Red Komodo Wi-Fi Control Monitor – PortKeys BM5WR review by Hugo who is a LA-based DP. On his channel, he makes reviews about gear. He does filmmaking tips and lighting techniques. And today he will talk about Portkeys BM5WR, which has a wi-fi built in and you can connect cameras that have has a built built-in wi-fi pretty much.
Hugo uses BM5WR monitor primarily with the RED Komodo that has built-in Wi-Fi module. So, he can control RED Komodo he think it is pretty cool. Let’s see what he think about the Portkeys BM5WR.
All Metal Case – Strong and Sturdy
I have different kinds of monitors like SmallHD, Atomas Ninja V, Atomic Shinobi, Atomos Shogun, Small HD Cine 7. But when I opened the Portkeys BM5WR, I was very surprised by the build quality, because it is really well made. It is an all metal case and all the buttons are very nice.
Multiple power supply methods
It has a Sony NP-F battery plate on the back, but you can also use a D-Tap to 4-pin power cable to connect it and the cable is included. Usually I use the D-Tap so that I can connect it to my V-battery. That way I can have a lower profile. But sometimes, I actually use the Sony battery as well.
HDMI/SDI Are Supported
It has an SDI input and SD output, and also an HDMI input. What‘s more, the SDI loop out can output LUT and Peaking.
It also has some sort of focus puller interface. On a film set, the focus puller will not only build the camera and swap lenses, but they will make sure they move the camera from shot to shot. Adding to it, they’re also liable for updating the dope sheet. This sheet is a camera report that includes all those scenes that have already been shot.
It also has some buttons that you can control the menu. You can assign quick buttons here where you can assign things like your lot, turn on/off focus, false color, frame lines, whatever you use, you know.
Factory Color Calibration
Accurate color performance is what a filmmaker expects from any professional monitor they use. However, not every professional exteranl camera monitor actually provides it. With factory calibration, you can make full use of color accuracy on a monitor. This way, you won’t be surprised if a deep blue sky on a panorama photo suddenly turns into a pale shade of light blue on your monitor. Monitors are not always calibrated by default at the factory, but this Portkeys BM5WR is calibrated at the factory. It’s amazing the images you can see on the screen.
A Variety of Professional Tools
What I like most is the zoom feature. When you need to focus on something, I don’t even use the focus peaking or anything, I just use the zoom, and the zoom is so intuitive and beautiful, I didn’t know it wouldn’t work like that even on a Small HD, where it feels so nice and smooth, like you’re using an iPhone, you know. When I showed it to people, everyone was like wow, this is so cool. When my friends are using my camera and stuff and they all say they love this, I especially like the zoom in and out mode, like on Atomos Shinobi, I often have to go to the menu and click the button to zoom in to x2 x4. I mean it can still do that, but I have to do so much more action than not just zoom in and out, and I don’t understand why all monitors don’t do that because it’s just too good.
Wi-Fi Control RED Komodo
I really like the Wi-Fi connection, the Wi-Fi connection is so great because when I’m working and connecting it to the Komodo, sometimes I put the Komodo in places where I can’t really see the top screen, like somewhere in car mode or on a crane where I can’t really reach it, I can hold it in my hand and I can control all the settings of the camera. It’s really nice to have it here in the morning, you can adjust my exposure, I can adjust my eye, shutter speed, whatever I want, I can pretty much change all the settings here, all the basic settings, I would say it’s really nice to have it here. I can start and stop recording, which I really like I mean, that’s probably a good improvement I don’t know if it’s possible to see images from the camera wirelessly over Wi-Fi without any cable, but even without that, it’s pretty good.
Affordable Price – 749 USD
I wouldn’t say it’s expensive and I wouldn’t say it’s cheap, I think it stays in the middle, for example Shinobi would be much cheaper, if you compare it to Small HD, the Small HD would be much more expensive, it is probably twice as expensive. To be honest when I use it I’m not sure I would choose Small HD over this now. Because of this feature, I can zoom in and out because this monitor basically simplifies my workflow in terms of focusing and making sure I’m in focus, and overall I have enough brightness, I have enough image quality that I’m happy with, you know, so I would recommend this monitor and of course I would because it’s on my channel and there wouldn’t be any other products that I wouldn’t recommend, I would just do my like the review of the product.
