7 Best External Camera Monitors
By Jamie G
“External recording monitors are essential tools for analyzing composition, color, exposure, and for backing up your footage,” says Alexandria Huff who recently highlighted his few favorite external camera monitors in BorrowLenses.com’s recent article.
External camera monitors can change the way you work and even improve your footage’s quality. External camera monitors allow videographers to see their footage better while filming.
“A larger screen will show more detail, make it easier to see what is or isn’t in focus (not to mention all of the guides and overlays that assist with this), and reveal flaws that you might easily overlook on a built-in 3” screen. External monitors, by virtue of being able to be set apart from the rest of the rig, give you more flexibility with camera placement and angles while still allowing you to see what you are filming.”
Alexandria Huff
Here are Huff’s top 7 external camera monitors
- Atomos Ninja V
The Ninja V is one of Atomos’ most popular models. It has a 5″ 1080p touchscreen, records up to 4Kp60 10-bit HDR video direct from your camera’s sensor and more. It supports Log formats from ARRI, Canon, Panasonic, RED, and Sony as well as Apple ProRes Raw from the Nikon Z6 and Z7. - Atomos Shogun Inferno
The Shogun Inferno has a 7″ monitor that has XLR port and 4 SDI ports on top of what the Ninja already offers. It can capture capture both raw and Log footage from Sony, Canon, ARRI, Panason, JVC, and RED. It can capture 4K footage up to 60p and 2K footage up to 240p (depending on your camera’s capabilities). - Another Atomos monitor made the list! Atomos Sumo 19
The Sumo 19 has a 19″ screen and is perfect for directors monitoring the footage from the side line. It records 4K 12bit Raw, 10bit ProRes/DNxHR, plus 1080p60 live switching and recording. - Blackmagic Video Assist 4K
The Video Assist 4K has a 7″ monitor and gives you recording capabilities up to UHD 4K at 30p in Apple ProRes 422 HQ format. - Blackmagic Video Assist 5” 12G HDR
The Video Assist 5″ 12G HDR is a great portable option. The monitor offers full HD resolution, a SD memory card slot and USB Type-C 3.1. - SmallHD Cine 7
The Cine 7 is a portable 7″ monitor with a very bright full HD touchscreen. It’s perfect when shooting outside. - SmallHD Focus OLED
The Focus OLED features a 5″ touchscreen that is perfect for smaller DSLR or mirrorless setups. It offers multiple features including waveform, false color, vectorscope, focus peaking, and real-time 3D LUTs.
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