C100: Ninja Blade Questions

[ollywood88]

Hi All,

I have just picked up a used Ninja Blade for Cheap to go with my c100.

Couple of questions

I was looking at some sad's I want to get x2 so was looking at the sandisk extreme 240gb are these any good? What recording times will this give me.

2) I was looking for mounting at the Manfrotto 492 LCD

3) What batteries can I use for longer life, I have x1 that came with and EP 6'S Are there third party ones?

Will need to pick up a sun hood too.

Thanks guys

 

[Michel]

the sandisk extreme will work perfectly with the ninja blade.
the 240gb will give you around 2 hours and 40min. in proress HQ

2 sony clone np 550 will last quit long, on a shooting day of 10 hours i'll use around 6 of them.
The np970 will last a lot longer but ads a lot more weight

sunhood is essential blackwrap will work also.

 

[QuickHitRecord]

1) To get the full benefit of the Ninja Blade, you'll want to record ProResHQ or better. At 24 fps ProResHQ, a 240GB drive will get you about three hours of recording time. Sandisk Extremes are good SSDs, but go on the Atomos website for a full list of recommended drives.
2) Mounting the Blade on top of the handle makes the camera very unbalanced and top-heavy. I've been using a Cinevate Universal Mount like this guy:

It's a more-balanced system and it puts the monitor right above the LCD so that you can see both at a glance. It's also worth buying an ultra-thin HDMI cable. I got one from Paralinx that works great.

3) In addition to the 2600mAh battery that came with the Blade, I bought two of these batteries: www.amazon.com/Atomos-5200mAh-Battery-Monitors-Recorders/dp/B00WJ8PSYY

I haven't had to run it all day yet, but I suspect that I could.

The Atomos sunshade is open at the bottom. I ended up making my own sunshade out of black card stock and gaff tape. I used a razor to cut holes for the mounting points, power button, and HDMI input/output. It didn't take long, and it works just fine.

Lastly, you don't necessarily need multiple caddies. I just use one, and switch out SSDs without screwing it back together. Haven't had any problems so far.

 

[jb.]

1) To get the full benefit of the Ninja Blade, you'll want to record ProResHQ or better. At 24 fps ProResHQ, a 240GB drive will get you about three hours of recording time.

The Blade can't record anything "better" than ProRes 422 HQ (220Mb/s). With ProRes HQ @ 24fps, you'd get about 2.5 hours (149 minutes) on a 240GB SanDisk Extreme SSD (which formats to 224GB).

I'd suggest that standard ProRes 422 (147Mb/s) is probably fine for 99% of the time and it would extend your record time on that SSD out to a little over 3.5 hours.

Lastly, you don't necessarily need multiple caddies. I just use one, and switch out SSDs without screwing it back together. Haven't had any problems so far.

That seems like a ginormous pain in the ass to save $30 for five more caddies.

 

[QuickHitRecord]

The Blade can't record anything "better" than ProRes 422 HQ (220Mb/s).

You're right. My mistake.

I'd suggest that standard ProRes 422 (147Mb/s) is probably fine for 99% of the time and it would extend your record time on that SSD out to a little over 3.5 hours.

It has been pretty well documented that recordings of ProRes422 suffer from macroblocking. My own testing has confirmed this, as have others who have posted videos (i.e. https://youtu.be/E92jDQpou4Q). ProResHQ takes up more space but improves the macroblocking situation greatly.

That seems like a ginormous pain in the ass to save $30 for five more caddies.

It's not about saving $30. It's about not having to use their proprietary caddy mount to unload your footage. To each his own.

 

[ollywood88]

Thanks guys,

is is the sun hood not worth it then?

I have just just ordered the San Disk Ultra 480gb it's not the extreme but still seems fast.

Extreme me cost quite a bit.

cant find third party batteries for my blade here in the UK. Any suggestions


thanks

 

[LeoGrey]

For best performance, keep the blade recording to a bit codec(either pro res hq or dnxhd 220x), don't waste time with any of the other modes. Go to amazon/newegg/bandh and get 512GB samsung 850 pros or even a 1TB, they are dirt cheap.

Tried 3 sun hoods with the blade/c100 combo when I owned it, they were all crap(imo). If your shooting outdoors a lot you will need either a viewfinder or high bright monitor to make life easier. Keep in mind the blade actually performs pretty good outside, I would not say its a joy to use but I also wouldn't say its impossible either.

ps: the cinevate mount($30 on bandh) is by far the best way to mount it. Just wish atomos would have built in an auto flip feature.

 

[puredrifting]

Use whichever SSDs are on the Atomos approved list. The prices have fallen quite a bit. I have a Seagate 480GB, gives me over 5 hours of Prores HQ, no complaints.

In regards to the hood, I shoot outdoors a lot with the Blade and C100 MKI. The best compromise available is the Hoodman HRT5 for the RED. It's U.S. $69.99 http://www.amazon.com/Hoodman-HRT5-...id=1459473589&sr=8-1&keywords=Hoodman+for+RED but it is actually workable. Doesn't fit perfectly and the price is a ripoff but it is leagues better than the joke Atomos hood and me having to rig it up with Blackwrap and or cardboard to seal the bottom and extend the length.

I mount the Blade to a rail to the camera base plate with an Ultralight Control Systems modular arm that works great, Filmtools in Burbank has them, http://www.filmtools.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Ultralight+Control+Systems not sure who in the UK does? But if you don't have a baseplate with rods, the Cinevate Universal Mount is decent I have one and use it when I am on sticks. For handheld though, the arm on the side is better to position the Blade more forward.