C100: New Atomos Ninja Blade With HDMI

Glad to see they added the Spyder monitor calibration to the Ninja Blade with the firmware update. I have a Spyder and waiting for the LANC TO SERIAL CABLE to adapt it to the system. This makes the NB monitor one of the best on the market if color accuracy matters to you.

On a side note I'm reviewing the DataColor SpyderHD This new system gets your reference monitors and field monitors to look the best they possibly can using the Spyder and accessories. I haven't cracked it open yet but I think it's really going to help.


http://youtu.be/UycgexOIS6g
 
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At $150 that seems reasonable (AND WOULD MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE). I'm so sick of telling myself, "Well, this on-camera LCD is a little cold, so my footage will probably look right on screen"
 
Lemur said:
At $150 that seems reasonable (AND WOULD MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE). I'm so sick of telling myself, "Well, this on-camera LCD is a little cold, so my footage will probably look right on screen"
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my feelings exactly, with every monitor I ever had that was always on my mind. I was always at the whim of the monitor manafacturer. Now with it being to properly calibrated to Rec709 always lets me know which monitor NB/onboard LCD/Directors Monitor is the best reference at least in my budget.
 
I'm not sure what Spyder functionality they've added - it worked with the last firmware. Maybe they're seeing the firmware release as an opportunity to push the Spyder.

I recommend the Spyder, for confidence if nothing else. Certainly my gut feeling is that what I'm seeing on location is completely in line with what I'm then seeing on the broadcast monitor. I think we'll also give the Datacolor SpyderHD a go - it completes the loop of calibration right through the chain. There's a discount code in the packaging of the Atomos Spyder.

Ben.
 
I just went through a shoot I did with the Ninja Blade before the update and for some reason the recorder went to 29.97 with the camera set to 24P for about 15 clips at the end of the shoot. The footage plays back fine but how on earth did it record in 29.97 with the camera sending 24p! This makes me crazy. I also noticed after the update I didn't need to wave my hand in front of the lens to get the cadence right. The NB just worked. I rolled off a few test clips and it recorded 23.98. I'm baffled. Anyone else notice this after the update?
 
Erik Naso said:
I just went through a shoot I did with the Ninja Blade before the update and for some reason the recorder went to 29.97 with the camera set to 24P for about 15 clips at the end of the shoot. The footage plays back fine but how on earth did it record in 29.97 with the camera sending 24p! This makes me crazy. I also noticed after the update I didn't need to wave my hand in front of the lens to get the cadence right. The NB just worked. I rolled off a few test clips and it recorded 23.98. I'm baffled. Anyone else notice this after the update?
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Eric, I did notice the automatic detection of the 23.97 cadence. This is much better. I have not noticed any 29.97 clips however I will keep my eyes open.
 
icicle22 said:
Eric, I did notice the automatic detection of the 23.97 cadence. This is much better. I have not noticed any 29.97 clips however I will keep my eyes open.
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I like that new feature!

I recall the NB locked up on me and I had to do a hard reset. That might explain the frame rate debacle but seems odd that it would record so clean when the HDMI was sending 24p and it recorded it at 29.97. I hope this doesn't happen again.
 
bengiles;1986429942I think we'll also give the Datacolor SpyderHD a go - it completes the loop of calibration right through the chain. There's a discount code in the packaging of the Atomos Spyder.[/QUOTE said:
Erik, I looked into ordering this yesterday. In the SpyderHD package, is the software CD a regular version of Spyder 4 Elite? I get the impression Datacolor are being deliberately opaque about product differentiation. Their Customer Services just directed me to the full SpyderHD kit in the aluminium box, whereas I just want to calibrate NLE and Matrox monitors and already have the Atomos Spyder hardware calibrator (re-badged Spyder 4, I think.)

Buried away on their website, you can get the Spyder Elite upgrade here:

http://spyder.datacolor.com/atomos/...+Spyder+products&utm_medium=Partner+Marketing

Would the Elite software give us the same functionality as the HD kit (minus the extra shooting cube and colour card) or does the SpyderHD kit contain it's own unique software?

Thanks in advance - I can't get a sensible answer from Datacolor!

Ben.
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Erik Naso said:
I like that new feature!

I recall the NB locked up on me and I had to do a hard reset. That might explain the frame rate debacle but seems odd that it would record so clean when the HDMI was sending 24p and it recorded it at 29.97. I hope this doesn't happen again.
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Eric.....I had the same exact issue happen with the Ninja2 one time. I had everything setup, was in the middle of a shoot and the NInja2 became unresponsive. It normally triggers from the HDMI of the C100 and would not record no matter what. I had to shut it down and reset it and I did not notice that it went back to defaults on many settings. I know this occurred because the video was now 23.97 in a 29.97 wrapper and the name of the files had been reset. I had specifically changed the file names to match my content and they reset to NInja2 naming. It is odd. Sorry to hear this happened with the Blade also.
 
bengiles said:
Erik, I looked into ordering this yesterday. In the SpyderHD package, is the software CD a regular version of Spyder 4 Elite? I get the impression Datacolor are being deliberately opaque about product differentiation. Their Customer Services just directed me to the full SpyderHD kit in the aluminium box, whereas I just want to calibrate NLE and Matrox monitors and already have the Atomos Spyder hardware calibrator (re-badged Spyder 4, I think.)

Buried away on their website, you can get the Spyder Elite upgrade here:

http://spyder.datacolor.com/atomos/...+Spyder+products&utm_medium=Partner+Marketing

Would the Elite software give us the same functionality as the HD kit (minus the extra shooting cube and colour card) or does the SpyderHD kit contain it's own unique software?

Thanks in advance - I can't get a sensible answer from Datacolor!

Ben.
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I believe the Atomos Spyder is the the same one in the SpyderHD kit. It is a new Spyder. As for yours I'm not sure. I will reach out to Datacolor and see if I can get an answer for you. This is my first experience with Datacolor products so I don't know a lot about them yet.
 
bengiles said:
Thanks Erik.

Just to clarify, we've got an Atomos Spyder, bought a month ago.

Cheers,

Ben.
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Then for you all you need is the software. I asked Datacolor about that at NAB. I had to buy the LANC to USB cable to get the SpyderHD to work with my Ninja Blade. I believe in the packaging for the Atomos Spyder their is a discount coupon to upgrade the software. Did you have that? If not I would reach out to Atomos and see.
 
Erik Naso said:
Then for you all you need is the software. I asked Datacolor about that at NAB. I had to buy the LANC to USB cable to get the SpyderHD to work with my Ninja Blade. I believe in the packaging for the Atomos Spyder their is a discount coupon to upgrade the software. Did you have that? If not I would reach out to Atomos and see.
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Yes - it's a promo card, alerting you that an upgrade is available.

Would you please do one more thing for me, Erik? The software disk in your HD package - is that labelled, "Spyder4Elite"?

Cheers,

Ben.
 
I'm having a rather nice afternoon, not editing or shooting.

I just had a very enlightening conversation with Boris Bergmann at Datacolor Europe.

If you have - or are planning to buy - a Ninja Blade and get the Atomos Spyder to calibrate it, the following software upgrade options may be of interest to you:

1) Spyder4Elite (http://spyder.datacolor.com/portfolio-view/spyder4pro-to-spyder4elite-upgrade/) - this turns your Atomos sensor into the full monitor calibration tool for your NLE displays - that is, the displays that run directly from your computer graphics card and can be software calibrated via a LUT.

2) Spyder4TVHD (http://spyder.datacolor.com/portfolio-view/spyder4tv-hd-upgrade/) - if you have external "broadcast" monitoring through something like a Matrox or BM Shuttle, this software will alow you to manually set up the monitor via it's proc amps or display settings.

The SpyderHD kit that comes in an aluminium box (http://spyder.datacolor.com/portfolio-view/spyderhd/) has both sets of the above software, as well as the hardware sensor plus shooting tools, such as the colour checking card and cube. So I guess it's a toss up between getting that kit plus the Atomos LANC cable - or the Atomos Spyder kit plus the software upgrades mentioned above.

This is the nearest thing Datacolor have to a "complete" round-trip solution - but Boris did mention that they're aware of the gap in "confidence", so I hope we might see something soon that closes it and ensures a robust WYSIWYG calibration right through from shooting to delivery.

Ben.
 
So my question is... I already have a Spyder 4 Elite. Can I use that hardware to calibrate an Atomos Ninja Blade or theoretically a Shogun? Or, would I have to purchase additional software/hardware?
 
Erik, I just bought a ninja blade yesterday after reading about the internal codec of the C100. I may have jumped the gun here because I am reading that the internal codec even at 4.2.0 is really great. Do you find that when you shoot with the C100 you use the ninja blade with high codec or does it not really make a big difference. I would only be shooting with the LT 422 and not the higher bit rates due to storage. Thanks for you input and help.

Everything we are shooting is going to web, I just want the image to look great after its uploaded to either you tube or vimeo. I have seen some C100 footage that was awful and some that blows me away. I know its the person with the camera but again wanted to find out if at this point the ninja is kinda overkill for us. After hard drives and cables this thing is getting close to 1400 -1500 range. Its early enough for me to just send it back as I havent even opened the box yet. What do you think? I am new to all this, is this a great tool to just have or get a cheaper monitor for viewing and use the internal codec.

Thanks
 
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If you don't grade your material to much you'll be fine with the internal codec.
However The ninjablade also doubles as a great monitor with high resolution . great for nailing the focus and judging the colors.
I don't think you'll find such a good monitor for much less.
 
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