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6DmII and field monitor via HDMI

tma
Apprentice

I need external 7" HDMI monitor to 6D Mark II for two completely independent cases:

 

1) to see scene when filming with gimbal

2) to get short movie of athlete training and reply it immediately to correct mistakes. Note: I dislike using notebook (i.e.to connect via USB) in outdoor.

 

But when HDMI is connected and camera then internal monitor is switched off in both cases. Even I understand there might be no power to drive both LCDs, the main problem is that also touch screen control is switched off. It means I cannot touch focus point (even blind touch is better than nothing) in the first case. When is in camera mode then touch screen works even with HDMI.

And for play mode I can control it only with buttons. The replay control is exceptionally non-ergonomic, does not support fast-forward or active slidebar (I even did not find it in touchscreen). I did not find any custom function to improve it as well. I believe there is also bug that in "cut mode" the set start/end buttons are not controllable via button.

 

I see menu opttion to control camera via HDMI (CEC ??? standard). 

 

  1. Does exist a way how to select autofocus point beyond touch screen (movie) ?
  2. How to quickly move in time when re-play recorded movie ?
  3. What function can be controlled with HDMI on camera? Does a low-cost field display support it ?
  4. Is HDMI problem reveals on 6D only and 5DmIV has no issue with it (i.e. bug in firmware vs. intentionally "crippled" functionality of cheaper model) ?

Thanks in advance

 

5 REPLIES 5

ljrhodes
Apprentice

I just got off the phone with Canon tech support, and they confirmed you can't use both a field monitor and the built-in display together, and there is no mechanism to control focus or anything else from the touch screen while an external monitor is connected.

 

However, I've found a not-ideal-but-still-functional workaround.  If you use the Canon Camera Connect app on your phone and turn on live view, you'll be able to use it to tap-to-focus.  The tricky part here is that, if you turn off servo AF so that you can use electronic manual focus, you won't be able to use the focus wheel of, say, the DJI Ronin S gimbal to control the focus anymore, as the camera will only respond to the Connect app, not the USB cable.  You'll have to use the on-screen manual focus controls on the phone, tapping repeatedly to get it to continue to focus one way or the other.  This also means having to mount your phone to your gimbal as well, which is just more adapters and weight.

 

This is frustrating, to be sure.  It's easy enough to make it possible through a firmware update, but considering this has undoubtedly been discussed by other 6D owners, and Canon still hasn't seen fit to roll out such an update, it wasn't simply overlooked. It was intentionally left out.  I've been a longtime Canon user, but more and more, Sony starts to look like a more customer-friendly company with their wares.

Are you sure about the 7D? I did not think *any* canon could use both the LCD and an external monitor, though it could be a capability of better DIGIC chips.

The tech support guy said the 5D Mk III was given the ability through a firmware update. The 6D Mk II's processor is even newer (by two generations). I strongly suspect it can do it.

 

I do seem to stand corrected on the 7D, though.


@kvbarkley wrote:

Are you sure about the 7D? I did not think *any* canon could use both the LCD and an external monitor, though it could be a capability of better DIGIC chips.


 


@ljrhodes wrote:

The tech support guy said the 5D Mk III was given the ability through a firmware update. The processor in the 6D Mk III's processor is even newer (by two generations). I strongly suspect it can do it.

 

I do seem to stand corrected on the 7D, though.


@kvbarkley wrote:

Are you sure about the 7D? I did not think *any* canon could use both the LCD and an external monitor, though it could be a capability of better DIGIC chips.


 


I suspect that you're probably correct!  The 6D2 may have the parts and smarts for it.  But, if the camera isn't doing something today, then it probably isn't going to be doing it tomorrow, or the day after.  Canon firmware updates tend to only fix things, not to add features.

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@Waddizzle wrote:

@ljrhodes wrote:

The tech support guy said the 5D Mk III was given the ability through a firmware update. The processor in the 6D Mk III's processor is even newer (by two generations). I strongly suspect it can do it.

 

I do seem to stand corrected on the 7D, though.


@kvbarkley wrote:

Are you sure about the 7D? I did not think *any* canon could use both the LCD and an external monitor, though it could be a capability of better DIGIC chips.


 


I suspect that you're probably correct!  The 6D2 may have the parts and smarts for it.  But, if the camera isn't doing something today, then it probably isn't going to be doing it tomorrow, or the day after.  Canon firmware updates tend to only fix things, not to add features.


They added the functionality to the 5D Mk III after its release, and it was likely do to customer requests. Sensor technology has gotten so standarsized and the manufacturing processes so reliable that full-frame is no longer a good enough reason to charge thousands of dollars for bodies.  They need to come with something more. And the 6D Mk II, which I imagine is perfectly capable of video mirroring, should have it enabled, being one of the more expensive bodies in Canon's lineup.

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