Why You Should Be Diving with a Monitor

In this article from The Underwater Photography Show, we'll be diving into external monitors — what they are, why they've become so popular, and everything you need to know before adding one to your rig.

I'll admit — this is Matthew — I've been extolling the virtues of monitors for a while now, and with interest growing massively, it was time to make the case properly. So I'll be leading this article!

Monitors have been standard kit for video shooters for years, but they've only become genuinely useful for stills photographers because of the rise of mirrorless cameras. A monitor simply pulls the video feed off your camera's LCD or EVF, which means it doesn't touch your camera's performance at all — unlike a DSLR, where using live view to feed an external monitor comes at a real cost (everybody knows DSLR live view is more or less useless). With mirrorless, that limitation completely disappears, and monitors have become genuinely in vogue.

I (Alex) don't use a monitor, but the uptake in the hundreds of photographers that join me for workshops each year is obvious. Three years ago, someone showing up with a monitor was a once-a-year novelty — everyone would gather round and marvel at how strange the camera looked. Now most workshops have at least one person shooting with a monitor, and quite a few workshops have two or three. It's gone from a curiosity to something that's genuinely permeating the community.

The only monitors I (Matthew) have used in the water are Kraken's — I've been through every generation, from the original 7-inch down to the newer 5-inch versions, with a second and now third generation of each. I haven't taken the third generation underwater yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Almost every monitor on the market falls somewhere in the 5 to 7 inch range (roughly 14 to 24 cm, measured diagonally), regardless of manufacturer, though Nauticam has one that runs a bit bigger. Most — Angler Fish, Kraken, and others — are self-contained units: the monitor and its housing are one sealed piece. Nauticam also makes a self-contained option, plus housings designed for monitors that record directly, such as an Atomos. That recording setup is more relevant if you're a video shooter; for my purposes, a monitor is purely about getting a bigger, more comfortable view of what the camera is already seeing.

I do a lot of muck and critter diving, which means I'm often shooting very low to the bottom. Being able to tilt the monitor upward and read a big screen without getting anywhere near the substrate is hugely valuable — and it also lets me get the camera itself as low as possible when a subject calls for an eye-level shot. I've pushed a camera into tight corners on wrecks and still been able to see my exact composition on the screen, which just isn't possible looking through a viewfinder in the same position.

One example that sticks with me: I shot a frogfish wedged up against a dock piling that I physically could not have gotten myself into position to see through a viewfinder. With the monitor, I could put the camera somewhere I couldn't get my eye to, and still nail the composition and the shot.

It does add bulk, and there are still occasionally moments I'd prefer a viewfinder. But the vast majority of the time, I'd rather have the monitor on. Even better news is that the manufacturers keep making them smaller, thinner, and lighter — you're no longer lugging a brick underwater. I've converted a lot of photographers to shooting with monitors, and once they make the switch, they don't want to go back to a viewfinder or a bare LCD.

Most monitors are refreshingly simple. On the self-contained units, you have the monitor itself, an HDMI cable running from the monitor to a bulkhead on your housing, and a small internal cable — HDMI or micro USB, depending on your camera — connecting that bulkhead to the camera. Most kits, including Kraken's, come with all the spare parts you need to set up and dive.

Monitors are reliable, but those small cables and connectors are the pieces most likely to fail, but a failure doesn't stop you from shooting — it just stops the monitor working. If it goes down mid-trip, you simply fall back to the LCD or a viewfinder and keep taking pictures.

One feature I've grown to appreciate, particularly shooting the Nauticam EMWL, is screen inversion. A couple of button presses flips the image, which eliminates the need to use the relay lens when shooting both standard macro and the EMWL on the same dive. The monitor allows you to flip the image upside down or backwards, even if the camera itself doesn't offer that option.

Camera housings, in my opinion, aren't quite there yet in terms of being purpose-built for monitors. Nauticam has started adding threaded holes to the top of some housings, which gives you a proper mounting point, but a lot of older and smaller models don't have that yet.

My personal preference is to mount the monitor up top and fold it down behind the housing, rather than having it stick straight up above the camera. Folded down gives a more natural viewing angle, and I can tilt it up when I need to without it adding clutter or blocking my view over the top of the housing — which matters if I need to peek up and orient myself.

Kraken monitors have two mounting points, one near the top and one near the bottom, so you can orient the unit however suits your setup. Because I fold mine down, I mount from the top, which keeps the buttons accessible at the bottom. For clamps, a single long clamp is usually enough, especially with the newer, thinner monitors. With older, bulkier monitors, or wider housings like the Nikon Z8 or Z9, I'll pair a long clamp with a quick-release ball mount for extra clearance without making the whole arm unwieldy — and it makes folding the monitor down behind the housing much easier.

On size, I lean toward the smaller, thinner options — a 5 to 5.5-inch screen is plenty for me, and those models tend to be slimmer too. Kraken's new third-generation 5 to 5.5-inch monitor is notably slim; the panel itself is only slightly bigger than earlier versions, but two to three times thinner, since most of that bulk is the battery housing. I'd rather keep the weight and physical footprint down without sacrificing screen size. I know some people gravitate toward Nauticam's Ultra Bright 7-inch monitor, which is technically brighter than the Kraken or Angler Fish options, but I've never used a shade with my Kraken and have never had an issue seeing it — remembering that most of my diving in sunny shallows in Florida.

Brightness is adjustable on most monitors, so if you're diving in darker conditions you can turn it down. I generally leave mine at full brightness out of laziness, and it still gets me a two-to-three hour dive without issue. Most current monitors run on the widespread 21700 Lithium batteries — Angler Fish uses a larger cell — and I'd always recommend carrying a spare set; they're cheap. On a liveaboard doing two dives in the morning and two in the afternoon, I'll swap in a fresh set between sessions and charge the depleted ones.

There's also a secondary battery benefit worth knowing: on many cameras, once a monitor is attached, the EVF and LCD stop drawing power, and since the EVF is usually the biggest battery drain on a mirrorless camera, overall battery life improves considerably. I noticed this clearly with the Sony a9 III, which chews through power — I shot a trip in Kenya without a monitor and found the battery life frustratingly short, then once I reconnected the monitor afterward, battery life improved considerably.

On the rare occasion I've seen a monitor overexpose slightly — usually on night or muck dives in dark conditions — it's been a case of the screen itself needing to be dimmed rather than an actual exposure problem, and it's something I'd normally adjust before the dive rather than fiddle with underwater. Night dives generally aren't too bright, but it's worth knocking the brightness down a bit both to save battery and because, like a phone or TV screen in a dark room, a monitor can look deceptively bright at night, leading you to under expose your shots.

Since a monitor is only pulling the feed off your EVF or LCD, none of your camera's normal functions change — black-and-white mode, focus peaking, zebras, menus, all of it comes through exactly as they would on your viewfinder or screen. It's not a touchscreen, and it has no effect on the camera's own battery draw; it's simply a larger version of what you'd already be seeing.

Because many of these monitors use an open bulkhead, you may notice your vacuum indicator go yellow within a couple of minutes of pulling a vacuum. That's not a leak — the system is just pulling residual air out of the monitor shell itself. Leave it a bit longer and it'll settle back to green. I know that this has caught more than a few people off guard.

Also, if you are convinced about monitors, then it might allow you to choose a cheaper camera and housing. Some mirrorless cameras don't offer an EVF (like the Sony A7CR) and some camera housings that don't accommodate a viewfinder (like Nauticam's Nikon Z5 II that I used in Cayman). For these systems a monitor is transformative.

For divers who already have an optical viewfinder and like it, a monitor doesn't have to be an "either/or" choice — it can be an "and". You can run both and switch between them mid-dive — turn the monitor off and the viewfinder takes back over. I have done that in specific situations, particularly on long dives, four hours or more, where I know the monitor's battery won't last the whole time. Once it dies, I fold it up flat against the housing — it adds some bulk, but it's manageable — and switch back to the LCD or viewfinder.

The biggest advantage for viewfinder users adding a monitor is comfort and a bigger field of view. I've noticed reviewing images afterward that details I missed through even a good external viewfinder — an unwanted piece of drifting debris, a compositional element crowding the frame — are obvious on the larger screen, and I can adjust before I take the shot rather than discovering the problem later on a computer. It's also a real advantage for patience shots: with jawfish guarding eggs, for instance, I can set the camera flat on the bottom with the composition already locked in, sit back and actually watch the fish rather than staying cramped against a viewfinder, and just trigger the shutter when the action happens.

I (Alex) still lean toward the optical viewfinder. I like the extra rig stability that comes from wedging it against my mask, especially shooting super macro while floating rather than resting the camera on the seabed. I also find the shaded view through an EVF gives me more confidence judging exposure in very bright or very dark conditions, since the view stays consistent regardless of ambient light. And for anyone considering the switch, I'd say there's a real case for not abandoning your optical viewfinder outright on a trip — running both while you adapt is a reasonable way in.

I (Alex) increasingly feel like monitors could be the next piece of gear that becomes standard across the community — the way GoPros, vacuum pumps, or close-up diopters did before them: a slow trickle of early adopters, then a year where it seems like everyone suddenly has one. I've shot with monitors but have never owned one or run a full trip on one as my primary method. That's something I plan to do within the next twelve months, to properly see how I adapt to it. That might also get a few more people joining the revolution!

Want to dive deeper? Watch the complete episode here.