Pocket Field Monitor vs ZineControl
ZineControl is a shipping Nikon filmmaking app with Wi-Fi camera control, scopes and multicam for six bodies. Pocket Field Monitor is the monitor-first alternative.
What ZineControl is good at.
ZineControl ships today. Here is what it does well, in its own terms, before any comparison with ours.
- Ships on the App Store today, with Wi-Fi control of recording format, ISO, iris and white balance on the Nikon ZR.
- A broad monitoring set already in the app: histogram, waveform, RGB parade, zebra, false colour and RED-style clipping traffic lights.
- ZineControl_X drives up to six bodies at once, which no single-camera app can match.
- Supports five Nikon bodies: ZR, Z8, Z6 III, Z50 and Z50 II.
Price: Price on zinecontrol.app. ZineControl website
Side by side.
Row by row, with our own column written the same way we would want theirs written.
| Capability | ZineControl | Pocket Monitor |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | Shipping on the App Store | Coming to the App Store |
| Camera control | Yes, over Wi-Fi | Yes, over USB and the ZR's Wi-Fi access point |
| Design philosophy | Control panel first | Monitor first |
| False colour | Yes | Yes, stop-defined, encoding-aware |
| Focus assist | Peaking | Edge detection, five colours |
| Scopes | Histogram, waveform, RGB parade | Waveform, vectorscope, RGB parade, histogram |
| Zebra | Yes | Yes |
| Multicam | Yes, via ZineControl_X (up to 6 cameras) | No |
| Gyroflow logging | Not listed | Yes, every take |
| Supported cameras | Nikon ZR, Z8, Z6 III, Z50, Z50 II | Nikon ZR |
Can I use both?
Nothing here is an either-or choice.
Yes. Nothing in Pocket Monitor assumes it is the only app on the phone, and plenty of shooters already control a body with one tool and monitor with another, exactly the way a set mixes a controller with a dedicated monitor. If ZineControl_X is running your multicam rig, Pocket Monitor can sit on the operator phone as the monitoring surface and write the Gyroflow log for each take.
Questions about the two apps.
- Is ZineControl good?
- Yes. It was the first professional filmmaking app for Nikon bodies and it earns the description: Wi-Fi control of recording format, ISO, iris and white balance, alongside histogram, waveform, RGB parade, zebra, false colour and clipping traffic lights. The difference between the two apps is emphasis rather than quality. ZineControl leads with the control panel; Pocket Monitor leads with the picture.
- Does Pocket Field Monitor control the camera the way ZineControl does?
- Pocket Monitor drives nineteen camera settings, record start and stop, and clip browsing and playback, over a USB-C cable or the ZR's own Wi-Fi access point. ZineControl works over Wi-Fi and covers a wider list of Nikon bodies. If your kit includes a Z8, a Z6 III or a Z50, ZineControl reaches cameras Pocket Monitor does not.
- Which one should I use for multicam?
- ZineControl. ZineControl_X runs up to six bodies at once, and Pocket Monitor has no multicam mode at all: it talks to one camera at a time, over one cable or one access point.
Where Pocket Monitor fits.
A Blackmagic-style HUD over the ZR's clean feed, exposure tools defined in stops from an 18% card, nineteen camera settings over USB or Wi-Fi, and a Gyroflow motion log for every take. Read the roundup of all three apps if you are still weighing them up.