LCD monitor to view pix

[Dan Sroka]

All I can say is that would be *sweet*.

[mcanyes]

BJL,
Thanks for the thought. I would like to stay away from laptops, etc. I want to spend $200 - $300 on this solution. Small notebooks are around $1,400. I think I should be able to stay within this budget, I just don't know where to look.
Best,
Michael

[mcanyes]

Andy,
I think the video out would work fine. All I need to see would be things like are everyone's eyes open, is there a plant growing out of someone's head - things like that. I still think that I can find a LCD video monitor that will work.

However, a nice new iBook would be much more fun. Just not in the budget since I have a nice new Sony laptop that works very nicely, but is too heavy when I have to lug misc. photo junk up several flights of stairs.
Thanks,
Michael

[mcanyes]

Jonathan,
Thanks for your thoughts, but my guess is that you have never used a small, portable, broadcast-quality video monitor.  Also, selling my laptop is not an option. I had hoped that someone who was more familiar with video equipment might know of a new or used source.
Michael

[mcanyes]

Hi all,
Perhaps someone has found a solution to this. I would like to view images right out of the camera so I can be sure of the results. I can do this on a laptop, but it is one more large chunck of equipment to lug around to a client site. I would like to find some kind of light-weight LCD monitor that I can plug the camera into. But it would need to have about a 12 inch screen. Any ideas woud be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael

[BJL]

I would like to find some kind of light-weight LCD monitor that I can plug the camera into. But it would need to have about a 12 inch screen.

Would a "tablet computer" with 12 inch screen be a decent compromise, given that you might need the batteries anyway to run the monitor, and those stripped down tablet computers do not add much bulk beyond that? It would also save carrying a separate portable hard drive ("digital wallet") if you are into that sort of thing.

(But personally I would try to take the slight extra bulk and carry a 12" iBook or PowerBook G4.)

[AJSJones]

I'd like one too, but think about what you're asking for!
The camera doesn't have a video card in it so you have 2 choices - 1) use the "video" out from the camera to a cheap LCD monitor that takes composite video in (to make "critical" decisions on ) or 2) download the file into a device that has RAM to hold the file, a video card to display it and a display to view it on (oops, that's a laptop, sorry!)

I'm a Mac guy so I second BJL's thoughts (G4 12"iBook drool...).  The Fujitsu Lifebook Michael used on his Costa Rica trip looks good for a PC person.

Michael, I don't think what you are looking for exists, let alone at the price you want to pay!!!

Andy

[Jonathan Wienke]

I don't think you are going to be happy with anything in the $200-300 range. Low-cost LCD's (<$1000) usually have widely varying brightness/gamma curves depending on the viewing angle. So a low-end LCD monitor is useless for judging whether a picture is over or underexposed unless you are extremely consistent about looking at it exactly straight-on. Also, the very low resolution of standard video (640x480) isn't really going to show you any more detail than the LCD on the back of the camera anyway, it just makes it bigger, so you can't use it to check focus or see fine details that can make or ruin a shot.

If your laptop is too heavy, sell it and use the money you didn't spent on the monitor to get a better laptop. Otherwise you are probably just going to end up frustrated with a cheap monitor that won't really do what you need it to do.

[mcanyes]

In case anyone was following this thread I did (almost) find what I was looking for. http://www.starkelectronic.com/monitor.htm
I intend to get the third one down in about a week. It turns out that 12 inches was a bit too expensive and probably bigger than needed.
Best,
Michael