SmallHD 502 Bright - Still Viable or Something Else?

Hi, all, (originally posted in Photography Gear, but I should have posted it here)

I am considering moving from Nauticam viewfinders (180 and 45) to an external monitor. Size is a major consideration so I’m focused on a 5”. Cost is also a consideration. Ideally I am looking in the $2Kish range. $5K is out of the budget.

I’ve looked at the Kraken 5” v2 due to both cost and compact size. Cable failures seem to be an expectation of any monitor, although I am told the new v2 is noticeably better than the original Kraken cable design. I am, however, hearing issues of button failures, which is concerning. This may be from users not cleaning their gear as well as I do, but it is concerning.

One proposed solution is picking up a pre-owned SmallHD 502 Bright monitor (1000 nit) and Nauticam NA-502B housing. Both seem quite solid with pre-owned prices to be around $2500 total. The cables are stronger and the Nauticam buttons are solid. The Nauticam housing has its own vacuum as well. The package size is about that of the Kraken 5”. Battery life with 2 Canon batteries is about 3 hrs. The downside is it is no longer being supported by firmware updates, but probably not an issue as it works well as-is.

The SmallHD 503 Bright is still supported with firmware upgrades, but is substantially thicker and heavier than I prefer. The newer SmallHD monitors/housings are out of the budget for now.

For those with solid monitor experience, what say you???

Thoughts, comments, recommendations?

I am using with a Nauticam Sony a1 rig. I’d appreciate whatever you can share.

Thanks!

Chip