Feelworld S55E

The FEELWORLD S55E is an on-camera monitor with a 5.5" IPS panel of 1920 × 1152 pixels, 500 cd/m² of brightness and a weight of 175 grams. Both the HDMI input and the output handle 4K up to 60 frames per second. HDR monitoring, waveform, vectorscope, histogram, peaking, zebra, false colour and up to thirty-two custom 3D LUTs are on board. It runs on a Sony NP-F or Canon LP-E6 battery or from the mains, and its DC 8.4 V output can power a camera. A sunshade and a tilt arm are in the box.

A lightweight on-camera monitor

The S55E is an on-camera monitor with a 5.5" IPS panel that weighs 175 grams. On a gimbal it does not upset the balance, and on a small mirrorless body it does not add bulk that would get in the way of handheld work. It connects with a single HDMI cable and passes the same picture on through the second connector, so a recorder or a wireless transmitter can hang off the rig alongside the director’s view.

The display is not a touchscreen — the whole menu is driven by seven buttons on the top edge, three of which you assign your own functions to in advance. A sunshade and a tilt arm are in the box, so the monitor is ready to use straight away. The tilt arm clips into the cold shoe or bolts on with a 1/4"-20 thread and lets the monitor tilt and rotate; the sunshade attaches with hook-and-loop tape.

A 5.5" panel with 1920 × 1152 resolution

The IPS panel has 1920 × 1152 pixels, 500 cd/m² of brightness and a 1000:1 contrast ratio. A dot pitch of 0.0639 × 0.0213 mm means sharpness can be judged without zooming in. Viewing angles are 80° each way both horizontally and vertically, so colours do not shift for whoever is looking over your shoulder.

The backlight is LED and colour depth is 8-bit. 500 cd/m² is enough indoors and in shade; in direct sun you fit the supplied sunshade.

HDMI in and out up to 4K 60 Hz

Both the input and the output handle 4096 × 2160p and 3840 × 2160p up to 60 frames per second, so the signal from ordinary mirrorless bodies and from cine cameras reaches the monitor without conversion. 1080p up to 60p including 24sF and 23.98sF, 1080i, 720p and the older SD modes are supported as well.

Audio embedded in the HDMI stream is monitored through the 3.5 mm headphone output.

HDR monitoring

You see what you are actually shooting

With HDR on, the display reproduces a wider range of luminance — highlights and shadows stay readable instead of collapsing into flat white and black. The picture comes closer to what is really in the scene. Three curves are available: HLG1, HLG2 and HLG3.

Waveform, vectorscope and histogram

Measurement instead of guesswork

The S55E offers a waveform in three forms (RGB Parade, YUV Parade and Y Parade), a vectorscope, a histogram and audio phase and level meters. Exposure and colour are judged by numbers rather than by the impression the display gives — and you do not have to carry a separate scope to do it.

Each tool can be switched on by itself, or a single command opens all of them at once. A tool that is on can be moved horizontally and vertically in the menu so that it does not cover what matters in the frame.

Focus and exposure tools

Peaking highlights the edges in focus in red, green or blue. Zebra hatches the areas above a chosen threshold, so it is clear where the picture is clipping. False colour turns brightness into a colour map — a normal scale and an ARRI scale are available. Check Field shows the channels separately, that is a red, green, blue and grey image.

On top of that there is pixel-to-pixel view, zoom-in, a nine-field grid, overscan, image flip, frame freeze and an anamorphic mode with 1.33×, 1.6×, 2× and 2× MAG de-squeeze plus a selectable 1.20× to 2.00× range.

Custom 3D LUTs

Four built-in de-log tables are provided (SLOG2, SLOG3, LOGC, VLOG), and up to thirty-two custom .cube files can be loaded alongside them. That way you see the intended look while shooting instead of imagining it.

Tables are loaded from a USB flash drive: the drive goes into the supplied Mini USB to USB cable and the cable into the Mini USB port on the monitor. The same port is used for firmware updates.

Framing markers including 9:16, and three programmable buttons

Besides the usual 4:3, 13:9, 14:9, 15:9, 16:9, 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 ratios, the S55E also has a vertical 9:16 marker for phone-first content. The marker colour is selectable and its opacity adjustable; safe frames, a centre marker and a grid are provided too.

Above the display sit three buttons, F1, F2 and F3, to which frequently used functions are assigned in advance. The menu is available in twelve languages.

Runs on a battery or from the mains

The battery plate is dual-purpose — it takes both Sony NP-F series and Canon LP-E6 batteries. The manufacturer quotes runtime by cell capacity: about 1 hour on an F550 (2200 mAh), about 2 hours on an F750 (4400 mAh) and about 3 hours on an F970 (6600 mAh). The battery is not included.

From the mains the monitor is powered through a 5.5 / 2.1 mm barrel connector; the input range is DC 7 to 24 V and the recommended adapter is 12 V/1 A. Next to the input there is a DC 8.4 V output that powers a camera through a dummy battery. Note: when the camera is powered from the monitor as well, an adapter of at least 12 V/3 A is needed.

Size, weight and mounting

The body measures 142 × 87.2 × 27.5 mm and weighs 175 grams. There are two 1/4"-20 threads — on the bottom and on the right side — so the monitor can sit on the camera or hang off a cage or a magic arm, depending on where there is room.

The 1/4" screw lock is an external part held by two screws rather than a feature of the casting. It moves from one side to the other and comes off completely when it is not needed, which keeps the body thinner and lighter.

Sunshade and tilt arm in the box

The sunshade consists of a frame stuck to the monitor and the shade itself; it is held by hook-and-loop tape, so it goes on and off in moments and needs no tools. In bright light it keeps the picture readable — with 500 cd/m² of brightness that is a useful thing to have outdoors.

The tilt arm attaches through the cold shoe or a 1/4"-20 thread and allows 180° of tilt and 360° of rotation. Its own cold shoe stays free for a microphone, an LED light or a wireless receiver that would otherwise have nowhere to go.