55 replies to this topic

[Nick Hope]

Sympathies with your Amphibico story Dean. It's frustrating when gear goes wrong close to a shoot.

I wonder where Peter Scoones is going to mount all those screens.

The FX1 LCD is a bit small, isn't it. About 5-6" diagonally would be a better compromise of viewability and manoeuverability. Machining a housing for one out of a lump of acrylic or polycarbonate shouldn't be too difficult, in theory. Ikelite should get on the case and mould one.

[DeanB]

Will anybody be trying out the French monitors..They looked o.k..

We will have to wait for alternatives. You can get a 32inch Sony Bravia HD for less than £800 here..Just need to house that puppy and away we go.

Dive safe

DeanB

[Drew]

Well Dean, a manufacturer has to look at what the market can bear on price. I'm quite sure manufacturers like Amphibico looked at the sales of their smaller monitor housings. Assuming sales were decent at $1500, how much would the market bear for a monitor that is 60% bigger and higher res? Probably not much. So they assume production houses and pro cameramen would be the main market and not the rich enthusiastic. And they price according to what they think the market can bear (while making a good profit, what business wouldn't?). It's a pretty small market for HD guys already. And this monitor is probably aimed more for the HD CAM guys than the HDV. Go ask Scoonsie if he did order 7 (or maybe 6 or 8).
Sorry to hear about your housing but that is the problem with many manufacturers with limited international support. They are at the mercy of their reps.

[Barrett Heywood]

Hey Guys,

How big of a 16x9 monitor do you wish?

4 inch?
5 inch?
6 inch?
even bigger?

-Barrett

[DeanB]

I'm hearing you Drew,

But its a complete arse...

Barrett, I'd love a nine incher, but It that's just me..

Paying £2500 for a monitor is way beyond my pricing at the moment.. More the realms of Drew and Eric so i'd have to compromise with a lesser resolution cheaper model. If one comes out. The French company looks like a good option but I still need a review or a decent tester before I can splash out.

Then again I'm hoping to upgrade to one of the new cams next year so sod the monitor for now.

Christ here we go again...Better phone the bank manager.

Dive safe

DeanB

P.s I've been happy with my L&M matrix monitor on my Amphibico dive buddy plus up til now. So what have you got in store Barrett...

[shawnh]

Barrett,

Great question. The important thing is that the monitor is large enough (and high enough resolution) to be easily viewable and indicate if you have sharp focus. Also, it is very important that it is color accurate (the SD ext monitors i have used offer very different color of picture than the native LCD). Being able to color calibrate the monitor would be a final pro touch. Even using the native LCD, the shots tend to look much bluer on the cam than comparted to the editing monitor where the greens and reds come out (blue is the dominant color and squishing the picture emphasizes this hue).

At the same time, the monitor needs to be strealined enough to allow easy viewing of the native LCD in the top window. The native LCD is 3.5in and works great. IMO, a 4 to 5in ext monitor would be excellent. The trick will be, how to make it as thin as possible so it easily folds out of the way. One interesting option would be an articulated arm that lets you position the monitor over the upper portion of the back of the housing so it covers the eye piece and serves as your primary view. The power supply and electronics could be located behind the top portion of the monitor. You could also mount the line in and arm mating plate?? behind the upper portion, leaving the lower 2/3rds perhaps 1 inch thick. (now you have a 5in rear monitor and a very useable top LCD ). A variation would be to offer rear-top and rear center mounting points on the monitor (just the bluefin offers multiple points on top of the housing to mount the monitor.

Having shot extensively using ext monitors and using the native LCD, IMO both resolution/size of the the montior and ergonomics must be good for it to be a great addition to the housing.

-Shawn

Hey Guys,

How big of a 16x9 monitor do you wish?

4 inch?
5 inch?
6 inch?
even bigger?

-Barrett

[RebreatherDave]

If the external monitor was on the rear of a large housing, my middle aged eyes would never be able to focus on it-I need it midway from the front towards the back of a housing.

If Amphibico thinks I am going to pay $3750-$4700 USD for an external monitor, then they're mistaken, although more power to them if they can get that.
For that much I can buy a 5" hires lcd and get a place to custom make a one off waterproof housing on an artculating arm.

Edited by RebreatherDave, 18 November 2006 - 10:08 PM.

[Nick Hope]

If the external monitor was on the rear of a large housing, my middle aged eyes would never be able to focus on it-I need it midway from the front towards the back of a housing.

Was just about to say the same thing Dave. I don't wear specs topside (yet) but I struggle a bit focussing on my Gates monitor because it feels too near to me, even though it's part-way back along the top of the housing. But having said that I didn't have a problem focussing on the monitor back of my LMI Stingray. So I don't know what's going on there.

[MikeVeitch]

So I don't know what's going on there.

psst Nick....

it means you are older now than then....

[shawnh]

Dave,
Many cams have monitor backs that work quite well. I had difficulty focusing on the Amphibico as well. IN this instance (what i was suggesting), is that the montior would overlap the rear of the housing but be tilted at say 30 degreees. That would enable you to set back and slightly above it.
Shawn

psst Nick....

it means you are older now than then....

[wagsy]

I have to use my left eye to read and my right eye when driving and to check the chicks out

[RebreatherDave]

"I have to use my left eye to read and my right eye when driving and to check the chicks out"

So in other words, you "Go All Chameleon" on chicks?

[DeanB]

I've used my left eye to browse the ladies, right eye to..browse the ladies, Japs eye to steer the vehicle and brown eye to hold the kebab still..

Dive safe

Dean(the contortionist)B

[Nick Hope]

leaving the right hand to hold the beer and the left to....?

(p.s. haha Mike I walked right into that)

[David White]

Attended a SONY symposium today and they had the V1 right there alongside the A1 and Z1. The V1 is probably about the same size as the VX-2000 or PD150 series cameras. It is certainly smaller and lighter than the Z1. However, SONY have gone back to the side mounted LCD monitor screen for the V1 which I consider to be a step back from the top mounted LCD screens of the FX1 and Z1. Not as good in low light situation as the Z1 but it was really difficult to discern any real difference in video quality by just looking at the LCD screens. Retail pricing is apparently $5600 Cdn. They also had a 60 Gb hot shoe mountable hard drive for these cameras (not certain about the model # though) which allows a 14 second cache of video prior to hitting the record button so that you don't have to worry about missing the beginning of a shot. You can be the proud owner of one of these devices for only $2100 Cdn.

One of the Amphibico design engineers was also in attendance and informed me that they will have a prototype housing for the V1 to display at DEMA. From a size perspective it will fit in somewhere between the Evo and Phenom housings. The HD 16:9 monitor should also be available soon; it is apparently 4.33" diagonal in size, just slightly larger than their previous ACFM0350 4:3 monitor. No pricing available for this but he mentioned that it is very similar in quality to the PSP monitor.

The best bargain at the show was the new Cinescore software for just under $200US. I have downloaded their 30 day full functional demo available from: http://www.sonymedia...ep2.asp?DID=674 and will have a go with it. It appears very easy to use and extremely broad in the available styles and themes offered. May never have to buy royalty free music again.

[wagsy]

Thanks for all that great info David.

The price for the new high res 16.9 external LCD screen that Amphibico will have out soon will be priced less than $2000 US around $2600 AUD.

So thats great news for the average videoligist.

Downloading Cinescore 1.0 now...

[Nick Hope]

Good luck with Cinescore. I have it and I'm finding it difficult to find pieces in the collection that suit my work, even having the full collection of standard themes plus the 2 freebies they gave with the Vegas 7 upgrade. Wagsy the standard themes in the trial version really don't suit u/w work. I think the other one (Sonicfire?) might be better for us for the time being.

4.33" is just a tad small perhaps but anything bigger might get too cumbersome I suppose. Now then, will we be able to wire it up for a Bluefin housing?

[wagsy]

Still have not played with it my end yet.... Cinescore that is...

I think it will be a good size and if we can hang it on a light arm or something so we can swing it to where ever we want. I mainly want it so I can keep the shot framed while still being able to see what's happening around the place, and it will be great for those small housings with tiny viewfinders.

I'm sure it will be able to be fitted to many housings.

[DeanB]

Where did you get the $2000 US, pricing from..

I guess my supplier was either talking about a pro model when he said £2000 or he misundrstood or he was hoping for some serious profit.

Still I'm in the U.k so it will probably be the profit...

I might ask one of you decent chaps to get me one for Xmas..!!

Dive safe

DeanB

[wagsy]

Dean.

The $2000 US price came from Amphibico so I guess they would have more of an idea .

They have not got a priced locked in yet and it could even be less than that figure

So start saving as these things should work great on the smaller housings. If only I didn't buy that &^%$ Ring