The currently retails at Amazon for $89 with the following Y2DWYGBM code. This special offer ends on October 5th,2021, at 23:59 PDT.
This new Portkeys PT5 on-camera monitor came out in July 2021 and is the company’s most affordable monitor to date. With a $169/€150 price point, I was skeptical at first regarding what this monitor has to offer. However, I soon realized I had nothing to worry about.
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).
The Volta Kit is available now and includes the top handle, two batteries, a battery charger, and a NATO rail for €140.00. The monitor mount will cost you an additional €40.00. You can purchase an extra pack of Volta36 batteries for €50.00.
It means that you’ll have a hard time trying to calibrate it correctly by hand with only a few built-in picture adjustment tools at your disposal in the menu system. In short, on-camera monitors must be as good as possible out of the box with minimal color adjustments needed by the end-user.
In October 2021, Manfrotto introduced a new PRO Light camera bags lineup for photographers and filmmakers. So I was very eager to try the Manfrotto PRO Flexloader L backpack for various reasons. First, it is one of the biggest carry-on camera-specific luggage on the market. Also, it’s Manfrotto’s second generation of PRO Light backpacks. So did the company improve what was already an excellent lineup of products? Let’s find out!.
This can seem quite simple. However, to access these pages, you have to swipe the monitor in various directions to go to the desired page. For example, for the System page, you have to swipe left. For the function page, it’s a swipe on the right. The Control Settings page needs a swipe down and a swipe up for the motor page. It’s not easy to memorize, and there’s no visual indication of the page you’re currently in. But it doesn’t end there.
There’s also a nice little pouch inside the bag, which is around 23 x 15 x 5cm/9 x 5,9 x 2in.
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.
For a while now I have been following the development of micro four thirds cameras. To be specific, I bought my first one exactly 10 years ago, the Panasonic LUMIX GH1.
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Filmmaking for Photographers with Philip Bloom is available for $149 (normally $199, save $50).
Talking about the bottom of the Flexloader L, there are two rugged bumpers under the dense nylon cover. These bumpers will help reduce impacts when you put your bag on the ground.
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The Portkeys PT5 only has one 1/4-20″ mounting point at the bottom, which is the same as the LH5P that I already reviewed, so that I would have the same complaints: one mounting point is often not enough for an on-camera monitor, and 3/8-16″ mounting points with ARRI locating pins are more versatile.
Though, inside the box, I was impressed to find so many accessories for the price, including:.
The HDMI ports are located on the left side of the monitor. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack in the middle of the ports.
Left side: one HDMI input port, one USB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a 7-24V DC input port with a barrel connector.
The new M-GUARD dividers are on the left, compared to the Roller Bag-70 dividers on the right.
Untouched (left) vs. tweaked (right) colors when applying the official Z-Log2 LUT to the Z Cam E2C footage. Skintones are yellowish, tweaks are needed (screenshot from Resolve).
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.
Make sure to check our hands-on and footage article as well as Philip Bloom’s two hour in-depth review of the camera. This bundle will get you the camcorder body with Sony 120GB XQD G-Series memory card and a spare Sony BP-U60 56Wh battery (another battery ships with the camera already).
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A good monitor is nothing without great monitoring tools. These tools allow you to judge your exposure, focus, white balance, and so on. This is useful so you can make creative decisions and adjust your camera settings. On the PortKeys LH5P, here are the built-in tools:.
The buttons on top of the monitor are a bit rigid and clicky too. The battery fit at the back of the monitor is smooth, tolerances are good, and both Sony/Canon batteries go in and out smoothly; no issues here.
This update makes the Z CAM E2/Atomos a very capable lightweight combo capable of shooting 4K60P ProRes RAW for just under $2500.00, which is incredible. (Our friend and colleague Philip Bloom shot a short piece with this new setup. You can view it by clicking here).
Unfortunately, as you can tell, there is no anamorphic de-squeeze option.
The user interface of the PortKeys LH5P is not its most significant strength, to say the least. When I purchase or review a product, I never read instructions (like most filmmakers, I am assuming), which means a product must be intuitive. I think you should be able to give a monitor to any camera assistant and everybody must be able to make it work without reading a book. That is not the case with the LH5P.
offered an exclusive limited-time discount when purchasing via Amazon and using an exclusive Y2DWYGBM promotional code. This review is my unbiased opinion as VideoGear did not modify, influence, or give input about the article before its publication.
To make things even more secure, there is even a side of the battery with a cut-out. I have no worries about inserting the batteries inside the handle or the battery charger.
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In the end, you’ll probably end up not using the case, which is a bit of a shame. I think most filmmakers would have preferred spending a little extra money to get a larger case that can fit a couple of accessories. But, this is a budget-friendly monitor, so I understand that PortKeys have to save money somewhere, and this is already nice to include a case for the price.
Portkeys recently released an updated version of its famous BM5 monitor that can control your camera: the Portkeys BM5 III WR. This new model features a bigger 5.5″ display with a maximum brightness of 2200nits. It has a built-in Bluetooth module to control your camera, and an implemented wireless camera control for the RED Komodo. Let’s take a closer look at it!.
In total, you can put up to twelve monitoring tools on the sidebars. Then, when you’re set, all you have to do is press an icon to enable/disable this tool. In addition, you can long-press on a shortcut to change it or remove it from the side.
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.
The EVF is built with all aluminum construction and the OEYE-3G EVF weighs in at a very manageable 400 grams. Three custom user buttons are available and you can mount the EVF using the ARRI Rosette or two provided 1/4″ holes. There is also a headphone port on the back for monitoring audio.
As you can tell, even my iPhone 11 is more significant than this monitor! Indeed, the Portkeys PT5 has dimensions of only 136 x 72 x 17mm for a weight of 130g/0.28lbs. I was shocked at how light it is when I took the PT5 out of the box; it weighs almost nothing, mainly because the casing is made of ABS plastic.
The PortKeys HS7T has a plate for attaching a wireless video transmission system. Source: PortKeys.
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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.
If your monitor colors are incorrect, you won’t see your footage how it really is. For example, when a monitor’s colors are wildly inaccurate, you can see orange when you’re supposed to see yellow or red. It can affect how you’ll set your camera’s white balance or exposure, for example.
The sweeping images we see on movie screen are first visualized by looking through a camera, but the second step before anything rolls is to view them through a larger monitor.
In addition, there are multiple exhaust vents all around the monitor, which help with heat dissipation. Talking about heat, I was stunned that the monitor was not warm or hot to the touch even after a couple of hours of being turned on. So that’s a good sign!.
Canon’s full-frame DSLR flagship 5D Mark IV offers interesting price tag and free accessories in kit on B&H (spare battery, memory card, bag, and optics cleaning kit).
Before we dive deeper, while I like the included hard case that does its job at protecting the monitor, there’s no extra space inside to put a battery – even if you attach a small Sony NP-F battery, the case doesn’t close anymore – or some spare HDMI cables. Even the antennas don’t fit mounted to the monitor inside the box.
When it comes to storing, transporting, or flying with film equipment, I think the creative world is divided into two categories: those who don’t care and those who are obsessively looking for an even better solution. Needless to say, I fall in the second category.
Prices are not outrageous, starting at €15.00 per adapter, so it’s nice to buy these directly from Volta Cinema.
Like most on-camera monitors (the ones that are not OLED), especially daylight-viewable ones, if you crank up the brightness, the display tends to lift the image’s black parts. In short, blacks are not black anymore, but more on the grey side and the picture starts to be a little washed out.
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Another great addition is on the backside of the monitor. In fact, the new design includes a plate on the back of the screen to comfortably host a wireless video transmission system.