D4 with an without external recorder?

there will be no increase in measured resolution. The only benefits of external recorders are:

1. extended record times
2. no macroblocking
3. better recording of motion
4. streamlined workflow from removing transcode
 
That has not been my experience, although I do not have any comparative video to present. I have a D4 and a Ninja 2 and with the external recorder, the footage is clearly better, especially full frame. Internally, the footage is soft except in crop (CX mode) whereas externally, it is just as sharp and detailed in both modes. My understanding is that the external HDMI is uncompressed 8 bit 422 and it is recorded on the Ninja in 10 bit ProRes HQ at 220 Mbit/sec as opposed to internal at 24 Mbit/sec. It would stand to reason that a compressed format with 10 times the information would be much more detailed than the internal recording. Also, I believe the external recording is in fact true 1080p (1920X1080). Whatever the technical case, it is clearly much better in my limited experience.

Here is a frame recorded with the Ninja 2.Vix Bikini.jpg
 
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Thank you for the reply. Can you please post a frame grab of a high detail scene (eg., foilage) from the D4 with and without the external recorder?
 
mmmm I urge you to make a comparison of internal vs external on FX mode, on my D4 I saw no difference at all in terms of resolved detail.
 
Here is another one with the D4 and Ninja 2 - Vimeo does not do justice to the detail. I have tried D4 to internal, but rather disappointed, with the Ninja it rivals my Sony F3. Sorry, but I do not plan to do a comparison, as I would never again do a video without the external recorder (only exception is while traveling to save space, and even then...). Also, the thing that videos do not show, is that in post there is a lot more latitude to grade in the external recording. This example is straight out of the Ninja 2 with no grading, color, etc. I did some minimal image stabilization in FCP X.
https://vimeo.com/47345010
 
The D4 resolves more than 720p when recording to internal media, so its going to be difficult to judge D4+Ninja image quality from a 720p Vimeo upload.
 
The Vimeo videos are upgraded to a full 1080p which is possible for paying members. The default is 720p but then after the upload you can go into the settings and increase it to 1080p which was done in the examples that I presented.
 
I get a download button for many other videos on vimeo but unfortunately not for yours.
lasikdenver said:
The Vimeo videos are upgraded to a full 1080p which is possible for paying members. The default is 720p but then after the upload you can go into the settings and increase it to 1080p which was done in the examples that I presented.
Click to expand...
 
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