Just Received my Atomos Samurai

I'll test it on my F3. Only problem is my ProLock isn't arriving until the morning and I've sold my MTF. Edit!! Fedex just arrived at the door with it.

The kit is very well presented and the unit is nicely finished in black alumnium. It feels a lot smaller than the PIX240. I have one of the WD recommended spinners so i will give a whirl tonight with it.
 
Just shot some quick tests. The main difference between the internal codec and the Samurai is with camera movement. I've just been mucking around in the office with the camera but the attached images (blown up to 600%) show the difference in noise levels. The Samurai recording also has a 3-frame delay to the internal recording, but I don't see this is too much of a problem unless you had to reconform to the internal clips.

The menu is very simple and easy to use. The recording triggers via HD-SDI so all good there. I've been moving the unit around by hand as the mounting screws don't seem to be regulation 1/4" imperial. But I'm following that up with Atomos. I didn't get any dropped frames or recording issues with the WD 500 HDD I'm using. And I was really moving it around forgetting about the spinning hard drive.

So far I very impressed. I'll do some real world testing tomorrow.

EX Codec
EX1A.jpg

Samurai ProResHQ
EX1B.jpg

EX Codec
EX2A.jpg

Samurai ProResHQ
EX2B.jpg

Wide Reference
Wide.jpg
 
hi,
interesting.
Did you or will you test records with F3 - slog mode 10 bit 4-2-2. See my last post PIX240 - users.
thanks, klfi
 
Peter,
can I ask you how the monitor is?
I own a ninja for my af100 but I'm considering the samurai if the display is good enough for focusing. Does it come out with focus assist tools?
Thanks a lot,
Diego
 
it's not bad at all, but I've only had it a few hours and haven't tested it outside. The colours seem okay. It does have a slightly milky look due to the touch screen technology, but I would be happy to use it for basic colour monitoring. It's nowhere near as sharp as my TV Logic 5.6" but it's okay for what it is. I wasn't expecting more than it is. I haven't found any focus assist tools in the menu.
 
I do have one "teeny" problem. The mounting threads on the base and top of the Samurai appear to be either faulty or metric and won't accept the 1/4" screws of any of my Noga or Manfrotto arms. Basically i can't mount it on the camera at the moment. I am awaiting a reply from Atomos and am sure this can be fixed. The build quality and kit capability is very impressive.
 
On the Atomos website: "The Samurai can be mounted almost anywhere using it's top and bottom ¼" tripod screw thread mounting points."

Referring to 1/4" tripod screw it gotta fit any standard tripod screw but I hope this is not a manufacture error choosing the wrong mount.
 
I've just tested my two Noga arms (one generic/one Panasonic) on every 1/4" mounting device I own and the only device that the arms won't screw in to is the Samurai. It's such a great unit, but I hope this can be resolved quickly.
 
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I got;

2 x short mini-BNC to standard BNC (male) leads (nice quality thin and flexible ones)
1 x heavy duty USB cable
1 x USB power cable
1 x heavy duty Firewire 800 cable

Side-note: I just tried a Zacuto ZicroMount and it also will not screw into either of the "1/4"-inch mount points. :cry:
 
I'd take a look and see if the threads were not clean cut in the inserts.

It's not entirely uncommon in metal working to have threads that need to be "chased" with a tap or bolt to remove cut metal leftovers from the original thread cutting.

In other words, if the threads LOOK the right size to the eye, slowly thread a 1/4-20 to the stopping point (assuming it can be even started), back it off, and then thread it some more (even if there's resistance), back it off, and repeat. If it's badly cut threads, this method will 'chase' them.

(apologies if this is just common sense in your experience and you're saying the threads aren't even close)
 
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