Sony’s RM-DP7 and RM-DP5 turn a monitor into a Cinema Line camera controller

Sony has announced two devices that answer a question its FX cameras have quietly been posing for a while: if the camera’s key controls now live on a single home screen, why not put that screen where the operator actually stands? The RM-DP7 and RM-DP5 are external monitors that also control the camera, and they turn Sony’s BIG6 interface into a proper control surface. Details are on the official Sony RM-DP5 and RM-DP7 page. A monitor that controls the camera The idea at the centre of both units is straightforward. Instead of an external monitor that only shows you the image, these let you operate the camera from the monitor side — adjusting focus with compatible autofocus lenses, zoom with compatible power-zoom lenses, and exposure and other key settings, all without walking back to the body. That is built around Sony’s BIG6 home screen, the six-parameter layout that began on...