External monitor

How many folks run an external monitor?

I'm finding in clear water, the built in monitor of my GH4 is a bit lacking...mostly to do with my aging eyes I suppose. I'm considering adding an external monitor to my rig but they seem to be a 'tricky' investment. What size monitor do people find useful without being crazy large? Not like there's a great many to choose from though.

I'm considering a Ninja 2 at the moment.

I have the ninja2 with my GH4.

The size of the screen is good - so much nicer than the LCD, the resolution is enough and the brightness is good! The main thing for me, is the position you can hold the camera in a much nicer position and tilt/adjust the ninja to suit.

The problem with external monitors on the GH series is that the on screen controls (if set to be sent over HDMI) are very small - as its sending a 1080 picture (not a like for like of the lcd display) - this makes the histogram and other OSD icons quite small. However, I'm using my Ninja2 to record a down sampled 4k 10bit stream, so have this on-screen controls disabled for the HDMI and use the builtin Ninja2 controls for focus, zebra etc. Would love the newer features of the shogun, but that is a big investment - and a big housing!!!

If you have any queries about the NA-NINJA2 / GH4 combo just ask!

Yeah, a housed Shogun is way too big and certainly beyond my budget. Although a Ninja-esque sized unit with 4k recording is bound to come out the minute I order whatever I decide on, I really see the Ninja as my best bet for now. Do you find the Ninja's peaking and exposure tools adequate to the task?

I'm waiting for a housing for the new SoundDevices PIX 5" 4k recorder - if Nauticam ever do release one.

But too be honest not in no rush!

The peaking of the Ninja is super - much better than the GH4 LCD.

It has zebras - not sure how useful they are underwater - I know 70% is good for skin tones, perhaps someone might know a good percentage for fish :-) but as we hardly over expose, don't use it.

It has a false colour mode also, which I haven't played with - but think it can be used to monitor exposure.

It's missing a histogram really if I'm honest, but I think it's all jealousy after seeing the functionality of the Blades and Shoguns. :-)

They have just released new FW for the ninja2 so you can now trigger start/stop from the GH4 - really handy when recording the 10bit output.

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I have a Ninja 2 and underwater housing for sale, see this:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=53346&hl=ninja

pn me if you are interested!

I believe Nauticam is announcing the SmallHD 502 housing "very soon." Should be a great monitor to go with a GH4 (excellent peaking, exposure assist, vectorscope and RGB parade, 3D luts, etc.). No recording capabilities but not sure you care with a GH4. I have the new SmallHD 502 and can't wait to bring is underwater.

Yes, Small HD 502 is the way to go if you don’t need to record.

Any news if Nauticam will be supporting the VideoDevices PIX 5" 4k recorder?

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No plans that I am aware of at present, Richard.

Hmm, the 502 is a very attractive option if a housing comes out soon for it.

Reef says another 2 weeks or so for the 502 housing...feel like I'm about to pull the trigger on this set up. Just need to decide on getting the 501 or 502...although, I have no SDI stuff so it should be a fairly straight forward decision!

I personally use Wahoo housing with Sony CLMV55 and I am very satisfied user. I cant imagine shooting video without it... I had only option to buy this one because it has depth rating 130m. There is few good monitors out there and Nauticam makes good housings but depth rating is 60m

Agreed about the monitor confort. I have this one :http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=55129.

It is not small, as those fullHD screens heat quite a lot you need enough air for the heat exchange. You may have noticed that the Nauticam Shogun housing has two small fans for that purpose.

The HD 501/502 looks to be great monitors, the coming Video Device PIX-E5/H5 looks good too. In my side, I'll go with the PIX-E5 for his recording capability, if Nauticam decide to build an housing around it.

Here's the housing for the SmallHD 502. I ordered one for my GH4. Should be shipping in a couple of weeks.

http://www.nauticamusa.com/news/2015/7/9/announcing-na-502-for-smallhd-501-and-502-monitors

hey team.

I'm running the Nauticam SmallHD 502 housing with my canon 5dm3.

has anyone else experienced heat issues with this? the monitor gets VERY hot?

would love some feedback.

troy

I'm really struggling with the decision which monitor/recorder to get for my GH4. While I don't think I actually need 4K 10bit recording it would be a nice thing for sure (the combination of V-LogL and 10bit sounds very tempting to me ). However, the shogun isn't an option for me because of its price tag and sheer size. I really wanna go for a 5" screen so right now the SmallHD 501 is my favourite. However, IF there's going to be a housing for the PIX-E5(H), that's probably the way forward for me...

Any thoughts? Ninja Blade maybe?

What about the 'Ninja Assassin' I believe its the same form factor as the Shogun - so if you can justify the price (of the shogun housing) its a slighty cheaper option

I'm still holding out for the PIX-E5 housing...

I had an extended couple of weeks of using the Ninja2 underwater a couple of weeks ago - and apart from the benefit of the 10bit 422 1080 prores - after awhile I really much preferred the colour and info on the GH4 screen.

This are just monitors (without recording capability), which works well with GH4, 5" monitor and 7" monitor. If you need more technical details, contact me.

Alex

www.diveandsee.com

Has anyone tested if the GH4 actually triggers the Ninja 2 over HDMI?

Has anyone tested if the GH4 actually triggers the Ninja 2 over HDMI?

With the latest firmware - yes it works :-)

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