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As promised. Picked up the Red 7.0" LCD Touch yesterday right after getting in town after a shoot. Literally picked it up from the RSH Store on my way back home.
So here's a rundown on what's in the box:
It's packed up in one of the newer style "magneto" boxes and as always I'm utterly impressed by the box itself. Whoever is thinking these packages up, hat's off to you. Inside you'll find: 1X 7" LCD Touch, the same microfiber pouch that comes with the 9" LCD Touch, 1X 12" Right to Right Angle LCD/EVF Cable, 2X 1/4-20 hex bolts, and one driver tool.
A couple of interesting thoughts before I move on. A note on the packaging. It appears Red is going out of their way to up the game on this front and I do think this helps with the accessory resale value if you hold onto the box. There's no styrofoam, it's all laser cut and high quality. Initially I was surprised to see the larger microfiber pouch, but something I do like is that you can slip the entire 7" LCD in there and snug it up.
Onto some observations on the monitor. I took a close look at this in the RSH Store a bit ago and you'll see some interesting design changes in the photo above. First up is the articulated hinge. It's lower and isn't as easy to grab as a make-shift handle, which I think will help with it's longevity. The hinge itself has a groove where the 7" LCD Touch can rest when folded down. The footprint of this monitor is ideal for "rigged packing" and I think some will certainly do that. What is cool is you can mount the LCD on top of the brain and fold it down witha battery equiped and it won't touch anything that harms the display, unless you've got something under it that could potentially poke it.
The design is slick and smart. What's different between this and the other LCD Touch Screens is the logo on the back is not that reflective metallic text. I've had on occasion a moment where a stray light hit that and glared into talent's eyes and we've gaffed up the text. On the 7" all that's on the back of the display is the RED logo slightly raised on the black surface. Which is nice and discreet.
I personally kept my 9" LCD Touch and got rid of the 5.0" LCD Touch in favor of the 7". The 7" seems to be actually slightly lighter than the 5.0" if I'm not mistaken. If not the weight difference is moot. The size "feels" so right oddly. I'm a big 9" user and I always know it's the sail on my brain-boat, but the 7.0"'s got more of a sleek thing going on and isn't as bulky at all.
As for the screen? In short, the resolution gain is tremendous and the black levels are deep. It's a 8-bit 4444 RGB display and you'll notice that quickly, which is good. This is the best LCD Red has made to date as far as I'm concerned. It does take a moment to get used to especially if you use the Focus Assist Tools. It looks slightly different and because of that feels different. Which is fine, just took a bit of moment to get used to. The image itself is bright and crisp.
Lastly on the top and the bottom of the 7.0" you'll see 4X threaded M3 holes. This is for hood/sunshade use. Which makes me wonder if Red themselves is going to make one. If not I'll knock on my machinist's door early next year and have something whipped up. I like my Hoodman Sunshades, but they do sag and come off easily. Hmmm. It would be nice if it was a fold down design that would protect the screen surface and could be left on the 7.0" LCD when packing it up. I'll have too look into a hinged design maybe.
My 9.0" is on a quick release attached to a SWAT Rail, however, so far I'm running the 7.0" LCD bolted right to the brain to see how that feels. It's going to be with me as my main display for my next few shoots and I'll have more to say certainly after I get some eye mileage in there. But so far, all i can say is the picture is beautiful and it's really well built with some clever design features in there.
Alien reviewer gives it 3 thumbs up.
