Weefine WED-7 External Monitor

[DiversLens]

Hello,

I am contemplating of buying a Weefine WED-7 External Monitor for underwater videography (my new camera will be Sony FX3).

If anyone has this monitor, could you please share your experience? 

Many thanks!

[Tobyone]

I have a Kraken 5.5 monitor I am happy with. For me the 7 inch monitors would add too much bulk to my already bulky rig(Nauticam with Fuji X-T3).

[Davide DB]

I was also considering upgrading to a 7” but I saw one in person and it is really huge. I don't know.
IIRC the Weefine 7” has a brightness of about 500 NIT. Classic value of the older generation of monitors. 
I would look for a last generation 5" monitor with at least 1000 NIT brightness. Especially for you, diving in tropical waters.
Lately I bought a new 1000 NITS monitor to use for land shooting and I am delighted. It is priceless to shoot in bright light and not need the sunshade.

 

[eocean-eu]

I have both the 5" and 7".

 

I use the 5 with my GH5s and the 7 with the Z8 as there were blackout on the 5" with the Z8 each time after I stopped recording video (the photo mode has not this issue but it's a Nikon issue as it also affects other brand of expensive monitors...). I prefer the 5 as it is more compact despite the total lack of controls except on/off. The 7 is a classic cheap monitor with many options/buttons such as flip screen, etc... Brightness was okay in shallow waters in Lembeh but not exceptional but still very usable. The 2 x 18650 batteries in the Weefine 7" are enough to do 3 x 70min dives. The design of the 7" has slightly changed I think in 2023 with a better shade, new cables. 

 

Weefine cables were previously junk as they tended to break easily. They have a new design that seems better but still the cable is thin in comparison to Nauticam (which also used to break). Time will tell how durable they are

Edited Wednesday at 03:48 PM by eocean-eu

[RomiK]

I have had WED7 2 years ago and used it on 40 dives. It was probably early unit and it was piece of junk. Yes once the HDMI cable was replaced with newer version I could finally see the image. But then the unit started to act erratically, the buttons were responding like on random basis. There was no way to update the firmware so I returned the unit. The screen wasn't really usable in shallower depths. Also buoyancy is less then optimal - it is a brick and need a lot to compensate.

 

@DiversLens since you mentioned FX3 I am guessing you are serious about video work and will want to shoot Slog3 and perhaps deliver in HDR. I am shooting A1 - different sensor, perhaps similar philosophy but IDK. With A1 I am shooting based on waveform on my Shinobi monitor interpreting clean HDMI log signal into HDR HLG. This gives me maximum brightness keeping the waveform just at the top. At bright scenes my A1 monitor is unreadable while Shinobi shows beautiful scene. 

 

So to sum this up if your intentions are similar to mine then you have currently only two options for UW monitors - Shinobi/Ninja and SmallHD Ultra5. These Weefines and Supes won't work as they do not have HDR Log interpreting - but I would be happy if owners of recent versions would prove me wrong.

 

Either way good luck, I am in awe what A1 sensor can produce.

 

P.S. since I am also shooting stills I am contemplating to sell my Shinobi setup and splash for SmallHD - just because their PageOS and Nauticam interface might allow me access settings underwater or even create dedicated presets for stills and video. I can't see Shinobi on Nauticam website anymore. only Ninja. So my Shinobi setup might be for sale. But need to put my hands on SmallHD first.