Field monitors. Yeah, they’re pretty useful.
Especially when you want to see what you’re shooting.

You know that little screen attached to your camera? Well, I found out recently that it’s easier to see what you’re shooting when you view it in full resolution. Not on that little screen.

The first time I really experienced shooting with a field monitor was on the day the picture above was taken, during a short film shoot with my friends the Liedles. It was just a small HD TV that was picked up for a bargain price, from what I can remember. It worked marvelously with their Glidecam jib/vista head setup, where it’s impossible to even think about trying to watch what’s happening on the camera’s LCD (which is 15 feet away from the operator…). It’s so much easier to see what’s in focus (and what’s not) when one isn’t having to squint at a small LCD.

After poking around trying to find a good buy, I started to think that a good monitor would be an expensive buy. TVs small and light-weight enough to be somewhat portable aren’t terribly cheap.

And then, I realized that there was a better solution — a solution that doesn’t even require a constant power cable plugged into it. A portable DVD player!

The qualifications I looked for in a DVD player were: the ability to connect Video-In, decent screen size, and product design that would allow the most flexibility during shooting. The model I went with was the Sony DVP-FX820. It cost $116.81 including shipping — worth every penny.

Battery powered, it allows for completely untethered shooting. Its screen can swivel a complete 180º and lay flat against the body with the screen facing up (this means that it can be very compact). And it has a lot of great features, such as the two headphone jacks (more than one person at a time could monitor audio from it).

Simply put, this is a production must-have for me from now on, whenever it’s possible. I’ve even added an extra handle on my tripod, with plans to conjure up some way to attach the monitor between both handles!

Oh, and it does play DVDs, by the way. A bonus feature perhaps?

It works!