DLC Swivi External Swivel 5.6" diagonal LCD Monitor for DSLR

by Swivi

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6 x 12 inches ; 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B006FC8JHI
• Item model number: JU0377
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,807 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 28, 2011

Product Description

Swivi is a new and innovative design which adds a large 5.6 swivel HDMI LCD to any camera. The large 5.6 Swivi LCD adds form and function for Photographers and Videographers. Viewing video recording and replay on a larger size LCD Screen allows you to be more accurate on framing, focusing and less chance of reshooting. The swivel function gives you flexibility to capture low angle shots and creative composition. Swivi mounts with your existing camera tripod mount and offers a high definition live view through your camera's HDMI output. It also provides Peaking Focus, Zoom In & Out functions and built in stereo speakers. Along with optional sun shade, Swivi screen is more convenient to use outdoor. Swivi powers up using a Canon LP-E6 battery or a AAA battery adapter. Battery adapter is included. Swivi is a US company based at Houston, TX, which proudly warrants Swivi with 1-Year USA Limited Warranty.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Unbeatable For The Price January 17, 2012

By Christian Fiore

Even though it's made of plastic, it's well constructed, especially the base, which is rock solid. Takes a bit of cranking on the screw to get the camera fully seated, more than my battery grip. The monitor swings out smoothly, with detents for rotation. Has a built in swivel HDMI connector, which I haven't seen available anywhere (I'd love to get another one, or 10!). Mine also came with a 90 degree 1/8" / 3.5mm adapter for audio in the outer box, most likely since there's no room to put a straight plug into the audio jack.

On to the screen itself, it's nice and bright, with great colors. I could even calibrate it so it matches my PC's calibrated display. There's no guesswork in setting exposure. What you see on the monitor is what you'll see on your PC. Lots of settings available to tweak it to your preferences. Flips the picture automatically when you rotate to 180 degrees, and the included sun shade (which is very nice) is even reversible.

Now the best part, focus peaking. The Swivi has 2 modes: one for Nikon, and one for Canon. On Nikon, it turns the output black and white, with white peaking. I was somewhat disappointed by this, since it's in color with green peaking on Canon cameras, but it's still perfectly usable. Peaking sensitivity is adjustable, good for compensating if you're using higher ISOs. And speaking of high ISOs, this thing can even get accurate peaking at 25,600 on my D7000! I had software on my laptop that did focus peaking and false color, but got really confused at around 3200. The Swivi is even more accurate than the camera's Live View AF, since I can easily pull focus in situations where the camera will just hunt.

As far as audio, the speakers are much louder and a bit clearer than the D7000's internal one....

Really, the only thing I could consider a negative would be the hinge. It takes a good amount of force to swing the monitor out from its resting position, and I don't know how much force the plastic hinge can take. I'm very careful when I swing it out because of this. Rotation is fine, though.

Finally, it uses readily available Canon LP-E6 batteries, which provide around 1:45 of life. The screen displays a 4 segment battery meter, and even has a battery life countdown starting with 15 mins remaining.

Build Quality: 8/10 (only negative is uncertain hinge durability)
Features: 8/10 (for what it can do, it's very flexible as far as adjustability)
Performance: 9/10 (accurate colors and peaking)
Price: 10/10 Read more ›

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars good and bad... August 12, 2012

By gabriel

Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this to use this on my 7D for shooting video.

Pros:
gives a true swivel viewfinder.
good sized screen.
decent resolution.
good price.
uses common LP-E6 batteries.
good for clients peering over your shoulder.
hdmi pass through.

Cons:
the baseplate knob is accesses only from the side, so it's almost impossible to get a really firm grip, so if you're using with a follow focus or anything else where "play" is unacceptable, it's not useable.
in order to attach the hdmi, the monitor must be dismounted first.
if the batteries run out while shooting, it shuts the camera down (and you lose whatever you were recording).
it sometimes appears very bright in the monitor but the actual recorded image is much darker.
no ac/dc power option.
burns through batteries very quickly.
as far as I can tell there's no way to mount it to any other spot aside from on the camera, since the hdmi cable is so short. so it's pretty limited in use.

These days I rarely use it. I bring it with me to shoots, but when it comes down to it, it's just not worth the hassle most of the time.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good Overall April 21, 2012

By maskirovka VINE™ VOICE

I'm writing this review as a very serious, professional level photographer. I'm not writing this as a videographer. I bought the Swivi because for some photography I do (most notably dance and stage performance) I'm more or less having to max out my camera's capabilities and I have to keep checking to see if I'm getting pictures that are nice and sharp. The LCDs on the backs of my Canon EOS 7D and 5D Mark II don't really cut it for on the scene quality control

So I realized I needed to get an external LCD monitor that I could use to do my reviews. But when I looked at the most popular ones, they seemed to only offer the option of being installed into the hotshoe of the camera (or require you to buy an additional accessory if you wanted different mounting). I try to take good care of my gear, but I could readily envision the LCD monitor snapping off such a mount.

This is why I chose the Swivi. It's a nice large monitor and the framework it comes with allows you to have the screen either to the side of the camera or in front of it (sort of like a big LCD).

After using the Swivi in the field for the first time today (at a jazz dance event), I came back reasonably pleased. The Swivi allowed me to review my images (and the peak focusing feature provided an additional degree of certainty that the pictures I was taking were in focus).

I did deduct a star for one design defect and the heavy battery drain the Swivi imposed. The mount on the camera tends to loosen up (although not disastrously). I also noticed that the Swivi seemed to drain batteries pretty darn quickly ...which means I will definitely bring out more fully charged batteries for future shoots.

Overall, I'm pleased with it and would recommend it to event photographers.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Just okay October 20, 2012

By mamlalif

I expected more for the money, can't say I would buy this one again. Unfortunately, I waited too long to return it and now I'm stuck with it - my bad. In the meantime I'll keep searching for something better, lighter, faster...

Pros: Sun shade works great, I was having major issues not being able to see anything on a sunny day using the back of my D7000. Without a doubt its nice to have a bigger area to adjust focus on, especially if your vision isn't 20/20. Being able to swivel the screen is a helpful.

Cons: The peak function really doesn't focus very well, so I don't trust it. This feature was a main selling point for me, too bad its more hipe than fact. I am not a tripod shooter so with the moving around I do the unit is constantly backing off the screw and I have to retighten it. It really eats through batteries, I carry at least three for a four hour shoot and that's with turning the unit on and off to try to conserve battery life. I'd prefer to leave it on, but it takes too long to power up, and I have lost some great photojournalistic footage because of that. The unit is big and bulky and heavy. Would be a better design if somehow mounted above the camera to streamline it when moving through crowds. If you attempt any angled glide shots the screen has play in its hinge and will jerk the camera, you also have to tighten the crap out of the screw so the unit doesn't move with gravity.

In short, the extra bells and whistles you pay for aren't worth the cost, and aren't necessary for its primary use - focusing. It's a display screen, and not much more.