Pro Moviemaker Spring 2019

GEAR MINI TESTS

ATOMOS NINJA V £648/ $695 atomos.com Mirrorless cameras may have revolutionised the lives of many independent filmmakers with their small sizes, large sensors and affordability, but this shrunken form factor means the screens are small and often difficult to see. They often also lack pro-style monitoring tools, such as waveforms, there are sometimes time limits as to how long you can record for and the footage is sometimes heavily compressed to squeeze it onto SD cards. Combined monitor and recorder units have been the saviour of many filmmakers because they solve a lot of these issues, but now the new Atomos Ninja V goes even further: it can record up to 4K 60p 10-bit HDR video direct from your camera’s sensor over HDMI onto an SSD. With a smaller form factor than older models, such as the Atomos Ninja Blade, the new Ninja V can take standard SSDs inside one of the supplied Atomos caddies, but these do stick out a bit from the unit. It’s better to use one of the new AtomX SSDmini drives, which are much smaller – a 1TB version will record up to 150 minutes of 4K in edit-ready ProRes format without transcoding. Just download it to your computer and it’s ready to go. If you also record to your camera’s card, you have an instant backup, too. These mini drives are available

SPECIFICATIONS Screen: 5-inch touchscreen, 1920x1080, 3D LUT support, 2x, 1.5x, 1.33x, Panasonic 8:3

anamorphic desqueeze Brightness: 1000 nits Video formats:

RIGHT Audio can be monitored via a headphone jack, which is a bonus

Apple ProRes HQ, 422, LT AVID DNxHRHQX. HQ, SQ, LB. 4KDCI and UHD 24 / 25 / 30 / 50 / 60p, 2K and1080p 24 / 25 / 3 / 50 / 60 / 100 / 120p; 1080; 50/60i, 720p; 50 / 60p Memory: 2.5-inch SSD/HDD Audio: 12 channels 24-bit 98kHz Connections: Line/mic in, 3.5mmheadphone out, HDMI in/out, remote, AtomX expansion port Power: NP-F series battery or continuous with adapter Dimension (WxHxD): 151x91.5x31mm/5.9x3.6x1.2in Weight: 360g/0.79lb

RIGHT The Ninja V displays 10+ stops of dynamic range in real time from Log/PQ/ HLG signals

from Sony and Angelbird, but more manufacturers will be looking at them with interest. If you shoot a mirrorless camera that has a clean HDMI output, there is often a huge improvement in the quality of the footage if you output to an external drive. The majority of cameras record 4:2:0 in 8-bit internally, but via HDMI can output 4:2:2 in 8- or 10-bit. That gives a lot more colour information and is a huge benefit if you are shooting Log footage. Anyone who has tried to grade 4:2:0 8-bit shot in Log on a mirrorless camera knows this can be painful as there just isn’t enough colour information there. Those extra bits of info make a big difference, and make shooting Log on mirrorless cams a more sensible option. The mirrorless wave shows no sign of abating, with new launches such as the Panasonic S1 series, Canon EOS R, Nikon Z 6 and Z 7, Fujifilm XT-3, Olympus OM-D E-M1X, and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K joining cameras such as the popular Sony A series and Panasonic GH range. The Ninja V is ideal for these – especially the Nikon as it will soon be able to record ProRes Raw direct from the camera. It’s also a good size for smaller cine cameras like the Sony FS5 and Canon C100 Mark II, especially if being used on a gimbal. Without an SDI input, it can’t be used to pull Raw

“The Ninja V goes further: it can record up to 4K60p 10-bit HDR video direct from your camera’s sensor over HDMI onto an SSD”

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PRO MOVIEMAKER SPRING 2019

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