To on-camera monitor or not?

The situation is I've agreed to film some clips for a client (on back of past photography), and it's not very ambitious. Basically a talking head against a screen. Which I think is well within my skill set. They only want the raw footage.

I've got a bunch of gear I already have for video (e.g. camera cage, tripod with video fluid head, LED lights) but I'm seriously pondering an on camera monitor.

Seems it would let me monitor the scene much better, as well as mean I don't have to spend (say) half a day, peering at the much smaller screen of the a7Riii to make sure everything is going to plan.

Any thoughts from those of you who have used on-camera monitors?

EDIT

Looks like I've talked myself into it- have ordered a Portkeys PT5 5" 4K HDMI Touchscreen Monitor

Edited by Wētāpunga - 07 September 2022 at 00:11

Thanks Paul,

More good points thanks. The Portkey seemed to have some quite good reviews. Plus, I didn't want to over invest in anything that was going to be say, used in just an occasional bit of sideline work. I'd like this to be a source of income, not a money-sink...

The other merit of the small size (for me) is I'd be more inclined to put it into the backpack for a bit of video work in the field, whereas a larger system would almost certainly be left behind.

addy landzaat wrote: Your original post was already convincing for why an on-camera monitor makes sense Share your experience!

I haven't had much use yet, but it feels like a really useful tool. You get a lot of extra information (e.g. false colour readouts). The larger screen size and ability to position it where you want for viewing on your rig, beats the camera screen. Its focus-peaking and magnification tools make manual focusing much easier.

I'd also say (at this point) the Portkeys PT5ii is a good monitor for anyone wanting to get started into video. And it's also a good size if portability is something you value. So say, if your style is 'run-and-gun' video it'll be a good adjunct.