01Feb More on the Dirt Cheap monitor
I’ve been getting a lot of request to see this little monitor up close. I didn’t have a chance after putting this together to film the monitor in use. So hopefully this short video address most of your questions.
I will note that it’s hard to properly expose a video monitor, so the color ends up looking a little bit blown out in parts of this video. In its defense, this monitor looks just fine in practical use, just a little bit brighter then my Lilliput monitor. Are the colors perfect? Probably not, but this monitor does a great job for its size and price.
The monitor plus camera mount weighs about a quarter that of my cellphone. So this might be a great option for those of you with a small steadicam/glidecam, or a good device to use with your dslr slider.
Some have asked me “why do I need a field monitor?”. Well in videos like the one above I would be blind to framing, exposer, settings, and so on if I didn’t have a monitor facing me. If you own the canon 60d or Panasonic GH2 you at least have a flip out screen, but for everyone else low angles, high angles, and anything other then camera placement directly in front of your face can be a real pain.
The small size and weight means I can keep this in my camera bag with little to no problem. I may even order a few more and keep them permanently mounted to a few of my rigs. That way there is no extra setup when I need them. The usb cables are very reasonably priced, so the next thing on my list might be to hardwire the usb cable directly to the monitor. That way you don’t have to deal with a clump of RCA connectors on your rig.
If you still have questions about this monitor just send me a message or leave a comment and I’ll see if I can help you out.
For more great DIY projects check out our friends over at thefrugalfilmmaker.com.
Equipment used in this video:
Canon 7d & t2i
Canon 35mm f1.4
Canon 50mm f1.4
Zoom H1
CPM FILM TOOLS camera rig
Tags: battery powered camera monitor, Cheap field monitor, HDSLR filming
February 11th, 2011 at 6:35 am
hey man, whats the brand(name,…) of this monitor?
does it come with any mounts, cables etc?
does it run with battery?
thanks, looking forward to your answer…
greets steve
February 11th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Look here for all of that information. I have a complete how to and guide and parts list posted. There is no brand names on the monitor that I know of.
February 11th, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Hi,
I am so ready to order the items needed to build this little monitor set-up; but I was wondering if my older canon rebel Xt would work with this??
I wear glasses and the tiny LCd on the rebel xt is just too small this would help me so much.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
I am really just starting out at 47 years of age:))
February 12th, 2011 at 6:12 am
The screen is about the same size as the canon t2i screen. If you need something larger maybe a 4 or 7 inch screen might help you out a little bit more. If you check on ebay there are a number of 4 and 7 inch options that could be modified to work the same way. I don’t know much about the rebel xt. You might want to test the rca output on your tv at home before you pull the trigger on anything.
February 15th, 2011 at 4:01 am
Hi !
Very good article!
I look for a screen of the same size as 7D, an 3 inch monitor.
do you know if it exists, I look but I don’t find…
I expect from your news…
Thanks !!!
February 15th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
3.5 inch is the smallest I have found.
February 15th, 2011 at 11:36 pm
Diggin the site, but I had a Q for you…
I just got my generic LCD screen in the mail today. I wanted to run a test on it with my HV20. I hooked it up the same way I would to another monitor, powered the LCD screen with a 7.4 volt Canon battery (HV20 batt.), but the screen only shows plain white. I can’t do anything to it at all. Faulty? Just to make sure, I set up my HV to my bigger monitor and it was fine, tried the little screen and nothing. Any suggestions? Returning it is almost pointless, I highly doubt I will ever get a refund, but I just really want this to work lol. Any help is greatly appreciated.
-Andrew
February 16th, 2011 at 6:03 am
7.4 volts isn’t really enough to power for this little monitor, 9 volts is really as low as I would go. Try feeding it with a 9 volt battery or one of the 12 volt batteries I listed, you’ll probably have better luck.
March 9th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Hi,
It’s me pat again:))
Have you ever given any thought to assembly of a monitor set up for someone if so how much?
Thanks,
Pat
March 9th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
I don’t plan to go mass market, but if you want me to put one together for you, parts and shipping + $20 sound fare?
March 11th, 2011 at 8:33 pm
That’s more than fair!!
Please email me I will need you if possible to make sure I am on the right track to order exactly what I need as far as parts.
Even though our emails aren’t published you can still see it right? If not, Please let me know.
I have a Canon Rebel XT camera, and i am kinda of thinking about
using my hotshoe mount or using a super clamp or anything else u can recommend will be appreciated.
Thx,
P.S.
I plan on getting a Canon 60 D by Christmas
and I will want to use it with the new camera as well,
Do u think the 7 inch is too big? If not how can I use it on my tripod with my camera? Any thought……………
Thanks,
SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!! U ROCK
Pat
April 23rd, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Is there any way to do this without using a rig?
July 12th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
[…] been using that little dirt cheap monitor for a number of months,but it finally took a fall from 10 feet and abruptly decided to stopped […]
July 19th, 2011 at 11:56 am
Can you post the link of the howto… i cant see it please…
July 19th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Here are the steps I took to put this together. Hope that helps.
September 20th, 2012 at 7:32 pm
I was wondering if this setup might work with an iPhone 4s.
You seem to be the only person with any sort of depth about this monitor, and basic dslr accessories tend to work with iPhones.
I might just buy it anyway (I could always find some kind of use for it)
Thanks,
Todd
September 20th, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Does the 4s have an RCA SD video output? If so then yes. If not then no.