PMW200 & Ninja

[Pete L]

Just wondering if anyone has used a PMW200 with an Atomos Ninja? If so, any problems with this setup? Looking at mainly capturing 10bit colour @ 220mbps versus Sonys 8bit @ 50mbps. Any thoughts? What about capturing audio with this setup? Any problems with audio recording? Cheers Pete.

 

[samphibbs]

Not sure about the Ninja, but we just used the Kipro Mini on a greenscreen shoot, it was great recorded audio and video. Mind you we recorded to card as back up and the 422 from the card keyed well also.

 

[Pete L]

Thanks mate.

 

[MattDavis]

Just wondering if anyone has used a PMW200 with an Atomos Ninja?

So, this is not quite what you're asking for, but I'm regularly using EX1R to Sound Devices Pix220 via HDMI. 'Same difference'? Not quite...

Looking at mainly capturing 10bit colour @ 220mbps versus Sonys 8bit @ 50mbps

The EX1 & PMW200 are 8 bit output on HDMI - the last two bits are padded out with polystyrene and don't count. HOWEVER, Alister Chapman reports that the HD-SDI is 10 bits. Is that 10 bits padded or 10 bits for real? Either way, you'd have to go with the Samurai rather than the Ninja to find out. I'd like to think that, accepting that the EX1 is 8 bit on HD-SDI, the PMW-200 is a true 10 bit on SDI. Otherwise, what's the point? I think you're good to go.

What about capturing audio with this setup? Any problems with audio recording?

Right, so this is where I can get on my high horse and rant. Especially, I can dance around and punch the air because this is why I bought the Pix220.

The EX1, and by association the PMW200 (dare you to prove me wrong), have averagely crap Microphone Pre-amps. You can sort of do okay with speech, but it's hardly sparkling and loaded with noise. Flip the viewfinder forwards, or tuck it in, and you get a buzz on the EX1. Sony cameras really don't do microphone pre-amplification nicely. The end. Sorry. Sound Devices make sexy audio recording equipment that make microphones sparkle, and have limiters, audio recording controls and the general nouse to make for great audio.

So, you plumb your HDMI in for video, and plumb your microphones in via XLR and use them to pump up the mic level to line, just like your sound recordist does - which is a minor reason why working with a sound engineer makes your very own mics sound better than when you don't work with a sound engineer.

There's one little twiddly thing that hangs in my mind about all this. When I consider another camera system, maybe thinking about the letter C, there's some fancy noise reduction algorithms that are engaged on the internal recording system. If you hook up to the external picture channel, that noise reduction is not present, and it's up to you to deal with it (as in 'Neat Video' plug-in applied with subtlety). I would be aware of this, and when doing chromakey, steer off CineGamma (which may start to amplify noise in the darker regions of your picture) and light for a simple Rec709 style 5 stops rather than pushing the proverbial boat out.

But I digress. You may be better off with a Samurai.