RED KOMODO Review:

In order to keep my rig compact and portable, I’ve gone a relatively minimalistic rig. A Wing Grip is a good, compact handle, and a Kondor Blue top plate provides an Arri style mounting point for a monitor mount. I can attach my SmallHD Focus OLED to the monitor mount, or attach a cell phone clamp if I’m using my cell phone as a monitor. 

The top screen is sharp and easy to read, though almost half of the screen real estate is dedicated to controls and tools, leaving just half for the image. It’s big enough for framing, but by itself not for judging focus, so I leave focus peaking enabled on that display pretty much permanently.

Though I’ve been able to get shots in focus using the top screen and focus peaking, it’s definitely easier with a larger screen. All of the focus and exposure tools, including edge detect focus, focus peaking, and false color are available over SDI as well as on the top monitor.

The most used functions like aperture, ISO, shutter, audio levels and histogram are accessible via the top screen, and the rest are accessible using the physical buttons arrayed along the right side of the monitor. The menu system is pretty straightforward to navigate, and  one of the buttons can be customized.

To prevent accidental touch screen interactions, the screen can be locked by pressing and holding the up and down physical buttons at the same time. Of course, the same method unlocks it.

Overall, right out of the box, the camera is very easy to use, and while it is possible to use it quite effectively without a field monitor, it is definitely easier with one.