Varizoom Swit vs. Marshall HDA

Peter Ferling · January 27th, 2007, 06:13 PM

Chad, these monitors are sensitive to power, and a general read on the net indicates such. I wired a 7v canon battery adaptor in, and get about 10 minutes of good use then it flickers horribly. My alternative (other than constant AC), was to order a 12v battery belt pack to ensure plenty of juice. I also found that adding the battery to the monitor was too much for the noga arm anyway.

Alvise Tedesco · March 5th, 2007, 03:06 PM

Chad, did you understood SWIT component out problem? Cable, camera or monitor?
Thanks

Chad Terpstra · March 5th, 2007, 03:20 PM

Alvise, I only had one SWIT and I tried multiple cables/adapters with it. Nothing helped and the camera was working fine. If the unit was not defective (and it could have been but I don't know), it is not at all good for focusing via component. S-video was workable, but you're paying $1000 for HD, not just S-video. Look for a 800x480 monitor with S-video or get the Marshall. Or take a chance that the one I had was defective...

Tony Tibbetts · March 5th, 2007, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad Terpstra

Alvise, I only had one SWIT and I tried multiple cables/adapters with it. Nothing helped and the camera was working fine. If the unit was not defective (and it could have been but I don't know), it is not at all good for focusing via component. S-video was workable, but you're paying $1000 for HD, not just S-video. Look for a 800x480 monitor with S-video or get the Marshall. Or take a chance that the one I had was defective...

I own a SWIT and I am able to focus with it just fine.

Chad Terpstra · March 5th, 2007, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony Tibbetts

I own a SWIT and I am able to focus with it just fine.

There you have it. Mine must have been broken somehow. It was nothing but guess-work when using the HD inputs. It looked like there was a slight double-image as well.

Alvise Tedesco · March 6th, 2007, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony Tibbetts

I own a SWIT and I am able to focus with it just fine.

Via (sd) y/c or (hd) components?

Charles Hurley · March 8th, 2007, 01:24 AM

I tested the Swit and the Marshal side by side but I'll admit I never even considered the s-video input on the swit. I plugged the Marshal in s-video because they have another monitor that's 500 less without HD inputs, it's the same lcd with a different scaler. The s-video on the Marshall was worse than component on the swit, it was almost frighteningly bad. In a head to head the Marshal wins easily, nobody will tell you otherwise. Good Luck, Charles.

Meryem Ersoz · March 9th, 2007, 03:27 PM

so, can someone post a link to what constitutes the "right connectors" for the XH A1 to Marshall monitor connectors? i just bought a Marshall and the XH A1 component cable is not compatible, and the boys at radio shack had no answers, so can someone tell me how they got these two units to play together? please and thank you....

Jay Fisk · March 10th, 2007, 01:49 AM

Assuming that you have the supplied Canon DTC-1000 cable with the latching sub-D to triple RCA type component connectors, you just need three RCA (F) to BNC (M) adaptors.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._1938_23685448

As it's not really the best practice to use adaptors on anything critical, my solution was to chop the canon cable down to a two foot cable terminated with three new BNC's for the component inputs on the Marshall. Less cable = less weight

It would have been nice if Canon had terminated the cable with BNC's and provided RCA adaptors. Would have been a more pro solution.

Meryem Ersoz · March 10th, 2007, 08:25 AM

thank you, jay. that's exactly what i needed. the pictures help. now i hope i can find these locally(not so easy around here, without a trip to the big city), so i can use the monitor for a shoot on tuesday.

modding the cable as you suggested seems to be the best solution.

Bill Busby · March 10th, 2007, 02:21 PM

Does anyone know what price Canon sells the DTC-1000 component cable for? Or if the camera side connector is some proprietary part? It would be nice to have a short modified cable for situations such as this as well as keeping the original cable.

Bill

Tony Tibbetts · March 10th, 2007, 02:30 PM

I'm not sure what people are doing to get such horrible results with the SWIT, but I have had no such problems. Hooked up to the components out of my XH-A1 it looks great. As far as power consumption goes I had a friend use it the other day and only had to replace the Canon 950 battery once during a full day of shooting. There were no reports of flickering. Also he was using a 35mm adapter and was able to focus using only an s-video connection.

So it seems to me that some of you got faulty monitors or it's an issue of user error.

Meryem Ersoz · March 10th, 2007, 03:06 PM

i don't know if this helps, but i got the adapters and, using the XH A1 and component in, i'm getting the annoying flickering. i hooked an XL2 up via S-video, and the monitor is fine, so i'm thinking that the RCA to BNC adapters are the weak link. these adapters don't seem to provide a very tight connection, so i'm thinking that Jay's suggested cable mod is a good idea and am going to look into it.

when it's not flickering, the picture is very good. i'm sure when i get this figured out, i'm going to love having this....

Meryem Ersoz · March 10th, 2007, 03:15 PM

good question, bill. i'm going to call them monday and find out--if i can get another cable, then i'll feel safer proceeding with modifying the original.

if anyone else wants to try, canon's direct sales number is 800-385-2155

Meryem Ersoz · March 12th, 2007, 12:18 PM

canon does not have these available through their accessories department. "call back in a month" is what i was told. they did, however, steer me to this site, where it is available as an accessory.

http://www.shop-canon.com.hk

plug DTC-1000 into the search engine, and you'll see the cable available for $280 HK (hong kong dollars...)

$1US = $7.8147HK, according to the yahoo currency converter....

so the cable is available for about $36 US dollars, if my math is correct (and it rarely is!)

so anyone wanting to mod their cable--or anyone wanting both a long and a short cable-- might want to buy one of these first.

March 10th, 2007, 01:49 AM	#54
Jay Fisk Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: CSL BCS MX Posts: 67	Assuming that you have the supplied Canon DTC-1000 cable with the latching sub-D to triple RCA type component connectors, you just need three RCA (F) to BNC (M) adaptors. http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._1938_23685448 As it's not really the best practice to use adaptors on anything critical, my solution was to chop the canon cable down to a two foot cable terminated with three new BNC's for the component inputs on the Marshall. Less cable = less weight It would have been nice if Canon had terminated the cable with BNC's and provided RCA adaptors. Would have been a more pro solution. Last edited by Jay Fisk; March 10th, 2007 at 01:56 AM. Reason: add pic link

January 27th, 2007, 06:13 PM	#46
Peter Ferling Trustee Join Date: May 2005 Location: Wyomissing, PA Posts: 1,141 Images: 57	Chad, these monitors are sensitive to power, and a general read on the net indicates such. I wired a 7v canon battery adaptor in, and get about 10 minutes of good use then it flickers horribly. My alternative (other than constant AC), was to order a 12v battery belt pack to ensure plenty of juice. I also found that adding the battery to the monitor was too much for the noga arm anyway.

March 5th, 2007, 03:06 PM	#47
Alvise Tedesco Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Milan/Italy Posts: 63	Chad, did you understood SWIT component out problem? Cable, camera or monitor? Thanks

March 5th, 2007, 03:20 PM	#48
Chad Terpstra Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 320	Alvise, I only had one SWIT and I tried multiple cables/adapters with it. Nothing helped and the camera was working fine. If the unit was not defective (and it could have been but I don't know), it is not at all good for focusing via component. S-video was workable, but you're paying $1000 for HD, not just S-video. Look for a 800x480 monitor with S-video or get the Marshall. Or take a chance that the one I had was defective...

March 8th, 2007, 01:24 AM	#52
Charles Hurley Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Brooklyn NY Posts: 128	I tested the Swit and the Marshal side by side but I'll admit I never even considered the s-video input on the swit. I plugged the Marshal in s-video because they have another monitor that's 500 less without HD inputs, it's the same lcd with a different scaler. The s-video on the Marshall was worse than component on the swit, it was almost frighteningly bad. In a head to head the Marshal wins easily, nobody will tell you otherwise. Good Luck, Charles.

March 9th, 2007, 03:27 PM	#53
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	so, can someone post a link to what constitutes the "right connectors" for the XH A1 to Marshall monitor connectors? i just bought a Marshall and the XH A1 component cable is not compatible, and the boys at radio shack had no answers, so can someone tell me how they got these two units to play together? please and thank you....

March 10th, 2007, 08:25 AM	#55
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	thank you, jay. that's exactly what i needed. the pictures help. now i hope i can find these locally(not so easy around here, without a trip to the big city), so i can use the monitor for a shoot on tuesday. modding the cable as you suggested seems to be the best solution.

March 10th, 2007, 02:21 PM	#56
Bill Busby Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 959	Does anyone know what price Canon sells the DTC-1000 component cable for? Or if the camera side connector is some proprietary part? It would be nice to have a short modified cable for situations such as this as well as keeping the original cable. Bill

March 10th, 2007, 02:30 PM	#57
Tony Tibbetts Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 385	I'm not sure what people are doing to get such horrible results with the SWIT, but I have had no such problems. Hooked up to the components out of my XH-A1 it looks great. As far as power consumption goes I had a friend use it the other day and only had to replace the Canon 950 battery once during a full day of shooting. There were no reports of flickering. Also he was using a 35mm adapter and was able to focus using only an s-video connection. So it seems to me that some of you got faulty monitors or it's an issue of user error.

March 10th, 2007, 03:06 PM	#58
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	i don't know if this helps, but i got the adapters and, using the XH A1 and component in, i'm getting the annoying flickering. i hooked an XL2 up via S-video, and the monitor is fine, so i'm thinking that the RCA to BNC adapters are the weak link. these adapters don't seem to provide a very tight connection, so i'm thinking that Jay's suggested cable mod is a good idea and am going to look into it. when it's not flickering, the picture is very good. i'm sure when i get this figured out, i'm going to love having this....

March 10th, 2007, 03:15 PM	#59
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	good question, bill. i'm going to call them monday and find out--if i can get another cable, then i'll feel safer proceeding with modifying the original. if anyone else wants to try, canon's direct sales number is 800-385-2155

March 12th, 2007, 12:18 PM	#60
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	canon does not have these available through their accessories department. "call back in a month" is what i was told. they did, however, steer me to this site, where it is available as an accessory. http://www.shop-canon.com.hk plug DTC-1000 into the search engine, and you'll see the cable available for $280 HK (hong kong dollars...) $1US = $7.8147HK, according to the yahoo currency converter.... so the cable is available for about $36 US dollars, if my math is correct (and it rarely is!) so anyone wanting to mod their cable--or anyone wanting both a long and a short cable-- might want to buy one of these first.