Camera screen monitor

[JohnRostron]

Can anyone recommend a monitor for viewing what is on the camera viewfinder. I am looking for one that plugs into the HDMI socket of my Sony A55. I have looked on the net, and there are some such ones available, but I would need one that is independent of an external power supply. This information is not generally available.

Thanks, John

[Manfred M]

John - I'm not sure what you are trying to do here.

Generally these external monitors are used when shooting video and they all have separate power supplies. These things do consume a lot of power so your camera will NOT put out enough power to run one of these units, all it will do is provide a signal

Marshall is one very well respected brand.

There certainly other tools as well; tethered shooting to a laptop is one approach, where the camera is connected via a USB cable. A third option is to use a took like a CamRanger that connects to your camera and sends a wireless signal to your Android or iPad (it's primary purpose is remote shooting, but your see a decent sized image on the screen). The only downside is that I think they only support certain Canon and Nikon models, but not the Sony.

[Shadowman]

Have you checked to see if your camera can be connected tethered? If it can then consider a Thinkpad or smaller monitor if you want something portable.

[JohnRostron]

Thanks to Manfred and John. I know there are things similar to what I want for Canon and Nikon, but have not seen anything for Sony. I take the point about power consumption. My tablet is rather limited - it won't root, but I will explore the laptop option although my laptop is rather more bulky than a tablet!

John

[Loose Canon]

Computers, as far as my last purchase (laptop) are concerned only have an HDMI out. No input as far as I know.

This camera and no software that I have seen support tethered shooting (typically to a computer) for it with just a quick look.

[Manfred M]

Thanks to Manfred and John. I know there are things similar to what I want for Canon and Nikon, but have not seen anything for Sony. I take the point about power consumption. My tablet is rather limited - it won't root, but I will explore the laptop option although my laptop is rather more bulky than a tablet!

John

John - the issue with these devices is that they are very much a niche market item and the manufacturer has to spend a lot of effort developing the software to control and communicate with the cameras (likely through reverse engineering, as I can hardly see the camera manufacturers handing out the specs). This means they will target the largest potential market groups; Canon and Nikon. Likewise, the initially wrote the software for Apple products and then ported to Android. Microsoft support (other than laptop) seems to be quite weak.

Sony's market share for cameras is likely just too small to bother with.

[tao2]

Can anyone recommend a monitor for viewing what is on the camera viewfinder. I am looking for one that plugs into the HDMI socket of my Sony A55. I have looked on the net, and there are some such ones available, but I would need one that is independent of an external power supply. This information is not generally available.

Thanks, John

Hi John,

is this the sort of setup yer looking for?...

http://www.alzovideo.com/alzo-dslr-r...o-cord-set.htm

These small monitors can be found all over the web, especially from China/Hong Kong.

[JohnRostron]

I have tracked down the Viltrox DC-50 HD Clip-on LCD 5'' Monitor. I can only find it on Amazon, but I may well indulge myself as it looks as if it will do what I want. The only snag is that the battery requires its own charger which adds to the cost. It is almost (but not quite) the same as the A55 battery charger.

John

[Manfred M]

I have tracked down the Viltrox DC-50 HD Clip-on LCD 5'' Monitor. I can only find it on Amazon, but I may well indulge myself as it looks as if it will do what I want. The only snag is that the battery requires its own charger which adds to the cost. It is almost (but not quite) the same as the A55 battery charger.

John

John - some of these companies work pretty well 100% through either Amazon or eBay. I've gotten some hard to find photographic items through them. The only time I had an issue is when I had ordered a Nikon version and they shipped me the Canon version. It took a few days to get the issue straightened out.

[JohnRostron]

Hi John,

is this the sort of setup yer looking for?...

http://www.alzovideo.com/alzo-dslr-r...o-cord-set.htm:

Boab, the link you gave was for the cables, but there was a illustration of a monitor with the cable, which I then tracked down on Amazon. Thanks.

I have now ordered one plus battery pack. Total cost £112.

John

[JohnRostron]

I have now received and tried out the Viltrox DC-50 HD Clip-on LCD 5'' Monitor. I can only say that it does what it says on the tin! It fits on the camera shoe (a Sony fit is provided). It swivels back and forward, so that I can look at the screen from above. It links via a short HDMI cable, but I could get a longer one if I wished. I can use the image magnifier through it, which is great. If I needed the shoe for another purpose, it can be detached, whilst retaining its functionality.

The only disadvantage is that it adds to the weight on top of the camera, which challenges my rather lightweight tabletop tripod.

In short, a good buy.

John