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Atomos Ninja or any external recorder?
  • 62 Replies sorted by
  • Gavvo888Gavvo888

    @kazuo Sorry to be coming to the party so late but....I read this entire thread and am still unclear. Does the HDMI out send a higher bitrate signal if the GH2 has hacked hbr firmware? Is the HDMI output signal firmware dependent? Or is it fixed? Do you have any updates?? Thanks

  • peternappeternap

    Fixed, the hack doesn't change it.

  • kazuokazuo

    @Gavvo888

    Anything that comes out of the GH2 is 8 bit 4:2:0, whether it is written on the card (which then undergoes further compression) or straight via HDMI. Recording HDMI signal out on an external recorder like the Ninja will not give you discernible improvement over footage written on SD cards. It's true the recorder will transcode the footage on the fly to 10bit 4:2:2, but technically, the upsampling will introduce "noise" signals. Imagine the 8 bit as a small pail, and the 10 bit as a big one. Whatever the 8bit pail contains will always be capped at a certain limit, even if you fill the pail to its brim. Now pour that content into a 10bit pail, and you'll probably get a half pail full. How then to fill up the rest of the space in the 10 bit pail? There is no more info to squeeze out of the 8 bit except to fill in the blanks with noise.

  • nomadnomad

    Absolutely! With the current best hacks, a Ninja makes no sense IQ wise with the GH2 (other than a backup, if needed).

  • peternappeternap

    The DNx HD is what should make the difference but I've found it doesn't with the GH2 or 3...but it does make a big difference with my AC 160, why I don't know because it puts out 8 bit 4:2:0 also....but there s a big improvement in post.

  • kazuokazuo

    @peternap

    Could it be due to the use of Psf (progressive segmented frame)? GH2 records in psf, whereas the AC160 records true progressive frames

  • nomadnomad

    If you treat PsF as progressive in your editor, there should be no difference. Technically there are fields, but the content is from the same point in time.

  • johnlunarjohnlunar

    I just got hold of a discount ninja-2. Shooting HBR 25p the reds on the ninja do look more jagged, and I haven't spotted any cadence issues (but don't in truth understand what I'd be looking for). Even without any patches the GH2's own recording looks very slightly better to me. The advantage of the ninja-2 (after the GH2's hdmi output limitations) seems to be as a monitor (peaking etc), sound recorder (2ch, manual levels) and video backup (very reassuring). The ninja's recording seems 99% as good as the GH2's onboard recording but because of it's instantly editable prores movs with ready synced audio it's quicker to get into edit for fast turnaround and lower budget jobs.

  • kazuokazuo

    I shoot with the GH2 and BMCC, and to be honest, I've found the Ninja or any external recording device to be useful only with machines like the BMCC, which outputs native 10bit 422 signals. For this reason, I wouldn't even use the ninja with expensive cameras like the C100, which Canon has doggedly kept as an 8 bit anomaly in today's rapidly evolving market. I have found no discernible advantage using the ninja with the GH2. In fact, the clips do get quite noisy when you "up res" 4:2:0 to 4:2:2 (see my explanation above)

  • liondor1969liondor1969

    Hallo

    If someone helps me with information,Today I tried a GH2 with Ninja Blade, just HDMI connected do not have sound on ninja blade. What do you recommend color de profile to register with atomos blade?hak??

    thanks

  • kavadnikavadni

    The GH2 does not output sound over HDMI

  • liondor1969liondor1969

    ok,thanks

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