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Opinion I've decided! Blackmagic Video Assist FTW

Damon

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I've been going back and forth on getting an external recorder for my GH4 vs buying a new camera. Wisdom says get rent a few cameras or recorders and decide that way. For me and the way I work, I'd rather buy an external recorder because I hate the process of buying a camera. I'd rather rig what I have to the fullest. Blackmagic's 5 inch Video Assist seems to fit the bill for me nicely. I can capture in 4k and downsample to 1080p during production, plus 10 bit 4:2:2 ProRes is where I want to go.
 

TubeBuddy

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I've been going back and forth on getting an external recorder for my GH4 vs buying a new camera. Wisdom says get rent a few cameras or recorders and decide that way. For me and the way I work, I'd rather buy an external recorder because I hate the process of buying a camera. I'd rather rig what I have to the fullest. Blackmagic's 5 inch Video Assist seems to fit the bill for me nicely. I can capture in 4k and downsample to 1080p during production, plus 10 bit 4:2:2 ProRes is where I want to go.

Do you have any videos up with these results? Would love to see it! :D
 
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Damon

Damon

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Okay, Andrew, you wanted an update. I found a great deal on a used AtomOS Ninja 2 recorder for $175 on Ebay, totally unused. Should be in next week this time. This will give me 10-bit, 4:2:2 colors depth and space. Also the recorder captures sound in 16-bit, 48Khz. Better than CD quality sound, so that makes me happy. Hopefully I can eliminate the preamp on my set up and record audio straight to the Ninja recorder. The DXA Micro Pro is a battery hog.

I also bought two new lenses. Well, you know I love vintage lenses, so they aren't new. I bought a Canon FD 50mm macro lens which is perfect for my flies and fishing tackle making videos. Then I bought a 135mm FD for telephoto shots. So far I have:

24mm Canon FD wide
50mm Canon FD normal
50mm Canon FD Macro
135mm Canon FD Telephoto

From here the mission would be to extend my focal ranged further, maybe a 17mm or 7.5mm fisheye and a 300mm telephoto, but for now the for lenses above will handle 90% of what I want. The added color depth and space on the Ninja 2 will give me for data to push in post-production. I really want to use color to help me tell the stories I want to tell. 8-bit, 4:2:0 ain't enough anymore, at least for me.

Also the ninja 2 only records in 1080p, but I plan to capture in 4k, then downsample to 1080p. That's the best way for me to use 4k at the moment. My computer simply can't handle 4k. Even if I build a future computer capable of handling 4k footage, I want ProRes as that is a post production friendly codec.
 
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Aaron

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Okay, Andrew, you wanted an update. I found a great deal on a used AtomOS Ninja 2 recorder for $175 on Ebay, totally unused. Should be in next week this time. This will give me 10-bit, 4:2:2 colors depth and space. Also the recorder captures sound in 16-bit, 48Khz. Better than CD quality sound, so that makes me happy. Hopefully I can eliminate the preamp on my set up and record audio straight to the Ninja recorder. The DXA Micro Pro is a battery hog.

I also bought two new lenses. Well, you know I love vintage lenses, so they aren't new. I bought a Canon FD 50mm macro lens which is perfect for my flies and fishing tackle making videos. Then I bought a 135mm FD for telephoto shots. So far I have:

24mm Canon FD wide
50mm Canon FD normal
50mm Canon FD Macro
135mm Canon FD Telephoto

From here the mission would be to extend my focal ranged further, maybe a 17mm or 7.5mm fisheye and a 300mm telephoto, but for now the for lenses above will handle 90% of what I want. The added color depth and space on the Ninja 2 will give me for data to push in post-production. I really want to use color to help me tell the stories I want to tell. 8-bit, 4:2:0 ain't enough anymore, at least for me.

Also the ninja 2 only records in 1080p, but I plan to capture in 4k, then downsample to 1080p. That's the best way for me to use 4k at the moment. My computer simply can't handle 4k. Even if I build a future computer capable of handling 4k footage, I want ProRes as that is a post production friendly codec.

You have me literally drooling over that gear update :D!
 
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Damon

Damon

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Got a video out on the Ninja 2 today. The link is in the promotion page
 

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Bitbat

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I've been going back and forth on getting an external recorder for my GH4 vs buying a new camera. Wisdom says get rent a few cameras or recorders and decide that way. For me and the way I work, I'd rather buy an external recorder because I hate the process of buying a camera. I'd rather rig what I have to the fullest. Blackmagic's 5 inch Video Assist seems to fit the bill for me nicely. I can capture in 4k and downsample to 1080p during production, plus 10 bit 4:2:2 ProRes is where I want to go.
Got it:)