I’d love an external monitor for my Z7. I should point out that I don’t shoot video. I just want a 5” or maybe 7” monitor to help with composition. I guess I could use Snapbridge to shoot to an ipad but I’m bothered by all the time it takes to faff around setting it up. I believe I’m right saying that kit like CamFi also takes time to set up. Plus I want to shoot RAW only, and in Snapbridge RAW transfers apparently take a while.
I’d like to have a monitor that could also help with focussing, so the iPad won’t do this.
I’d also like to have a monitor that either used a built in lithium battery or Nikon EN-15 batteries. It seems though that a tonne of monitors use Canon or Sony batteries.
I should also say that as I’m shooting stills i have no need for a recording monitor.
So given my requirements can anyone please recommend something. Ideally less than $400
Many thankss.
It sounds like what you are looking for is an iPad (or an iPhone plus) with SnapBridge. With it, you can touch focus, and that works very well. If you use only one Z camera and always connect it to the same device, it really is not a lot of fuss, once you’ve gotten the connection established the first time. I shoot raw and don’t find the transfer times extreme at all; even when you shoot raw, SnapBridge gives you the option of downloading a 2 meg image, which takes about two seconds to arrive. The App is free, so if you haven’t done so already, download it and give it a test. Yes, it is finicky to get connected the first time, but in my experience, it works quite well.
As for an external monitor, all the ones I know from personal experience start at twice your budget, so I can’t help there.
