An amazing monitor for the 5dmkII

DSLR Gear DSLRs Reviews

Just got the new Marshall monitor, the catchily named V-LCD651ST-HDMI (which will from now on be referred to as the Marshall!)

It’s high resolution…1024×768. Has component and HDMI in. I have it powered by Sony L series batteries to keep it light, but there are loads of other options.

V-LCD651ST-HDMI-2Although it doesn’t get past the problem of only SD live out of the 5d whilst recording the quality is so good, even at that rez (although it does go to wrong aspect ratio whilst recording like all monitors on 5d) it is much better than using the LCD for focusing and monitoring and it take just a second to switch to 480p when you hit record.

Playing back looks incredible. Clients are going to love how incredible the image looks on this. The problem is of course you lose the LCD when plugging in the monitor so you would need two monitors. One for you to shoot with and one for the director/ client to view. I am assuming an HDMI splitter will work, I have just ordered one so I will see. But I only have one Marshall…who gets it….me or the director?!

It’s designed to withstand reflections so will work great even in bright sunlight. One large NPF sony battery will power it for around 4 hours which is great as you can buy OEM large NPF batteries for around £30 easily. It also has the following features. False colour filters to help with exposure and peaking filter to help with focus. Both things which are hard with the LCD on the 5d!

Picture 5Picture 4

It’s a shame I have only just got it. It arrived in the country on Friday but I wasn’t able to get it until last night. Shame as I shot a commercial with Kevin Spacey on the 5dmkII on Saturday and could really have done with a super sharp monitor. I was offloading to my macbook pro just to check the shots back. A right pain! Had my 5dmk2 all pimped out too, the Marshall would have been the very tasty icing on the cake. As you can see below I had the Genus lightweight mattebox, perfect for the 5d, Zacuto mini base and rods, Zacuto follow focus with crank and my Rode Mic. All solidly supported (as always with my 5d) by the Miller DS20 Solo with carbon fibre legs.

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Now, the downside…this is not a budget monitor. This is a pro monitor. It costs around $1650 from B&H…BUT you get what you pay for. I have used lots of monitors on my 5d. Ones which cost around half this and ones which cost a quarter of this. This monitor is 10 times better than those monitors. Are those other monitors are good for enthusiasts or broke pros? Yes they are, but if you need the client and director and more importantly YOU to get a direct representation of what you are actually getting then this is what you need to buy. If you just need to get an approximation then the other monitors do a sterling job. This monitor will be with me and my two 5ds from now on. I just need to find a decent case for it…Shame it’s 4:3 and not 16×9 though!

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37 comments

  1. Hi Philip,
    I follow your blog and I think that you’re one of the greatest reference for 5D Mark II beginners / intermediate and even advanced users.

    I would like to ask, since you have a “similar” but way better monitor, if you can say anything for the Marshall V-LCD70P-HDMI. I have one and I’m very satisfied. But I would like to know if you saw it working with 5DMII as well and how it compares to the V-LCD651ST-HDMI (despite the bigger resolution of course).

    Best Regards
    Lucas

      1. Another option is, assuming you have an intel laptop, is to capture the HDMI into any device that can capture HDMI input, such as a Matrox MX0 Mini or Matrox MX0 2. A Mini costs about $450 USD. Then you got a nice 15inch monitor to use for focus. Add Veescope Live and get real-time video scopes (Waveform, Vectorscope, RGB Parade), audio meters, high and low video level Zebra patterns. Of course you cant use this hand held but ….

  2. Philip, have you looked in smallhd.com. There new LED monitor is top notch and is honestly the best price performer of any monitor in any class. Currently they only offer an HDMI/Component version but and HD-SDI version is in development. You really can’t go wrong with a monitor and battery for less than $900. Oh and did I mention 1280×720 native resolution.
    Cheers

  4. Have I missed something Philip? What’s up with the smallHD DP1? Wouldn’t that serve amply as a viable alternative without having to compromise? Plus, it’s widescreen and has numerous mounting solutions. For the monitor and extra batteries, etc., it would still be much cheaper than what you paid for the Marshall.

    Just a thought.

    1. I have the SmallHD as that is what I refer to as half the price. It is a good monitor for the money but the image in no way is comparable to the Marshall. It’s really hard for me to illustrate this in videos or stills, you really need to see them side by side to see.

  5. Hi Philip,

    Wow seems like a great monitor, wish I had 5D M2 😛
    I have a question, will you attend the IBC in Amsterdam?

    Keep up the good work!

    Best Regards,

    Raymond

  8. Hi,

    I wounder what or how u do for sync between audio and video when filming. Do u have timecode or do u record audio sepratly?

    What lenses do u recomend.

    Thanx and i love your work

    /A

  9. Magic Lantern released a firmware that keeps the output signal in HD mode even while recording. I do not own a monitor. But would be interested if anybody tried this configuration with the marshall.

    1. what is does is the same as what the 7D does. It doesn’t drop the resolution. Still has recording light on but they are working on it. It’s not full HD though, it’s a slightly lower rez.

  10. Hi Phillip,

    Greetings from Tokyo! I am an avid follower of your blog and clips. Hope you can give me some pointers on deciding on a monitor…

    I was thinking of a Marshal 70P-HDMI, until I found about this one…
    Ikan vx9
    The thing about this monitor is that it takes HDMI AND HDSDI (+ other) inputs.

    http://www.ikancorp.com/productInfo.php?id=188
    Product PDF sheet.
    http://www.ikancorp.com/Downloads/VX9_PDF.pdf

    Since I shoot for broadcast as well, I thought the HDSDI will come in handy for those shoots as well. It has all the basic functions I really need, except maybe Marshal’s false color system, that could be very useful for 5D shoots. (by the way, how accurate is False Color? Ex. if you turn the brightness dial, will the colors shift as well? or?)

    Ikan VX9 is my first choice, BUT, reading the discussion forums, I don’t read such good things about Ikan, as a maker. It DOES seem too good to be true… at that price range… I don’t find so much user reviews yet of this monitor yet…

    Would it be an interesting monitor for you?

    All the best,
    Takeshi

    The knowledge and inspiration you give us is invaluable. Thanks for maintaining this wonderful site!

  11. Hi Philip

    thanks for all of the good work on Eos. We just shot our short on one-loved it (with couple of reservations!)

    Got the monitor on your advice too-top monitor(shame the image size reduces).

    been searching and searching for a LIGHTWEIGHT FLAT and SHORT HDMI cable for the monitor. We ran into all sorts of problems getting cable ties and methods of reducing the strain on the sockets-unless I missed something on the site.

    also mentioned something on my video blog (referenced you-hope you don’t mind!). I managed to get the HDMI splitter to feed 2 monitors without power. Needed a bit of patience, but seemed to work. Didn’t use 2 monitors in the end, but never mind!

    Look forward to the next shoot in 24p. Thanks to canon for releasing the new firmware the day after we finished principal photography…..

    Dave

  13. Philip,

    Thanks for all your great work. Also, have greatly appreciated your 5d and 7d training videos! And thanks for the Memorial Day discount!

    Re getting 16:9 image to an on-board monitor, I ran into the following post on a dvinfo.net forum from one Alex Reid:

    “Just to let everyone know,

    If you press the INFO button whilst in Liveview, the HDMI output (to an on-board monitor) cycles between 4:3 view, 4:3 with additional info/waveform and finally clean 16:9 output, so you can monitor and record with full 16:9 image on an on – board monitor.”

    Philip, have you tried this? I don’t have an HDMI monitor yet, so haven’t been able to experiment with it.

    Cheers,

    Rob Taylor

      1. Philip,

        Thanks for the prompt response. With that being the case, which monitor do you prefer these days: Marshall V-LCD651ST (1024 x768)? The Marshall V-LCDXP-70 (800 x 400)? Other?

        Thanks much and best.

        Rob

  15. Philip, doesn’t the Marshall 651STX have an option for 16:9 aspect ratio? From the Marshall PDF manual download, it appears to allow the user to select a letter-boxed 16:9 screen. Pixel-to-pixel mapping will fill the entire screen for an HD format that is larger than the native screen size.

  16. Hey Guys, I’m really late to this discussion, but would love some input on what to buy for my 7d.

    I know I want a monitor, but not sure if buying the more expensive Marshall type, with focus assist is the way to go, or if just spending a couple hundred bucks on the Liliput would get me by.

    I’ve got the zacuto z finder, but finding for slider shots, ( and since my eyesight is crap) i really could use a monitor.
    Lot’s have come out in the last 6 months and I’m pretty confused now.

    What’s the most efficient bang for the buck?

    craig

  18. I’m curious what you all think of this. A really smart and cheap alternative to the craziness of an on-board monitor.
    This product was invented a couple of years ago by me, an LA director of photography. It fits on the rails and is basically a big ass magnifying glass which gets you about 2 to 4 times closer to the LCD. It’s called the Magnifty and we’re selling it now on our ebay store http://stores.ebay.com/Magnifty or at Samy’s Camera in LA and Pasadena. It’s $79.95. Super-durable and is supposed to fit on your rails or varying sizes, but for sure Red Rock. Watch the we made yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmy7LJEy3tM I’ve used mine for over two years and don’t leave home without it. It really does work. I also stack two of them to

    Hope you like it! ~mark

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