Best Camera Monitors 2024 Viltrox, Osee...

These are my top 3 picks for the best - budget camera monitor in 2024 (So far)
Osee Lilmon 5, Viltrox DC-550 & Viltrox DC-550 Pro
Check out the current prices on Amazon (affiliate links)
* Osee Lilmon 5 - amzn.to/431lqlw
* Viltrox DC-550 - amzn.to/3P2a4Ia
* Viltrox DC-550 Pro - amzn.to/3P7Riz5
The Lilmon 5 from Osee has been my daily driver for quite some time thanks to it's clever OS and the level of control you have over your image.
The Viltrox DC-550 series managed to really surprice me with their incredible price to performance. They're not as jam packed with advanced features as the Osee Lilmon 5 - But will cover the needs of a lot of shooters.

[@watzmaaname]

Excellent comparison! Thank you!

[@ThomasFransson]

Glad it was helpful, thanks for watching

[@ClareFPV]

Excellent review and amazing comparison. Thanks mate 👏🏼

[@ThomasFransson]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching

[@ResonatorProductions]

I found this comparison very useful, thank you 👍

[@ThomasFransson]

Glad to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to comment

[@josecarrillocabrera2508]

Great video Thomas! So the viltrox false color reads after or before the lut is applied? I would rather have it read before the lut for achieving more precise exposure. Thanks!

[@ThomasFransson]

I believe it's the standard after. (I run my luts in camera these days) But normally you'll measure after. The Osee offers more technical control in this regard.

[@EvertonSchmitt]

Nice video!! I would like to know about the delay of the Viltrox, I've watched a lot of videos and no one talks about it, and by the images it seems to have a strong delay. I really want to buy one as an upgrade to my Feelworld MA6, but this is holding me back. Thanks again for the review!

[@ThomasFransson]

I've not done any latency comparisons with the DC-550 but it seems quite avarage. Lower latency than my Feelworld F6 Plus. The HDMI protocol have it's own latency obviously, but it may also come down to what signal one is sending to the monitor and the amount of internal processing in the monitor when it comes to latency performance. I've been thinking about this but have yet to come up with a controlled way of measuring this between different monitors.

[@EvertonSchmitt]

@@ThomasFransson Perfect! Thank you for the answer and attention. I purchased it now, let's see how it works!

[@ThomasFransson]

Nice! Glad to be able to help. Hope you enjoy your new monitor.

[@user-kf3ix2kd1o]

I'm kind of leaning towards Viltrox but I believe it's a bit heavier than Lilmon especially with sun-hood attached, tho can you actually feel the difference in hands?

[@ThomasFransson]

There's a slight difference. I believe the Viltrox is 280g not sure if that's with or without the hood. Osee Lilmon 218-220g and is a bit slimmer. So it depends, if you’re looking for the most compact and lightweight option- Lilmon would be the one. Then again for hand held shooting, a little extra weight is always welcome to help steady the camera.

[@undefwun2135]

I wanted the Viltrox 550 Pro, but it was easier for me to get my hands on a Godox GM6S over the counter. Pretty damn happy. Image quality is great.

[@ThomasFransson]

Nice

[@derwinjax]

I really like the DC550 but what I don’t like is the location of the HDMI cable attachment.

[@ThomasFransson]

Yes, they could've switched places on the in and out ports. But then again, as long as you're not using a cable with a super bulky connector, it shouldn't be a huge problem. Only if you want to turn the monitor around or swing it around sideways.

[@Ant-dx8yt]

I have a monitor and can honestly say I've used it once, it's been in its case for a year nearly, i guess you should carefully consider if you need one or not before parting with your hard earned cash, I totally regret buying one, along with all the accessories, batteries, cases etc etc, they are a great asset IF you actually need one..... I got caught up on the idea of having one but in practical terms... nah... I can't even remember what model I bought 😅, I'd have to dig it out to see😂. BUT, this is a great review of these monitors, its a great comparison for people looking for a good practical monitor.

[@ThomasFransson]

I hear you, if it doesn't solve a problem or make things easier it doesn't have to go on the rig. Except matte boxes when doing client work even indoors ;) Thank you, I appreciate it!

[@RonnerFTW]

How would you compare these to an Atomos Shinobi? Got a deal for one + a dual NP charger and a F970 battery for $280, however I don't know if it being +5 years old at this point is gonna bite me down the road instead of going with newer versions like your showcased in this video.

[@ThomasFransson]

That's a tough choice - I believe the Shinobi sits at around $400 new. And I think that's with batteries and the whole nine... So not a significant saving buying used (if I'm still correct about the $400) It's not a bad monitor an similar to the Lilmon 5 in weight, brightness and overall features, maybe the Lilmon have a few more features. While the shinobi may have a slightly higher pixel density compared to both the Viltrox and Osee monitors - If you need that extra detail for even more critical manual focusing. There's also things like cages and other 3rd party accessories available for the Shinobi. But in most cases I think the Viltrox and Osee Monitors can do a similar job for less.

[@unityartistryfilms521]

Do not get the Shinobi warning… I bought June 2022 (Amazon new) used it one hand handful of times barely you used. I was using the Shinobi to mirror off the remote of the DJI RC 2 to mirror off. Last week I used it and it was working perfectly flying this weekend. I went flying used it. It worked for about two hours then it quit now it won’t turn on. I tried everything… had it connected and powered up Zitay dummy battery Samllrig 99w battery… never use the adapter, took it out of the box. Tried it out and still no go….Quite upsetting!

[@sladjj]

You don't talk about color accuracy. Which one is better in that regard? Which one shows an image closer to what we see in camera? Thanks

[@ThomasFransson]

Thanks, If that's a priority you should definitely go with the Osee. It even has a port for calibration if you have a colorimeter. The Viltrox monitors can be adjusted and they're not bad. But the Osee Lilmon 5 gives you way more control at a more professional level. You can check out the dedicated Lilmon review on the endscreen, I think I even opened that video with "how color accurate it is"

[@AnuEletu]

quick one, Just picked up the Viltrox pro and for the life of me it won't read the HDMI output for some reason. can't get any images to show on the screen

[@ThomasFransson]

The HDMI output from your camera? Probably your HDMI camera settings if that's the case, the monitor can handle a 4K signal up to 4K 30fps if you're outputting a higher frame rate it might not be able to convert the signal to a displayable image. Also some cameras have finicky HDMI settings not allowing you to view both your camera screen and over HDMI

[@AnuEletu]

@@ThomasFranssonI have a Sony A6400 and tried sending signal to it at 24 fps and 30fps still nothing. Edited all the hdmi setting and still no signal recognizable

[@ThomasFransson]

Unless you accidentally connected the cable to hdmi out on the monitor it could be a bad cable, broken hdmi port, bad battery, hdmi settings or a faulty monitor. When it powers on even if theres no signal you should be able to access and see the different exposure tools when double tapping on the monitor or using the buttons or control wheel... Sadly not familiar with the hdmi settings or menu in general on the a6400. You could reach out to viltrox and see if they have any suggestions or tests you can do to verify everything is working. Hook the monitor up to a dvd player, computer or graphics card with a different cable.

[@TheLinesEnd]

Bruh the feelworld f6 pro is AMAZING. It’s 1600 nits, has all the tools, and comes with a battery.

[@ThomasFransson]

Lot's of options out there. But these are my top pics. The Feelworld F6 pro has the brightness but falls behind in other areas.

[@TheLinesEnd]

@@ThomasFransson would you care to elaborate? Other than it not being a recorder it has every tool you can think of. Peaking, false color, zebras, mapping, desqueeze, 3d luts, calibration…

[@ThomasFransson]

It totally depends on what one need the monitor to be able to do. In a studio setting or for indoor events, even 400-500 nits would be sufficient a lot of times. Are you using manual focus a lot, in that case a monitor with higher pixel density than the F6 will probably make your life easier. Do "you" shoot material for chroma keying or other technical applications. Or maybe narrative work, then a monitor like the Lilmon 5 might be a better choice as it gives you control over things like gamma type and color space. And let's you monitor your exposure before any applied LUTS for correct white points for correct exposure and things like exposure matching. Is having minimum lag an important factor and so forth... There are a lot of options and choices and like I mentioned in the beginning of this video - "These are MY top three..." others may have different brands and models they would like to recommend based on features, price and other factors. My list is based on monitors that own and/or have used extensively myself. I've not used the F6 Pro, if I had, it might have made it onto the list, who knows... I have the older F6 Plus which didn't make it on this list... But I use it almost daily in my studio and at work.

[@daniel_grachev]

Awesome comparison👍🏼 got DC550 pro literally this week as my first ever monitor and wow, does it make the job easier! Made me actually want to start using manual focus and I was so happy to see that you can use focus peaking on a gray-scale image at the same time. Having customiseable pages and not just the quick buttons would've definitely been helpful for quick workflow, but oh well, can't have it all😂

[@ThomasFransson]

Awesome! That's still a great monitor! Definitely experiment with manual focus. It opens up for a lot of creative shots and focus pulls within shots.

[@xxStreetRidaxx]

I got the dc 550 pro recently as well, the only thing that’s disappointing is the LUTS feature. It doesn’t display all your luts properly😪 None of my phantom luts are displayed right, super contrasty and the colours are just not right. That’s my only issue with this monitor

[@daniel_grachev]

@@xxStreetRidaxx yeah, I got the same problem, but I thought that my luts were just being bad 🤣. Now I kinda want to download their lits from their website and see if those work at all... Is it really an issue with the monitor? Maybe it just needs to be a certain format or we are missing something?

[@ThomasFransson]

Interesting, I run the lut (Phantom Neutral) in camera on my FX30 - so I've just test loaded a few luts on to the monitor to verify that everything works as should. Are you using the conversion or monitor luts on the monitor? Whatever one you have on there now, try the other one and see if that helps. There's the WDR-Pre-LUTs, Cine, ATOMOS monitor luts if I recall correctly...

[@xxStreetRidaxx]

@@daniel_grachev It’s able to handle normal luts like a conversion lut but anything heavy will display with orange-ish colours and a punchy contrast image, it’s a mess

[@JonSteine]

Might have to upgrade soon 😅

[@ThomasFransson]

Swing by and try them out when you feel like it.

[@gerdavfx]

What about the 550 Lite? Is it much worse?

[@ThomasFransson]

The Lite have a different panel, not as bright as the regular and pro version. If you're mainly planning on using it indoors it'll work well. But it will be difficult to see details out in bright sunlight.

[@f1remandg]

I’m sorry but your mic needs adjusting or your music as on some sentences your voice disappears on whatever frequency it is, and in the end although I was enjoying the review, I had to give up as it became annoying!

[@ThomasFransson]

Yep, some audio settings went bananas on this one.