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19Aug/112

RAW Video for DSLR with Magic Lantern and Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle (vs. Atomos Ninja): 5D MKII, 550D, Rebels

[Update] Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle 2 as well as the Atomos Ninja 2 Recorder are already out. We are reviewing them shortly, as we have used both already in production. Both are capable of DNxHD as well as Apple ProRes.

SLR Film making got even more exciting: with the availability of HDMI recorders, RAW Video footage can be recorded to get the maximum out of your Canon 5D MKII or other camera compatible with Magic Lantern. Standard Firmware does not output a "clean" HDMI signal, at least not for Canon cameras; the Panasonic GH2 produces a clean HDMI output, as noted by Philip Bloom (!).

What are currently recommended HDMI field recorders?

1. Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle (RAW Video)

Black Magic Design Hyperdeck Shuttle

* Product information page/ manufacturer: Black Magic Design
* Discussion on the Magic Lantern User Group: hyperdeck shuttle

Pro:

  • Very Cheap: ($339.99 in the USA, 299€ in Europe
  • Records UNCOMPRESSED (!) RAW Footage from HDMI Out.
  • Cons:

  • Expensive in usage: 15 minutes uncompressed (1.6 GB/s) = 180GB
  • SSD drives NOT included, so you might need to calculate in some OCZ Vertex 3 SSDs in your budget
  • No Video Monitoring on the device itself. You might need to buy an external monitor, such as the Liliput external HDMI monitor (starting at $169 in the USA and 186€ in Europe)



    2. Atomos Ninja - Portable HDMI Recorder (ProRes)
    Atomos Ninja HDMI Recorder for almost RAW Video (Apple ProRes)

    Pro:

  • Smaller files, since it is no real RAW footage but Apple ProRes: 6 hours ProRes 422 (HQ) (220 MB/s) (16.5 Hours with 750GB Disks)

  • Monitoring included! 4.3” diagonal, 480x270 resolution
  • Cheap usage, since Hard Drives can be used! (though, the initial price is higher:
  • Less storage space needed
  • Supports two Hard Drives or SSD-Disks.
  • Firewire 800, USB-2 and USB-3
  • Continous Battery: two power cells to guarantee uninterrupted usage

    Cons:

  • Apple ProRes and no real RAW footage (this can be a good thing, as you are saving tons of money and storage space)
  • No ProRes for Windows users yet; Apple users might need to get Final Cut, since Apple ProRes is included in FCP Studio


  • Conclusion:
    Unless you are super-rich and have tons of money to spend for Solid State Drives and a RAID Array, you should get the Atomos Ninja. Besides the actual device, you also get a monitoring solution and have a true portable device, that creates files usable with normal hard drives. Overall cost is much lower and there should not be a really visible difference from ProRes to RAW footage. If you are into Bokeh Porn, you might want to spend your money in the Black Magic Hyperdeck Shuttle.

    Keep in mind, there are currently some issues with HDMI out an Magic Lantern: there is a video on the 5D MKII's 1080i out and also some discussions going on in the Magic Lantern Forums, because some processing needs to be done to get actual usable files. Actual resolutionis 12-19% less (depending how you do it) but still the results are awesome - especially in low light situations. Maybe we will get real clean HDMI out with the Canon EOS 5D MKIII.

    15Aug/110

    Comparison: Canon Camera Roundup for Pro-DSLR Video

    Since lot of people ask me, which (photo) cameras to buy which also work for filming, here is a short roundup of cameras that I find worth mentioning. All of the cameras mentioned will work with Magic Lantern:

  • On-screen audio meters
  • Manual gain control with no AGC
  • Zebra stripes (video peaking)
  • Custom Cropmarks for 16:9, 2.35:1, 4:3 and any other format
  • Control of focus and bracketing
  • (among other changes, such as Video-Bitrate setting)


    Price/Value/Feature Comparison

    Canon Rebel T1i
    Canon EOS 500D

    Canon Rebel T2i
    Canon EOS 550D

    Canon Rebel T3i
    Canon EOS 600D

    Canon EOS 60D
     
    Canon EOS 5D MKII
     
    500d 60d 550d 60d 5dmkii
    USA: $579.90

    Europe: 449.00€ (used)
    USA: $629.00

    Europe: 549.99€
    USA: $699.95

    Europe: 646.99€
    USA: 1,029.00$

    Europe: 879.00€
    USA: 2,499.00$

    Europe: 1,890.00€
    The Revel T1i was a great camera, although we cannot recommend it, since its successor is the 550D and the 600D. If you can get a cheap second hand alternative at ebay, you might get a deal, though. (Seen on ebay for $199 used) The 550D is a great camera, although the 600D beats it in price/value. If you can get your hands on a cheap second-hand 550D, you might be able to even save some more bucks. (Seen on ebay for $399 used) The 600D is our definite winner in price/value: feature-rich, reasonably priced, enjoyable to use and, most importantly, takes great pictures. It's relatively small, but is fully supported by Magic Lantern and you should be really happy with that camera if you use good lenses and fast Compact Flash Cards. The 60D is a great camera, although almost in the same range as the 7D (which has no Magic Lantern support yet). If you are only shooting photos, go for the 7D - if you are doing video, save some bucks and go for the 600D. Invest the spare money in good lenses. The best of all the cameras compared, if we leave out the price. While this is also the most pricy camera, it certainly gets beaten by the 600D when it comes to price/value. The Canon EOS 5D MKII is the best camera for digital video out there, although with the 600D and with fast enough SDXC cards, you will almost match the quality of the 5D MKII.

    Conclusio: get the 600D if you need to save money, get the 5D MKII if you have some spare 3000$. Invest in good lenses, such as the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, even if you are using it on the 600D (it will get converted to a 38-168mm, though). The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS is a cheap but quite good alternative. Make sure you get a really fast SDXC card, since you will want to increase the Video Bitrate with Magic Lantern to make your videos quality increase as well. Recommendation: the Lexar Media 64 GB SDXC Flash Memory Card LSD64GCRBNA133 stores 64GB (!) and is blazingly fast.

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