Choosing the Best On-Camera Monitor!
Monitors are amazing. They make us see stuff on a bigger screen! I mean come on, who wants to look at a tiny little screen on your camera?
In short, monitors are what make life a whole lot easier on set for yourself, your crew, and your clients. They can help you frame your shot a lot more accurately and you get a better sense of what your content is going to look like on a bigger screen. Some monitors even come with some extra features to help you better compose your shot like false-color, focus peaking, anamorphic desqueezing, waveforms, vectorscopes, RGB parades, Log profiles, and so….so….so much more!
But wait…how does one pick the best monitor for your camera setup?
Well, it really all depends on what you need for your project. However, I can give you some tips on what to look for when choosing the best on-camera monitor for your projects!
Pick a Size!
Most on-camera monitors come in two sizes, a 5-inch and a 7-inch. At first, you might think that a 7-inch is the way to go for all productions because you’re able to see the image on a bigger screen and a 5-inch is for when you are on a budget. Don’t worry, I used to think this way too!
But in reality, the two sizes actually have their own applications. If you primarily work in a studio setting where you aren’t moving the camera around as much or your setup is mainly on a tripod, then a 7-inch may be your best choice. You get the benefit of a bigger screen for everyone in your production.
On the other hand, if your work is more run-and-gun where you are moving the camera around often for things like handheld or gimbal work, then a 7-inch monitor may actually do you more harm than good. This is when bigger isn’t always better. Having a big monitor like a 7-inch for run-and-gun projects can slow you down by adding more weight to your setup. And if you need to get into tight spaces, then having a 7-inch may actually hinder you from getting the shots you want.
This is where a 5-inch monitor comes into play. You can get the shots you want while keeping the weight light and still be able to accurately monitor your image. All in all, both have their strengths over the other. So, feel free to choose which size best suits your needs for your projects.
Brightness Matters!
Imagine shooting a project outside on a sunny day. Feels good, right? But then you look at your monitor and realize that you can’t see anything because the sun is so bright that it’s blocking out your image!
Now that doesn’t feel so good.
This is when having a bright monitor can help prevent this! A monitor with a high nit brightness allows you to better view your image in bright settings. It’s especially important if you are doing HDR work because HDR often requires really bright monitors to accurately broadcast the image.
The brightness of a monitor is measured in cd/m². However, we often refer to it as “nits”. How bright should a monitor be? For me personally, I would go for a monitor that has at least 1000 nits of brightness. It gives you a good amount of light for both indoor and outdoor work. However, your mileage may vary and it depends on your budget. And if you want a bit of better viewing experience, then adding a sun hood can help you block out some of the sunlight and even protect your monitor from some of the elements.
So Many Features!
Many on-camera monitors come with a variety of very useful features that allow you to more accurately monitor your image. For example, if you’re shooting in Log and your monitor has your camera’s Log profile, then you can turn that on and it will accurately display your image in Rec. 709 format so that you’re not constantly looking at a flat image.
Other features include focus peaking to ensure your image is in focus. False color, waveforms, and RGB parades help you monitor your exposure. Vectorscopes help you monitor your color saturation. Import your own LUTs to see your image like it’s the finished product. Desqueezing your image for when you’re shooting on anamorphic lenses. And the list goes on and on.
Some of them even allow you to record directly to them, like the Atomos recording monitors! What’s great about these monitors is that they allow you to record your footage to high quality codecs that may not be available on your camera, such as ProRes and DNxHR, which can greatly enhance the quality of your footage by making them less compressed!
Overall, most on-camera monitors can do more than just simply broadcast your image on a bigger screen. Feel free to explore monitors that have these features and see which ones feel right to you!
Quality of Life Things!
There are a few more things to mention regarding choosing the best on-camera monitor for your projects.
For instance, some monitors have a touchscreen while others mainly use physical buttons. Whichever one you prefer really depends on your personal taste and your budget.
Another factor to mention is your monitor’s resolution. Personally, I wouldn’t be stressing too much about your monitor’s resolution because the screen itself is so small that you most likely wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between 4K and Full HD. However, I would personally suggest aiming for a monitor that has at least a 1080p resolution so that you still have a crisp image to look at and monitor.
It’s also nice to check what I/O ports are available on these monitors. Some have HDMI while others have SDI. Some have both and some even include other ports like a headphone jack, a USB port, or an SD card slot for importing custom LUTs.
One last thing to consider is how to power the monitor. All monitors have different ways to power it. Some use Sony L-Series batteries while others use the Canon LP-E6 (personally, I would avoid using LP-E6 as they’re becoming obsolete). Some monitors give you ability to power it externally via D-Tap to a V-Mount battery or other types of power sources.
Checking these things can really help gauge what monitor best suits your needs and your budget.
And there ya have it! On-camera monitors are really worth the investment when it comes to all the features and benefits that they provide. Choosing one that best fits what you do can really make a difference in how you shoot and operate on set.
I hope these lil’ tips help give you a better idea of what to look for as sometimes looking for a good monitor can be a bit challenging given all the options to choose from.
In the meantime, I’ll see ya round!