Filmmaker, research biologist, and adventurer Dan O'Neill is known for his incredible photography and documentary films using camera trap technology to study endangered wildlife across the globe. His research takes O'Neill from the snowy heights of Kyrgyzstan to remote swathes of the Amazon rainforest and beyond. Perhaps best known for his work with big cats and the Snow Leopard Trust, O'Neill depends on SmallHD's Indie 7 monitor to support his filmmaking in some of the world's most diverse natural environments.
O'Neill's first collaboration with the Snow Leopard Trust is documented in the four-part BBC Earth series Ghosts in the Snow. O'Neill and a very small team travels through Kyrgyzstan aiming to demonstrate and learn more about snow leopard conservation. With a background mixed in wildlife filmmaking and biology, the researcher brings a unique, artistic eye to the process. He describes, My specialism is using high-end video camera traps to record animals in a way that you probably have never seen before. But to do that, you must have really good tech. The researcher turned to SmallHD with a very specific need: I wanted high quality monitors that I could plug into my camera trap systems.
A camera trap system consists of a scientifically organized grid of remote sensing cameras, that operate using trigger sensors. Experts rely on camera traps to conduct research where human presence is a liability rather than an asset. The technology has revolutionized the understanding of really elusive and low abundance animals, particularly vulnerable species like snow leopards, O'Neill says. Instead of using PIR infrared movement sensors, which can be prone to false triggering, something that wastes precious battery life, he likes to set up two infrared laser triggers, creating a beam. When the beam is broken (by, for instance, a snow leopard) the camera is triggered.
O'Neill uses Cambush Cube with Sony RX camera for his camera traps. With anywhere from 5 to 30 cameras working at one time, it was crucial to have a monitor set up that would never slow him down, while still being appropriate for a two-man team and a rugged trip into the Himalayas. For him, the answer was SmallHD's Indie 7. The Sony RX camera has great focus setting, up to really minute detail, along all your exposure mapping and everything, he explains, but it only has a teeny tiny action camera LCD screen. Having a monitor that you can then plug into the camera and then properly visualize your image makes a huge difference.
SmallHD's Indie 7 is a 7-inch touchscreen monitor, built lightweight and powered by the familiar Page OS software. The daylight viewable screen provides 1000 nits of brightness, allowing O'Neill to accurately set his camera traps even at the brightest times of day. With a rugged, thin aluminum chassis, the monitor perfectly supports filmmaking in the harsh, high-intensity environments the researcher works in. After setting each camera system, he simply unplugs his Indie 7 monitor, and the Cambush Cubes are on their own for another three months.
For O'Neill, behavioral ecology moves beyond collecting data and into telling a compelling conservation story. Being able to interactively visualize wildlife in really high quality is critical for getting the perfect shots. You can miss something so easily, whether that's an animal in the rainforest, or trying to discern a snow leopard from the mountain backdrop in Kyrgyzstan. Your monitor is critical. One of the most amazing things about this monitor is that as soon as I return to the site, I switch the battery out and right away I can check all the footage from the camera trap. His delight and gratification while playing back footage of the elusive snow leopard on his Indie 7 is palpable in the BBC documentary series.
I learned so much about snow leopards working with Snow Leopard Trust I really fell in love, O'Neill admits. Even 30 years ago, we knew basically nothing about snow leopards and today they're still the least understood big cats in the world. But with these camera traps, we now have a window to see what their secret lives are like. Snow leopards are animals shrouded in mystery, with a small population today estimated as between 3,920 and 6,390. They are the highest altitude cats, living in the third pole, the central high Asian mountains. They're critically important to the mountains, not just as a vulnerable species, but as the iconic and beautiful icon of the landscape.
Snow leopards are also a flagship species. The fight to preserve the big cat has the potential for wide-reaching positive change. If you can protect certain areas for snow leopards, there's a whole plethora of other species the mountain ecosystems and communities that are helped by that conservation initiative. Snow leopards range across 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Mongolia, and Nepal. Despite vastly different political ideals, social structures, and religions, the conservation of this one animal can bring these nations together in some small way. This conservation story tells that this animal could be a key to peace, which is really, really beautiful.
O'Neill continues his work with the Snow Leopard Trust and last year officially joined the team as their first explorer in residence. His mission to bring awareness to wildlife preservation continues, SmallHD monitors in tow. I love being able to be at the sort of frontline of what's happening in tech or film. The fact is, Indie 7 is really useful in Snow Leopard camera trapping projects.
To follow Dan O'Neill's work and check out his latest adventure: https://www.instagram.com/danowild/
To learn more about SmallHD Indie 7: https://smallhd.com/pages/indie-7
To learn more about the Sn
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
12/11/2026
Disney, ESPN and the NBA will present Dunk the Halls, the third real-time animated NBA game using Sony's Beyond Sports data visualization technology, on Chr...
12/11/2026
Van Wagner has launched Van Wagner RELAY, a digital platform for official athlet...
12/11/2026
Deal brings together two of the industry's most established graphics brands and significantly expands Vizrt's footprint in U.S. sports and regional broa...
12/11/2026
Euro TV Production GmbH of Austria has upgraded its outside broadcast vehicle with Lawo technology. The mc 36 Classic console in service since 2019 was replaced...
12/11/2026
Tagboard has launched Spark Resize, an AI-assisted tool now in beta that takes an existing graphic and produces a new version for a different aspect ratio or sc...
Filmmaker, research biologist, and adventurer Dan O'Neill is known for his incredible photography and documentary films using camera trap technology to study endangered wildlife across the globe. His research takes O'Neill from the snowy heights of Kyrgyzstan to remote swathes of the Amazon rainforest and beyond. Perhaps best known for his work with big cats and the Snow Leopard Trust, O'Neill depends on SmallHD's Indie 7 monitor to support his filmmaking in some of the world's most diverse natural environments.
