Atomos Samurai Blade: in need of suggestions...

stefanhuberfilms

stefanhuberfilms

Veteran
Hi folks! I would consider buying a Samurai Blade for my FS700, to get some higher quality files for grading along with slog2. Also i'd like to build a shoulder rig for my camera, and i'm finding the O7Q quite bulky for that kind of work. I could buy the Odyssey, but i would have to position it behind the camera and buy an additional EVF to make it work on the shoulder...

Does recording Slog2 to ProRes422HQ make a difference in grading?
Can anybody comment on the Screen of the Samurai? How is it for focusing? I'd like to build a loupe for it - buying a recorder and at the same time getting an electronic viewfinder would be really nice!

Does it make sense to get a Samurai in your opinion, or is the improvement in quality and workflow/backup just not worth it?

any info is greatly appreciated! thanks in advance,

cheers Stefan
 
There's no 10-bit output from the FS700. To get the most out of s-log you need 10-bit recording and although the Blade recorder does 10-bit the camera can only output 8-bit.
The screen on the Blade is very good. But it's to small and lacks 1:1 pixel mapping. If you equip it with a viewfinder it could work fine without 1:1.
 
Osslund said:
There's no 10-bit output from the FS700. To get the most out of s-log you need 10-bit recording and although the Blade recorder does 10-bit the camera can only output 8-bit.
The screen on the Blade is very good. But it's to small and lacks 1:1 pixel mapping. If you equip it with a viewfinder it could work fine without 1:1.
Click to expand...

thanks for your reply Osslund,

for now I'm looking for higher quality footage which fits the budget of my projects. I believe 8 bit ProResHQ will be fine - or at least better than the internal codec - when it comes down to grading. Will have to test that though...
 
When I want to be sure I always use 1:1 pixel mode. Peaking is great if done right like how I experience it on my F3 and EX3 but I don't put the same trust in the Samurai Blade.
 
The Ody will take a 'raw' 4k feed from the camera and then make compressed images on the fly, 1080 or 4k in many flavours of compression.

It is completely different (miles better) than what sony have allowed (right now) any other recorder maker to do with the FS700 output.

There is no logical choice right now (well not even now, but sometime soon) but to go for that recorder

S
 
i'm aware of the Odyssey 7Q's features - but its a big unit, and not really suitable for a ENG style shoulder rig setup IMO - i would love to see some pictures of rigs with an 7" monitor attached which are not to bulky to go on the shoulder though...

EDIT: just to clarify:

i would love to get an Odyssey7Q - every feature that comes with it seems like a really great addition to the FS700.
Talk me out of buying a samurai! :)
 
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For an ENG rig - yes difficult.

I use a DP6, and did a job on a DP7 recently - it was bigger but did not present a problem

Im not sure how big the O7q is- I think/hope the scale is wrong on the image on their website - it looks bigger than the FS700!

I can see it mounted at the rear, while I continue to use my DP6, creating a monitor for a director standing behind me, or I can see it replacing my DP6 up front

Non of these solutions are 'light/compact'

Im just thinking about buying a a hyperdeck shuttle which I can use until the 7q is about/tested/working and If I move to the 7q the HDS will be handy on my EX1..

Of course you could get a 7q and chuck it in a bag on your body - how I used to rig my sound recorder when I was shooting DSLR..

Not to scale I hope!
O7Q_SonyRaw_hd.jpg

S
 
I normally hate rigs since I shoot often from the waist area, but the 7Q leaves me no choice. BUT I came up with a really simple rig that can go on the shoulder, but is super light so I can still shoot from the hip. I really, really like this basic rig since it's so light and the monitor is a huge benefit now.

The draw back is the the 7Q takes the place of an EVF (I like EVFs). But it's sort of fine for me since if I need a loupe I'll just use the shortened FS700 loupe, which is what I was doing before.

Right now, I have the Small HD DP 6 on it, but it will be replaced by the 7Q when that comes out. I realized that if I power the FS700 + 7Q from 1 Swit battery like what Fresh Tea does, it's actually lighter than my current set up with the DP 6.

I will try and message you some pics.

I would NOT get the Samurai over the 7Q. It just makes no sense IMO
 
Ok folks - i guess you talked me out of buying a samurai :-) Maybe i will rent one in the meantime if i need higher bitrates than internal recording offers...

I would love to see some pictures gene! Thanks!
 
I do quite a lot of work now using a 7" Marshall monitor in shoulder mount configuration. The trick is to get the center of gravity over your shoulder while still getting the monitor far enough from your face so you're not going crosseyed. On my rig the monitor is extended out on a beefy Israeli arm to sit right next to matte box. It works well for shoulder mode but is more cumbersome when trying to go handheld as the weight is not centered.

I think it was a wise choice not going with the samurai. I have not tested it personally but did a lot of research about it at one point and found that people who were testing found very little improvement when going to an external recorder even for color grading due to the 8 bit output.
 
thanks for your thoughts! I also own a 7" monitor at the moment and did some testing with it. I took a magic arm and mounted it to the front left of the camera as you did. I don't find it very comfortable to work with and the O7Q makes it even more cumbersome because it is heavier then my 7" plastic lilliput. I still will have to do more testing and i'm sure i'll find the right solution once the postman delivers my Odyssey :) - i didn't order one yet and will wait for some of the reviews which should pop up soon...

I also read about loupes... i can't imagine such a huge loupe! It could work though!
 
We were on the fence between the 7Q and The Blade. Ultimately, the 7Q lost out because it was: 1) too much $$ with a subscription pricing we don't like, 2) no ProRes and 3) the disproportionate high cost of Odyssey proprietary storage, 4) we prefer the smaller size of the Blade and 5) right now we don't have an immediate need for 4K.

Considering that the 4K market is still emerging...we didn't feel like paying high the early adopter entry fees made sense, when other manufacturers of monitor/recorders will likely come with a wider standardized feature set for less $$.

Clearly though, outside of price, Odyssey is pushing the envelope and its and exciting time...
 
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Hey folks! @Clermond was so kind to send me some AVCHD and ProRes Files to compare the image quality side by side... i see almost no difference when comparing the "raw" footage (the Blade's footage looks a tiny bit sharper IMO), but once you put it into a grading suite and push it you can clearly see the higher bitrate of the Blade.

Thanks to Clermond!

Both Clips shot in ISO 5000

EDIT: the recompression when uploading the files to DVXuser seems to make the differences less obvious, so please find the files here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tb1c01n2a3rretu/FO7C-FkSW4


see yourself:

ungraded AVCHD:
1.jpg

ungraded ProRes:
2.jpg

400% View AVCHD:
1_400_converted.jpg

400% View ProRes:
2_400_converted.jpg

Heavy "grade" AVCHD:
1 graded_converted.jpg

Heavy "grade" ProRes:
2 graded_converted.jpg
 
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ha, this is my dog, German Boxer Rocco. To be honest: I dont see too much difference in daily work between internal recording and Atomos blade. And normally I don't shoot in sLog, this was just fun by request of Stefan. I did not want to rely on SD card only since I had a broken one on a shooting. Probably I will resell the Blade when I will putrchase the 7Q
 
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