Small HD Finally is here

[Dale Guthormsen]

Good Morning,


Well, I am pretty impressed. I received my monitor yesterday. I could not get an image using the yellow video plug. Dug out an old s video cable and it was just fine.

Found my component cable for the H1 this morning and plugged it in and all is well.

I am very impressed with the overall quality of the product!!!

I need a shade to use it outside, through a misunderstanding i did not get one with it, basicly my fault.


Sense I will use it primarily for steadycam work and some wildlife blind shooting I made a simple rear mount.

I simply drilled a 1/4 hole in the rear battery mount for my xlh1 and attached it. Free and easy.

I hate having all the extra cord. Has anyone every tried cutting a component cable to shorten it?

Here is a picture.

[Miklos Konczol]

Hi, Trevor!

Thanks for Your opinion!


I hope tomorrow my DP1 will arrive. I am so excited.

PS: special thanx for pictures :)

[Trevor Meeks]

Originally Posted by Miklos Konczol

Hi, Trevor!

Thanks for Your opinion!


I hope tomorrow my DP1 will arrive. I am so excited.

PS: special thanx for pictures :)

You're quite welcome! Enjoy!

[Dale Guthormsen]

Good evening,

Well, I got the dp 1 out this afternoon in bright sunlight (no hood) and was shooting some close ups with the zoom at 300 mm. This monitor came though in spades!!! I can now easily focus perfectly, see the color (instead of my b&w fu 1000, which is awesome in its own way) and I must say I am very impressed. This will improve my video immensely and I will loose less footage due to less than perfect focus.

This is one of the better investments I have made!!! I was filming a robin pulling a worm out of the ground and I could focus on individual feathers in its face!!!


Dale and Crew, you have not only made a fine product, but it is a terrific service to the video industry!!! Definitely fills a void that was surprisingly unfullfilled till now!!! and for a reasonable price at that!!!!!

Thank You!!

[Anthony Lovell]

Hi Trevor.

The LED issue was one of unknown magnitude. You're probably correct that it is minor, but we don't know, do we? I thought that a power switch in uncompromised series with the power supply would be superior.

How do you remove your battery? I nearly went for a butter knife to prize it out. I will say that I like how the cable between battery and camera snakes into the battery when it is in the clip, but despite its sleekness I worry about fracturing it.

As to the battery requiring a different transformer than the monitor, this would reduce cost and reduce the amount of gear one must haul around. I mentioned it as number 7 in a list of diminishing magnitude. It's likely that SmallHD has barriers to taking such approaches, but I'm even more sure Dale and company would see the double win such an alteration would provide.

I'm looking forward to using this, my first monitor. It is sharp and compact. Though I have no standard for comparison in brightness, your collective impression tells me I made a good leap of faith in pre-ordering.

tone

[Dale Guthormsen]

Good evening,


1. To disconect the battery you must remove the plug from the battery, not the monitor. I pulled from the monitor and the little light stayed on and being i had used the battery for a fair while it was enough drain to kill it the rest of the way. Easy solution.

2. The yellow video cable will only work on my dv cameras. the hd camera i can not get to come up with it. Interesting my plasma down loads via the yellow cable just fine, do not get that one.

3. The battery clips in and out just fine as far as I am concerned, if it were to break a spare bracket comes with the spare battery.

4. Where can one get short component cables for an xlh1??? I hate coiling up feet of cable, also makes balancing the steady cam a lot tuffer!!!

Will amnd this with color adjustments tomarrow.

[Eric Darling]

Originally Posted by Trevor Meeks

1.) The button arrangement is just fine. For how little one will use the buttons, they work very well, and are fairly easy to navigate (even blindly) after spending 10 minutes with the monitor. The card included depicts the buttons as you feel them while looking at the monitor from the front, so you can just reach around the back and click them. Each feels a bit different, and I've never once accidentally hit the power button or had a problem with where it is.

I disagree. The buttons are not elegant. First of all, they are unlabeled. That alone would be easy to overcome if they had a model that followed any other panel I've ever used. But instead, they have a strange left/right thing. It's not a deal breaker by any stretch, but it's just not intuitive, and a reasonable gripe. At least they could have been labeled. It's also a bit strange that they are in back, where you're not able to see their results. I guess that's the logic behind not labeling them...

Originally Posted by Trevor Meeks

6.) Simplicity is key. I do not see how the "lack" of a manual is a bad thing. The card is informative, just as it needs to be. I don't need a 25 page manual for a little monitor. "Calibration" is easy if you have a basic understanding of color or color correction. Save the environment, use less paper. I think they're on to something...

I don't want a 25 page manual, either. But a downloadable PDF from SmallHD's web site isn't too much to ask for, I don't think. It would be great to be able to understand some of those esoteric menu items a little bit more fully and quickly.

I'm of the mind that this monitor works very well on a dolly or mini-jib. As such, it belongs in the middle of the monitoring chain. Yet, it has no loop-through capability. That would have been a nice added feature. I understand the limitations are in keeping with its price point. I'm just saying that it should do the job it was intended to do, and do it completely.

All that aside, and especially given its price, this monitor gets a big thumbs up from me. It has a few shortcomings, but all in all, a great value and a nice picture.

[Trevor Meeks]

never said they were elegant ;-) just said they're pretty darn easy to learn. i can blaze through the menus after using the DP1 for only a few days. not trying to start a shitstorm here, but it isn't as bad as some people make it out to be.

labels perhaps could be added in a later model. loop through... yeah, that would be neat, and maybe we'll see in a later model. there's always the possibility of using a splitter, which would offer the same functionality.

overall I'm really enjoying the DP1. good stuff!

[Justin Carlson]

I've really enjoyed the quality of the DP1. I'm just finishing my shoot in Guatemala and only had 1 problem with it. 3 times on the shoot the monitor would display a random set of vertical colored lines when I would turn it on. If I just powered it off then back on again it would be fine. I need to email Dale when I get back home and find out what's up with that.
Here's a pic of me with the monitor in Guatemala.

Filming in Antigua, Guatemala #2 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Garrett Low]

Hi Dale,

I've got a similar setup to yours. I run my Sony CF unit where you've got your monitor and have my monitor off to the left of the cam with a Noga arm. You can buy an extra cable (D5 terminal to component RCA) from a number of places online. I had an extra one so I cut that down and placed some RCA connectors on the other end. It works great and I don't have to contend with the extra long wire. The replacement part it DTC1000 for the Canon. It runs about $50 so it isn't cheap.

Do you or anyone else know if there is a way to get zebras out through the component out on the XL H1a (or event he XH A1)?

Also, how is everyone going about calibrating the monitor. Are you just using the bars coming out of the camera?


I just finished shooting a two day dance show with the DP1 and it worked out great.

Thanks,
Garrett

[Leo Versola]

Originally Posted by Garrett Low

Also, how is everyone going about calibrating the monitor. Are you just using the bars coming out of the camera?


I just finished shooting a two day dance show with the DP1 and it worked out great.

Thanks,
Garrett

I've just been using the bars out of the camera for initial calibration and then tweak a little here and there...

OT: Hey, guess I missed you at the screening on Sunday; looks like you were involved with a few of the films...

[Garrett Low]

Hi Leo,

Unfortunately I wasn't able to go to the screening. I was shooting the dance recital. I worked on Launched and RE:Invention.

How were all the films?

Thanks for the info on calibration. Is there a blue only setting on the DP1?

Garrett

[Leo Versola]

Originally Posted by Garrett Low

Hi Leo,

Unfortunately I wasn't able to go to the screening. I was shooting the dance recital. I worked on Launched and RE:Invention.

How were all the films?

Thanks for the info on calibration. Is there a blue only setting on the DP1?

Garrett

Too bad, it was a fun day; 19 films in all. I thought a few were really good, including ours; unbiased opinion of course ;-)

We didn't win the Phase 2 member award this time but still waiting on whether or not we won any others... Maybe we'll catch up at the pitch session if you go?

Unfortunately there is no blue only option. Sometimes I pipe an image in and use that instead; gets close enough...

Cheers,

[Warren Kawamoto]

Where is the DP1 manufactured?

[Trevor Meeks]

Originally Posted by Warren Kawamoto

Where is the DP1 manufactured?

North Carolina, USA baby!