Gear acquisition

[ALwin]

One of the things we all face, whether we are a beginner, a hobbyist/enthusiast, or even a professional is the question of asking ourselves these questions:

• What gear do we need?
• What gear do we want?
• Is it necessary, essential, worth it?

Gear costs money.  Buying gear is an investment we make and hopefully every gear we buy gives us a fair return of investment over time.

 

Disclaimer: Just because I talk about gear that is quite often out of the budgetary range of beginners and enthusiasts, I think the ideas in the article can be scaled down and applied to gear of any price range.

 

I often like to give a brief background of myself so that people can understand where I'm coming from when giving an opinion or thought about something.  I've been working for the UN and various sister agencies for the past 10 odd years. My formal education is in IT and software engineering, design, development.  But I have been passionate about photography for over twenty years, from childhood.  While working in the UN system as an Information Specialist, I turned my enthusiasm for photography into a part-time profession.  Then I got into video, and have been working as a part-time freelancer mainly in the area of ENG, in filming interviews and short documentary style videos for the UN on various topics.  Half the time I'm working as an IT consultant, the other half as a freelance photographer and videographer.

 

Now onto the main point:

Today I was at the usual Audio/Visual professional equipment supplier (Visuals Switzerland, if you ever need to rent photo/video equipment or accessories in Switzerland they have quite an assortment of stuff) helping a colleague at work choose a video camera.  This colleague of mine used to work for a French news agency for about 10+ years as a foreign correspondent journalist.  The department we work for has a photo/video team that I work with from time to time, but they are often busy and do not have spare gear to go around when other people need to have things photographed or filmed.

 

So while I was at the supplier, I decided to rent the Atomos Shogun.  For those of you who don't know what it is, Atomos is the brand name and Shogun is the name of one of their products.  The device is an external video recorder that can take a video signal from a camera either via a SDI or HDMI connection and encode it as a ProRes, DNxHR/HD and I believe RAW onto SSD/HDD drives.  For example, if you're using a camera such as a Canon 5D something (don't worry, the Atomos recorders support other cameras too) and the internal video recording onto the memory cards are limiting but the camera can send an uncompressed clean video signal out of the HDMI port, an Atomos external recorder is perhaps a device you want to use.

 

The Shogun is Atomos's highest end external compact portable field recorder:

• Accepts both SDI and HDMI inputs
• Records up to UHD/QFHD 4K (not DCI 4K) 30fps resolution and frame rate
• Has a 1920x1200 7" monitor that displays focus peaking, zebra, false color, waveforms, monitor LUTs, etc. that helps cinematographers.
• Retails for about $1500.00 USD

Atomos also sells less costly recorders, such as the Ninja Assassin which is their second highest end compact portable field recorder.  The Assassin is almost the same as the Shogun, minus the SDI ports. It is purely HDMI.  Budget filmmakers might want to consider the Atomos Ninja 2 or Ninja Blade.

 

Why did I rent the Shogun?

Ok, as some of you know the video camera I currently own and operate is the Sony PXW-FS7.  A great, but pricey camera.  But why the Shogun?

 

As a solo shooter the FS7 is great, but there are times when I'm working with other people and they want to view what is being recorded.  The small 3.5" LCD monitor/viewfinder on the camera is a bit small for several people to crowd around and see what is going on.  Especially if I have the viewfinder loupe attached.  Also, when I have grid lines and camera information displayed on the screen, it's hard to see the actual scene/people being filmed. So I've been thinking of getting an external monitor, something larger and better resolution than my old SmallHD DP4, so that I can see a clean view of what is being filmed and other people can stand on the side and monitor it without crowding around the small LCD monitor/viewfinder.

 

So my choices for an external monitor are:

• SmallHD's 500 or 700 series monitors
• Atomos Shogun or Ninja Assassin
• Some other brand/models I won't specify

A SmallHD 500 or 700 series monitors are just external battery powered monitors.  Like the Shogun the displays do include focus peaking, zebra, false color, waveforms, LUT views.  And before Atomos reduced the price of the Ninja Assassin or Shogun a few weeks ago, they were cheaper.  Now they cost around the same price, for the model I want.

 

FYI, I also own a Atomos Ninja mark I and as mentioned earlier a SmallHD DP4 monitor from my DSLR video days.  So I have pretty good experience with both brands.

 

The FS7 records up to XAVC-I internally, which is a pretty good codec already to work with in post production.  If a one minute video recording with XAVC-I uses 1GB of storage space, transcoding to ProRes 422 might use up about 2.5GB of storage space.  But I can easily work with both formats so apart from storage space differences neither really provides me with a significant advantage, though I think my editing machines perform slightly better with ProRes.

 

But because of the recent price drop by Atomos, I was considering the Assassin or Shogun instead of a SmallHD monitor thinking that perhaps having the ability to record footage externally might also be useful, even if I don't use it all the time.  A value-for-cost viewpoint.

 

What the FS7 records:

• DCI 4K and QHD 4K up to 60fps onto the XQD memory cards
• 1080p up to 180fps onto the XQD memory cards
• With the purchase of a $2000.00 expansion unit, I can add the ability to record RAW and ProRes and up to 240fps.
• Without the expansion unit, the SDI and HDMI outputs on the FS7 are limited to 1080p resolution for the SDI and 4K for the HDMI.  HFR recording will be limited to internal recording on the XQD memory cards without the expansion unit, which with 100% certainty I will not be purchasing in the near future.
• Another reason I rented the Shogun was to see if I can use the SDI/HDMI outputs of the camera, without the expansion unit, to record onto an external recorder as some people told me the expansion unit was necessary.  I wanted to be sure for myself. What better way than to rent a device for a day and test it?

Note: there is an alternative recorder to the Atomos Shogun, the Odyssey 7Q+ which costs around $2000-2200 (around the price of the Shogun before the recent price drop).  The Odyssey 7Q+ is a much better device than the Shogun, with dual SSD/HDD drive support and of course there are even more expensive options.

 

As the internal XAVC-I footage of the FS7 is more than enough for my needs and I can record better frame rates internally than the Atomos Shogun, I doubt I will be using it as a field recorder for most of the time (if I decide to purchase it).  Also, as the HDMI out of the FS7 offers 4K while the SDI doesn't, it seems that the Ninja Assassin might be a better and cheaper alternative than the Shogun.  (Note: The Shogun and the Ninja Assassin are the only field recorders by Atomos capable of recording 4K).

 

So why am I still considering the SmallHD, and set on the roughly $1500.00 SmallHD 702 when the Ninja Assassin is around $1000.00 and offers the same display resolution? (Note: Visuals do not have it for rental but I have seen it demoed.)

• I find that the SmallHD display is brighter, better for outdoors.  The Shogun and Ninja Assassin also have bright screens but I don't think they are as bright.  And while both the Atomos and SmallHD displays are glossy, the SmallHD displays are less reflective.
• Atomos models such as the Ninja mark 1 and Ninja 2 have dual battery connections on the back that can be hot swapped.  Great for changing batteries on the fly.  The newer Shogun and Assassin only have one battery connections, an extra accessory is needed to support two hot swap batteries.
• The SmallHD displays that I am considering all have dual hot swap battery connections in the back.  The 700 series supports both Sony and Canon batteries, and I already own a few Sony batteries.  (note: the Sony batteries used by the SmallHD displays are the same type as the ones used on the Atomos products.)
• The build quality of the SmallHD displays are better, though that doesn't mean the Atomos build quality is bad.  I was testing a rental unit so I won't judge Atomos, though I have seen the non-rental versions on display.
• The SmallHD display is thinner and lighter.

BUT... the Atomos offers the additional capability to record onto an external storage device, in ProRes, if I ever need it.  And the Ninja Assassin is cheaper if I don't care about SDI connectivity.

 

Other factors I took into consideration:

• If I buy either, I need to buy more Sony batteries.  I can find cheap non-Sony brand ones on eBay, but I will need to buy higher capacity ones.
• That means I need to carry more items in my bag, extra charger and cables because the batteries for the SmallHD/Atomos are of a different type than the Sony batteries for my camera.
• Will need more storage, if I use the Atomos to record ProRes (more SSD drives for the recorder and more storage space on my NAS).
• It means I need to spend a few extra minutes connecting the device to my camera.

 

My final decision: I will hold off on buying either a SmallHD or Atomos, at least for a couple of months.  I now know what to expect from an Atomos recorder, and what limitations I will face.

 

What I want: either a SmallHD 702 Bright or Atomos Shogun

What I need: an external monitor for looking at a clean view of the footage being recorded, and one that might support waveforms and monitor LUTs

Can I continue working without them: yes

 

Should I get a second opinion from another person(s), perhaps from people who have experience with Atomos, SmallHD or other brands?

Probably not.  Buying a camera is often a personal choice, and the same applies to the accessories you need.  The main thing is you need to know why you need this and what you need it for.  Don't buy a camera or accessory because someone else tells you it's a great something.  Their requirements and usage of the device and yours will always be different.  If you don't know or understand what you need, it's hard for anyone else to help and you definitely will not understand why someone is suggesting you get this product instead of the product you think you should be getting.

 

Just because you want something doesn't mean you need it. And just because you need something doesn't mean you can't continue working without it.

 

I might read this post again later and make some edits.  My aim was to provide a glimpse of the decision making process that goes through the mind of someone who works with an assortment of gear.

 

Additionally, I have a few more commentary pieces that I might share. One of them is a comparative example of using a DSLR versus a consumer camcorder, and why one might not always be the most suitable piece of equipment.

[ShadowCaptain]

nobody is immune from GAS

[ALwin]

2 minutes ago, ShadowCaptain said:

nobody is immune from GAS

As you said you were considering the Shogun or Assassin, unless you have a need for SDI connectivity (current or future), save the $500 and buy the Assassin.

[ShadowCaptain]

1 minute ago, ALwin said:

As you said you were considering the Shogun or Assassin, unless you have a need for SDI connectivity (current or future), save the $500 and buy the Assassin.

 

I might have a use for SDI, but if that doesnt "Pan" out..hehe...the Assassin makes more sense