Blackmagic Design Video Assist 3G

After spending a few weeks waffling on a decision to get an Atomos or this monitor for HD video monitoring and recording for a single camera and separate microphone, I went with this model. It was a little more expensive for the features, and sure it would be nice to have the option of 4K, but for the next couple years I don't plan on upgrading all the rest of my equipment from 1080p to 4K anyways... so this one it is! The 7" screen size is perfect for being able to see focus and even little details like when some hair is out of place. The video features like zebra stripes, scope, etc. all work great and are extremely sharp and clear in real-time. The menus are intuitive and simple, and the entire touch interface is well-thought-out. Recording to SD cards is fine for HD work, and you can get some nice, fast SD cards for cheap. In my experience, after an hour or two recording, I still never heard the fan on the back. That was a fear I had with this device, that the fan would be loud enough to be heard on recordings—but at least indoors, in a conditioned environment (~76°F), the fan either never kicked on or was just super quiet. The one pet peeve I have is there seems to be no way to set the thing to record one mono audio channel to both L/R in the recorded file, so I have to swap the Left channel audio to mono in post, which is just annoying (but not a huge deal). The thing weighs almost 2 lbs, so make sure you have a stable tripod (I bought a Manfrotto PIXI EVO for desktop use) to hold it up.