DON'T BUY THE ATOMOS NINJA V, V+ or ULTRA

The Atomos Ninja V, Ninja V+ and Ninja Ultra are not for MOST people. This is why you should avoid buying them and look at using what your camera already offers you.

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[koalamusik]

I do disagree on many points. Hear me out: The added weight is good for more stable footage, the monitor is way more precise for pulling focus, checking the frame, making sure lighting is correct. When recording external you don't get overheating issues. Since you record to SSD, Gigabytes cost less then on Memory cards. You can install custom luts and see final results while on set and show this to customers. You can record in more efficient codecs, since canon codecs are a pain in the *ss when it comes down to editing. So, overall, when you're serious about film making, there is no reason not to get an external recorder. The thing I'm curious about, is, since you were not happy with your first atomos purchase, why didn't you consider buying for example a blackmagic recorder?

[viddotcoach]

A tad misleading, really needs "IF YOU DON'T NEED RAW" in yr title.

[beesherald]

I have the EOS R5 C. I need to buy a 1TB memory card. I'm thinking of buying the Atomos Ninja V+ because I believe it comes with a solid-state drive, right? What do you recommend? Thank you very much in advance. 🤠🙏

[BootStrapTurnerVideography]

I do not have any batteries on my Ninja V. Picked up a battery eliminator with a USB-C to barrel power cord. Wear a battery pack belt and literally have all day power. Just needed lots of SSDs, Andycine Lunchbox II and Samsung 2TB drives are really cheap and reliable.

[EricMeadows]

I have to respectfully disagree. These are fantastic field monitors that end up being a wonderful tool on professional shoots. I have a Ninja and a 7" Shinobi and they come in extremely handy for interview setups and many other applications. In a way the Ninja can turn a mirrorless camera like that into something professionally useable, or just be a great swiss army knife in your toolbox for a real video camera. Happy shooting!

[walldigitalmediaonline]

I don't mind a heavier camera. I'm old school. I carried around huge 25 pound betacams back in the day. You did not need the image stabilization back then because the weight made you more stable.

[visionz_n_media]

I shoot most of my video on a custom rig so the weight was acceptable. I also power it from a V mount battery and adapter. I have been using atomos since the Ninja 2 and love the savings on memory over cfexpress type A & B

[markk]

Kinda disagree with your thinking here. I use R6’s (two because they overheat). I purchased the Ninja V to overcome the 30 minute record limit and help with overheating. Two issues you don’t encounter with the R6 ii. But what I also like is that I can record non Log footage to the Ninja V using H265 xq and get 10bit 422 where the R6 only gives you 8 bit 420 IPB. I’d love the 6k raw option for shooting in changing light conditions or events where keeping up with white balance changes is very difficult. I also appreciate the cheap media compared to SD cards.

[camerasutra]

Bought my V+ a while back and never looked back. The 8k RAW from the R5 is sick.

[gcprost]

I enjoyed your video, not because I agreed with you because I don't, but I was interested in your perspective. I have been using Atomos recorders since the very first Ninja One and I'm a big fan but that's because I do video differently. I have two Ninja V's, 1 Ninja and 1 Samurai. I shoot live theatre, concerts and dance shows. I use tripods, weight is not a problem. I need ProRes because it is easy to edit, although I also record internally in H264 for backup. I need to record on SSD's because they are economical when you shoot long continuous takes. My cameras and recorders are powered by V-mount batteries (for the most part) because, like you, I don't like the large batter mounted on the Ninja V. I think it is a mistake to think that all videographers shoot the way that you do and face the same challenges.

[NickMirro]

V+ for sure if you're shooting ProRes RAW. You can easily edit PR RAW in DR using reasonably priced RawConverter. Tons of benefits to that approach.

If it's too heavy just use the F750 battery. You'll get half an hour/ batt. Who records a single take of more than 20 minutes? With creativity, you can even rig the Ninja on a gimbal with your Canon! We do that all the time and it is bad-ass!

[howdy.D]

Purchased the exact Feelworld monitor you suggested and it burned out in less than a month of use. Immediately bought the Ninja 5.2" and am loving the build quality, brightness, color accuracy (was a major issue with the feelworld), cooling, onion skin overlay for hyperlapses, and of course ProRes RAW. And although all of the features are rad, the main thing I'm looking for in a monitor is RELIABILITY. A monitor failing halfway through a shoot is not professional. I'll gladly shell out the extra money if it means I'm not at risk of momentarily looking like an amateur in front of paying clients.

[digitaldevigner]

If one cannot tell the benefits of raw video or Prores then they never needed it in the first place.

Those formats exist for a good reason and commonly used in the professional world.

Yes it's true when just looking at the video as is there isn't much if any difference. thats by design. The whole point of modern video codecs is to visually look like there is no compression. At least in terms of what we see with the naked eye. We have reached that level for a long time now. What the h264 and HEVC formats do is toss out the stuff in a very intelligent way that we really cannot see with our eyes. The codecs know it's subtle enough detail that it can be sacrificed and will not be missed. Thats how the video can be so tiny in comparison to larger formats like raw or uncompressed.

It's when we need to push the video beyond just a as is visual experience that these larger formats matter. It's the same reason why we record 32bit audio or want 14+ stops of dynamic range. Overhead. It gives us the room and flexibility in post to push the content in different levels than it was recorded as. Yes 10bit 422 HEVC is pretty darn robust when compared to the crude 8bit 4:2:0 HDV days but the video doesn't get that small without throwing out data. That tossed out data is the very subtle data but it's still lost data. It's the data that matters when lifting up shadows, when pulling a key or altering color in a dramatic way.

Sure it's not always needed but the point is it doesn't hurt to have it either. As long as one has the storage space and the processing power to handle it then why not? Why not have it just in case? I mean we don't really need more than 10 stops of dynamic range either. Especially if one exposures correctly. rec709 can only really see 8ish stops and thats with a large S curve that crams a few extra stops into a sliver of space. Higher range essentially becomes nothing more than a rolloff in a vain attempt to make SDR video feel less limited. Even HDR 1000 which I work with has limited dynamic range of about 10-12 stops depending on a lot of factors and viewing device types. It's fairly pointless to have 15 stops of dynamic range. What it does give us however is the ability to alter the exposure of a shot a lot easier.

Thats why we like to have the overhead.

For me shooting raw video is done for the same reason why I shoot raw photos. I have more creative control over the look vs what an engineer decided was optimal. Yes its more work but one can argue so is working with raw photos over just shooting jpegs. DSLRs shoot some very impressive jpegs these days and in many cases provide a very clean optimal photo right out of the box. Many pros still however choose to shoot raw photos and prefer to get their hands dirty and really dig into the creative process to massage and cook their own look and style.

Same goes for video. Just because its video doesn't mean we should settle or just accept an engineers perspective. Sometimes we want that full creative control.

So no it's not a waste of money at all. A good monitor provides a larger display, a brighter display, a more accurate display, better exposure tools which are seriously lacking when shooting video on most Canon cameras. Tools such as false color and a a waveform that actually stays on the screen when we hit record. I love my R6 and R5 but the video tools are seriously limited. On the Ninja I can shoot HDR video and actually see 1000 nit HDR on the Ninja V display with pseudo 10bit color. I have a larger 5" display at 1080p resolution to better see details and manual focus. I use a loupe on my Ninja V meaning I have a large 5" 1920x1080 EVF on my R5 where I can shoot in any bright sunlight and see just about any detail as I shoot it. I also use a BMD Pocket 4k and yes that 5" screen makes a difference. The tools make a difference. Being able to load my own SDR or HDR look luts to shoot with makes a difference. This is all even before factoring in the recording formats.

Camera monitors in general are pretty popular for the reasons I mentioned above. 3" screens on DSLRs kind of suck. They are ok but far from a professional video display for serious video work.

Now with all that said I will say on my R5 I record 8k internal Canon raw video because it's amazingly perfect video. I prefer to use it over ProRes raw. So I use my Ninja largely as just a really good professional display now. I will on occasion use it to record video but the R5 even has all-i formats internally so yes I am finding it much less important to record externally these days. At least o the R5. The R6 and R6 mk2 have a lot more limited video options. Even then one only really should do it if they find themselves hitting a ceiling with the internal formats. Raw video doesn't have to be for everyone. It's not magically going to look better on its own ether. You either need it and know how to benefit from it or you don't.

[Roman]

The one thing I dislike about the Atomos recorders is the media. It would be much more helpful if Atomos would have direct recording to highspeed portable ssds connected by a type c cable. A codec that would be raw and work in Resolve would also be great. Framing, focusing, peaking, an Atomos asset.

[bsmrodeo]

I have the feeworld 7” and the Atomos V the feeworld is so much easier to use.

[sjcproductionsandmedia]

What is so ridiculous about Atomos is that you cannot buy used...well you can but you won't be able to update it unless the person gives you access to their Atomos account. I am stuck with a used one with old firmware.

[matt_berg_media]

I had a V+ stolen at the airport early this year. Last month I picked up a V for $399 with a Smallrig cage from Adorama. Was going to just pick up a monitor for all the reasons you’ve noted, but having the flexibility and coming with a cage the purchase made sense. All I really need is a monitor right now, but at the price point I’m not complaining.

[nes.torfernandez]

People talking about HDMI make me feel stupid using a R5C with the smaller and shitties HDMI port that shouldn’t even exist 😂

[howevisual]

Disagree; I get more bit depth with my ninja V & Sony FX3 and the color/dynamic range/contrast seems to come out more pleasing straight off the ninja V as well (at least with my combo)

[theancientvoice]

Well, I found so many use cases that this device is still a must for me, as old as it is. With a little bit of imagination and few adapters you can have youself a fancy capture card. I started using my phone to shoot myself, and It serves me well so I can stick to the rear camera (with the blackmagic app you can even send a clean feed) .... On top of that, it will still be better than a built in screen. And you never know when you would need it.