Best cheap monitor.

[paul13walnut5]

I am looking at Lilliput 668 or 5D2 models.

That is I'm afraid the limit of my budget £180ish.

At this price, is there anything better, or am I better not bothering altogether?

I would welcome replies from people who have actually owned, own or have used monitors at this end of the market, based on their own experience.

Many thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Axilrod]

Hey man, this is slightly more than you were looking to spend, but I think it is worth it:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/837493-REG/Marshall_Electronics_M_CT7_CE6_7_CAMERA_TOP_MONITOR.html


I use a 7" and 5" Marshall and I've been very happy with them. Marshall monitors are just great in terms of color accuracy and they hold up very well.  I don't have that specific 7" Marshall, mine was almost $1k and is has a max res of 800x480 (although it does have HDMI loop through), while the one I recommended says it has "up to 1920 x 1440," I guess maybe it's just newer?

The Lilliput looks great for the price, but I've seen a lot of people buy cheaper monitors and later find that they aren't very durable.  Marshall is very well-known in the industry and are great about warranties, they definitely make quality products.


Also, I wrote you about the 180 degree shutter speed rule in a thread in technical support, in case you didn't see it, it's here:
http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=6711.msg127094#msg127094

[paul13walnut5]

Cheers buddy, caught your other post there too, all good.

Not seen breaking bad yet, only just finished the wire and got 'The Pacific' on bluray gathering dust as well.  Not to mention keeping up with Mad Men.  A lot of good telly just now, not an awful lot of good cinema...

Will investigate the Marshall options, they aren't out there money, just bought a 600D to augment my kit and want a Samyang / Falcon 35mm f1.4 so keeping cash back for that.

I actually get on fine with the rear LCD's, just would be good to have a bigger LCD for playback to clients with better sound, also the peaking focus assist without flashing my camera appeals.

Thanks for the suggestion, shall investigate.

[Axilrod]

Cheers buddy, caught your other post there too, all good.

Not seen breaking bad yet, only just finished the wire and got 'The Pacific' on bluray gathering dust as well.  Not to mention keeping up with Mad Men.  A lot of good telly just now, not an awful lot of good cinema...

Will investigate the Marshall options, they aren't out there money, just bought a 600D to augment my kit and want a Samyang / Falcon 35mm f1.4 so keeping cash back for that.

Thanks for the suggestion, shall investigate.

I agree, in ways I think television can be better than cinema simply because there is so much more time for character arcs/character development.  Breaking Bad is a masterpiece and incredibly well-done, if you enjoyed the Sopranos you'll definitely enjoy Breaking Bad.  The last season is about to start, but the end of the 4th season was so good they could have ended it there and I would still be raving about how good it was.  The Wire is a brilliant show, definitely up there on my all time favorites list.  Is Mad Men really that good?  I watched part of the first season, and while I appreciated the set design and accuracy of the depicted era, it just wasn't what I expected.  I thought it was going to focus on the psychology of advertising and how they used it to manipulate people, but not so much.  Does it get better as it progresses?

The Samyang 35mm is a stellar lens, excellent choice, it performs as well as the 35L IMO. 

As for the monitor situation, I'm sure you would be ok with just about anything if you're just using it to play back video for clients.  Are you using Magic Lantern at all?  I know they were trying to make it allow Canon cameras to output a 1080p HDMI signal, it may be worth trying it out with your 600D.  If you can get that kind of signal out of it the picture will probably look damn good regardless of monitor quality (assuming it supports higher resolutions). 

[paul13walnut5]

My GF loves it, it is a womans series.  Lots of domestic gossip.  I like the style, I'm a modernist at heart, so it's right in that rich seam of design and consumption but without irony.  And Christina Hendricks captivates any screen she's on.

It's not apatch on anything else we've discussed, but I want to watch Pacific as a couple so mad men has to be watched first.

Had a look at magic lantern, not all that mac friendly, also I format my cards after each dump, so impractical.
Glad the guys are doing good things.  I shoot with qp cards at head of reel.  So have visual greyscale and colour balance when shooting, and a greyscale balance that color likes for grading.  I shoot ENG, I shoot HDV, I shoot DSLR, I'm not picking a DSLR because it behaves like an ENG.. ML is almost too complex and would distract me, I'm a GUI rather than a BASIC kind of guy when it comes to interfaces,  ML wouldn't add anything to a T3i that I feel I miss, and won't run on my 7D anyway..

As I say, I'm glad theres folk hacking it and pushing it.  Just not for me.