Steadicam Pilot monitor
 

I recently bought a Pilot VLB package and I noticed that the monitor which came with the system is different than what I saw on the pictures. It's not a very good one either, it's pretty dark and washes out badly when viewed from above.

Today I tried to fit one of the cheap Lilliput monitors I got lying around (I think that it's a 669HB).
Had to remove the anti rotation pin on the Pilot's bracket (luckily it's just a screw with an allen head so it was easy to remove) and just screwed the monitor on with the 1/4'' screw.

Wow, what a difference! Much brighter (specs say 450 cd/m2) and doesn't wash out when viewed from above, just slightly washes out from below. Much, much better and easy to see.

It's slightly heavier than the stock monitor (420 vs 280 grams) but I did use two weights beneath the stock monitor to compensate the battery on the other side, now I use none. Achieved dynamic balance with my EX1 in few mins, so no problem there either.

It runs fine from the battery, the specs say it uses 8W (couldn't find the specs for the original monitor).

The only thing I don't like is that it has a small wiring harness on a proprietary connector (I don't like anything proprietary), two composite video inputs, audio input, power input and a large round locking connector (proprietary again) for connecting the VGA cable.

I have been looking for the new Lilliput monitors which have BNC inputs (and analog component instead VGA). They're around $200 so I'll probably get one of those instead.

If you love your existing Lilliput you'll really love the new ones with BNC.

Yeah the old monitor with my pilot didn't work well under the bright outdoors. But I saw the new monitor at a workshop 3weeks back. It looked better.

really?

If the new one is better I'd really like to see how bad the old one was.


You would think that for that price they'll include a monitor that won't look so bad compared to a $200 chinese monitor

Well, you have choices. I must say the sled and arm is top rated, no doubt about it. I owned several models (tried to go cheap) until i tried the Pilot. The monitor is not impressive to be honest but it was good enuf for framing purposes. They do charge an arm and leg for the HD monitor for the high end models.

I would also go for a 3rd party like SmallHD which is also HD but half the price but i would not hesitate to choose the Pilot for that payload. It is simply the best in performance.

I agree on that!

The Pilot is beautiful to work with.

Re: Steadicam Pilot monitor
 

Hey guys, I have couple questions for people who replaced their original Pilot monitors, did you run video cable trough the post, or fixed it externally, what's the runtime difference replacing 5.6" with 7", I am replacing mine with 668GL-70NP/H/Y anyways, but would like to know if I need to get another battery,
thanks!