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SIDEKICK - can it be set to make the MENU changes visible in EVF & other displays?

Milan Spasic

Milan Spasic

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SIDEKICK - can it be set to make the MENU changes visible in EVF & other displays?

Hello all,

I recently received my Weapon and in the absence of the side handle, I thought that DSMC2 Sidekick would be equally helpful when used with the EVF and non touch displays.

So far I managed to have the menu changes visible in the EVF only on a random occasion.
In other words, I have to go to the dumb side to look at the small Sidekick screen (often hard in sunlight) in order to make changes before returning to the EVF.
This slows down setting changes significantly and it's really a step back, if this is indeed an intended feature.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong or it's a firmware bug?
I don't see any settings that would remedy this.

Any info appreciated.

Cheers!

Milan

PS I know Foolcontrol is an option (and I love it) but it's probably slower than the above method (+ connectivity issues).
 
Michael Lindsay said:
Sorry to ask a dumb question but you are pressing the mode button 1st? (And then making sure not to press it again when your eye is on the evf?)

Regards
Click to expand...

Yes, I press the mode button, it switches to A,B,C,D preset buttons. Nothing changes in the EVF when you turn the wheel or do anything on the Sidekick.
 
Milan, Are you asking to see the menus within your EVF?

If so, you need to enable the output to show the menus.

Go here:

Menu>Settings>Display>Monitor Control>Monitor Setup

Then choose your Display Monitor (LCD, EVF, HDMI, HDSDI, LCD2, EVF2).

Select

Mode: Overlay
Overlay: Standard (RED)
Frequency: I usually use 60Hz

in the checkbox to the right I like to keep Tools selected.


You should now clearly be able to see where the SIDEKICK is navigating when you have Navigation Mode selected.
 
Thanks Phil! I'll give it a go when I get home. In my mind it just made sense that changes will be visible in the EVF.

I thought that it may be something simple. I've received the camera on the morning of the week long shoot, no time to test.... Talking about unprepared. ;)
 
Milan,

I too struggled with this when I first booted up my new Weapon. Setting this up is not so intuitive and the manual while thorough needs a plain English version "Red for Dummies"

I am still uncertain what the difference is between EVF and EVF2
 
Tom Gleeson said:
Milan,

I too struggled with this when I first booted up my new Weapon. Setting this up is not so intuitive and the manual while thorough needs a plain English version "Red for Dummies"

I am still uncertain what the difference is between EVF and EVF2
Click to expand...

On DSMC2 bodies there are two LCD/EVF connection points. The one nearest the lens mount is LCD/EVF, the one on the side of the brain is LCD2/EVF2.
 
If you have multiple monitors plugged in (like an EVF and HDSI), you can assign which monitor has menus by placing it higher on the priority list (which is under the monitor control settings).
 
Think the default should be to show menus in both ports when installing the new firmware. As it is now that the evf2 has no menu and when getting it there we also need to set it so it update on navigation is not easy to understand for new users or rental clients.
 
From what I could figure out, you can only see menu changes in the display at the top of the priority list.

Is this a hardware limitation?
From the practical standpoint, it would be really helpful to have the Sidekick navigation shown in EVF and HDSDI/HDMI.
I was hoping I wouldn't have to plug out the EVF when making changes on the non-touch monitor.
 
Milan Spasic said:
From what I could figure out, you can only see menu changes in the display at the top of the priority list.

Is this a hardware limitation?
From the practical standpoint, it would be really helpful to have the Sidekick navigation shown in EVF and HDSDI/HDMI.
I was hoping I wouldn't have to plug out the EVF when making changes on the non-touch monitor.
Click to expand...

The menus can only be shown on one monitor at a time. The priority list is used to determine which monitor will show the menus (along with the monitors mode setting).

If if you want to switch the menus between the EVF and HDSDI monitor you can use the sidekick to change the priority list (or create a preset to do this and assign them to a user key).
 
Phil Holland said:
On DSMC2 bodies there are two LCD/EVF connection points. The one nearest the lens mount is LCD/EVF, the one on the side of the brain is LCD2/EVF2.
Click to expand...

Hi Phil,

This is off-topic a bit, but since there are two LCD/EVF ports, is there such a thing as a Red LCD to BNC adapter / cable that would give an extra BNC port? That would be quite useful since there's only 1 BNC port on the back of the more basic I/O modules.

Edit: If this is not currently made, is something like this even possible? Seems like lots of people would get use out of it.
 
Last edited:
On DSMC1 I used to use the sidekick to thumb through the top menu tabs and make changes very fast without touching the screen.

I think it would be awesome to do that with dsmc2. Is there a way to use the arrow keys and scroll knob on the sidekick to do this?

very excited for side handle 2 personally.
 
Dan Kanes said:
On DSMC1 I used to use the sidekick to thumb through the top menu tabs and make changes very fast without touching the screen.

I think it would be awesome to do that with dsmc2. Is there a way to use the arrow keys and scroll knob on the sidekick to do this?

very excited for side handle 2 personally.
Click to expand...

The switchblade (DSMC) and sidekick (DSMC2) are functionally the same; they only differ in form factor. You can use them to navigate menus on any external monitor or change most of the camera setting directly using the menus on the device itself.
 
I'm really contemplating buying the SIDEKICK to keep my rig compact, and yet, I have absolutely no idea what it can or cannot do. I'm having a hard time understanding why there are no demos in the Red store (there's a whopping 3 sentence outlining what it is).

Anyway, I'm not sure if this is what other people are asking exactly, or if my question slightly differs, but once the intended LCD/EVF has menus enabled via priority, does the navigation from the SIDEKICK show up on the enabled LCD/EVF? I guess what I'm asking, is do I have to go to the dumb side of the camera to look at the little SIDEKICK LCD, or can I just blindly reach over and hit the SIDEKICK dial/function buttons while seeing the menus change in my primary LCD/EVF?


EDIT: Trent, I think you just answered this for me while I was typing it. Thanks!
 
Nathan DuMoulin said:
I'm really contemplating buying the SIDEKICK to keep my rig compact, and yet, I have absolutely no idea what it can or cannot do. I'm having a hard time understanding why there are no demos in the Red store (there's a whopping 3 sentence outlining what it is).

Anyway, I'm not sure if this is what other people are asking exactly, or if my question slightly differs, but once the intended LCD/EVF has menus enabled via priority, does the navigation from the SIDEKICK show up on the enabled LCD/EVF? I guess what I'm asking, is do I have to go to the dumb side of the camera to look at the little SIDEKICK LCD, or can I just blindly reach over and hit the SIDEKICK dial/function buttons while seeing the menus change in my primary LCD/EVF?


EDIT: Trent, I think you just answered this for me while I was typing it. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes, I think I did answer it, but to be more explicit: The MODE button will toggle the sidekick/switchblade between these two modes (you can think of them as "local" and "remote" mode like we have on the REDMOTE). In the "local" mode you control things by looking at the sidekick/switchblade screen. You have access to the top bar items on the main page and can press the MENU button to access the menu tree (currently the menu tree is about 95% of what you can do in the menu tree on the LCD). In the "remote" mode, the A B C D buttons become assignable user keys and the navigation keys drive the menus on your external monitor. The switchblade/sidekick screen will show which monitor is currently the "control screen", that is which monitor the menus will appear on. As I've mentioned in previous posts you can change this by setting the mode and each monitor and arranging your priority list appropriately.
 
Sidekick is pretty nifty and it does keep the camera small although it's not as intuitive as the side handle was.
It's nearly impossible to stay on the EVF side and adjust the settings by feel on the Sidekick.
Menu and Mode buttons are indistinguishable by touch and nearly flush with the surface as well as are the four preset buttons.

I like the way you can control the playback with it for the use with non-touch displays, though it would be nice to be able to scrub through a clip faster.
 
I just got my Weapon EVF and Im not able to get the nice red line under all the camera functions at the top of the screen in the EVF like I did with my Bomb EVF. Ive tried every combo on the Monitor pages of the menu but can only use the Side Kick to change things like shutter, ISO and color temp when the Weapon EFV is plugged in. I can't figure it out as it worked before and I was able to change my priority to monitor and all before but now it only works with the Touch Screen.
Anyone else have the new EVF experience this?
 
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