BM Video Assist VS Atomos Ninja V - What Should YOU Get?

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Atomos Ninja V:

BM Video Assist 5" 12G:

Panasonic S5:

Panasonic S 24mm 1.8

Small Rig Cage For Panasonic S5

SD Cards (UHS-ii)

Rode NTG4+ Shotgun Mic

If you own a Panasonic S5/S1 or S1H and shoot a lot of video, then the chances are you've considered either the Atomos Ninja V or the Black Magic Video Assist (if you don't already own one of the two).

Both of these external recorders are great paired with the Panasonic S5 since they allow you to output RAW video, either as ProRes RAW or Black Magic Raw.

Most of the time, people will say "if you edit with Da Vinci Resolve, then get the BM Video Assist, but if you edit with FCPX, then get the Atomos Ninja V." And while this is good advice, there's a little more to it than that.

In this video, I talk about all of the pros and cons with each of these recorders when paired with the Panasonic S5, and hopefully this video will help you make a more informed decision as to what one will be a better fit for needs.

Recording ProRes RAW and BM RAW with the Panasonic Lumix S5 is awesome though, and it's definitely something I would encourage looking into!

Thanks for watching!

[godsakes]

I don't get why there hasn't been a updated BM version with a CFexpress B slot and/or different usb placement

[annekedebruyn]

My biggest issue with the Atomos is that most of their devices are still HDMI only. The moment you want to upgrade to a camera with SDI, you really want to use SDI.
But then you come to Blackmagic with SDI but it has SD-cards as a recording device.
It's like an unwinnable thing

[GoldenCoastGTA]

I really appreciate your concise and to the point videos, my man! Thank you!

[givebackdocumentaryproduct]

I had the Attachment omos but sold it to get the Black magic video Assist . But because my other camera is a BMPCC4K I decided when I bought my Lumix S5 I decided that I would want to film. My future project in BRaw so with that in mind I had to get the Video Assist. So now the Lumix S5 & Video Assist is my A cam ( record in 5.9k F.F BRAW) Then my B cam (records in 4k MFT BRAW) . Now easy to match both BRAW's and edit in Davinci Resolve,

[amodh]

BRAW is super easy to work with as compared to PRORES RAW. And considering we need to buy PRORES RAW upgrade separately, Blackmagic video assist is a no brainer.

[AlSuChess]

Great video man! I've been looking for an external screen for my S5.

[sebastianquintanilladoming]

Great review! I use the 12g with a Sigma Fp. Its amazing footage👏🏽👌🏽 braw its pure cream 😎

[TheOneMonk]

The (mis)placement of the USB C port kills the BM for me.
Thumbs up for the video and subbed.

[alzibaba]

That sure is a pain about the USB C port on the Video Assist. Did you notice much fan noise from the VA? I never liked that on the Shogun Inferno, so am curious to know how loud the VA gets.
Thanks for the great review 👍

[filipmichalsaffray]

Nice Vidéo
Because my NLE is Resolve my natural choice with S5 was Video Assist and the fact that I need to match BMPCC4K, 6K with S5...Vlog Braw is super easy for that...
Great Channel yours Fil

[AVISIONMUSICTV]

At the end of the day BRAW is easier to use across multiple platforms. But you're going to get slightly "better" results with Prores raw HQ 4K dCi or even 6k-8k. But if your standard is 4k and up then you should be good regardless. Just get everything right in camera.

[STONJAUS_FILMS]

i agree with the USBC placement, is so silly, I solved it by turning the monitor upside down and locking the SSD with a phone holder and a tiny magic arm, I even had space to put a rode mic on the top using a male to male adaptor, really wished they allowed both the sound input from the mini xlrs AND the sound coming from the cameras HDMI, but as of today we only get to choose one even though they advertize up to 12 tracks of sound? how the heck can you input more than 2 tracks then, if you they only allow 2 inputs... my camera with a little adaptor can send stereo signal so I get 2 from there ... honestly have not tried the ninja but I'm very happy with the video assist on my S5MK2X

[Milan-cfxe]

One thing you could have mentioned is wether its even worth getting an external recorder. Its extra hassle when rigging and recording and i dont know wether RAW recording is worth it, for the small quality increase you get

[MrKermitt]

Still missing custom desqueeze and aspect ratio options to be 100 professionally usable ! please Blackmagic make it !

[WilliamTurnerViolins]

I edit in DaVinci Resolve Studio, and despite the direct support for ProRes RAW in DRS, I still use the Atomos Ninja V. Save tons using the Andycine Lunchbox MSATA chassis and use with Samsung T5 1TB drives to get solid storage for the Ninja V.

[JS-cubz]

Any updates worth mentioning mate? Cheers for the content.

[flatCOIN]

Hi there, thanks for the video. I m thinking about getting the BM Video Assist. A question I ask myself is, how to put it on the handle of my FX6 and I saw soo many options. And it seems as if you found a very easy solution - I looked at gear by NITZE and amazon and there is soo much, that I m not sure which one you use. Could you let me know as I didnt find any information about it in the video description. Thanks in advance and have a great weekend :)

[colinthecameraguy]

I seem to remember the Ninja V ‘Instructions’ saying
To turn off the device, Tap the battery Icon on the top right of screen and then hold your finger over the Power icon for 4 seconds.
Also, I have been mulling over buying a second Ninja V since a pair of Angelbird 128 v90 cards are £300 and they only record 41mins of All i 400 (GH5 and GH5s)
A pair of 256 V90 cards would be £700

[Matt-zweo]

Josh, with the atomos, can you record audio onto the atomos (rode wireless go plugged into the port on the atomos) which will match up with the video so I can turn off the audio post going to the atomos from the camera? Heard it reduces hdmi latency a lot.

[TrollMeister_]

The usb-c external recoding on the BM is the decider for me. I won’t even look at the ninja.