monitors

[freedom]

I bought my first piece of HD gear.
Not a lens, not a monitor; an AJA downconverter.

My main reason is to slap this onto the side of the camera and be able to put out an SD signal for my wireless video sender.
But, I can also feed my SD Sony 8044 monitor. Any issues with using this instead of a hi-def monitor other than the higher res picture? I'm doing this for doc style work where we don't use scopes and paintboxes, etc. Just check color & framing. I can rent the converter and SD monitor for the rate of a hi-def monitor.

In case anybody is looking for a downconverter, there's one that just popped up on e-bay. HD-SDI to SD, AJA.

What I did find is that this works fine with Varicam but the F900 typically does not have HD-SDI but has component HD instead. So I've ordered a component HD to HD-SDI converter also. Doubles the weight of the converter on the already heavy F900. But that's the price ya gotta pay.
If you go this route, make sure the component HD converter is the 12 volt version for use on the camera. The HD-SDI to SD converter is already 12 volt. You can plug into the anton bauer tap to power both the component HD converter and the HD-SDI downconverter.

[Shootblue]

I think it varies on your monitor to an extent...I talked to David Riddle and I think he said the 8 or 9 inch HD BVM series uses the same tube as the PVM-9L3. They both spec out at 450 lines.

[Run&Gun]

I have the PVM-9L3 and I can tell you right now, that it's not the same tube that's in the Sony HD field monitors(I've had them side by side during an HD shoot). If all you're worried about is framing, you should be OK as long as you use the safety bars. I don't trust the downconversion 100% on color. The Miranda is the best that I've used. Sometimes we'd end up with the Evertz and it almost always had some noise in the picture and the color was usually pretty poor. I've only used the AJA twice, both times on varicam shoots. It was okay and did the job, but if you have a big bank, the Miranda is the best.

One of the nice things about the 900, is the multi-pin connector on the back of the cam that allows some downconverters(like the Miranda) to just lock on like a batt, then you put the battery on it and it's like a part of the camera. Side note: the new version of the 900 has HD-SDI out, now.