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Usability of EPIC touchscreen for pulling focus

Michael Kromschroeder

Michael Kromschroeder

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I got my EPIC-M this week and I am getting to know it more and more.

How do you like using the touchscreen for or judging focus?
I made a direct comparison between the EPIC touchscreen
and the SmallHD DP6 using HD SDI and there are worlds in
between.

The touchscreen is in my opinion only good for setting up the
camera and framing, but not usable for judging focus. The DP6
it is a pleasure to judge focus with, but my EPIC touchscrenn is
very blurry.

What is your experience?
 
Last edited:
Love the 5" Pro LCD. Pinch to zoom to 1:1 and back out, or set to toggle from a button on the camera. All around it's a nice, clear LCD and has good visibility in most lighting conditions.

Only complaint about the LCD for me is the multi-touch response. The display has a much lower density of touch receptors compared to many mobile devices (iPhone, etc..). While it's not intended to function at the level of one of those devices as we're not going to be playing games or whatnot on them, I do feel this is an area that was overlooked in the design. Of course, there are a lot of factors at work here and there could be several design considerations, with the display, the camera, the software, etc.. that influenced this decision. With the lower density, it seems I have trouble getting the display to pick up touches when I tap with relatively little surface area of a finger or trying to get the screen to recognize where I'm touching if one of those sparsely-placed receptors falls on the border between two items.

Perhaps this can be further improved through software as the camera firmware is more fully developed. None of it is a big issue, yet it is an issue that exists. Compared to touch screens of only just a few years ago, predating the iPhone, it would have been amazing. It reminds me a lot of the early iPhone days when others were trying to offer competing products, but just couldn't figure out that whole multi-touch sensitivity thing. If they can get the sensitivity and accuracy performing better, I would like to see more multi-touch gestures incorporated into the interface.
 
While i'm not as excited as Jeff is about the 5" touchscreen.....it's ok. As pointed out...i can pinch to get 1:1 magnification...but can NEVER get it to pull out by use of the touchscreen....That said, yes, i think or rather hope some improvements come on the touchscreen. I've tried two different monitors and each has a slightly different to the "touch" response. I also realize this is new technology in the red workflow....so i just expect a firmware to fix a lot of those issues with the touchscreen.

As for using outiside---i don't. Whit a hood in bright sunlight...not as good as the older RED 5.6" LCD in my opinion...I and on pins and needles waiting for my Bomb EVF---but i've been waiting far too long...so for now just in pergatory....using touchscreen when i have to....but when i do use it and 99% of time i'm outside in SUPER BRIGHT light...i MUST cover myself and the camera with a dark towel to make out focus/exposure...as for pulling focus with it....I'm not sure i'd use this LCD....for some reason just seems the image it resolves is not as contrasty---something just seems missing vs. 5.6" red LCD---i have no idea what that is...but that's my take. I'd prefer a larger LCD and hood setup than the touchscreen version that's out at moment. But hey, you have to work with what you have.....so that's what i 'm using now with my other LCD.
...I'll soon order the Zacuto EVF---but i don't think it is setup to work with EPIC yet---but my guess it WILL be working before i get my bomb evf.....

....back to the touchscreen---maybe some type of pen to use to get better accuracy of touching...some of us with fat fingers trying to hit far right side to get to the OTHER menu---seem to get the on/off area....as i do most the time...
 
it's the first time that I read about touchscreen limitations - or maybe the first time I read people admitting such limitations. All I have read and heard so far was 'it's like an iPhone/iPad' and how perfect it was. I'm not yet a Red camera owner, but what I saw from videos, people handling the 5", I found it not too convincing. People had to tap twice or more until the command was recognised, I saw that many times. But hey, I'm not complaining, all Red products are great. I just had my doubts with the 5".

In the Red Store, there is the 5.6" and 7" monitor for sale. The 5" is in the Epic-M package, and with the Scarlet prototypes. Is that correct? Are the 5.6" and 7" monitors better?
 
The touch screen is slightly unresponsive to what were used to now as far as touch screens go. I think Jeff's post was pretty good. Often times I have to use the physical buttons on the DSLR grip to zoom or roll. But like anything the touch sensitivity of the screen is something you have to get used to. The 1:1 zoom is where its at as far as I'm concerned. And it switched back and forth much faster than Red One punch zoom.
 
Vasili said:
how do you use your small hd DP6 it does not have HD SDI input.....it only has HDMI...is the HDMI working on EPIC M???
Click to expand...

There are two versions of the DP6, one of which has both HDMI and HDSDI.
 
Philipp Straehl said:
it's the first time that I read about touchscreen limitations - or maybe the first time I read people admitting such limitations. All I have read and heard so far was 'it's like an iPhone/iPad' and how perfect it was. I'm not yet a Red camera owner, but what I saw from videos, people handling the 5", I found it not too convincing. People had to tap twice or more until the command was recognised, I saw that many times. But hey, I'm not complaining, all Red products are great. I just had my doubts with the 5".

In the Red Store, there is the 5.6" and 7" monitor for sale. The 5" is in the Epic-M package, and with the Scarlet prototypes. Is that correct? Are the 5.6" and 7" monitors better?
Click to expand...

I own an iPhone and a Garmin GPS with touch screens. The Red 5" falls somewhere between them in responsiveness: much more responsive than the Garmin, and some less responsive than the iPhone. I suspect that there is a real difference in the technology of each from both a hardware and a software perspective, and once you get accustomed to it, it works very well.

The fact that only one of the devices can be attached has made me experiment a bit with combinations. I like the 7" screen for viewing a lot, and since the Epic Side Handle arrived, I find that I love using it to control the camera. The array of user buttons is just wonderful, and the rotary controls feel really familiar to my fingers. So I've been using the Bomb EVF more and more, and plan to experiment with using the 7" to see how it feels.
 
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