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
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
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.
