A year ago we made a video on the Feelworld 759: a really decent budget 7 inch monitor which we thought was a great introductory bit of kit.
But now we’ve found something around the same price that blows the 759 out of the water.
This is the Pergear a7s. It has a really stupid name, but for the price, it’s packs one hell of a punch. Welcome to The Film Look.
Before you ask, yes, the Pergear monitor does work with any camera using HDMI, not just the Sony a7s like it’s daft name might have you believe.
Today we are going head to head to see just how much better it is compared to our current budget 7 inch monitor, the Feelworld 759. Let’s get started!
The points for {Build Quality} go to Pergear:
Both of these monitors have a budget look and feel to them. They both have a plastic body, but both are pretty solid in the twist test. There is almost no flex to them.
The Pergear is a bit sleeker-looking once you move the protective gel cover because of it’s lack of face buttons - instead they are sunken on top.
It also has a jog wheel on the side, which is a lot faster and easier to navigate the menus than using the buttons on the Feelworld.
The Pergear comes with a thread on it’s top as well as the bottom, incase you want to mount it in a hanging position.
{I/O} - Pergear wins again:
Both of these monitors use HDMI in, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a DC 12volt socket for plug-in power.
The Feelworld includes a socket for an OSD controller, an AV socket, and a USB port for firmware upgrades - none of which I have any use for.
The Pergear trumps these features with an HDMI out, which means you can daisy chain this monitor to another. This is useful if you are using an additional monitor off the camera for pulling focus or for a director's viewing screen.
The Screen - Another point to Pergear:
At 1200p you get a full HD monitor when shooting at 16:9, which really does make the difference when checking your focus.
The Feelworld is only 800p, and at first I didn’t think it would make much of a difference.
But look at the difference when trying to focus on some text in the distance.
The colour accuracy isn’t great for both of these monitors. But the Pergear IS sharper, brighter, has a better contrast ratio, and a better viewing angle.
Software Features - again, a point to Pergear, and this is where the difference is staggering:
They do both come with a load of similar features, some of the more useful ones being: centre markers and image flip.
They both have focus assist, but I will say now the focus assist on the Feelworld is terrible. Instead of identifying your focus field with a coloured line it just makes everything super sharp, which doesn’t help at all.
The additional features that come with the Pergear that I think are invaluable are:
Zebras for exposure checking, false colour for exposure and lighting ratios, it has a histogram, on-screen audio levels, and the safety markers and letterbox overlays are customizable too, so you can choose the thickness and colour of the lines, and the darkness of the letterbox overlay.
The Pergear even has a battery gage, so you know when you’re about to lose power!
When I started this review I thought I’d be tallying up the scores and dividing it by the price to get an average value of each product. But considering the Pergear has won in every category and is only an extra $20, it’s safe to say it’s the winner.
If you are looking at getting your first camera monitor, or you want to pick up something with a few more features, grab yourself a Pergear.
The ones I saw advertised didn’t come with any batteries, so if you do order one get a bunch of NPF750s. I have linked the Pergear and batteries in the description.
And if you haven’t already, consider subscribing. We do reviews like this and a load of other filmmaking videos to help you get closer to achieving the film look.
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Equipment Links
🎥 This episode's kit/gear/equipment:
US links:
Pergear a7s: http://amzn.to/2hQYkvS
NPF750 Batteries: http://amzn.to/2hIJZOi
UK links:
Pergear a7s: http://amzn.to/2jI1Xon
NPF750 Batteries: http://amzn.to/2jJNckM
DISCLAIMERS:
Some of these links are affiliate links, if you purchase gear via these links The Film Look will receive a small commission, but there will be no additional cost to you. Thank you!