Shinobi 7

Hey everyone, I’m looking to upgrade my on-camera monitor for my FX3 and wanted to get some real-world opinions. Right now I’m strongly considering the SmallHD Cine 5 — mainly for the build quality, brightness, and color accuracy. It seems like one of those “buy once, cry once” monitors. For context, I had a Ninja V a while back and it actually died on me randomly mid-shoot. To be fair, Atomos customer service was great and replaced it without any hassle, so no complaints there — but it kind of shook my confidence in relying on it long-term. Now I’m looking for something a bit more “industry standard” that I can trust to just work and last for years. I shoot a lot in harsh environments (heat, sand, travel, etc.), so durability and reliability are a big deal for me. Main things I care about: \- Accurate color (something I can trust on set) \- High brightness for outdoor shooting \- Solid build quality / ruggedness \- Good monitoring tools (false color, waveform, etc.) \- Long-term reliability I don’t really care about external recording — just monitoring. Would you go with the Cine 5 for this, or is there something better I should be looking at? Open to anything as long as it holds up in real-world conditions. Appreciate any insight 🙏

I’ve used the shinobi 7” a few times however I do a lot of run and gun work and most of it is handheld one man show type stuff… so I was planning to stick with a 5” for lighter weight and smaller size

Atmos Shinobi 7 is 2200nit

I have the Shinobi I and II. But the II is only 1500nit. So it's not as bright. That's why I brought up the 7".

I have an Atomos Shinobi I'll let go of for cheap. What's "budget" in your world?

TLDR: ultra 7 then cine 7 are platinum and gold, ultra 5 or cine 5 take silver and bronze. I have a bunch of smallhd monitors and one atomos (og shinobi). Full list at bottom of post. Personally i prefer 7” for onboard if no one else is monitoring image, so i can keep a better eye on exposure and sharps. Depends on your build, but most of the time, particularly if you have put fx3 in a cineback or equiv, or running it on a gimbal ring, 7” feels really good. Definitely agree high bright is a top priority. To illustrate point, i always end up using my atomos shinobi, which i only consider ‘fine’, over my fancy 5 inch monitor (ultra 5). I would use one of my dp7 monitors if i could, but their hdmi input doesn’t like the fx3 signal, no idea why, screen goes yellow and black. Ultra5 is good if i really need to be smaller for some reason but it’s a minute difference and i never do it. Just saying, consider 7”, but maybe you are well aware and prefer 5”, that’s cool too. ___ Smallhd Dp7 pro high bright x2 - the GOAT, but doesn’t speak modern hdmi language 😂🥹 Smallhd 702 high bright - a toy, irritated me with its stupid little joy-nipple, sits in a box when not being given to director in handheld monitor cage. Atomos shinobi - fine, plastic, interface feels cheap and unprofessional but it works Ultra 10 - lives and works on a stand not onboard, great monitor Ultra 5 - nice monitor, for dps who want a smaller onboard pic (and in my opinion, a dedicated 1st AC)

TLDR: ultra 7 then cine 7 are platinum and gold, ultra 5 or cine 5 take silver and bronze. I have a bunch of smallhd monitors and one atomos (og shinobi). Full list at bottom of post. Personally i prefer 7” for onboard if no one else is monitoring image, so i can keep a better eye on exposure and sharps. Depends on your build, but most of the time, particularly if you have put fx3 in a cineback or equiv, or running it on a gimbal ring, 7” feels really good. Definitely agree high bright is a top priority. To illustrate point, i always end up using my atomos shinobi, which i only consider ‘fine’, over my fancy 5 inch monitor (ultra 5). I would use one of my dp7 monitors if i could, but their hdmi input doesn’t like the fx3 signal, no idea why, screen goes yellow and black. Ultra5 is good if i really need to be smaller for some reason but it’s a minute difference and i never do it. Just saying, consider 7”, but maybe you are well aware and prefer 5”, that’s cool too. ___ Smallhd Dp7 pro high bright x2 - the GOAT, but doesn’t speak modern hdmi language 😂🥹 Smallhd 702 high bright - a toy, irritated me with its stupid little joy-nipple, sits in a box when not being given to director in handheld monitor cage. Atomos shinobi - fine, plastic, interface feels cheap and unprofessional but it works Ultra 10 - lives and works on a stand not onboard, great monitor Ultra 5 - nice monitor, for dps who want a smaller onboard pic (and in my opinion, a dedicated 1st AC)