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iPhone monitor for DSLR possible?


Satsuki Murashige

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Hi all,

 

So I've got a Canon 7d and an iPhone and was thinking it would amazing if I could use the latter as an on-board monitor. I'm wondering if this would even be theoretically possible via USB with a custom dock cable and a EOS Utility-like app, or with a custom dock to mini-HDMI cable. Or even Bluetooth/WiFi.

 

I know this is all highly unlikely, but does anyone know if the dock connector would even be able to support connectivity like this? I'd bet the first person to figure this out would make a boatload of money...

 

FWIW, there is this: http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?...and=false#descr

 

Unfortunately, it still requires you to be tethered to a laptop which kinda defeats the purpose.

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The short answer is "yes," this is possible. You would need to manufacture a custom cable to go from the dock connector to mini USB, and you would have to reverse engineer Canon / Nikon's remote shooting protocol to build the software.

 

No one has done it yet, though it seems like it's just a matter of time.

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Why not use something other than an iPod? Even if you teathered it to a small LCD monitor, it's still a damned light compact camera.

 

You could probably transfer the video by remote, ala steadicam monitors. . .

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Yep. Now I remember where I saw that!

 

Karl, it's not meant to be the best monitor ever, but just a quick, lightweight, and cheap (since I already have one) on-board monitoring solution for a DSLR. Just rig up an articulated clamp with a hotshoe mount to hold it and you're good to go. I'm sure you could do some cool things with the multi-touch screen too.

 

But hey, I'd still like to see a 12" monitor mounted onto a DSLR just for kicks. That doesn't sound top-heavy at all. ;)

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The point is obviously to do this on the iPad, not the phone...

 

Will you be hacking some code for this, Ben? You could get the cables made in Asia for pretty cheap if you could anticipate market demand. Once you square a cable deal a package of apps could be used. These DSLR movie cams are going to get more prolific, I expect, more so as the technology gets better.

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I've thought about it, but the startup costs on the manufacturing side would be pretty steep. Someone will do it, but the software will probably suck. What you really want is a full suite of scopes (RGB parade, vector, etc), configurable framelines, focus "peaking" and a 200% zoom for checking pixel-level stuff.

 

Instead, we'll probably wind up with a big red record button and a live histogram if you're lucky. :)

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  • 1 month later...

Maybe someone will build an iphone app that lets the director call-in to the wireless device on my camera and view the video and hear the audio. Then the director could be in Peru and still direct the shoot in NYC...

or not :lol:

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