I provide honest ratings and reviews on tech, toys, and consumer home goods that I've purchased and used. Reviews are based on hands-on testing and personal observations. All opinions and comments are my own.
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Takeaway: Large, bright, clear HD picture; easy to use/setup, lightweight. You'll receive the LCD monitor, a sunshade frame, a shade box, a miniHDMI to HDMI cable, a microHDMI to HDMI cable, an NP-F550 battery, battery charger, a user manual, a cold shoe mount, cleaning cloth, Allen wrench, and extra screw. The LCD panel measures 4.75"L x 7"W and the screen has a 7" view-able diagonal. The native output resolution of the screen is 1920x1200 although the HDMI input accepts up to 4K signals from your camera. The images on the screen will still be HD, but not as fine point as 4K; you can however, output the feed in 4K to another monitor as well. On top of the unit are a few physical controls for power, 3 function (F) buttons, menu, and menu navigation keys which are also used for volume control. The 'F' buttons can be customized for options that you use frequently. On the bottom of the LCD are the ports: HDMI out, HDMI in, miniUSB, headphone jack, and power port. There's a ¼"-20 threaded mounting hole for the cold shoe mount or for any standard tripod mounting system. On the back of the unit is the battery plate and external speaker.
The unit is basically plug-and-play. All you need to do is install the battery, then plug the HDMI cable into the LCD, and into your camera. I used the microHDMI cable with my Sony a6300 camera and mini HDMI cable with my Canon T3i without a problem. The screen was able to display exactly what was on my camera LCD. The sunshade is quick to install and works well on bright sunny days outdoors. The LCD display panel is bright, has great resolution, color, and detail. It's great for both photography and videography as it lets you monitor your camera feed on a bigger screen and manipulate the view separately from the camera, whether that's attached to a tripod or rig. The 160 degree viewing angle lets you see the screen clearly from different positions so you don't have to be standing right in front of the monitor for a clear picture. Overall, I found this to be a useful tool, especially for the Sony a6300 because its LCD isn't fully articulated and framing shots from in front of the camera is much easier with a remote monitor. One tip is when using the monitor during live filming, turn its volume to '0' to avoid feedback back to the camera mic!
Takeaway: Small, lightweight, and portable, bright for its size, nice fill/hair light You'll receive the light, a microUSB charging cable, a cold shoe mount, a neoprene carrying case, instruction manual, and three gels: an orange CTO, a blue CTB, and soft white filter. The gels are pretty basic, a few squares of plastic sheeting but they work.
The light itself is thin and compact measuring 3.25"W x 2"L x 0.5"D and weighs 2oz. It has a magnetic milk diffuser that sticks to the front and cuts down on the glare from the 9 LEDs in the light (3 x 3 rows/columns). On the right side you have the microUSB charging port, brightness adjustment controls and on/off switch for the light. On top is a status LED for charging/power. The light has 10 brightness levels from the very brightest to the dimmest setting (10% increments). The included cold shoe mount is easy to attach to the light and grips it securely. You can also attach it to a tripod use the 1/4"-20 threaded hole rather than your camera's hot shoe. On a full charge, the light lasts over 1.5 hrs of use at maximum brightness, but it takes several hours to charge.
The relatively focused area of illumination makes this light great for subject lighting when used within 3 feet or so. It doesn't throw the light very far though, so it's not great for use as a key. It's got a 5500K light temperature and is a clean, white daylight. You can add any of the gels under the magnetic filter to change the color temperature of the light for a different effect or to compensate the light when selecting custom white balance.
Overall, this light is a pretty useful tool adding lightning to your shoots for both photo and video. It's compact and performs pretty well for its size.
Takeaway: Easy to use and focus, but no scale for quick adjustments, not waterproof. One thing I wanted to note is that the box that my unit came in had the wrong spec on it, listing them as 10x50 binoculars even though the binoculars inside were marked 20x50 on the body. The other thing is that the product description under specifications says that there's a tripod adapter (Tripod Adapter: Yes Waterproof: No) but there is not one included.While these mistakes don't affect product performance it could cause some confusion when making a purchase.
You'll receive a neoprene carry bag with a shoulder strap, the binoculars, two microfiber cleaning cloths, an instruction sheet, and a lanyard. The binoculars are pretty heavy, weighing just over two pounds. They measure about 8"W x 7"L x 2.5"H. The binoculars have rubber lens caps on the front and back lenses. The ones on the front are tethered so you don't lose them, but the ones over the eye lens are not attached so make sure you keep track of them. The width, or IPD, of the binoculars is easy to set by pulling the two tubes out or pressing them together. The instructions state there are supposed to be markings so that you can quickly set the binoculars for next time, but the ring between the eye lenses only shows a few dashes and dots that aren't that helpful for this purpose. I found them difficult to see and set accurately without a real scale and prefer ones that have line markings in contrasting colors.
Focusing each eye independently is easily achieved by following the directions but again, there's supposed to be a scale for the right eyecup so you can set it to that position quickly next time, but all you see is a plus, minus, and a dot with no reference points. In fact the rubber eye cup can be removed and re-positioned without adjusting the focus (and sometimes moves during twisting) which makes these markings useless.
However, once both eyes are focused you can look with both eyes and the image should be clear. As you look around at things that are closer or farther away, you can re-focus by turning the dial in the middle. With these binoculars, you won't be able to focus on objects that are less than 15 feet away but you should be able to focus on things about 150 feet away. The binoculars don't appear to focus to infinity for things that are really far away (not great for night or celestial viewing) Other than the missing scales for the adjustments, the binoculars are easy to set and use. They seem to work well, although sometimes the eye pieces tend to fog up and they are quite heavy so it gets tiring to hold them. You could use them for bird watching, sporting events, and even live performances, but remember that they are not waterproof if you plan to use them outdoors.
