A New Daylight Viewable Monitor Entry From SmallHD – The Action 5
5-inch Touchscreen Monitor with daylight visibility
The SmallHD Action 5 on-camera monitor is SmallHD's newest addition to their monitor lineup. The monitor itself is a lightweight 5" touchscreen monitor with HDMI In and Out ports.
What's New?
Over the years SmallHD has added several affordable options to their monitor lineup, including the 501, 502 and Focus 5 monitors - the Action 5 has a number of differences from the classic SmallHD monitors though, with one of the big changes being in the menus. Those who have used SmallHD monitors in the past will be accustomed to the different 'pages' that you can create with different tools enabled, like focus assist, peaking, LUT's, etc. - with the Action 5, SmallHD have changed this menu setup to now include a single menu page that offers users 4 options to customize their monitor setup. These include Frame, Focus, Expose and Look. Now, within these menus there are more features that can be adjusted, but no longer will you be able to have multiple pages of presets to simply swipe between. This new menu offered in the Action 5 may be vastly different from what users of past SmallHD products are used to, but considering the Action 5 is only a 5" monitor, simplifying the menu system seems like a smart decision by SmallHD, in order to help maximize the effectiveness and screen space of the monitor.
Specifications
Coming in at just over 0.5 lbs, the Action 5 is designed for those run-and-gun style shoots that require a bright, lightweight and compact monitor. What's very impressive with the Action 5 compared to its predecessors like the Focus 5, is the high-bright functionality of the monitor itself. Some of SmallHD's older and smaller monitors were great in ideal conditions, but with some of these displays barely cracking 500 nits, viewing anything in bright outdoor settings could be almost impossible. With the Action 5, SmallHD have upped their game, as it boasts a high-bright display of almost 2000 nits. The display resolution is 1920x1080, which is pretty standard for these types of monitors, and has a contrast ratio of 1000:1. The Action 5 is also Rec.709 color gamut supported and uses Sony NP-F or Canon LP-E6 batteries to power the monitor. Depending on your setup these on-board batteries can last quite a while, but personally I recommend using a dummy battery to D-Tap on a gold or v-mount onboard battery. Lastly, the Action 5 uses HDMI In and Out for the ports to send and receive video signals.
Full Specs:
Weight (oz) |
8.5 |
Mount Points |
Three ¼-20 Mount Points (Right, Bottom, and Back) |
Display |
|
Diagonal Size |
5.5 |
Resolution |
1920×1080 |
Pixel Density |
400 |
Aspect Ratio |
16:9 |
Brightness |
2000 Nits |
Contrast |
1000:1 |
Backlight Type |
LED |
Display Size |
5″ |
Input Signal |
|
HDMI Input Types |
720x480i&720x480p@59.94, 60Hz 720x576i&720x576p@50Hz 1280x720p@50, 59.94, 60Hz 1920x1080i@50, 59.94, 60Hz 1920x1080psf@24, 25, 29.97, 30Hz 1920x1080p@23.93, 24, 25, 29.97,30,50,59.94,60Hz 3840x2160p@24,25,30Hz 4096x2160p@24Hz |
Price and What You Get
The Action 5 retails for around $330 USD which makes it a very affordable monitor option. When you purchase an Action 5, out of the box you will receive the monitor, a screen protector, cold-shoe mount, USB drive (for updating firmware/adding LUTs), 2 cables (Mini-HDMI to HDMI and Micro-HDMI to HDMI), microfiber screen wipe, replacement M3 screws and an M3 Allen key. All-in-all the Action 5 looks like a great monitor option for filmmakers looking for a compact, daylight viewable on-camera monitor.
