on today's DSLR video skills will explore the benefits
abusing field monitor to clearly see what your camera shooting
Adorama TV presents DSLR video skills
with rich Harrington where you learn all about videography
and photography I this returned in for Adorama TV
and today we're taking a look at field monitors now you've seen this useful
field monitor pop up in a couple over last episodes
I absolutely love having the field monitor there are so many times when
this really comes in handy
for example right now we're dealing with some mixed light I've got the Sun over
my shoulder
shadows over here really difficult to judge what's happening
both from an exposure and a focus point of view sure
I could take up my loop in go to the back the LCD
but I have to pop off if I really wanna make adjustments on the camera it's hard
to be
holding us up to the back adjusting the dials or the variable ND filter
so I really like having the monitor in this things that really stand out about
this at around a monitor that makes a great value
couple things here on the back this monitor has the ability to Ron of a
battery power so
here I'm just using a very typical Canon camera battery now
I'm shooting with Nikon today but we've got cannons in our office as well
and its easy to power this but you don't have to just use Canon
notice that just popped right of
and you can get different adapter plates for different types a camera batteries
giving us some flexibility with how you power the device
plus you get the ability to run
directly of %uh alternating current if you needed to plug into the wall
aren't you to switch between those two got analog inputs
we've got two HDMI ports here one
in one out what's nice here is that I'm connected to the camera
and then I'm looping out at this HDMI port into a Blackmagic hyper shuttle
so I can actually take advantage have cannons ability to pass through
uncompressed HD video out the HDMI port
now remember you can't record to the card and to the external recorder
will cover how to use these have a device's on a future episode
but this works out pretty well here now when I turn this around
what's nice is I have this detachable hood comes right off with velcro
or if you're working conditions like today with his lot a son
really comes in handy to this block that sign out just fits right in there
and provide some good cover hi
this recharging be sure to check out at aromas latest contest
and your chance to win great prizes all right let's get the shot up
alright that's looking pretty good there I can clearly see what's happening with
my shot
much like they could on the back to the camera's LCD but it's a bit difficult to
make
accurate judgement you make that deal that's how but I'm squinting a little
bit
wearing a baseball hat the Sun is right over my shoulder
it's providing great light for my subject but it's making monitoring
pretty difficult but with the hood that helps
and be monitor here has four function buttons on the front
what's nice is they do different tasks so the first one here
is peaking and this is a great way to check your focus
so as we adjust focus here noticed that it snaps in Iraq let's adjust the Follow
Focus here
there the trees in focus and my subjects pretty good there
the tree next to our model was really helping their it's helping me see where
the focus point is
want to detail to use the focus in rather the focus peaking feature
alright the thing here is when I change the aperture
I let a lot more light into the camera it looks a bit overexposed on the back
here but
let's find out just how much I'm pushing
after two on the monitor gives me false color
and essentially Paul scholar is very similar to the zone system
that were made popular by photographers like Ansel Adams
where different zones are highlighted here in different colors
to help you understand sort of where the exposure falls so
let's just change the exposure here and you'll see that the brightest areas
are topping out at Orange and as we take that down
notice now they're moving into sort of a yellowish gold
now we're getting some cool purples and pinks
in the jacket for the shadows we've got some Dark Blues
indicates a mid tones there on the tree there we go
now the road has gone pretty flat and that particular zone I want to open it
up just a little bit
so there's been a modeling their love a gradient but looking at the false color
makes
really easy now the monitor comes the complete guide to help you understand
sorta where on the histogram or the threshold
each color represents but this really is pretty useful
rivers thinking it this way the brighter the sunnier
the orange here it is the cooler the darker
the purple are or dark as night it is and as I am just here
I can use that ball scholar to really give me a good idea
if I'm overexposed dramatically underexposed
or just about right we've got a few hints of orange and some bright yellows
in there for the highlights
have got some cool purples and blues now looks about right
but I don't just have to stop there if I hit
f3 its gonna show me some zebra bars our exposure
and this helps you pick up the areas that are problematic
you'll see that the highlights their for example
on the sign back there have a little busy per bars running
those bars indicate areas that are starting to get too hot
are overexposed its okay have a lil bit on solve your highlights
but don't go too far or your over exposing I keep opening that up
you'll start to see some in the snow on the ground and that's definitely
way too bright just pull that in so just a hint
there we go just the brightest whites on that side are now showing 0 bars
and hey there's an app for but let's just hit that now I have an actual
histogram
much like you're used to incite a Photoshop or white room
and this what you see what's going on with the shot so
I've got some rich shadows but they're not clipping as I move that's I decide
their
you could see the histogram change looks pretty good to me
in remember you can easily cycle between the modes
so there I am with exposure I see a few zebra bars
over my bright highlights for that white sign checking false collar
at that just a little bit at the rich intense oranges indicating the bright
whites
and a good balance at the cooler towns some in the mid tones are in there some
the shadows
looks pretty good and then switching back over there to peking
I could very quickly check by focusing case I bumped it up
that looks a little bit better so all those things
compensate for human flaws and the fact that as you're adjusting the camera
or lighting conditions change it's very easy to have things get just a little
bit of
and hey let's face it when it comes to HD video slightly out of focus
or slightly exposed incorrectly is still wrong so
you want to make sure you get right as close as possible in the camera hope you
enjoy taking a look at this monitor
now remember when you're using monitors like this they're connecting via HDMI
port
but there's a whole range of solutions out there you can check out
other things like HDMI HD STI adapters
that'll make it easy for you to connect professional monitors if you need it
or even go ahead news other solutions we should head on over at around a comp got
all sorts the monitors to choose from
at different budget points and hey while you're there the Learning Center spilled
with what articles
all about shooting in making great video money is returning to
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