Kevin Stiller Posted February 4, 2014 Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Hello all, I am looking to finally purchase the decimator, as an upcoming project is going to necessitate one. (Shooting on the epic, and I only have an SD monitor for now). I am not 100% sure how the decimator works exactly, so I wanted to make sure I asked the right questions before jumping in. 1. How does the unit receive power? 2. Should I purchase the decimator 2, or try to find a used model 1? 3. What is the standard way of mounting the decimator to the rig - just velcro? 4. Is it simply BNC to BNC? 5. Are there other devices I may want to consider that perform the same functions? (I have heard the black magic updowncross is an alternative) Thank you all! - Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Klaus Markl Posted February 4, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 4, 2014 Hi Kevin, 1.) DC „locking“ connector. You´ll have to get a custom cable which connects to your rig. 2.) Buy a new decimator 2. Maybe you´ll need the warranty, the decimator is not the most reliable tool. 3.) Velcro is fine if you got enough flat space on the back of your monitor. 4.) It´s BNC to BNC 5.) The problem with the Blackmagic is input voltage. The Blackmagic is made for 12 Volt. A fully charged LiIon outputs 16 Volts or more. The Decimator has a range of 5 to 22 Volts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Libor Cevelik Posted February 5, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 I agree, also Decimator 2 has HDMI output to .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Stiller Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Hi Kevin, 1.) DC „locking“ connector. You´ll have to get a custom cable which connects to your rig. 2.) Buy a new decimator 2. Maybe you´ll need the warranty, the decimator is not the most reliable tool. 3.) Velcro is fine if you got enough flat space on the back of your monitor. 4.) It´s BNC to BNC 5.) The problem with the Blackmagic is input voltage. The Blackmagic is made for 12 Volt. A fully charged LiIon outputs 16 Volts or more. The Decimator has a range of 5 to 22 Volts. Klaus, Thanks for your input. As I'm still fairly new to steadicam, could you elaborate more about the voltage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted February 5, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) The new Black Magic converters can handle unregulated power from a brick with no problem. They fixed that issue a couple years ago. I know this because I bought my black magic converter about two years ago. I plug it directly into 14.4 V bricks with no problems. You may also want to look into the Atomos Connect. Edited February 5, 2014 by Alan Rencher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Iain Baird Posted February 5, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 *Not ALL Blackmagic Mini Converters will take more than 12v* You can look on the website on the comparison page and it will tell you what the tolerances of each are. The SDI to Analog Downconverter still wants just 12v. IB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted February 5, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Noted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.