Essential On-Camera Monitor for YouTube: Why You Need One

Ready to get your next 10,000 subscribers?

Join thousands of creators who use Subscribr to create faster, better YouTube videos.

Free trial No credit card required

Essential On-Camera Monitor for YouTube: Why Solo Creators Need One

Stop the guesswork and nail your shots every time. For solo YouTube creators, achieving consistent framing, focus, and exposure can feel like a constant battle. You're the director, the camera operator, and the star, often juggling all three roles simultaneously. This is where an on-camera monitor becomes not just a luxury, but an essential tool for elevating your production quality and saving valuable time.

This article will explore why an external on-camera monitor is a game-changer for solo YouTubers, addressing common pain points and demonstrating how this piece of equipment can streamline your workflow, enhance your video quality, and ultimately help you grow your channel.

Do I Need an External Monitor for My Camera?

If you're filming yourself for your YouTube channel, the answer is likely a resounding yes, especially if you're moving beyond basic talking-head videos or struggling with inconsistent shot quality. While many modern cameras have flip-out screens, they can be small, difficult to see in bright conditions, or positioned awkwardly when the camera is far away or mounted in certain ways.

Trying to check your framing and focus on a tiny, poorly positioned screen while also trying to perform is incredibly challenging. It often leads to:

• Framing issues: Cutting off the top of your head, having too much headroom, or being off-center.
• Focus problems: Your face is blurry, or the camera focuses on the background instead of you.
• Exposure inconsistencies: Your footage is too dark, too bright, or the colors are off because you couldn't accurately judge the image.

These issues result in frustrating reshoots, wasted time in editing trying to salvage unusable footage, and ultimately, a less professional final product that can negatively impact viewer retention. An on-camera monitor provides a larger, clearer view of exactly what your camera is seeing, allowing you to make instant adjustments and ensure your shot is perfect before you even hit record.

How Does an On-Camera Monitor Help?

An external on-camera monitor directly addresses the core challenges of solo filming by providing critical visual feedback in real-time.

Eliminating Framing and Focus Issues

The most immediate benefit of an external monitor is the ability to see your framing and focus clearly. A larger screen, typically ranging from 5 to 7 inches, mounted in a position where you can easily see it (usually on top of your camera or on a nearby stand), allows you to:

• Perfectly compose your shot: See exactly where you are in the frame, ensuring you have the right amount of headroom and are centered or positioned according to your desired composition.
• Verify focus: Many monitors offer focus peaking or zoom functions that highlight what's in focus, making it incredibly easy to confirm that your eyes or the most important part of your subject are sharp. This is especially crucial when using shallow depth-of-field where focus is critical.
• Check your eyeline: Ensure you are looking directly into the lens when speaking to the camera. As YouTube strategist Mario Joos points out, consistent eyeline movement is essential for keeping viewers engaged, preventing their eyes from having to jump around the screen, which can be exhausting.

By providing this clear visual confirmation, you drastically reduce the need for reshoots caused by technical errors, saving you significant time and frustration.

Improving Production Quality

Beyond just framing and focus, on-camera monitors offer features that help you achieve better overall image quality.

• Accurate Exposure: Monitors often provide tools like histograms, false color, and zebras that help you accurately judge your exposure, preventing blown-out highlights or crushed shadows. This is particularly helpful when shooting in challenging lighting conditions.
• Consistent White Balance: Some monitors allow you to set custom white balance or use LUTs (Look Up Tables) to get a more accurate representation of your colors, ensuring consistency across your footage.
• audio monitoring: Many monitors have headphone jacks and on-screen audio meters, allowing you to monitor your audio levels and quality in real-time. This is vital for catching potential issues like clipping or background noise that could ruin an otherwise perfect take.

Upgrading your video gear, as Think Media podcast suggests, can significantly improve your quality. The visual and auditory quality of your videos acts as a "silent ambassador" for your brand, building trust and making your content appear more professional. An on-camera monitor is a key piece of gear that directly contributes to this elevation in quality.

Enhancing Workflow Efficiency

For solo creators, time is a precious commodity. Every minute spent wrestling with gear is a minute not spent creating content or engaging with your audience. An on-camera monitor streamlines your workflow in several ways:

• Reduced Reshoots: As mentioned, the ability to confirm framing, focus, and exposure instantly minimizes the need to reshoot scenes due to technical errors.
• Faster Setup: Once your monitor is set up and integrated into your rig, checking your shot becomes a quick glance rather than a cumbersome process of walking back and forth to the camera.
• More Confident Performance: When you can see yourself clearly, you're more likely to feel comfortable and confident on camera, leading to a more natural and engaging performance. This can reduce the need for multiple takes due to awkward delivery.

Think Media podcast highlights that investing in appropriate equipment can create a more efficient workflow. Setting up a dedicated filming station, which includes an easily visible monitor, means you can simply sit down, turn on your gear, and immediately start recording, eliminating setup time for each session. This efficiency ultimately saves time and potentially money by enabling faster content production.

While solutions like using a smartwatch for monitoring (as suggested by Content Creators for smartphone filming) can be helpful in some scenarios, a dedicated on-camera monitor typically offers a larger, higher-resolution display and more advanced monitoring tools.

What Size Field Monitor is Best for YouTube?

The best size for a field monitor for YouTube depends on your specific needs and filming setup, but generally, a size between 5 and 7 inches is ideal for most solo creators.

• 5-inch monitors: These are typically more compact and lightweight, making them a good choice if you need a portable setup or are mounting the monitor directly on top of a smaller camera or gimbal. They provide a significant improvement over a camera's built-out screen while remaining manageable.
• 7-inch monitors: These offer a larger viewing area, making it even easier to judge focus and composition, especially if you're filming from a slight distance. They are still relatively portable but might feel a bit bulky on smaller cameras.

Larger monitors (7 inches and above) can be beneficial if you're often filming further away from the camera or if your eyes benefit from a bigger display. However, they can also add more weight to your camera rig, which might be a consideration if you're shooting handheld or using a smaller tripod.

Ultimately, even a basic 5-inch on-camera monitor with essential features like focus peaking and on-screen meters will be a significant upgrade for a solo creator struggling with shot consistency.

Equipment Justification: Is an On-Camera Monitor Worth the Investment?

Investing in video gear requires careful consideration, especially for growth-focused creators who need to make smart financial decisions for their channel. Before purchasing an on-camera monitor, ask yourself the key questions highlighted by Think Media podcast:

1. Will this help me save time? If inconsistent shots and reshoots are eating into your production time, a monitor will likely pay for itself in saved hours.
2. Will this help me make more money (directly or indirectly)? Improved video quality can lead to increased viewer retention, higher watch times, and a more professional brand image, which can indirectly lead to more opportunities, brand deals, and potentially higher ad revenue. While you might not directly charge for using the monitor, the improved quality it facilitates contributes to your channel's overall earning potential.
3. Is this a tax write-off? Equipment purchased for your YouTube business is often tax deductible. Consult with a CPA regarding your specific situation.
4. Is this a need or a want? If you are consistently struggling with framing and focus when filming yourself, an on-camera monitor is likely a need that will solve a significant problem.

For intermediate creators looking to improve their production value and efficiency, an on-camera monitor is a worthwhile investment. It's a tool that directly addresses core technical challenges, freeing you up to focus on what truly matters: creating engaging content.

While it's true that you don't need the most expensive gear to succeed on YouTube, and prioritizing content strategy over gear acquisition is crucial, certain tools can genuinely enhance your workflow and the quality of your output. An on-camera monitor falls into this category for solo shooters. As Think Media podcast notes, don't let wanting the fanciest gear prevent you from creating, but also recognize when a piece of equipment can significantly improve your process.

Addressing Technical Complexity

The idea of adding another piece of equipment to your setup might seem daunting, especially if you're already feeling overwhelmed by camera settings and production techniques. However, on-camera monitors are generally designed to be user-friendly, and the immediate visual feedback they provide can actually reduce complexity in the long run.

Instead of trying to decipher complex camera menus or guess if your settings are correct, the monitor gives you a clear view of the result. Learning to use a monitor's features like focus peaking or histograms is often simpler than mastering every setting within your camera's internal menu system.

Think Media podcast emphasizes that you must learn how to use any tool for it to be helpful. Approach learning your monitor like any new skill – start with the basics (framing and focus) and gradually explore more advanced features as you become comfortable. Don't be afraid of the technology; it's a skill to learn, and the benefits in terms of improved quality and efficiency are significant.

Subscribr's platform is designed to help creators navigate the complexities of YouTube, from strategy to scriptwriting. While Subscribr focuses on the content creation and strategy side, understanding the fundamental role of equipment like an on-camera monitor in achieving high production quality is also part of building a successful channel.

Conclusion

For the growth-focused solo YouTube creator, an on-camera monitor is a powerful tool that can dramatically improve the technical quality of your videos and streamline your production workflow. By providing a clear, large view of your shot, it helps eliminate frustrating framing and focus issues, allows for more accurate exposure and color, and ultimately saves you time and reduces the need for costly reshoots.

While not the only piece of gear you'll need, an on-camera monitor addresses core pain points experienced by creators who film themselves. It's an investment that pays dividends in terms of saved time, reduced frustration, and a more professional final product that will help you keep viewers engaged and grow your channel. Consider adding this essential tool to your YouTube equipment setup and take the guesswork out of self-filming.