Using a monitor with the 7d MUCH better than 5dmkII

Wow, this is the best news I've heard yet on the 7d I think. So if you record in 1080p, the aspect will match what it is supposed to look like?

Thanks
 
philip bloom said:
It's so much better than a 5dmkII. I hadn't tried it out until today but it doesn't drop down to 480p and change aspect ratio when you hit record. It's still not FULL HD out but it's leaps and bounds better than with the 5dmkII ...
Click to expand...

Thanks for this bit of good & interesting news, Philip. I have a couple of questions since you're one of the few people in the world to actually handle a 7D:

Question 1: Can you hazard a guess what the video signal is if it's not 480p? Is it 720p? Some monitors report what signal is connected to their input; does your monitor do that?

If it's relatively clean 720p and not otherwise messed-up in some odd way, it might be useful for connecting to external devices in certain situations. For example, the BlackMagic Intensity HDMI input card & software is only $199 US. Something like that might work with the 7D's output, maybe. (If the 7D has onscreen overlays, there's a chance someday the Magic Lantern firmware hack may be able to remove them.)

Completely different topic:

Question 2: The 7D will have a wireless option (WFT-E5A) that sits under the cam like an external battery unit. My question is about the (I assume) multi-pin signal _connector_ Canon is using to attach the wireless unit. Is this connector hidden inside the cam's battery compartment? Can you post a close-up photo of it? (I'm wondering if this connector can handle signals other than power and image data -- like, maybe it has audio I/O pins that might be used by the likes of BeachTek & others, etc.) Anyway, just curious what the "accessory connector" looks like.

Thanks again, Philip!
 
You guys should watch the video before asking questions. He demonstrates what he means.

You won't be able to BlackMagic or Nanoflash.
 
Hi ydgmdlu: The point of my 1st question was to find out what the 7D's HDMI signal actually is (720p or what?), and to point out that whatever it is, in certain situations it will useful to capture/record it externally even if it's not "perfect" -- especially if the capture device is as inexpensive as something like an Intensity card.

In Phil's video clip at the link above the monitor displays the text "HDMI 1080i 60Hz" after he switches to _playback_ mode, but earlier in the clip we don't get to see what the monitor reports about the cam's live monitoring mode video format. I'm guessing it might also be "HDMI 1080i 60Hz", but the clip doesn't show that; hence my question.

My 2nd question was off-topic, but since Philip is one of the few people who actually has the cam, he might be able to provide a CU pic of the accessory connector inside the 7D's battery compartment (if that's where it is).
 
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Peter J. DeCrescenzo said:
Hi ydgmdlu: The point of my question was to find out what the 7D's HDMI signal actually is (720p or what?), and to point out that whatever it is, in certain situations it will useful to capture/record it externally even if it's not "perfect" -- especially if the capture device is as inexpensive as something like an Intensity card.
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I'm still not sure that we understand each other. Philip posted a video at that link. From the video, we can clearly see some video overlays while the camera is recording. Perhaps you can crop them away, but...

Also, the output is not 16:9, so it's probably not 720p.
 
I seriously can't wait to get my hands on this camera. Perfect choice, at least I think, for my fist HD camera. Bloom, as always thanks for your both help with keeping me informed, as well as increasing my anxiousness towards Oct. 15th (day of camera arrival)
 
So does the camera LCD continue to function when the HDMI output is hooked up?
(I know it's disabled when the A/V jack is used... at least that's the way it is on the 5D)

I assume you would have mentioned it if that were the case - but figured I'd ask just in case.
 
ydgmdlu said:
I'm still not sure that we understand each other. Philip posted a video at that link. From the video, we can clearly see some video overlays while the camera is recording. Perhaps you can crop them away, but... Also, the output is not 16:9, so it's probably not 720p.
Click to expand...

In the post above I said: "In Phil's video clip at the link above the monitor displays the text "HDMI 1080i 60Hz" after he switches to _playback_ mode, but earlier in the clip we don't get to see what the monitor reports about the cam's live monitoring mode video format. I'm guessing it might also be "HDMI 1080i 60Hz", but the clip doesn't show that; hence my question."

Also, closely watching Phil's shaky handheld clip (kisses to you Phil! :-) we see there are at least 2 different aspect ratio or letter-boxing/pillar-boxing versions of the cam's video displayed on the monitor. The width of the video changes as he switches the cam among its various modes. Is that the monitor sizing differently due to changing input signals? Unfortunately, watching Phil's clip I can't tell what the cam is doing vs. what the monitor is doing.

In any event, it's great to hear the 7D's live HDMI output is "better" than the 5DM2's. We'll learn soon enough what it actually is (signal & raster-wise). It's certainly 1,000% better than the GH1's non-existent live HDMI output. ;-)

Thanks again, Phil! :-)
 
Great news. Even if we still can't use this to record uncompressed HDMI (Which I would love), for those who can't afford a monitor with stuff like focus assist, at least the higher res will help to set your focus marks before shooting.
 
I too would like to know if the camera's on screen LCD is still functionable with the HDMI monitor hooked up... thanks.
 
Peter J. DeCrescenzo said:
According to reports online -- and also item #5 on page 177 in the 7D's user manual -- nothing is displayed on the 7D's LCD monitor when a HDMI cable is connected to the cam.
Click to expand...

Well that becomes much less exciting all of the sudden.
Granted, it's nice to be able to run the signal out to a monitor....but ideally it would be so that the shot could be monitored by a client, the director, or whoever else...while the camera operator could still use the LCD.

Damn.
The obvious crippling of technology has never seemed more readily apparent than with this newest crop of DSLRs...

Lets hope one of these manufacturers eventually breaks down and realizes they can only protect the rest of their products for so long...
and decides to just jump on the lion's share of the market by beign the first to release something fully functional.

Then again - Nikon has no high end video cameras to protect :)

(of course, arguably, neither does Canon... so who knows)
 
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