Portable DVD player used as Camera LCD Viewer

Website: http://www.photographySILO.com

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Purpose:As i often shoot on location and without a laptop it was difficult to effectively inspect my shots on the fly, but now with my trusty 8.5 inch LCD portable DVD player i have a much larger view for inspection.

If you want to use your portable dvd player as a camera LCD viewer, keep on watching.

First of all, i'd like to thank David Tajeda for his video on portrait phoography where he displayed his use of a DVD player as a camera LCD. If it wasn't for that video, i probably would have pushed off getting a DVD player for that purpose.

In this video, I've also customized my camera bag to be used as a rig to hold the portable dvd player for view.

Tools needed
1.Video cable that came with your DVD player along with the RadioShack Gold Series 1/8" Mono Plug to RCA Phono Jack Model: 274-897
2.Radio Shack 16-Ft. Computer Speaker Cable, 1/8" Jack to 1/8" Plug Model: 42-2493 (for extended reach)
3.Panasonic Portable DVD player (any dvd player with a video in should work)
4.Box cutter
5.Velcro
6.Lowepro toploader 75 AW


First i will start with the DVD player to Camera connection
1.You will need the A/V cable that came with your DVD player which you will then connect to the RadioShack Gold Series 1/8' mono plug to RCA phono Jack Model:274-897
2.Now take the original 1/8" plug and connect to the DVD player, once that is complete take the the Yellow RCA end with the 1/8" mono plug to RCA Phono adapter and plug to your camera. the video out is located camera left for the Nikon D200. Make sure the plug is securely inserted before use.
3.Now turn on the DVD player and set to AUX
4.Now turn on the Camera
5.click on the menu button for a test and if you see the menu screen on the DVD LCD screen you've succeeded.
6.If you need a little more distance from the Camera to the DVD LCD viewer to allow the art director/ or Photography assistant to view the images from a far. You then unplug the A/V cable connected to your camera and take the A/V cable with the adaptor and locate the Radio Shack 16-Ft. Computer Speaker Cable, 1/8' Jack to 1/8' Plug
7.Now plug the Yellow RCA with the Gold Series 1/8' mono plug to the female end of the Radio Shack 16-ft Computer Speaker Cable 1/8" Jack to 1/8" plug. Make sure it is securely inserted.
8.Now plug the 1/8" end of the 16-ft computer cable extender and plug into your camera.
9.Switch the camera on and click Menu on your camera and wait for the menu screen to appear on the DVD LCD screen.
10.Now you have added another 16-feet to your tethered DVD LCD viewer
Second i will go over the DVD LCD Viewer rig

1.You will need the Velcro for this step along with the Lowepro toploader 75AW camera bag.
2.You will then cut out about 4-5 inches of the soft half of the Velcro and saw on to the top cover of the camera bag as you see here.
3.Then you will take the plastic half of the velcro and place the self adhesive velcro to the bottom of the DVD player. As you can see i've cut into different sized pieces so i could avoid covering the screw holes just in case you would want to open the device.
4.Now it is time to velcro these two items together.
5.Place the camera bag down belly down with the bushy velcro portion facing you.
6.now take the DVD player with the plastic half of the velcro below it and open up the screen and prep in a position where once connected to the bag the LCD is at a viewable angle.
7.Now here is the side view of the two items velcroed together.
8.With this particular setup, you have the option of viewing the LCD with the camera bag on it's belly or upright for better viewing when sitting in the car.
9.I hope this was helpful and happy shooting.
10.If you would like to see more mods and tips, please visit my blog at www.mediaonela.com/weekendphotographer
11.Tune in for more How-to videos.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• photography
• david
• tejada
• how-to
• photographysilo
• portable
• camera
• viewer
• dvd
• player
• photo
• shoot
• tool
• technology
• rig
• mod

[AirGunReviews93]

i have an av-in and an av-out, will that work?

[mediaonela]

@AirGunReviews93 Yes it will work.

[AllAmericanGuy01]

Must you set the DVD player to AUX? Because I have several DVD players, I have a 13.5 inch and a 5 inch and neither have settings for me to set the settings to AUX..Is this a problem?

[mediaonela]

Yes..you need to set the DVD player to AUX.

[MJIMAGE]

Will you be able to list the items needed for the DVD portable and the camera? Where could we find/buy those at? Thanks

[mediaonela]

I'll try to have a post on my blog soon. Continue to check it out.

[slyfoxdigitalhd]

i plug the yellow into the dvd and my vcamera nothing shows up just the dvd says line in my camera screen turns off ??

[kbhasikevin]

@warrock556 I told him that just now.

[kbhasikevin]

@mediaonela Most portable dvd players have a switch on the side to switch to AV in.

The Dynex PDVD7(and PDVD5) series is one of the portable dvd players that has NO AV in

A better way is to use the cable that was included with the camera and attach it to a coupler.(Not sure about yours because it looks like a DSLR).

[Technolab]

Hee very nice setup thnxs for the sharing

(I play the Canon and a HP laptop but this is also a good setup, nice compact for traveling or so)

[AxLstyle]

i used the lcd on my car, a 1990 jeep cherokee, i have taken an insignia portable dvd player appart and installed it in the car, instead of buying a $700+ dvd player