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Cheap monitor for my DP?

dandollar

dandollar

Hey this might be a dumb question, but the LCD screen on my HVX-200A just doesn't seem to be enough for my cinematographer to work with (he's misses the details sometimes because the screen is so small). I was browsing through monitors for cameras, but they're so incredibly expensive...are there cheaper versions I could find? Or are there are other ways to work around this?
 
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On board monitor?

Try searching the Ikan 8' HD monitor.

You could always hook up a small 19inch HD monitor. Its a bit more work to lug around and needs a power feed, but its a cheaper solution.
 
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Since you're using an HVX, you'll want to make sure you get something that has no less than a max resolution of 1024x600 (just like the little 9" netbooks..)

More is better of course, but that's the minimum resolution necessary to reliably achieve critical focus with an HD camera. If you are handy, or know someone who is, you can get a kit and build an enclosure for a total in the neighborhood of $400, for a small portable HD monitor that does 720p, has HDMI and numerous other inputs, will run on battery power, etc...

check out the kits at manhattanlcd.com

I'm personally planning on building one using the 10.1" kit :)

Or, if you don't want to bother with assembly and are ok with the not quite 720p 1024x600 resolution, you could snag one of their prebuilt 7.1" or 8.9" monitors.


On the other hand, if all you're worried about is framing, you could get by with a lilliput, or something like the Sony DVP-FX820 portable dvd player that has a video input..
 
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Thanks guys! I like the portable DVD player, I think the biggest thing is framing like you said and also catching tiny things like if there are shadows or cables in the shot.
 
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Rental house will rent you a 7" HD monitor for about $75 a day, or a 19" HD with waveform for about $150. I can relate. My DP basically said he wouldn't shoot the last film with out the 7" HD minimum, and in hindisght I see why.
 
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Not to steal the tread or anything but any suggestions for us SD folk. I have a GL2, for now at least, until I get a few projects under my belt to warrant the larger investment. Thanks.
 
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wheatgrinder - Cool. Say, care to name any brands? Plus was the DVD player primarily for you (director) or your camera person? Did you ever try hooking up more than one external monitor? Sorry for the 20 questions but I am getting very close to shooting my first short (if I can find a crew) and I am just trying to soak up all the info I possibly can. Thanks.
 
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Kosh said:
wheatgrinder - Cool. Say, care to name any brands? Plus was the DVD player primarily for you (director) or your camera person? Did you ever try hooking up more than one external monitor? Sorry for the 20 questions but I am getting very close to shooting my first short (if I can find a crew) and I am just trying to soak up all the info I possibly can. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Woha there Kosh...

Im a complete noob, an ARMCHAIR filmmaker if you will... All my effort so far has just been me experimenting and trying to figure the basics out. So with that in mind, you might find better advice elsewhere.. as an amateur hobbyist, I don't mind if my equipment doesn't quite work as expected, so to me everything is worth trying, but as a pro in other fields, I would NOT risk a real production on homemade solutions. Well, I might, but Id have to have 100% confidence in what I was doing to risk it. I mean, picture this...

you've got everything lined up for your short shoot.. the van is all loaded with food, drinks.. the crew is all ready everyone is getting excited... three hours later, there you are scratching your head trying to figure out how to connect your wallmart special DVD player, that your pretending is a DP monitor, to the DP's camera.

That said.. heck, go for it. Hooking up multiple monitors might be tough, you cant just put a Y cable and expect it to work, probably easier to avoid it and just have one. Of first concern is focus and framing for the camera operator, focus puller. I don't know how this works in the real world.. but Id think that on a low budget short the director would just look over the shoulder of the camera man, or review the shots after the take on the same screen.

This is all I want a monitor for.. my camera doesn't have a view finder, and that little 3" screen aint cutting it. Though if fairness to Canon, the focus assists functions really do help.
 
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Cool. Thanks for the advise though. I was planning on using my monitor (I bought one of those LCD4Video 7-inch monitors a while back) for the camera operator while I just stand by the camera as I direct. I was just curious to see if some of us low/no budget folk attempt to replicate a video village type deal. Thanks.
 
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Video village - is a set-up of monitors away from the action where the director, producer, continuity and other pertinent department heads would sit and watch the action as it's being played out - contemplating, discussing and assessing the output. It's a set-up used in larger budget productions.

My apologies to the original poster, as I have done what I had hoped not to, which is hijack your thread. Sorry about that.
 
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Kosh,
If it was a thread hijack, it was a gentle one. ;)

I figured a video village was something like that. On my "District 9" extended features the director is running around with a wireless hand held monitor, now that must be nice...
 
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