Focusing Monitor

[Jason McDonald]

Any reviews on the 619ah 7" monitors? Comparisons?

The DP1 looks great. I'm trying to figure out what the big differences are.

I'm looking at monitors to replace the LCD screen for focus. I'm aware of the Z-finder but I'm also looking at having a setup where I can put the camera down low and not have to go down with the camera to follow the action.

What do people look for or need in a good monitor for events? How about for interview style monitoring?

[Robert Turchick]

Here I go again!
The DP1 is a killer solution. I use it on my Panny 150 which has a terrible viewfinder and lcd. Can't live without it in any shooting situation. It is much higher res than the inexpensive monitors I see listed in this thread. And yes it's missing some of the features of the Marshall's but it's cheaper. I got the kit which has the hood and two batteries and that gives me 4 hours of viewing time. I primarily rely on it for focus and exposure and it has not let me down. I get back to the studio and the footage is dead on. For me the DP1 is reality.
I use it indoors/outdoors, live event, studio, doesn't really matter...it's just critical to my setup. I even built a shoulder mount that holds the camera and DP1.

[Jason McDonald]

What are some of the features not included in the it?

[Mike Watson]

Originally Posted by Jonny Norquist

That's not something I considered, but I'm a student and I am not quite shooting video professionally yet. And if professionalism is a factor, I wouldn't expect most clients to understand that a DSLR shoots professional quality video in the first place, they'd probably expect some big fat camcorder.

As a student, you might not know that we had quite a battle with that in the 90's, when they'd expect you to show up with a great big betacam, and you'd show up with a little miniDV. You knew it shot better pictures, but they didn't believe it. Folks stuck with beta for a long time, just for that reason.

Aside that, I think clients are smarter today (or perhaps dumber today, and they leave it all up to us), but I have found that they are more smitten with an $80 LCD that runs on AAs with a single composite cable running from them to the camera than they are with a $5000 HD monitor that I'm renting for $250/day and it can't go farther than 3 ft from the camera. Just because the $80 is some offbrand name, don't be embarassed. "Ikegami" is some offbrand name to them, too. ;-)

[Chuck Spaulding]

I agree with Robert, the only reason I chose the monitor I did was because of price and it outperformed my expectations so I think its a great value.

But this monitor is not in the the same league as the DP1. As I start to rely more on my 7D than the EX1/3's then I will certainly be getting a DP1.

The point I was trying to make is that if your on a tight budget or you just need an inexpensive monitor to work with while you sort out HOW your going to use the 7D in production then the 819AH is more than adequate.

I'm sure we would all love to own the "best" of everything but we don't need to own the best of everything from day one. Since the 7D is so portable we have started using inexpensive jibs and camera supports that I would not have considered prior to the the 7D. Its actually kind of fun trying to sort out what works and what doesn't and forums like these are invaluable for making informed decisions.

I hope my input has helped with your decision.

[Robert Turchick]

Good point Chuck. I'll go one further with my praise of this monitor...
ALL the tripod threads emphasize buy a "proper" tripod and it will outlast your current camera, your next one, and the one after that.
Well, a good field monitor falls into this category for me. Looking at all the "power users" of this monitor, I realized that my camera is on the lower end of the scale. SO, when I get enough work to bump up to an EX1 or 3 or Red...this monitor will still fit the bill. And the way it's built, it should last long past it's 2 year warranty which is an incredible thing in itself!

Originally Posted by Jason McDonald

What are some of the features not included in the it?

waveform monitor
SDI connections

although these don't really matter to me since the 150 has waveform monitor and I use HDMI anyway!

can't think of anything else off the top of my head...it is pretty darn complete. Menus go pretty deep into all the settings and adjustments possible.

Once again, there is no monitor this good anywhere near this price. Oh...and the customer service is outstanding!

[Ryan Mitchell]

Originally Posted by Jason McDonald

What are some of the features not included in the it?

The big ones in the Marshall (which is what I think you're asking):

* SDI input (important for the EX1/3 and others)
* exposure view (I can't remember exactly what they call it)
* Peaking (to assist with focus)
* Front "short-cut" buttons to activate various features
* Direct "blue-gun" mode (negligible value over the DP1, most likely)
* Brand-name recognition

I called these out in a previous post for the most part, but I ended up where Robert did - the value for the money is impressive, and the feature set of the Marshall, although impressive, didn't make up for the difference in cost, lower resolution, and smaller screen size overall.

I'm looking forward to my DP1...