Dave Schwandner Posted October 6, 2014 Report Share Posted October 6, 2014 I'm interested in finding an external recorder to be used as playback that won't interrupt playback to video village from camera. I read about the atomos samurai and convergent designs devices and like these but want to tap into the forum to find out about others that may be available. Also what is the best way to mount these devices? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members David M. Aronson Posted October 6, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 6, 2014 You might look into the Ninja Star from Atomos. It's small enough to be stuck on with velcro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members William Demeritt Posted October 6, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 6, 2014 I believe Alan Rencher has a Ninja Star for sale right now in the Marketplace. I'm considering buying it, but I have a kid on the way, so stop me and buy it yourself. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members brett.mayfield Posted October 7, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 I own the hyperdeck shuttle 2 and the convergent design nanoflash. ive also used the pix 240 and atomos ninja 2. i dont like the atomos ninja because of the monitor, same with the pix. i just have no use for it, nor do i like the semi-mickey mouse interface. totally personal preference. the convergent design nanoflash (no longer in production, but you can find em) has a slew of recording options if you want to get nerdy about it. it records to cf, converts hdmi (mini!) to sdi and vice versa. all of the ports are secure. it is robust, can take a lickin and has a small analog screen. you should read the manual to make your way through it as there are plenty of errors that can pop up. it has one or two 1/4-20 threads but velcro and bongoes are more convenient. the hyperdeck shuttle 2 is my usual pick for reel and external recording. you have to purchase the plate for lots of mounting options, and alan rencher makes a sweet innersex plate for mounting in a variety of ways, including a battery mount. it also converts hdmi to sdi BUT!! the pitfall of this device is its ridiculous DIN connectors. they are weak and require special cables to be fabricated (DIN to BNC). Alan also did a great conversion for these stupid connectors and replaced them with mini-bnc. there are only a few recording options (which can only be changed via usb to your computer, annoying yes, easy yes) and just a few settings, so its pretty idiot-proof. i like the internal battery which has save me a few times. i threw some velcro on it (one side is a large rubber foot) and i leave it on the back of my monitor. i go from sled sdi - hyperdeck din - monitor sdi. i power it off of ptap from my sleds lower junction box. if you shoot a lot of red, its nice because it picks up the flag easily and will start and stop with the red, otherwise you can tap the record button. the buttons are like that of a vcr, and double tapping with take you in and out of playback. since it is attached to my monitor and not my wireless, only i watch the playback on my own monitor. also, if there is a slowmotion shot, i can play back the slomo from camera and manually record to the hyperdeck in slow motion (otherwise i am only recording what my monitor sees, 24fps). i like using SSD because theyre fast and i can get almost two days of footage with one 240GB ssd in proresHQ. anyways, the hyperdeck frustrates me often with its dumb din, and i need to turn them to mini bnc, then id be content, well that plus the addition of proresLT. the nanoflash is easy to use but sometimes i dont wanna futz with the menus or settings but it offers more codecs. brett. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alan Rencher Posted October 7, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 Thanks, Will and Brett. I do have a ninja star for sale (with 64GB C Fast card). It's a pretty cool little recorder. It has a very intuitive interface. You have to use a Connect to convert the micro HDMI to SDI, and the mounting bracket that comes with it is pretty useless. I was thinking of designing a Steadicam mounting bracket for it, but I already have a long list of things to design. I actually prefer my Hyperdeck for a few reasons. The cross conversion on the Hyperdeck is amazing. I wish more devices had the same feature. I do wish that it had a user interface, even if it was with buttons and LEDs like the Ninja Star. I modified my Hyperdeck with mini BNC connectors and a Lemo input for power. I can do these mods for other people as well. My Intersex Plate is available on my site: http://mediablackout.net/product/intersex-plate/ Brett, I believe my Hyperdeck has ProRes LT. The second generation Hyperdeck should support it. I'll double check mine tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted October 8, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 If anyone is interested in a Convergent Design Nanoflash as Brett described above, I have one for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members chris fawcett Posted October 9, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 The Transvideo Starlight is my new on-board recorder. Anyone want to buy a Samurai? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Schwandner Posted October 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 Thanks for all the input, definitely a lot to consider. For those of you selling off older units I'll let you know if I'm interested. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Schwandner Posted October 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 Chris, regarding the Starlight. How do you feel about the H264 codec, that's pretty standard for content that is going to make its way online, correct? Other recorders offer more robust codecs but whats the point if all I'm trying to do is collect content to be cut for a reel that is going online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members chris fawcett Posted October 9, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 9, 2014 Dave, H.264 is a variable-quality codec. It's certainly good enough for showreels. Mine anyway ;) All the best, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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