The Odyssey 7 is finally in stock, which is a stripped-down, more affordable version of the Odyssey 7Q. At only $1295, this 7.7″ OLED monitor is perhaps the best investment you can make for on-camera monitoring. It is extremely light, and won’t put much stress on your mounting arms. It can be powered by Sony L-Series batteries (with an adapter that mounts directly on the back of the unit). You can monitor HDMI or SDI signals, with embedded audio, and also loop the signal out through both HDMI and SDI. With the purchase of Convergent’s SSD’s, you can even record in anuncompressed codec, or the famous ProRes HQ compressed codecs (10 bit 4:2:2)
Even before you consider recording, this OLED monitor has the most value of any that I have tested in this price range. The false color viewing options and focus peaking features, coupled with the incredibly accurate 1280×800 resolution make this an extremely effective tool for smaller cameras without proper eye-piece viewfinders. Even cameras that do provide viewfinders can benefit from an Odyssey on top, allowing the focus puller or camera operator to get the same high quality image without forcing them into a tiny viewing hole.
Looking for a new on-camera monitor? Or perhaps a ProRes recorder? Don’t pass this one up. Come on in to Midtown Video for your hands-on demonstration.