Using laptop as monitor

RossShep

RossShep

Active member
Hey there,

I've got a short film shoot coming up and I'm planning to use my macbook pro as a monitor, wired up to my 7D. There'll be a DOP/camera operator, I want to use the Canon EOS software and live view mode for a directors monitor.

My question is, does anyone have experienbce of doing this, how did you find it? Did it kill the laptop battery straight away?

Just curious to hear about thios method, we'll be out in the field and the HDMI monitor option isnt great as it shuts off the dislpay on the camera of course.

Thanks in advance for any tips,

Ross
 
wgzn said:
i wouldnt use it to judge anything crucial. but yeah. it will "work"
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. What do you find a limitation to using it in this way? Frame stutter?

IS there any other way to monitor what the DP is doing, without shutting off his access to the main LCD screen on the camera?
 
I've used a laptop to do just that. It works okay and doesn't shut of the LCD screen. In certain situations it can be very practical. Once I had a 7D hanging outside a window several levels up and could in the comfort of the room adjust focus, exposure and record.
 
You hook up to the camera with a USB cable using the supplied software.

The on-board view finder remains on unless you plug something into the HDMI, thats when you get the black-out of the VF.

The DP on a recent project used his laptop to give director a feed also to judge focus and framing, only drawback is that there is a delay due to the limitations of USB.

hope this helps.
 
Yes, frame delay is the biggest problem, but if only using for framing, etc, it should be OK. I wouldn't use it for focus pulling or anything real-time critical.

The other downside is the ergonomics of doing this. I used to own a convertible tablet/laptop (one of those windows laptops that spins around and closes on itself like a tablet), and it was great for using as a viewer in situations like these.

Sadly it met its demise to water damage- but it was a useful tool to have around. I could take notes on takes while viewing on the same display.
 
I used a convertible tablet/laptop with EOS utility receiving a wireless signal from Canon WFTs on 1DmkIVs to show my shots to Danny Boyle and Anthony Dod Mantle while we were shooting 127 Hours. This works the same as the USB option discussed here, except of course utilizing wifi's range advantages, and is great for such a purpose so long as you don't mind the delay mentioned above.
 
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