In terms of battery life, I’d say it’s a massive improvement over a Sony NP-F 970 battery on the back of an on-camera monitor. On the SWIT CM-S75F, one Volta36 battery gave me close to four/five hours of continuous runtime. On the PortKeys BM5, my four hours shoot was over, and the top handle’s battery wasn’t dead. On the software side, the PortKeys P6 features a lot of useful analyzing functions and tools. Below is a list of the built-in tools.
The list of built-in monitoring tools is quite impressive and includes 3D LUT monitoring, waveform/false color/zebra, peaking and zooming, HDR support, and framing guides/grids/aspects. Bottom: there is one camera control mini-USB port, a 5-pin motor camera control port that doubles up as a DC 7-24V power output port, one 1/4-20” mounting point with locating pins, and a USB Type-A port to update the firmware of the LH5P, load your LUTs, or power it.
Phil also tested the Sensor Calibration (Black Shading) with the Komodo. Black Shading is basically a sensor and pixel check while generating a calibration map to counteract a sensor’s inherent fixed pattern noise. For RED DSMC2 cameras it was roughly 1 minute per “K” for calibration (8 minutes on RED Monstro 8K). RED Komodo 6K is faster in this regard – Sensor Calibration was done in less than 1.5 minutes. The PortKeys BM5 camera remote functions are compatible with the Z Cam E2, Sony/Canon/Panasonic cameras. Full list below.
Portkeys is a Chinese company that released a full lineup of affordable on-camera monitors and viewfinders with an impressive price/feature ratio in a couple of years only. If you’ve never heard of them before, you can take a look at my in-depth review of the Portkeys LH5P here. I guess that most filmmakers will be covered. It is also possible to connect the LH5P to a Tilta Nucleus N/M wireless follow focus to pull focus via the monitor.
The Volta Cinema Top Handle design is pretty “simple,” minimalistic, and I like its elegance. It consist of two main parts: the handle that doubles as the battery compartment, and a mount with the NATO rail and D-Tap port. The PortKeys Universal Handle with the Z-Cam E2.
Buy link: Z CAM E2 4K Camera Body €1,982.67 (Free PortKeys BM5 Monitor). Unfortunately, we had no cage available for the Z CAM, but the camera has various ¼” mounting points on top, bottom and on the sides. In conjunction with the Z CAM E2 I used an early prototype of the Portkeys BM5 monitor mounted with a magic arm, see the image below (the released version is black, the prototype had an anodized green surface finish).
Great monitoring tools, including 3D LUT monitoring, waveform, false color, zebra, peaking, zooming, audio meters, crosshair, framing guides, grids, aspects. System settings page to adjust the display, audio output, LUT, firmware update, and so on.
Rigged out RED Komodo. Image Credit: Phil Holland. These are very good results for a micro four thirds sensor, almost exactly the same as for the Panasonic GH5s (10.7 stops) and coming in second behind the other four thirds cinema camera rival, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, BMPCC4k, which has 11.6 stops of dynamic range in ProRes HQ.
CVP Buy link: Panasonic LUMIX GH5 Camera Body Was: €1,182.68 Now: €967.65 (Savings: €215.03, Free accessories, Free 25mm f/1.7 lens, and Free 3-year warranty). All the significant equipment in your bag won’t move. There are no issues with lenses, cameras, LED lights, and so on. But be careful with the tiny bits.
The PortKeys LEYE is available now for $399. It comes with a right-angle HDMI adapter, a sponge eye mask, a USB thumb drive with the user manual, and a D-Tap to barrel connector cable. Komodo Monitor Mount. Source: GDU.
That’s quite a hefty amount of weight to carry all day long, but you can quickly move around the city (and stairs!) with only one bag. Finally, one last thing that I did not understand is that you only have to press the power button once to turn the monitor on/off. You don’t have to hold that button, just press it. I guess this thing can cause a lot of unwanted switch-offs of the.
Portkeys recently released a lightweight and very affordable 5″ on-camera monitor: the PT5. With a maximum brightness of 500 nits only, I was curious to see how this HDMI-only monitor performs. Here are my findings. Sony a6500 Camera Body with Free Accessories Kit – $500 Discount.
There is a 3.5mm headphone jack if your camera doesn’t have one or if you want to monitor your audio signal directly from the Black Mini. The preamp is a bit noisy, but it works. You can activate numerous monitoring tools at the same time to help you. I’m not sure if i’s a bug or something regular, but you can “only” activate two scopes at the same time between Luma Histogram, Luma Waveform, and RGB Waveform. You can’t start all three at the same time. However, you can activate two scopes and peaking/guides/grids at the same for example. All in all, monitoring tools are fine.
The Portkeys PT5 retails for $169/€149, and it is available now. For the camera part, all the exposure tools (zebra, false color), as well as focus peaking, work very well, although the focus peaking is very strong – I would prefer an option to adjust this in the menu (not available currently).
In terms of weight, the monitor is 250 grams/8.8 oz without batteries. External dimensions are 144 x 114.8 x 28mm/5.5 x 4.3 x 0.7in without battery. Comparing the LH5P to some of its competitors, like the smallHD FOCUS 5, the PortKeys monitor is slightly heavier. However, with dimensions of 133 x 84 x 19mm/5.25 x 3.3 x 0.75in, Focus 5 is overall smaller, but it is 5″ vs. 5.5″. However, on-camera monitors are not your traditional computer display. Most of the time, you can’t use a probe or spectrophotometer to adjust your on-camera monitor.
Another company that announced some Komodo Accessories is KipperTie. They offer a PL to RF mount adapter with a mounting foot. Additionally, the company offers a mounting bracket called Chinstrap for extra PL mount lens support even without a baseplate. At the moment, ProRes RAW is supported in Final Cut Pro X along with a collection of other apps, including ASSIMILATE SCRATCH, Colorfront, FilmLight Baselight, and Grass Valley Edius. Adobe and Avid have announced that Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Media Composer will support ProRes RAW this year.
Buy link: Canon EOS 1DX Mark III Bundle Was: €9.620,00 Now: €9.138,19 (Savings: €481,91). There are tiny grooves on the monitor itself, so both frames stay in place firmly.
B&H Buy link: Sony a7R III Camera Body with Free Accessories Kit Was: $2,798.00 Now: $2,498.00 (Savings: $300.00). And the Z CAM E2 did not disappoint – see the video on top. The camera has a very organic, detailed image with fantastic, out of the box colors. Grading the Z-LOG2 profile using the LUT’s supplied by Z CAM on their homepage was a joy and is as easy as it can get.
This feature is helpful for live streaming purposes, and according to VIDEOGEAR, there is “zero latency, and it supports video platforms like Skype, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Periscope, Zoom, and more.” Though I did not test that feature of the monitor. PortKeys Bluetooth Module for BM5 Monitors.
Also, Manfrotto put two thick rubber reinforcements/locking holes on the front and one on each side to create a tuck-away strap system. Buy link: Panasonic LUMIX S1 Camera Body Was: €2,120.75 Now: €1,734.99 (Savings: €385.76 Cashback + Free 3-Yeatr Warranty).
“To set up wireless camera control for KOMODO or DSMC2 (coming later this summer), the following hardware and software are required. When the monitor is switched on, you can adjust various display settings inside the menu, including.
We use a strobe light at 300Hz to reveal pairs of black bars that occur due to the read out nature of CMOS sensors (the rolling shutter). Each pair represents 3.3 ms of rolling shutter. CVP Buy link: Panasonic LUMIX G80 Camera with 12-60mm Lens Was: €609.02 Now: €525.88 (Savings: €83.14, Free 25mm f/1.7 lens, and Free 3-year warranty).
To adjust the monitor mount’s tension, you can tighten/loosen the two screws on the side that holds the monitor bracket in place, but you always need an Allen key for that. A ratcheting screw/lever could’ve been a better way to do it. The monitor mount was designed for use with the SmallHD 5 series and the Portkeys BM5 but it will work with most other monitors that have 1/4″-20 mount holes on the bottom of the monitor.
The Z CAM E2 cinema camera is a great new addition to the line of micro four thirds cameras, and got so many things right in the first place – first and foremost the image (audio via the 3.5mm input leaves a lot to be desired though). In terms of battery life, I’d say it’s a massive improvement over a Sony NP-F 970 battery on the back of an on-camera monitor. On the SWIT CM-S75F, one Volta36 battery gave me close to four/five hours of continuous runtime. On the PortKeys BM5, my four hours shoot was over, and the top handle’s battery wasn’t dead.
If you click on each tool in the menu, you can turn it on/off and adjust its settings. For each tool, you have various settings, including color, strength, magnification ratio, and so on. Sony a7 III Camera Body with Accessory Kit – $200/€145 Discount.
Sharpness, chroma, brightness, backlight, tint, color temperature adjustments. The Volta Cinema Top Handle attaches to your camera or rig via a NATO rail. The handle comes with an extra piece of rail and two 1/4″-20 mounting screws if you don’t have one.
Panasonic LUMIX S1H Bundle – €328,49 Savings. Canon EOS 77D Camera Body with Accessories Kit – $250/€156 Discount.
Buy link: Sony FX9 Bundle Was: €12.725,64 Now: €12.401,64 (Savings: €324). We hope you see the opportunities and chances of growth this presents if you feel like we’re looking FOR YOU.
The other part of the “proper” 3rd-party EVF market consists nearly entirely of Zacuto products. I will not mention the Wooden Camera modification kit for the Blackmagic URSA EVF. We recently reported about the new Zacuto Kameleon EVF, but they also make other EVFs like the Gratical Eye that we reviewed and the Gratical HD. These EVFs are amazing, full of features and build like tanks, but they are not cheap at all. At the rear of the monitor, you will find the battery plate to power the PortKeys P6. The design of the battery plate is similar to the SmallHD 701, and you can use Sony NP-F batteries on the left side, or Canon LP-E6 on the right side. Also, you can power it with an external battery via the DC barrel input port.
PortKeys Universal Handle – Features. Up to 50 custom 3D LUTs can be loaded into the monitor via an SD card, while the F7 PRO already has some built-in LUTs, including de-log LUTs for S-Log2, S-Log3, Log-C and, V-Log.
The Portkeys PT5 LH5P features a 5″ WLED display with a FullHD 1080p / 1920 x 1080 resolution. The display is a touchscreen and the only way to navigate inside the menus. What do you think of the PortKeys BM5? Do you think the camera remote functions are useful? Let us know in the comments down below!.
Another piece of accessory is the GDU Side Mounting Bracket for Komodo priced at $39. The bracket is reversible and it can mount on either side of the camera for mounting handles and other accessories. It includes multiple 1/4″-20 threads as well as three 3/8″-16 anti-twist threads. Every bracket includes two M4 screws to mount to the camera’s body. As you would expect, the casing of the is mostly made out of plastic. I think that there is no metal except the 1/4-20″ inserts. The plastic quality is decent.
B&H Buy link: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV Camera Body with Accessories Kit Was: $3,105.24 Now: $2,499.00 (Savings: $606.24). Also, once the image looks acceptable, you can start seeing that the display doesn’t have a high density of pixel: 441ppi, according to the manufacturer. If you’re pixel peeping, you can see individual pixels on the screen.
Canon EOS C300 Mark III Bundle – €521,27 Savings. The OEYE-3G EVF is upgradable through a USB port and includes many free software features right out of the gate such as.
Sony a7 III Camera Body with Accessory Kit – $200/€145 Discount. A foldable sun hood with a sun hood bracket.
you’re getting your name out there to thousands of eyeballs, and we can link to your personal site from your name in the news and review posts. PortKeys, a company specialized in HDMI and SDI field monitors, has just announced a new Bluetooth Module for their PortKeys BM5 field monitors. This add-on accessory screws directly to the back of the BM5 and allows you to control your BMPCC 4K/6K cameras wirelessly. Let’s take a closer look at it!.
adding a handle at the bottom of the bag. Open it again, and inside the hard case you’ll find.
So when the new Z Cam E2C arrived I was curious to see if some of the strengths have trickled down to this very affordable model – the Z Cam E2C is currently listed at just 799 USD. As I mentioned, the Portkeys PT5 does not have any physical buttons, and all the navigation is via the touchscreen. I’m glad there are only pages, as it is relatively easy to operate and understand, but there are also some drawbacks like the numerous fingerprints the screen will accumulate.
False Color, Zebra, Underscan, Histogram, Waveform, 3D LUT. Canon: 1D X Mark Ⅱ, 5DS, 5DS R, 5D Mark Ⅳ, 5D Mark Ⅲ, 5D Mark Ⅱ, 6D Mark Ⅱ, 6D, 80D.
And the Z CAM E2 did not disappoint – see the video on top. The camera has a very organic, detailed image with fantastic, out of the box colors. Grading the Z-LOG2 profile using the LUT’s supplied by Z CAM on their homepage was a joy and is as easy as it can get. RED Komodo Update – First Cameras Shipped, Footage Samples, Accessories.
Left side: one HDMI input port, one HDMI output port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Disclaimer: All orders and responsibilities to supply the goods at a discount price within the agreed time frame are on VIDEOGEAR. CineD is not related to the company in any way but will get a 5% affiliate commission on every monitor sell made via Amazon.
Disclaimer: As usual, let me first say that I am not representing Volta Cinema in any way. Like with all our unbiased CineD reviews, Volta Cinema, or any other brand, did not pay me to write this article. However, the company sent me the product to review for free. This review is my unbiased opinion, as Volta Cinema did not modify, influence, or gave input about the article before its publication. Fig.1: Waveform plot of the Z CAM E2 cinema camera at ISO500 using Z-LOG2 ProRes HQ – about 11 stops can be identified above the noise floor.
To charge batteries, all you have to do is slide them into the battery charger. The pins inside the charger will align with the battery connectors, and it’ll start charging. However, the batteries are not locked into place in the charger. Top: four customizable function keys, a power switch, and four buttons to access and navigate inside the menu.
Buy link: Canon EOS R5 Bundle Was: €5.321,89 Now: €5.091,22 (Savings: €230,68). However, the original PortKeys LEYE had one major drawback: you need to power it externally. For example, suppose you have a small DSLR/mirrorless/cinema camera. In that case, you probably don’t want to unnecessarily rig your camera with V-Mount batteries or a power bank only to feed an EVF.
The BM5 support resolutions up to 1080p at 60 frames per second. B&H Buy link: FUJIFILM X-T30 Camera Body Kit with Accessories Was: $899.00 Now: $799.00 (Savings: $100.00).
The Volta Cinema Top Handle attaches to your camera or rig via a NATO rail. The handle comes with an extra piece of rail and two 1/4″-20 mounting screws if you don’t have one. Then, you can clip the sun hood in the brackets, and you’re ready to go. The quality of this sun hood is okay, but I’m not sure it will last very long, and you’ll have to be careful with it.
Also, there are rubber pull straps at the end of some zippers that open “secondary” compartments. The other part of the “proper” 3rd-party EVF market consists nearly entirely of Zacuto products. I will not mention the Wooden Camera modification kit for the Blackmagic URSA EVF. We recently reported about the new Zacuto Kameleon EVF, but they also make other EVFs like the Gratical Eye that we reviewed and the Gratical HD. These EVFs are amazing, full of features and build like tanks, but they are not cheap at all.
Also, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack if your camera doesn’t have one, or if you want to monitor your audio signal directly from the LH5H, which works fine. 3D LUT monitoring and 3D LUT SDI output.
The new PortKeys Bluetooth Module for BM5/BM5 II monitors screws directly to the back of the monitor. This update is especially exciting for BMPCC 4K/6K users. First, you will have access to the daylight/tiltable screen of the BM5. Second, you will be able to control your camera via the monitor wirelessly. The number of settings you can adjust via the BM5 is imposing; please see the full list below. The new PortKeys Bluetooth Module for BM5/BM5 II monitors screws directly to the back of the monitor. This update is especially exciting for BMPCC 4K/6K users. First, you will have access to the daylight/tiltable screen of the BM5. Second, you will be able to control your camera via the monitor wirelessly. The number of settings you can adjust via the BM5 is imposing; please see the full list below.
These monitoring tools were also available in the previous version, but Portkeys improved its peaking mode, which looks easier to view now. A new “freeze-frame” tool is now available to capture a frame and use it as a reference/guide. Z CAM claims 13stops of dynamic range on their marketing materials, so I was quite curious how it would fare in our standard test (click here for more info on how we test). Firmware tested was 0.86, raw was not available at that time.
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