Ran across this at B+H: Ikan V-8000HD 8" TFT LCD Monitor, 16:9, 1080i/720p
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=2199&A=details&Q=&sku=484772&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

It's $750, 800x480, with component input. Apparently it runs on Sony "L" series batteries, but most of the Ikan monitors will run from a little battery box with 10 AA's (which is like $30).

I googled it, and can't find it anywhere else, not even Ikan's site- http://www.ikancorp.com/index.htm
Why can't I find this anywhere? Right now it's back-ordered on B+H.

Think this is a good monitor for the price? Surely it's nowhere near as good as the Marshall, but will it get the job done for focusing with a 35mm adapter?

Any thoughts?

There's been a rumor that Ikan will show the newest HD monitor at NAB this April

Have read some different opinions on the new Ikan V8000HD here on the forum, though most of the opinions are based on NAB. I don´t recall seeing anyone claiming they have one or even used it..

If anyone do have a copy of it and have tried it in field I would be greatfull for some review of it.

Thanks
/ Eric

i have one but am having some technical issues with it. looks great for focusing and framing out in the field.

James,

Could you let us know what the technical issues are? Have you been in contact with their support? I just ordered 5 and they're on the way.

I just ordered one and it should arrive tomorrow.. Ill give feedback in a few days...

James,

Could you let us know what the technical issues are? Have you been in contact with their support? I just ordered 5 and they're on the way.


well...when i got my first one it had a minor glitch, so i thought. on the first unit i got, when you try and adjust the "blue" inside the menu a blue bar appeared rather than the percentage of blue you have added/subtracted. when i adjusted the amount of "red" in that same menu option it tells me what percentage of red the monitor is at, same thing for yellow (or whatever other color option) but when trying to adjust the blue it just blanks out and a blue bar appears....and none of the menu buttons lit up (i didnt know they were even supposed to light up unitl i received the next replacement unit).

i called the dealer, they sent another unit, i get that one and some of the menu buttons light up and the others didnt. plus i had the same issue with the blue contrast option, PLUS the left menu button just didnt work at all. so i sent that one back instead of the first unit.

the dealer called ikan and one of their techs called me to see what was going on and he said the second monitor was defective but the 1st monitor was okay and that all their units do that when you adjust the blue contrast. i asked a coupla other people with ikan monitors as mine and they confirmed. i asked him why my first units buttons didnt light up and the 2nd unit did. he said something about some units were made where the menu buttons light up and some weren't. i don't know how to take that one but the monitor works and i ended up keeping it since the picture quality and everything is fine. i really just need mine for focusing and framing anyway.

the picture quality and the light weight use of the monitor is sweet, but the menu design was poorly planned out. i wont be using the menu that much anyway though. at least i dont plan on it.

I'm curious as to whether this monitor shows the full frame (underscans) or if it chops off the outside edges of the picture (overscan)? Is there a menu setting for this?

a guy posted pics of the images on his website: http://understandinc.com/samples/v8000HD/

I just hooked up my V8000HD and I'm VERY happy with the picture. The color might be a tad off, but I have yet to do ANY adjustments to this point. But the resolution is just great. I can't imagine someone NOT being able to use this monitor for focus and framing. And for $750 (B&H. . . not counting the batteries and Noga arm), it's a steal!

Stephen

I tested most of these level of monitors side by side at NAB. I am a focus NAZI and of all of the sub $2000 only one let you get tack sharp focus every time with a 35mm adapter. That was the Nebtek but it is also $1750.

This monitor is marginal, better than the stock LCD on most HD/HDV cameras but still far from perfect and just cant TOUCH the Panny ($3000) or Nebtek ($1750). The Marshall is also over rated. I would say the Varizoom and the Ikan are both on the lower end. It is my theory that the reason you see so much "soft" (ie OUT OF FOCUS) HD is due to poor monitoring...



ash =o)

Any idea when the Nebtek one will become available?

Any idea when the Nebtek one will become available?

See: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost.php?p=689243&postcount=22 from this thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=91877&page=2

Ash,
when you say the tack sharp focus was offered by the Nebtek, I'm assuming you meant off their prototype due in production end of this month... or did you mean their current line which is Marshall's in Nebtek enclosures?

Always appreciate your experience and knowledge base Ash,
Lonnie

The focus seems to be pretty good from my experience at a minimum I can at least tell what is in focus and what is not, powers on nicely and automatically detects its connection type to the camera.

I also wanted to include some additional info here regarding battery power requirements as I was never able to locate this information prior to my purchase. We all know it can be powered by the sony L series batteries but which was never clearly stated.. again I was lucky in randomly selecting the correct battery to power this monitor...

I ordered 2 of this type battery

Adorama Lithium-Ion L-Series Camcorder B $49.95
battery with Info, Replacement for the Sony NPF-960, 6000Mah

And runtime for this battery is about 3.5 hours

See attached illustrations that came with the monitor.

Ash,
when you say the tack sharp focus was offered by the Nebtek, I'm assuming you meant off their prototype due in production end of this month... or did you mean their current line which is Marshall's in Nebtek enclosures?

Always appreciate your experience and knowledge base Ash,
Lonnie



Their proto... you can have the same resolution in two monitors and one can resolve much more detail.


ash =o)

thanks Ash,
then i'll be patient for Nebtek's Prototype OR pony up for Panny's Panasonic BT-LH80W...


Your the man Ash,
Lonnie

It is my theory that the reason you see so much "soft" (ie OUT OF FOCUS) HD is due to poor monitoring...


yea, it's damn near impossible to get tack sharp focus on that small lcd camera monitor alone especially in low lit scenes. the monitor is the perfect solution for that problem which is why i got it.

:)

Thanks everyone to great responses. What about powering up this monitor with 12V batteries? That would be a very cheap solution instead of buying Sony Batteries.

Cheers
/erico

WAIT! No one please answer Eric's latest post. I have already run out and bought (on Ebay) three batteries for this camera.

:-)

Hmm, the new Nebtek still isn't up for sale on their website, and I never got a response to my inquiry to them about when it would go up for sale.

Anyone have an updated release date for this monitor? The previous timeline has obviously been pushed back at this point, but man am I dying to buy this thing.

Some questions,
1. Is it better to buy the kit or just get the monitor & accesories apart?
2. What cables are best to use with canon xha1?
3. Is this monitor good for focus reference?

Thank you

Alexis

Hi,
anyone using this monitor had issues with Infolithium L batteries? I have bought two different "brand" of L batteries (from globalbatteries.com, and from Ebay) and none of them work with the ikan V8000HD. My "genuine" Infolithium L seems to work fine though....
Thanks.

Well, the reason there is a kit is because it's a price reduction over buying everything separately, so I would think that would be the way to go, unless you are not going to ever mount the monitor on a camera hot-shoe. The kit only comes with a hot shoe mount an AC adapter and a remote. You have to purchase a sun shade, battery, case, etc. separately, regardless (unless there is a new kit available since I bought mine). I went to Wal-Mart and bought a $17 portable DVD player case for mine and it fits the monitor, battery, shoe mount and AC adapter as if it was made for it.

I have had the monitor for about 3 weeks now and used it in the field on 4 occasions. I have been pleasantly surprised with the focus, considering the price. Some of our hard-core forum members who are used to using pretty high-end gear have had reservations about the clarity of the Ikan, but I have to say, I have had no difficulty knowing when the focus was locked in while connected to my XL H1 via component cables running HD. Even in SD, the clarity is a marked improvement over the SD only Varizoom LCD that I've had for my XL2 for a couple of years. I can pretty easily tell when the shot is spot-on focused rather than ever-so-slightly out near or far.

I know $3000 Panasonics and the like will be sharper and more true than the Ikan, but for less than $800, if that's the price range you are limited to, I think it's great. Seriously, if you can't be pretty certain of your focus with this monitor via component cables, then you must have an amazingly soft touch on the focus ring, because I can easily see on this monitor the result of the slightest adjustment I am able to make on the lens.

Also, the much-maligned plastic construction of the monitor makes it perfect for on-camera work. The heavier Marshalls and other metal rack-mountable models are too heavy for hot shoe mounting, in my opinion. That's not the only way to mount, of course, but if that is what you're planning, I don't think the light weight case is necessarily a bad thing.

For the record, I have also found the framing (non-underscan) to be pretty reliable and certainly more accurate than the XL H1 stock color viewfinder.

One weirdness I have noticed on my model: In widescreen, either HD or SD, the image is slightly stretched, as if the monitor is actually a bit more narrow than 16x9. When switched to 4x3 it looks fine, though. I have been able to ignore that, for the most part.

-V

For the record, I have also found the framing (underscan) to be pretty reliable and certainly more accurate than the XL H1 stock color viewfinder.

So is there a menu option for underscan on this monitor, or are you saying that in normal use it always shows the full frame?

One weirdness I have noticed on my model: In widescreen, either HD or SD, the image is slightly stretched, as if the monitor is actually a bit more narrow than 16x9.

If it has square pixels then it would behave as you describe since the resolution is 800x480 and to be in the correct 16:9 proportion it would have to be 854x480 or else add a black bar above and below the image.

Thanks for your insights - one of these days I'm going to get a portable monitor. I was impressed by the image on the iKan which I saw at NAB (see: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachment.php?attachmentid=2822&d=1177002852), but wish it had some of the "pro" features the more expensive models had.

Boyd,

My bad - I meant non-underscan. It does NOT show full frame. I was typing too much, too fast. I have edited the post and fixed it.

Regarding the square vs. rectangle pixels, I guess I assumed that if the monitor is supposed to be HD compatible - not just widescreen - that it should correct for the pixel proportion difference. But, I suppose that is one of the compromises made for the price break.

Incidentally, your NAB post and pictures and the resulting discussion on that thread is what led me to the Ikan. I have that post saved as a bookmark in my browser, because I have called it up so many times while reading stuff all over the web, trying to figure out which one to buy, so thanks for the help you didn't even know you gave me!

-Vence

BTW Boyd, have you ever seen or heard of the Tote Vision monitor in this same genre? Check out my other thread in the video monitors forum titled "Tote Vision Monitors". I am really intrigued about them, but can't find anyone who has seen one.

-V

Thanks Vence. No, not familiar with that monitor. BTW, I think that "non-underscan" would be "overscan". :-)

Regarding image proportions versus pixel dimensions, I think it's pretty common for widescreen monitors to distort their images. 16:10 is a common LCD panel size for some reason. The cheaper screens just scale the image to use all the pixels. Better ones will have an option to letterbox 16:9 inside the 16:10 frame.

I have a Gateway 21" screen like this. You need to choose the correct menu option if you want properly proportioned HD on that screen. But if you feed the screen standard definition anamorphic 16:9 there's no option for letterboxing; it always fills the full screen and looks distorted.

Thanks Vence for your respond,
What cables do you use to connect the monitor?

The Kit as I see it comes with: V8000HD, Metal Case, CH750 Sony Compatible Battery Charger, IBS970 Sony Compatible Battery, AC Adapter, DC Adapter, Camera Shoe Mount for $895.00 So then not bad for the price.

aXis

Alexis,

I haven't seen that kit. I bought mine from B&H for $749 and it came with remote control, hot shoe adapter and AC adaptor.

Then, I bought a generic Sony NP-F970 from ESPow for $27
http://www.espow.com/
and a soft sided case from Wal-Mart (intended for a portable DVD player) for $17, so I paid $793 total for everything you're describing - except my case is padded, not metal.

I use RGB component cables to run the monitor. It makes a big difference over standard composite, even when running SD - but especially when running HD, because you can't get the full HD resolution from just a composite cable.

-V

Hi Vence,
I also have the Ikan V8000HD, but am having a really hard time finding replacement batteries that work with it. Actually, I ordered two different Infolithium L "replacement batteries" (first order from global-batteries.com, and second from Ebay, specifically from System Integration Business), and even though they work perfectly with my Sony camcorder, it doesn't even power up the monitor!! And I have two "genuine" Sony batteries, and they work perfectly with the monitor...
Did you have any problems with the batteries you ordered??
Actually, when I look at your link to espow.com, I notice that the batteries I ordered from Ebay seems to be the same as the NP-F960 model from espow...
You ordered the NP-F970 right? Had any problem??
I just want to be careful before I place another order...So far, I ordered 5 batteries that doesn't work with the monitor (but they're all fine with my Sony camcorder...)
Thanks!

Yes, I ordered the 970 and it works just fine with my monitor.
Ikan also sells generic sony replacements on their site:
http://www.ikancorp.com/pages/monitors/v8000hd/accessories.htm#accessories

-V

Anh,

For what it's worth, I purchased the ikan about 3 weeks ago. The batteries powered the monitor only after the monitor was charged via the AC adapter w/ the battery attached. If I attempted to power the monitor with the batteries alone, I had no success. I contacted Ikan and they were very helpful; however, they did mention issue with the circuit board. For the price relative to the other monitors, I figured I'd give it a shot. The customer service has been strong, so I'll see how well they respond to the current issue. I'm expecting another battery and monitor within the next week or so.

Best regards,

--Brandon

Hi Vence,
I also have the Ikan V8000HD, but am having a really hard time finding replacement batteries that work with it. Actually, I ordered two different Infolithium L "replacement batteries" (first order from global-batteries.com, and second from Ebay, specifically from System Integration Business), and even though they work perfectly with my Sony camcorder, it doesn't even power up the monitor!! And I have two "genuine" Sony batteries, and they work perfectly with the monitor...
Did you have any problems with the batteries you ordered??
Actually, when I look at your link to espow.com, I notice that the batteries I ordered from Ebay seems to be the same as the NP-F960 model from espow...
You ordered the NP-F970 right? Had any problem??
I just want to be careful before I place another order...So far, I ordered 5 batteries that doesn't work with the monitor (but they're all fine with my Sony camcorder...)
Thanks!

Brandon,
thank you very much for the info, it's exactly the problem I'm having, and indeed it works now when I'm having the monitor charged via the AC adapter w/ the battery attached.
Did you contacted Ikan via email? I've tried to reach them but so far I didn't have any response.
Thanks.

Anh,

If I remember correctly, I sent them an email and called during normal day hours. You may have better luck if you talk through the issue with a sales person. I actually spoke with the individual from whom I purchased the equipment, so perhaps that's why I've had decent luck. Again, I would recommend you do both (phone and email), and I'm confident they'll get back with you. Be sure you specify with detail the issue - so your issue isn't one that they feel as though they have to diagnose. As I understand it (and after looking at some folks' posts on dvinfo), the issue is pretty well characterized.

Best regards, and good luck.

--Brandon

P.S. I have yet to get my monitor back, so I check every few days or so. They are internally checking them now, which gives me a bit more confidence about the new monitor I'm looking to have.

Brandon,
thank you very much for the info, it's exactly the problem I'm having, and indeed it works now when I'm having the monitor charged via the AC adapter w/ the battery attached.
Did you contacted Ikan via email? I've tried to reach them but so far I didn't have any response.
Thanks.

Anyone know where to get the upgraded monitor bundle? Seems like it's backordered at BH and others.

Thanks!

I got the ikan 8000HD, so far pretty good for the price, the one thing I don't like is the mess with the original Canon component cable, I wonder if there is a shorter one available or a company or someone perhaps capable to shorten this one down. I'm not that tech guy so I won't even try.
All comments are welcome,

Thanks,

Alexis

Has anybody bought or used an IKAN V8000HD monitor if so what do you think of them. Sorry if this is in the wrong place but can't find thread on monitors.

Alan

Hi Alan,

Yes we use one with our G1. I haven't used anything else so I'm sorry I can't really offer constructive comparisons with other monitors, but it seems great to me. Certainly is a massive help and improvement for focussing over the built in LCD. FWIW it was recommended to us by John Barry Group here in Sydney, which is the sales arm of Panavision. I do recall searching these forums and reading some mixed reviews for it, but from recollection the "better" monitors were a fair bit more expensive. I'm sure a quick search will find some good info (and I assume it's just a typo but it's spelt IKAN, not Ikon.) Happy huntin'.

Thanks Jim much apreciated, It seems a bit heavy at 1.5 lbs does that not pose a problem and make the camera very top heavy. yes it is a typing error which I will correct now.
Alan