Field Monitor and the HVX200

Originally Posted by Harikrishnan Ponnurangam

Thanks Derek.. Little out of topic about the shooter scooter. But its awesome stuff. I was looking for something like this for a long time. vfgadgets.com is a cool site.

Harikrishnan, the Shooter Scooter is pretty cool, but actually I was referring to the mounting arm for monitors. Here's the direct link: http://www.vfgadgets.com/FHS-Hdl-Mt.htm

[Harikrishnan Ponnurangam]

Derek,

I was referring myself for being out of topic about the shooter scooter :). I saw the camera mount arm. That's pretty cool too.

Hari

[Robert Lane]

Hey All - it's been a while!

For our HVX setup I've purchased the EZFX jib; the Marshall 7" LCD and am using the strap-on-the-chest LCD mount from EZFX to put the Marshall monitor on. I specifically wanted the LCD vest rather than the traditional tripod mounted version on an articulated arm because the vest gives greater freedom of movement and no worries about having the monitor not in the right place for when we move from side to side on the jib.

The LCD vest from EZFX was designed to work the the much lighter Varizoom 7" monitor so we had to modify the vest a bit to work with the Marshall - which weighs about 3 times as much with the V-Mount battery.

Our monitoring rig consists of the:

- Marshall V-R70P-HDA
- IDX Li-ion V-Mount battery (for the price these things cost, we just have one for now!)
- Varizoom 2-bay charger
- Bogen Magic Arm w/camera mount plate
- EXFX LCD vest (modified to handle the Magic Arm)
- Petrol PMH-6 LCD Hood (which comes in 2 sections so that you can vary how long the hood is)

Marshall does make their own LCD hood to fit their monitor but at the time we ordered the monitor they didn't have one on their website and their own description of it was sketchy. I like the Petrol especially since it's in 2 stages, but I'm still considering getting the Marshall since mounting the Marshall version doesn't require using sticky velcro tape, just stretch straps. We'll see...

The Magic Arm is the perfect solution for us; it allows the monitor to be placed at virtually any viewing height from above eye level to almost down to the waist and at whatever distance we want from the camera operators face. It's much more logical than the tripod mount since you're not looking away from the talent/shooting direction, you can simply look up at your subject without losing your framing or orientation. I really dig it a lot.

The Marshall provides plenty of resolution for manual focusing, and for those who say the built-in HVX LCD or EVF doesn't is hogwash. When you use the Focus Assist button we've found it to be as perfect as using a directors lens - without the hassle of having one hanging around your neck.

We're still in the process of getting used to the rig and haven't used it in any of our productions yet (it took a while to figure out how to modify the LCD vest setup), but i'll report back as we get our "sea legs" with it.

Hope all you dudes are doing well in your ventures!