Review Of Portkeys LH5P Wireless Camera Control BMPCC 6K by Ludeman Productions.
Dan Ludeman is the owner of Ludeman Productions. He is a cinematographer and content creator from South Dakota. Many examples of his work as well as gear reviews and insider tips and tutorials can be found on his YouTube channel under his business name, Ludeman Productions.
He also creates various works for local and national brands. Select samples of his footage can be found on and licensed through Artgrid, for whom he is a highlighted contributer.
Share your experience using the Portkeys LH5P
All right Blackmagic pocket cinema camera users what if I told you there is a monitor that would allow you to wirelessly control your camera then here it is, the Portkeys LH5P and it is everything it promises and more. Let’s take a look at this thing.
So I’ve actually owned a number of Portkeys products over the years, I actually own the older LH5 model and I also own the BM5 and I have to say this is definitely one of the best out of the bunch.
5 Reasons why do I love Portkeys LH5P monitor
1. I love the way this looks it has a wonderful sleek design very slim.
There are customizable buttons at the top, these are great for quick commands like just focus peaking or pulling up a histogram, like the power button is also on the top along with a few menu buttons on the side.
You’ll see they include all the HDMI ports, you’ll need a headphone jack and I absolutely love the fact that they include an HDMI out port here so my director and my clients can see a feed and I can just send this straight to my wireless transmitter on the bottom.
You’ll see that they included a 5-pin connector for power. This is also comes in very handy, as I like to keep all the batteries off as much as I can and just use my D-tap system, there is also a USB port here for updating and loading your Luts to this monitor.
There is also an extra remote cable for Sony cameras or other applicable cameras.
2. Portkeys LH5P is a High-bright, daylight viewable monitor.
1700 nits is definitely more than enough brightness, he has not run into any issues out in daylight when trying to see this thing it was amazing even on white overcast days. I’m assuming once I get it in front of some snow, I’m not going to have any issues either, but no amount of brightness is too much for this thing again.
3. Aluminum Alloy body, but ligh-weight.
The LH5P has a very well built aluminum alloy body that could easily take some beating in tough conditions if needed while still staying relatively ligh-weight. As you know, especially when travelling, every gram counts. That’s another reason we prefer to use monitors around 5-6″ range instead of 7″ or larger monitors
4. Wirelessly connect and control my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K.
It also has an antenna at the top which can be used to wirelessly connect and control my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and it is pretty awesome. Here are a few reasons why if you’re a long time user of the Blackmagic pocket cinema cameras the 4K and the 6K even the 6K Pro. You’ll know that these back screens don’t offer a lot of brightness, so I like to keep all my eyes focused on this monitor, which is super bright. Now I can control everything on this monitor. You can control the aperture (iris), record stop/start and you can even control focus with the touchscreen.
5. Best and Affordable monitor for indie filmmaker.
It’s not the most reliable right now but it is being perfected and it is quite an amazing function in price tag at about 399 USD..
Conclusions
This is definitely my favorite 5-inch monitor right now, especially as I can use it to control my camera, it’s a no brainer for me, once again a big thank you to Portkeys for making this incredible monitor, I can’t wait to see what else they come out with.
Camera control features
The main feature that sets PortKeys LH5P apart from many of its competitors is its camera controlling capabilities. To make it work, you have to connect an optional cable from the monitor’s dedicated mini-USB port and connect it to your camera.
These are the cameras that supports remote control by PortKeys LH5P:
Sony A9, A7C, A7M II, A7R II, A7S II, A7M III, A7R III, A7R IV, A6000, A6300, A6400, A6500, RX100, RX02 (MULTI control cable)
Sony FS5, FS7, FX6, FX9 (LANC control cable)
Sony A7S III [Sony Multi control cable]
Sony A7 III (Wi-Fi)
Canon 5D MARK III, 5D MARK II, 6D, 6D MARK II, 80D (MINI USB control cable)
Canon 1DX, 1DX MARK II, 5DS, 5DS R, 5D MARK IV (MICRO USB control cable)
Canon R5, R6, EOS R [TYPE-C(USB-C) control cable)]
Canon C70, C700 PL, C700 GSPL, C300 MARK 2, C300 MARK 2 PL, C200, C200B, C100, C100 MARK 2 (LANC control cable)
Wired Motors Control TILTA Nucleus N/M and Cursor Display: NUCLEUS-N, NUCLEUS-M (Tilta NUCLEUS-N/M control cable)
Panasonic GH5, GH5S, S1, S1H, S1R, S5, G9, BGH1[TYPE-C(USB-C) control cable)]
Z CAM E2, E2 S6, E2 F6 (LANC control cable)
BlackMagic BMPCC4K, BMPCC6K(Bluetooth connection)
URSA MINI 4K, URSA MINI 4.6K, URSA MINI PRO 4.6K G2, URSA BROADCAST, CINERA CAMERA 2.7K, CINERA CAMERA 4K, MICRO STUDIO CAMERA 4K (LANC control cable)
