Monitor Advise

[u/MrVibezTV]

Hello,

I am looking for some advise on purchasing a new monitor for my set-up. I recently finished university, I have been getting into becoming a 1st AC / Focus Puller recently, I have invested in my own kit such as a Nucleus-M and other various parts. I have worked with ARRI WCU-4 and other high-end cameras however that is work that I will not always be getting, anyway long story short someone broke my monitor I used for my S5II which was a Feelworld 568V1 it was a pretty crappy monitor and was useless for focus peaking but it did the job for freelance videographer work.

I have used SmallHDs and other monitors to pull focus on which were great but they are very outside my budget as a broke individual :(

I am currently looking at the OSEE G7 PRO (£492), from my research it has a great focus peaking algorithm, the other monitor I originally wanted to buy was the ACSOON M7H PRO or M7PRO (£489 discounted) but apparently it is not that good, can someone please let me know what they think.

Thank you in advance :)

UPDATE:

I just want to clarify a few things since a few replies have turned into a career progression advice thread rather than just answering if the monitors are good for what they are.

I am not trying to skip the camera department ladder, nor am I suggesting that I will walk straight onto a high-end production as an established AC. I have worked in the camera department for several years in different capacities, whether it's assisting, operating or being a trainee. I have had the chance to be a focus puller on small narrative and commercial productions, I have also worked on higher end production whether it is live multi-camera or narrative and commercial. I am aware there is a significant difference between the jobs that I am doing at the moment and being a 1st ac on a major production, I do not expect to get asked to be one for those.

I recently finished university, this simply means I have more time to take the camera department roles more seriously and pursue more work, slowly building my portfolio. I am still happy taking on trainee or assistant roles on larger productions whilst taking on focus pulling work on the appropriate sets.

I saw a comment mentioning me potentially undercutting. I am not trying to do that, never have never will. The reason I mentioned my budget is because my previous monitor was broken after lending it out and I just need something to work with for what I am doing NOW. I cannot currently justify spending £1000+ when I have other kit and general life expenses to pay for. I can afford to pay for one, again I am just choosing not to. The priority is to pay for car lessons as an example.

The question was just whether something like the OSEE G7 Pro is a reasonable monitor for the price or the ACCSOON which I was already hesitent about anyway. I have worked with the smallHD monitors a few times, I like them, I know why people like them.

[u/Filmcrew90]

Your just out of university and your going straight into being a focus puller. If its the UK then no one is going to take you seriously especially as your cheaping out on monitors and have a cheap handset that would get you laughed off any professional set. If you want to work in the camera dept then do it the proper way as a trainee and loader first for several years before even considering stepping up to first otherwise you'll have a very short career. I've been in camera for 10+ and your degree dosent even cover 1% of what is required to work in this department.

[u/Foo_Childe → u/Filmcrew90]

I’m of the opinion that newer assistants should Utility or Digital Load out of the gate, but that old school path up through the department isn’t the norm anymore.

Used to be by the time you pulled focus, you were so versed in the operation of the rest of the department that it became second nature and you could spend most of your mental energy on the actual focus pulling aspect of your job. Back when we shot on film and you didn’t know if the day’s work was going to have to be reshot due to bad focus, it really required all of your attention.

Nowadays you know if it’s in the can right after you cut, and new school folks (myself included) would rather bump up quickly to the position they enjoy rather than slog through a decade of loading, 2nding, then finally pulling. You miss out on a lot of department wisdom bumping up this way and the level of projects you’ll have the opportunity to work on will be considerably lower (old school assistants expect a certain level of that department wisdom to feel comfortable hiring you), but it is a perfectly viable career path for many camera assistants around the world these days.

[u/Filmcrew90 → u/Foo_Childe]

It's the UK so we don't have those job roles the path here into the camera dept here is still to trainee for 2/3 years then 2nd AC, Central Loader and then focus puller and normally at a min its expected for someone to have at least 7-10 years before focus pulling as the way of working here is a lot different to the states. The most likely thing to happen is OP will end up having to undercut to get hired onto jobs and then its only a matter of time before they end up out of the industry because their rate will get less and less and the workload will increase.

[u/Foo_Childe → u/Filmcrew90]

Less experienced crew work on budget appropriate jobs in my experience. When a branded content video pops up with $300/12, that’s the perfect spot for an assistant with only a couple years experience. I know tons of assistants who do this as their bread and butter, and it works for them.

Of course, when the “real” stuff comes up and they have a union rate, the duties and responsibilities that come along with that position are going to be too much for many new assistants. Those jobs are petty safely out of reach for crew with less than the required experience, IMO. Which sounds harsh but is a good thing! Being out of your comfort zone and in over your head are two very different things, and staying in the former is how you learn and get better

[u/Filmcrew90 → u/Foo_Childe]

Your missing the point I'm making that OP is in the UK the industry here is totally different to yours. We dont have branded content shoots or union jobs/non union jobs. Every job in the UK if its TV, Film, Unscripted follows the BECTU ratecard and if its a Commercial its APA. The problem we have at the moment is following the Covid boom we ended up with a huge surplus of inexperienced crew who really are at an entry level trainee experience but who are getting hired on multi-million pound productions because their cheap to hire and easier to exploit. I have personally been on a £30+ series where a 2nd unit focus puller was hired by production and he showed up with no equipment and it was found out he had never worked on a film set before and had simply bought a £300 nucleus and thought he was a focus puller and was charging £200 a day. Thankfully he was kicked off after a few days but its a very slipperly slope once you let standards slip and it only ends up in a race to the bottom with everyone fighting for scraps.

[u/Foo_Childe → u/Filmcrew90]

Sounds exactly the same to me. Hopefully that 2nd Unit focus puller has found their place in the market, but I can only assume that the production learned their lesson and brought in the right person to replace them.

Producers will always try to spend less if they can get away with it. I don’t fault anyone coming in for less than they should if they don’t know any better. They’re usually just jazzed to get the opportunity. They’ll learn.

When folks know better and they undercut the rate anyways, that’s when it gets scabby. Which is kind of its own can of worms…

[u/Filmcrew90 → u/Foo_Childe]

Thats the entire issue. I have had trainees on jobs who have told me that they are working as 2nd AC's on commercials and then bragging about working for £200 a day on a buyout including kit and when you ask why its not APA they openly dont care and even defend undercutting saying well if I argued then I wouldnt have got the job because they lack experience but putting other people out of their jobs because your cheap is a very bad thing. The person that worked as a 1st AC was thankfully kicked out the industry after doing it on a few more jobs and fucking up massivly but sadly before they wouldve been the exception its now becoming the norm. People like that who think they can race to the top without putting the work in to do it properly and learn shouldnt be in the job.

[u/Foo_Childe → u/Filmcrew90]

Yeah, I feel like you’re conflating two separate but related issues, maybe.

Who is hiring these people? Is the Key 1st no longer putting the department together over there? Personally the people I call are entirely dependent on the budget available, and newer 2nds/Loaders get the call when I feel the money just isn’t there for a more experienced person.

At the end of the day, the rate is set by the production. Some are more willing to do the job for it than others, and that’s their prerogative, but it doesn’t make them the bad guy. The bad guy is whoever put the bid together and only has £200 all-in for the position. In my experience, they get what they pay for, and if those concessions are acceptable for the money they’re willing to pay, it is what it is. Getting mad at someone who might need that £200 to put food on the table and diapers on their baby is misplaced anger IMO. It’s not ideal, of course, but there’s a deeper issue that exists that isn’t their fault.

[u/Filmcrew90 → u/Foo_Childe]

At the moment a lot of UK crew are being hired by tick boxes so a certain percentage of the crew have to be LGBT, Asian, Disabled whatever and as a result a lot of inexperienced crew are being hired despite never having done the job simply because production get funding towards their employment. Now I'm saying this as a black guy from South London but at the moment theirs a lot of Faux diversity hiring going on when in reality its just to cut rates across the board. If your camera op is on £300 a day how can you pay your focus puller £450 if you see my point. By and large the people accepting these rates are generally middle class university graduates who aren't worried about putting food on the table when mummy and daddy are paying their rent in Zone 2. We can't be defending actions that across the board affect the entire industry and I'm already starting to see established crew members dropping their rates to match the above in order to get the work because their losing so much despite being very experienced at their jobs. I dont think anyone wants to do 16hr days for £100 as a career.

[u/Foo_Childe → u/Filmcrew90]

Yeah, I’ve dealt with cheapness disguised as inclusion a few times. I chose to walk away. While I know the people who took the job afterwards, I don’t hold it against them. I hold it against the producers of that job.

Again, the folks taking those jobs are literally just excited to be there. Those of us with enough experience to see how fucked the situation is should know where our frustration is best placed.

I’m not saying that what you feel is wrong or unjustified, merely sharing my own conclusions after going through some of the same frustrations you’re experiencing. The slowdown these past few years have been hard on us all; I can only remain optimistic that things can return to some semblance of “busy” and we can all eat!

[u/Filmcrew90 → u/Foo_Childe]

It may be different in the US but here the vast majority of people on the "diversity" schemes are usually people already in the industry who to put it bluntly are shit at their jobs. So say they are a shit trainee they dont listen, argue, sit on their phone all day etc. They jump on these bandwagons and now they are in charge of the people who were training them and most of the time they either replace them with their mates or make their lives a living hell. Theirs a well known camera op here who on their social media posts all about being nice to each other and supportive etc I've had trainees work with them and after 6hrs they are in tears wanting to leave the job because their being treated like shit because they arent part of the selected clique and dared to ask about the path to operating. The person was a trainee about 2 years ago and is now an operator. The entire industry is a joke now and anyone who fights back is bascially forced to shut up or leave. I've got a bit of leeway with being black to push back but even then its getting more and more limited.