Good Downconverter

[Timothy Dolan]

I fly a Master Series and I have a shoot coming up for a student project that is shooting with a RED Epic. I was wondering what downconverter or any other accessories I would need in order to send the HD signal through the sled. Also any suggestions on any more accessories I should look into.

 

Thank you,

 

Tim Dolan

[Alan Rencher]

There are three major brands that are most often used. I have a Decimator 2, and it works perfectly. The Blackmagic miniconverters are the cheapest (I have the HDMI to SDI, and it has always worked flawlessly for me at about $200 cheaper than the competition.) AJA's are probably the best known.

 

Decimator : http://www.decimator.com/Products/Decimator2/decimator2.html

Blackmagic: http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/miniconverters/models

AJA: http://www.aja.com/en/products/mini-converters/

[Timothy Dolan]

Thank you very much I will look into them!

[Evrim KAYA]

Hello Timothy,

 

You should know that blackmagic’s down-converter unit’s voltage range is much smaller than decimator’s. I saw in first hand many blackmagic down-converters burn-up because of unregulated power from a hot-off-the-charger battery. That’s why I use decimator2 and very content about it.

 

I never user Aja down-converter so I couldn’t say anything about it. But between decimator and blackmagic I can safely suggest you should invest on a more versatile decimator.

[Victor Lazaro]

I believe the new Blackmagic have a wider range of voltage. Chech for every converter as it varies.

[Timothy Dolan]

Is there anything else I should get along with the downconverter to help me out on HD shoots?

 

Thank you to everyone who is responding!