I've been thoroughly unhappy with Atomos' post-sales support, particularly with regards to bugfixes, software updates (especially they have a tendency to say they will fix or add feature X and then not do it at all, or keep indefinitely postponing it), and communication. They have, for instance, made assurances they would implement HDMI record triggering on the Ninja Star - at one point saying in the week after NAB - and then eventually kicking that can on forever. This is not unusual - many mfrs are terrible at this - but the problem is their willingness to promise something, sometimes even suggesting a timeframe, and then back away from actually delivering it at all. Also, I'm not a Shogun owner but watching how they handled that software and customer support gives me a bad taste as well. My Ninja Star, reliability-wise, never failed me, but it lacked such crucial and obvious features such as timecode receive (or even running timecode at all!) that it blew me away.

I'll be seriously considering the PIX-E5 instead of the Ninja Assassin. For not much more you get a truly excellent product from a vendor with known superlative customer service, solid software and hardware excellence, and possibly the best history of making durable, reliable gear short of Arri and Aaton.

That said, the fact that this takes bare SSDs is quite a sight nicer than the m-SATA SSDs in a clamshell that the PIX requires.

If it was in the $5-600 price range I'd consider this with a bit more seriousness. As it stands, for just a couple hundred clams more to get a Sound Devices quality piece of kit is a no-brainer to me.

PR

The Ninja Assassin extends the legacy of the Atomos Ninja line up in to the realms of 4K UHD and 1080 60p. Combining professional 4K/HD recording, 7″ 1920×1080 monitoring, advanced playback and editing in a compact, lightweight, affordable add-on to existing DSLR, mirrorless and video, Cinema cameras.

The Ninja Assassin boasts the screen size, screen resolution, advanced recording capability and scopes of the premium Shogun model, but forgoes the 12G/6G/3G-SDI connectivity, RAW recording functionality, in-built conversion, Genlock and balanced XLR audio connections. The main benefit – a 10% weight reduction to an incredible 430g and an incredible $1295 price point including Soft Case, SSD Caddy and AC Adaptor. This firmly targets 4K DSLM cameras such as the Sony a7s and a7RII, Canon XC-10 and Panasonic GH4 bypassing their known limitations such as compressed MPEG/h.264 recording, 4:2:0 color compression, 30-minute time limits and the disadvantage of monitoring on a small 3” screen.

“The Ninja Assassin eliminates creative barriers and unleashes the true power of the worlds best sensors into the hands of creative pro’s over one single HDMI cable. We are truly proud to deliver professional monitoring, video production tools and recording capabilities to assassinate camera limitations,” said Jeromy Young, CEO and co-founder of Atomos. “Seeing an image on the Assassin’s 7” screen and feeling the low weight is when you truly believe it’s the only choice for 4K high-res production,” added Young.

The Ninja Assassin has HDMI focused audio/video connections and ships with a brand new vibrant red Armor Bumper for increased protection. The Shogun of course is still the flagship product for high-end production that require SDI Raw, Balanced XLR, Phantom 48V and HDMI/SDI conversion.

Ninja Assassin Key Features:

• Record more accurate, higher resolution colors (4:2:2, 10-bit) direct to visually lossless editing formats (the only brand to do both ProRes and DNxHR).
• No Record time limits – Recording externally to the camera puts an end to the traditional 30-minute recording barrier and allows larger media capacity.
• Professional shot setup you can trust on a calibrated high resolution 7″ monitor with over 320 pixels per inch.
• Anamorphic de-squeeze, the perfect companion for Panasonic’s GH4 and affordable Anamorphic lenses/adaptors.
• Easy to use professional monitoring tools including Focus Peaking Assist, 1:1 & 2:1 Zoom with silky smooth image pan & scan, False Color (skin tones), Zebra and Waveform/Vector Scopes for in-depth image analysis.
• Go back in time with Pre-Roll cache recording, up to 8 seconds of HD or 2-3 seconds of 4K so you’ll never miss that shot
• Video Time-lapse with up to 10 different sequences, speed ramp and scheduled start and end times over 24 hrs.
• 3D LUT’s allow you to create a specific signature look or even recreate classic film stock instantly, with 50:50 split / LUT on / LUT off view, you can compare effects and make creative decisions on the fly.
• Playback for instant review and editing on the fly with a choice of 10 tags in both record and playback mode. Our NLE support means that whether you are Mac, PC, Apple, Avid or Adobe we support you.

US: $ 1295 ex. TAX
EU: € 1295 ex. VAT
GBP: £ 899 ex. VAT
AUD: $ 1899 Inc. GST

@willyfan: Based on the history of Atomos promising and not delivering, I'd say sure, you can hope. But they haven't released it for Shogun yet either (unless I missed something) and they were talking about putting that feature in even before they released the Shogun initially. Basically, if it doesn't ship with a feature you want, you'll be waiting a while for it, and it might not be as nice as they say it will be if it does eventually arrive.

If it were priced at 995 would DCI be such an issue?

Actually on BH they are selling it for $971.25 (U.S.) if you have an EDU account. I am sure most of us know someone who is a student somewhere, would be worth taking advantage if you had the mullah!

Has anyone got a raw sample of 10bit 4k dnxhr from this or the shogun they could upload I can have a play with, can't seem to find any sample files just prores. Thx!

The firmware updates for our Shogun came relatively fast and supplied very useful features. But if 4K 60 fps is even possible will be dictated by the hardware more than the firmware.

Someone compared GH4 internal 4K MOV 4.2.0 recording to ProRes HQ 4.2.2. 10 bit? Also any experience how to record with Atomos LUTs or GH V-Log?

Can the ninja assassin be used with internal recording of the gh4?

@olli66 - no, you can't very the density or amount of lut used. You can buy the atomos Spyder probe, which calibrates the display for color, contrast and brightness. I use one on my ninja blade and have found the display to be completely trustworthy

@mrbill thanks for the info. I bought the Ninja Assassin and wrote a message to Atomos support requesting density control over the LUTs. I think this could come really in handy and I hope they add it at some time...how far of was the display without the Spider? really thinking of buying one too...