SonyV55 DSLR Monitor
Shooting video with a DSLR means you are stuck with operating from the small low-resolution screen to judge critical focus and exposure. The other option is to use the HDMI output which, although it blanks the camera’s LCD, at least let you use a professional monitor to assess framing, focus and exposure.
This is why the small monitors from Marshall, SmallHD and ikan have set the standard for off-board viewing and become critical tools for DSLR shooters.
But an announcement just made by Sony – aimed at cinematographers and enthusiasts alike brings another option to low cost monitoring.
The Sony CLM-V55 is a 5” LCD HD monitor purpose built for the Sony Alpha DSLR range, but there is no reason why it should not do just as well for the Canon DSLR range or any other range that needs a small, bright, sharp monitor.
Retail price at the moment is $640 NZD (approx $500 USD) which will be disapointing to those following the early rumours of $399 USD.
Even though it is nominally a consumer product, the Sony Broadcast guys delivered us a pre-production CLM-V55 unit for evaluation.
The monitor itself boasts high-resolution WVGA (800 x 480), and a hot shoe adaptor to fit straight onto the camera. (ISO518 shoe and Autolock)
The monitor turns out to be simple to operate and weighs a mere 220 grams.
It was bright enough to use outdoors, where we were still able to see a clear image. The image was still distinguishable in the direct sun but you will need to use the included sunshade if you really want to see what is
going on.
To us the Sony V55 seemed to deliver the resolution and sharpness promised by the specifications with latitude to match. Colour bars appeared to give accurate colour reproduction, motion showed no discernable lag and it coped with oblique viewing angles.
In other words it showed images that were comparable to a decent professional monitor.
The rotary menu dial seemed a bit fiddly but the simplicity of options made it quick to access the adjustments you’d expect on a professional monitor. Hotkeys would have made a world of difference.
The M size Sony battery yielded 4 hours of operation.
Still, for all the picture quality you can tell it came from the consumer division by the connectors: power, HDMI in, headphone. Nevertheless HDMI is going to be adequate on a DSLR shoot which, to be fair, is what it was designed for.
Overall we’d say the Sony CLM-V55 is worth a look – delivery of production models is expected in March.
Press release from Sony Website
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Peaking Focus Assist
HDMi Input
rear view of cml v55
Menu Dial
Bottom
screen with 5D menu
Pluge
Folded Forward
Hot Shoe Mount
DC input
The point that seems really valuable to me is the headphone jack. Does a Canon 5DmkII pass audio over HDMI while recording? If so the addition of audio monitoring is a big feature for this. It’s a shame it doesn’t have an HDMI loop through.
Nice review. Will be interesting to see it at NAB and rate it against the Marshall etc
Thanks for the review. The big question for me is how does it handle the 5D’s resolution switching when going from preview to record and back? Also curious about the audio through. Otherwise very interested.
I’d be really interested to hear you chime in on this as well. This monitor looks great, but that would be a big downfall for me.
Thanks!
I’ve got to have that hot shoe mount! I am really sick of the ball-head type – and being able to tilt and pan without having to grab the monitor to stop it from crashing down would be the most wonderful thing! Hopefully they will sell this as an accessory so I can finally love my on-camera monitor.