied to a specific camera.

BUT...the price is ridiculous. Is there a cheaper alternative to this that anyone would recommend. Even if it is just the monitor without the eyepiece.

Thanks!
 
The DP4 isn’t ridiculous in price really, at current exchange rates it’s £278.48 + VAT. It’s very well built and you have to remember it’s not simply a monitor. Its focus software is very good, it supports anamorphic lens resizing and has a myriad of other features. Used ones come up on eBay now and then.

 
Fresno Bob said:
You can never get it for that price. You have to import it
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Which is that price plus 20% which is still as cheap or cheaper than some alternatives.

They had a sale a few weeks ago, about 20%, try e-mailing them direct to see if they'd do a discount given UK VAT is a bit steep.
 
Not he answer your looking for, but the Alphatron is by far the best EVF I've used. It's menu is a mess, & needs a firmware update, but the image is much sharper than the less expensive models.
 
Bern Caughey said:
Not he answer your looking for, but the Alphatron is by far the best EVF I've used.
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I would love to use an Alphatron, but currently have no first-hand experience with it. However, the best positive, aside from how the EVF performs, is that the Alphatron is "future-proof", as it has both HDMI and SDI connections. That's worth a serious look in my opinion. Buy once, use often.
 
Bern Caughey said:
Not he answer your looking for, but the Alphatron is by far the best EVF I've used. It's menu is a mess, & needs a firmware update, but the image is much sharper than the less expensive models.
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But couldn't you buy a GH2, a decent lens and the Small HD for the price just of that EVF alone?
 
Compared to the aforementioned Alphatron, the DP4 is pretty inexpensive. For the price point the DP4 seems to be the most feature rich. Unless I am confused and the 4 doesn't have the same false color as the DP6. IMO: Spending less than the DP4 just means you'll end up replacing the cheap EVF and throwing good money after bad, as the phrase goes.
 
Frankly, the problem I have with the DP4 is the focus assist feature. It's okay on the DP6, which I love, but for an EVF, you really need focus peaking instead. The focus assist on the SmallHDs makes it hard to compose your shot because it's hard to see actual detail in the picture when the mode is activated. Focus peaking can be problematic, but you should always be able to dial it down, and it doesn't interfere with shot composition like the focus assist feature on the DP6 does (and don't get me wrong, I love my DP6, I just wish it had peaking instead of what it does have).
 
Gary Huff said:
Frankly, the problem I have with the DP4 is the focus assist feature. It's okay on the DP6, which I love, but for an EVF, you really need focus peaking instead. The focus assist on the SmallHDs makes it hard to compose your shot because it's hard to see actual detail in the picture when the mode is activated. Focus peaking can be problematic, but you should always be able to dial it down, and it doesn't interfere with shot composition like the focus assist feature on the DP6 does (and don't get me wrong, I love my DP6, I just wish it had peaking instead of what it does have).
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It does have peaking, you can have focus assist OR peaking (you can on the DP4 so I assume it's the same). I agree the focus assist is a little overbearing I wish you could control the transparancy of the effect. I'll drop Small HD an e-mail and ask for this on a future firmware (there’s never any harm in asking).
 
david.rhsc said:
Compared to the aforementioned Alphatron, the DP4 is pretty inexpensive. For the price point the DP4 seems to be the most feature rich. Unless I am confused and the 4 doesn't have the same false color as the DP6. IMO: Spending less than the DP4 just means you'll end up replacing the cheap EVF and throwing good money after bad, as the phrase goes.
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I think the software is the same, it has false colour, in fact it’s got more options than I’d ever likely use. I like the fact they update the firmware and the pricing of the accessories seems reasonable. There’s even a fairly significant discount on the EVF attachment at the moment.

http://www.smallhd.com/products/dp4/software.html
 
I got the DP4 in the end second-hand.

Having a problem with getting the monitor to display the same size as I see on the GH2 - it is blown up a little bit.

I've tried clicking on the scale options, but it seems to have no effect.
Anyone know how?
 
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