At the recent NAB show, Atomos, the popular external recorder company who made a splash with the Ninja, introduced an updated version called the Ninja 2. Along with the new 3.0 version of their operating system, Atomos has made metadata a priority, much like the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Tagging clips is an essential part of the new OS, and I had a chance to talk with Matt Ivey from Atomos about the Ninja 2 as well as other products, including the very handy Connect HD-SDI and HDMI pass-through converters.
Embedded below is the video with Matt Ivey from Atomos:
Here are some of the features of the Ninja 2 from their website:
- AtomOS 3.0 - The real power of the Ninja-2 comes from AtomOS, our innovative and intuitive operating system.
- Audio Input Level Meters + Headphone Line Out Volume - Touch audio meters to adjust 4 channels of audio. 8 channel HDMI audio support coming this summer
- ProRes or Avid Codecs - Select the variety of ProRes® or Avid DNxHD codec you are recording to; Avid DNxHD-220X (10-bit), DNxHD-220 (8-bit), DNxHD-145 (8-bit), DNxHD-36 Proxy (8-bit) + all ProRes® options.
- 800x480 screen with 170° viewing and loop play: Focus Peaking, Zebra, False Color & Blue Only Exposure
- Timecode - Choose between On board, time of day, record run or auto restart time code modes or utilise external timecode from camera or any source input
- Continuous Power - Atomos Continuous Dual Battery Technology
Control individual, or multiple, Ninja-2 field recorders, in any combination via serial control from a deck, PC, Mac, or iPad/iPhone.
- All functions of the Ninja-2 can be controlled from a separate device, even remotely over the internet.
- Standard deck control functions are available to integrate into existing infrastructure - perfect for custom system design.
- Auto record means that as soon as a signal is detected by the Ninja-2, recording will be started. Perfect for motion sensor recording or fail-safe recording from live feeds.
One of the other big additions is that the screen is actually capable of using as an external monitor thanks to its 800 x 480 resolution. Since the resolution is there they've added focus peaking, zebra, false color, and blue only. You can also log in and out points on your footage and tag these clips with keywords such as ‘good shot’, ‘bad shot’ etc. SmartLog operates while in monitor or playback mode, and then in post these shots will be marked to save time.
One of the cooler products from Atomos is their series of Connect products, which act as convertor boxes and can be stacked on top of each other and powered by one battery. They make two boxes, one is the Connect S2H, which does HD-SDI to HDMI, and the other is the Connect H2S, which does HDMI to HD-SDI. I didn't get a chance to go through the Connect at NAB, but Sebastian at cinema5D talked with Atomos last year at IBC about the product:
It doesn't look like the Ninja 2 is shipping yet, but I would expect that both the Connect and the Ninja 2 will be available in the next couple of weeks. The Ninja 2 is $995 and the Connect product is $349. The Samurai has all of the same features as the Ninja 2, except of course for the HD-SDI outputs.
Link: Atomos Ninja 2 & Connect
