Premium Members David Baldwin Posted September 1, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 I was a little embarrassed today when I couldn't get a signal to my sled's monitor. We were shooting on ye olde 7D and things were not working out. Now I've shot with the 5D about a bajillion times and assumed we could just use the mini-rca out like they have on the 5D. As I now know, there's no such outlet. No big deal as we had three downconverters on set with us. We tried to run the signal through an aja (production's), a blackmagic (also production's) and a decimator (mine). Nothing but fuzz. Checked the sled and the monitor and all is well. Thankfully, there was only one steadicam shot planned and nobody got mad at me and I spent the day on b-camera happy as a clam. wtf? why on earth would the manufacturer require you to downconvert the signal from the 7D when they have component out of the frikkin 5D? Is it a menu setting like it is on the sonys? Am I missing something here? Any guidance is greatly appreciated. Dave "uh, sorry guys. I can't get a signal" Baldwin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted September 1, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 I was a little embarrassed today when I couldn't get a signal to my sled's monitor. We were shooting on ye olde 7D and things were not working out. Now I've shot with the 5D about a bajillion times and assumed we could just use the mini-rca out like they have on the 5D. As I now know, there's no such outlet. No big deal as we had three downconverters on set with us. We tried to run the signal through an aja (production's), a blackmagic (also production's) and a decimator (mine). Nothing but fuzz. Checked the sled and the monitor and all is well. Thankfully, there was only one steadicam shot planned and nobody got mad at me and I spent the day on b-camera happy as a clam. wtf? why on earth would the manufacturer require you to downconvert the signal from the 7D when they have component out of the frikkin 5D? Is it a menu setting like it is on the sonys? Am I missing something here? Any guidance is greatly appreciated. Dave "uh, sorry guys. I can't get a signal" Baldwin OK, so first off the 7D does have SD output via the proprietary A/V out connector. The camera comes with a breakout cable with the standard triple RCA ends. It should be supplied with the camera, but depending on where it came from (these days, more often than not the director or producer) it may be omitted from the case. Their fault, not yours. As to why the HDMI output wasn't spitting out HD, hard to say--was the HD-SDI output tested from whatever HDMI to SDI converter was in use? How about just the HDMI output from the camera? Two variables there to check. I can't remember offhand a setting on the camera that would turn off the HDMI output, but I'm sure there is one (why it would be turned off is a good question). And otherwise, the HDMI--SDI converter could have been suspect. Lastly--I think you meant "composite out", not "component out" referring to the 5D's output. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted September 1, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 wtf? why on earth would the manufacturer require you to downconvert the signal from the 7D when they have component out of the frikkin 5D? Is it a menu setting like it is on the sonys? Am I missing something here? Any guidance is greatly appreciated. Dave "uh, sorry guys. I can't get a signal" Baldwin I know a little bit about this, might be useful. Not that I think you meant different, but just to be clear: the manufacturer doesn't require anything of you, they don't care how you monitor, they don't care about steadicam when they make a DSLR. At least for now, doubt that'll change though. Does the 5D have component out? That would require a conversion for SD as well. The 5D does have a composite output, and so does the 7D. The cables can vary, but do come with the camera. The cable I've been using normally is mini-phono to RCA. What I've been seeing the past month (and never before) on the 7Ds I have been using is a mini-USB to RCA. The port is in the same place, still labeled A/V out, it's just a mini-USB instead of mini-phono. What I haven't figured out is where the manufacturer's dividing line is. My guess is that at some point they changed the port on all cameras, I've only seen 7Ds with it so far. I've only used one 7D before August and I swear to high heaven it had a mini-phono, but I'm starting to think I made that up. I just can't imagine they would have always had mini-USB on 7Ds and not switched their other cameras at the same time. I'll be researching this week. Hope this helps, ETA: I'm too slow, Charles said it first and best. |-)~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted September 1, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 What I've been seeing the past month (and never before) on the 7Ds I have been using is a mini-USB to RCA. The port is in the same place, still labeled A/V out, it's just a mini-USB instead of mini-phono. What I haven't figured out is where the manufacturer's dividing line is. My guess is that at some point they changed the port on all cameras, I've only seen 7Ds with it so far. I've only used one 7D before August and I swear to high heaven it had a mini-phono, but I'm starting to think I made that up. I just can't imagine they would have always had mini-USB on 7Ds and not switched their other cameras at the same time. I'll be researching this week. 7D has always had the USB AV connector, as have all models that followed: 1DMKIV, 550D (aka T2i), and the new 60D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted September 1, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 7D has always had the USB AV connector, as have all models that followed: 1DMKIV, 550D (aka T2i), and the new 60D. I feared that was gonna be the case. I couldn't accept it, cause I still swear I used one with the mini-phono connector in July. Obviously I'm wrong about that, but no matter how much suggestion I put on it my memory won't budge! Glad to have that finally settled for myself, thanks Charles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Sydney Seeber Posted September 1, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 couldn't get a signal to my sled's monitor. could be one of these things HDMI was turned off cable wasn't compatible (Wrong version) or didn't seat output is set to PAL (Really unlikely) Your monitor or something in between is taking issue with HDCP, which is digital copy protection the camera itself is compatible with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted September 1, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 1, 2010 In thinking about this I'd go with the most likely issue being the HDMI converter--the AJA's don't "like" the DSLR signal and the Blackmagics have a high failure rate. Did they have a spare converter and was it tried? So many variables here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members David Baldwin Posted September 3, 2010 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 3, 2010 Thanks for weighing in guys. Apparently (like Charles pointed out) the proprietary a/v cable solves any and all issues here. No need to downconvert anything as long as that cable is in the camera bag. I still don't know what the issue with the (3)!) downconverters was but after reading your responses I know a few more things to try if I find myself without this proprietary a/v cable down the road. These DSLR jobs are coming up more and more (sometimes for decently budgeted projects!) and if this crap keeps up I'm gonna scrap that plan for a new vest and buy a frikkin Pilot... Thanks again. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Noftzger Posted June 15, 2011 Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 So my understanding is this: Unless you have an HDMI input on your monitor (which I believe very few of us have), you would need to get your hands on one of these Blackmagic HDMI to SDI converters: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6208...er_HDMI_to.html I can't seem to find a cable that runs from the Canon 7D to an SDI BNC connector on a monitor. Can anybody clarify this? Are there any cables today that will go from the 7D to the SDI BNC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Sydney Seeber Posted June 15, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 Are there any cables today that will go from the 7D to the SDI BNC? the signal from the 7D needs to be converted first, either from analog or HDMI. You need a converter in the middle somewhere if you want SDI input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Noftzger Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 OK so shooting with a cheaper camera (ie 7D) requires you to spend more money? Hmm, great. Well whats the cheapest converter that will work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Erik Brul Posted June 16, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Hi Ben, You can use the Datavideo DAC-9 converter. Nice kit, i have used it without any problems.. : http://www.datavideo.us/products/audio-video-converters/dac-9-hdmi-to-hd-sd-sdi-converter.html Approx price is about 350,- euro Only thing is, it likes regulated 12V input. So 13.8 or more.. don't think that's a good idea, be carefull Cheers, Erik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Sydney Seeber Posted June 16, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 OK so shooting with a cheaper camera (ie 7D) requires you to spend more money? heck yeah a lot of prosumer cameras have some form of SDI built in, but I haven't seen one for less than about 3 grand, hopefully the next generation of HDSLRs will come with uncompressed HDMI output. A lot of people use the Decimator with these HDSLR cameras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted June 16, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 In what way are you thinking people are using Decimators with HDSLR's? Decimators don't do the HDMI to HD-SDI conversion, and while they will downconvert HD-SDI to composite video, the camera already does that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Alec Jarnagin SOC Posted June 16, 2011 Moderators Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Charles, Thanks for clarifying this - that is what I thought and a reason I never got a Decimator 2. If they did do this conversion, I'd have bought one. The above post could have made someone run out and buy something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.