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Help with thoughts around Bomb vs 9" vs 5"

AndreasOberg

AndreasOberg

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Hi all,

I would appreciate some advice regarding purchacing the 5", 9" and the BOMB.

My 2 main usage areas will be:
  • Handheld with the clutch
  • On a tripod
Ideally I would use:
  • 5" and BOMB OLED while using the clutch
  • 9" and BOMB while on a tripod.
However this would cost 3900+1600+3450= $8950 which is currently out of my price range.

Questions:
How much better is the OLED BOMB compared to the LCD BOMB? An used LCD is 2000 while the OLED is 3900 so quite a difference.

If you would pick only the 9" or the BOMB, which one would you pick for my type of shooting?

Can you even run both the 5" screen and the BOMB at the same time without the Pro I/O, there is only one viewport output, right?

If you only have the bomb, how do you control the settings? Do I have to by the Redmote (thinking about waiting for the Redmote Pro). Can the side handle work well enough?

If I buy the bomb do I need to buy anything more than the SPINNER WITH BOMB EVF MOUNT PACK? A longer cable, any more things to put the BOMB on?

I'm leaning a bit towards buying the 5" for tripod and an used BOMB for handheld, but I really hate not buying the best equipment. However not having a bomb for 6 month also feels like a mistake.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
/Andreas
 
You can control the camera using an EVF and the side handle. In this mode you will see the menus in the EVF and use the navigation keys on the side handle to move around the menus and select options.
 
I would buy the Bomb Oled... Spinner... And let the first use a standard LCD for now.

I love the EVF, particularly when it gets bright, or your eyes get tired on long days... The 9" looks amazing, it's on my list and would come in a close 2nd,... Though with the Clutch, it's probably too large to be comfortable.

If you go with the 5" you will have an amazing screen as well, it's just a matter of who's important... You would move around the menues with either the RedMote or side-handle. The touch even at 5" would need to be rigged in such a way as to get it away while in handheld, and certainly the bomb oled with side-handle will be more ergonomical for shifting of menues.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. Tricky decisions. Good to see that there are some third party offers.
How big is the difference between the LCD EVF and the OLED? I can see that the resolution is higher on the OLED. I have always found it hard to get focus right when the resolution is not so high on the screens so every extra pixel seem to count. Is the EVF large enough to pull focus or would you need another screen for someone else to focus pull?

Thanks again for the help!
/Andreas
 
From my experience, the difference between the LCD and the OLED is night and day. I found focusing nearly impossible with the LCD version. But the OLED version has a much, much better image, with better apparent detail and much better contrast.
 
Stephen Mick said:
From my experience, the difference between the LCD and the OLED is night and day. I found focusing nearly impossible with the LCD version. But the OLED version has a much, much better image, with better apparent detail and much better contrast.
Click to expand...


They are both very good, the OLED marked a significant upgrade, I still stand by my purchase of an LCD unit for work which is not as favorable.
 
Hmm tricky. Sounds like the OLED is the way to go if the picture quality is so much better than the LCD EVF. Maybe a good compromise for now would be to get the OLED and then a 3rd party hdmi monitor like SmallHD. This is the only way I can drive the BOMB and a 2nd screen right now without the PRO IO, right? Then I can upgrade the 3rd party screen later to the fancy 9". Its a bit hard to justify the Red 5" price if its mostly going to be a temporal solution.

A second complication is that I have glasses and so far the diopters on other EVF have not been possible to correct completely for my eye sight. Usually this means I use my glasses while using the viewfinder so it doesn't give as much support.
Cheers,
Andreas
 
Hi Andreas,

for handheld, I thought the EVF was the only way to go, but for documentary work I've been finding myself using my trusty tvlogic screen--just so easy to see no matter where you put the camera. that said the EVF really is a cinema window into the world and allows you to really focus on your operating and composition.

the LCOS is a great steal. it just washes out the image--you can turn edge focus on if you need to. my bet would be... if you use it to pull focus, it will make you a better focus puller as your eyes and mind will have less to work with and therefore you'll hone the skill more than with a contrasty EVF... perhaps at the expense of a few soft shots at first... i shot a doc short, a narrative short and a fashion film with a rented LCOS pulling focus myself, all turned out good :)

neither evf is perfect. the LCOS cannot be trusted for shadow information, whereas the OLED crushes and solarizes shadows (kind of helpful: solarized = damn dark, poor man's false color!). neither has accurate color reproduction, the OLED is very close to the recorded image, but more contrasty and about 2000K warmer than it actually is. god bless raw.

the 5" is the standard camera accessory, but I've been without one on my scarlet, after using it on epics for 16 months prior... it stutters (sometimes) and the resolution, panel, touch screen smudges and size make critical focus a little tricky. the side handle is a faster way to control the camera, until you're buried in a corner with your assistant on the left side... which is what the redmote was made for.

the 9" seems like a big toy at first, but nothing beats it when you have to show a producer and models a great looking image, or share a monitor between operator and assistant. cant imagine it on a handheld rig though. this is a good point to note that the LCD output is a bit nicer and microseconds faster than the image out the SDI.

if you decide to use an SDI panel to control the camera, and if you will be sending an image to video village, director's monitor or an external recorder, keep in mind this forces you to send out an image with menus, histogram etc. there is a way to change the SDI out from menus to clean, but you cycle through many options, takes about 6 seconds.

know that the image you see on camera is pre-compression, and therefore none of these are a true indicator of noise characteristics, nor are any of them 100% color accurate. the TVLogic panel has a few advantages over the SmallHD: less warm, more customizable controls, HDMI-in becomes SDI-out, inputs on bottom instead of on top, it's the standard on camera monitor these days, if you're renting out. also know that smallHD will release an improved, $2700 OLED monitor this fall, sending hundreds of their old monitors to ebay.... likely as not, right around or just before Red releases the $1200 +1 EVF port module adapter.

good luck!
r
 
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Thanks for the very thorough reply Ryan. Are there any limitations with the BOMB EVF btw? I read an older post that mentioned that they couldn't see playback on the bomb. Has this been fixed. If I only use the bomb to start with it would of course not be so good if I can't playback. :)

Thanks again for the help!
 
AndreasOberg said:
Thanks for the very thorough reply Ryan. Are there any limitations with the BOMB EVF btw? I read an older post that mentioned that they couldn't see playback on the bomb. Has this been fixed. If I only use the bomb to start with it would of course not be so good if I can't playback. :)

Thanks again for the help!
Click to expand...

Hasn't been an issue for me.
 
Original Bomb - user and love it. Spectacular quality of construction and obv any EVF guarantees usability under any lighting conditions. Flatter output than the new version hasn't been an issue for me, but I am a EVF user since my Betacam days...
Unless you have a real yen for the touch-features of the RED LCDs, I would recommend a BOMB and an aftermarket LCD if you need to have another view option. I run a PIX recorder with mine so I have a "monitor" as needed.

Stu Aull
Sx 199
Alaska
 
Leaning towards getting an OLED bomb then. Do I really need the DSMC TOP MOUNT (ADJUSTABLE) to fit the Spinner to the bomb well?
I saw some configuration that had just the arm to the bomb from the clutch and it looked quite nice, but hard to know when you haven't tried it.

The DP6 5.6" for $800 found here http://www.smallhd.com/products/dp6/hardware/ seems interesting.
The same resolution as the 9" but smaller and 330g. Could be a very interesting option if we would have something like the Grid 5.0 for it. Has anyone tried the DP6 for focusing?

Cheers!
Andreas
 
Last edited:
AndreasOberg said:
Leaning towards getting an OLED bomb then. Do I really need the DSMC TOP MOUNT (ADJUSTABLE) to fit the Spinner to the bomb well?
I saw some configuration that had just the arm to the bomb from the clutch and it looked quite nice, but hard to know when you haven't tried it.

The DP6 5.6" for $800 found here http://www.smallhd.com/products/dp6/hardware/ seems interesting.
The same resolution as the 9" but smaller and 330g. Could be a very interesting option if we would have something like the Grid 5.0 for it. Has anyone tried the DP6 for focusing?

Cheers!
Andreas
Click to expand...

DP6 is great and always with my Epic. :-)
 
Great to hear Chris! I'm a sucker for resolution and it would pain me to use the 800x480 of the Red 5" but I think the 9" is simply too heavy and big for most of my run and gun tasks.

What other view tools do you have together with your DP6? Bomb etc? Also do you have any hood or so? How do you attach a DP6 to the Epic.
Hehe, sorry for all the questions.
Best
Andreas
 
I pulled the trigger and ordered the OLED Bomb with Spinner. I'm planning to getting the DP6 or something similar since it seems like the best screen. Should be great for focus pulling by AC.

I'm wondering what batteries you use for the DP6? Do you connect them to Anton Bauer batteries or do you have the fairly small battery for the DP6. Where do you put the battery? Seems a bit heavy to have directly on the screen.

Cheers
/Andreas
 
AndreasOberg said:
I pulled the trigger and ordered the OLED Bomb with Spinner. I'm planning to getting the DP6 or something similar since it seems like the best screen. Should be great for focus pulling by AC.

I'm wondering what batteries you use for the DP6? Do you connect them to Anton Bauer batteries or do you have the fairly small battery for the DP6. Where do you put the battery? Seems a bit heavy to have directly on the screen.

Cheers
/Andreas
Click to expand...

well congrats on purchasing the Bomb. Regarding accessories with the DP6...I will use the sun-hood when shooting outside, I got a screen protector since I have heard horror stories about screen scratches, and I use the LP6 battery plate. Even with the plate and 2 batteries on the back, it doesn't add that much weight in comparison.

For rigging, I use a Cinevate Grip Stick...best magic arm type device I have ever used.
 
AndreasOberg said:
I pulled the trigger and ordered the OLED Bomb with Spinner. I'm planning to getting the DP6 or something similar since it seems like the best screen. Should be great for focus pulling by AC.

I'm wondering what batteries you use for the DP6? Do you connect them to Anton Bauer batteries or do you have the fairly small battery for the DP6. Where do you put the battery? Seems a bit heavy to have directly on the screen.

Cheers
/Andreas
Click to expand...

I have a couple of the DP6's and I found that their battery solution works quite well - at first I used the bracket they provide, then I tossed it and put velcro on the back of the monitor / batteries. Velcro was the solution, and weight isn't an issue with the battery attached. The DP6 batteries generally last ½ a shoot day (ish) 3 batteries gives you safety - 1 on the monitor, 2 in a charging station ready to go. If you are powering your RED with Antons, then running a cable to the DP6 would also be a great way to go.
 
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