[Doug Graham]

Matte,

I have to (continue to) disagree.
Yes, an NTSC CRT monitor IS the best way to actually see the image. But these days, an LCD is a perfectly acceptable alternative, IF you’re aware of its limitations.

1. Never make an exposure decision on the image alone. Use the camera’s zebra bars. (I’d apply this to CRTs as well as LCDs).

2. Critical focus can be done with an external monitor, but checking with the camera viewfinder is a good idea. The VF itself may (or may not) have more pixels than the external monitor, and also the camera may add additional sharpening to the VF image that is not available on an external signal.

3. For high definition work, an SD monitor (or viewfinder) may not do the job. An HD LCD with a native resolution that’s the same as the camera’s output could be a better choice, especially if you can’t afford a $6,000 HD CRT monitor.

4. The change in brightness and colorimetry with viewing angle is a problem unique to LCDs. You do need to look at them straight on.

5. My point about the DVRack having test equipment built-in is that you can use it to:
a) calibrate your laptop display using SMPTE color bars. This will get the image very close to that of an NTSC CRT monitor.
b) More importantly, you can shoot a physical color bar chart with your camera, to check white balance. You can shoot a gray chart to check exposure. The WFM and vectorscope will tell you a lot more about the setup than you can see with your naked eye on any sort of monitor, either LCD or CRT.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

Also see Douglas Spotted Eagle’s great primer on copyright, “My Voice, My Choice”. It’s available in several locations on the Web.

Use of copyrighted popular music without permission is a copyright violation, and your employer is quite correct in his position. However, probably more event videographers engage in this practice than not. I used to, but lately have decided to climb back to the moral high ground; I use royalty-free music in all my productions.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

I haven’t used it at a wedding shoot, but I think it could be a useful tool. Of course, you don’t want to be tied to a laptop when you’re doing runa and gun shooting, such as at the reception. But when you’re on a tripod at the church, it could be used. For direct-to-disk while shooting mobile, something like the Firestore FS-4 would be preferable.

As to the laptop not giving a “true” image: That’s correct, but since DVRack provides color bard, and a WFM/vectorscope, you should be able to use it to get a good, calibrated image.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Doug Graham]

Those are all good suggestions.
But have you considered getting the VX1000 repaired? The most likely culprit is the ribbon cable that sends the signal to the viewfinder. It’s a known weak spot in the VX1000 design. There have even been threads on how to do the replacement yourself, although I can’t point to one at the moment.

Even if you have Sony do the repair, the cost will probably be about the same as equipping yourself with an outboard LCD monitor.

Regards,
Doug Graham