Atomos Ninja 2 on Nikon

Good information in that video.
I've been thinking about getting the Blackmagic Hyperdeck. It's $327 and records either fully uncompressed from camera or DNxHD compression.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/841023-REG/Blackmagic_Design_HYPERD_PT2_HyperDeck_Shuttle_2_SSD.html

The biggest difference is the Atomos also has a monitor but it's $1000

I haven't seen many good reviews on the hyperdeck. I was looking at it as an option for my fs700. I don't want hdmi either, just because when I rented the nanoflash it was hdmi and the connector was wonky. Sometimes it would screw up. The samurai is what I was also looking at from atmos. There is another one ... something pix that is supposed to be the best.

Hey miz just saw your post on the 50mbits page after posting in the other thread about the hdmi. I hated it. Used it with the fs100 when I rented, but I imagine the hdmi port is just as wobbly with all hdmi.

you like that pix220 with the fs700? any real noticeable difference/

I haven't seen any bad reviews on the hyperdeck.
It does have SDI input as well as HDMI

Also I can set my camera to send a signal to it to start recording when I hit record on the camera. I don't know if the Atomos has that feature.

does the atomos record 30p? does the pix220 record 30p?

Hyperdeck records DNxHD? Interesting...that's a lot more compact/efficient unit.

Atomos and PIX220 record 30p (I know the PIX also deinterlaces and can modify from almost any (HD/SD) resolution to another at different frame rates).

Problem - they don't record 60p! I like shooting in 60p. Makes for more options later. Can't make more frames from fewer so easily, but easy to make 30p and 24p from 60p. So I wish the PIX recorded 60p.

I will be fabricating a flexible short (3") HDMI extension for the delicate joke connector that is HDMI and strap it on good. I use the DP4 EVF to monitor from FS700, and when cable gets bumped after swiveling on tripod to capture a scene quick, suddenly the HDMI signal has is gone, and it takes precious long seconds at best to re-sync....in the meantime no signal to monitor or record!

dapoopta, no I haven't messed with the PIX with the FS700. Right now it's still pretty fresh to me, so I'm still getting used to the camera, being larger, heavier, and strangely shaped, and more delicate, and in the meantime quite busy (roofing in the rain, tra la la....) but I'll get to that ASAP....

As for the monitors on the Atomos and the PIX, both various aids to working, the PIX has false color for exposure, zebras, customizable focus peaking, 1:1 pixel mapping...these are handy, but they are NOT as good as a larger monitor and/or dedicated EVF. Mostly, the monitor helps you confirm you have signal.

OK, back to being a soggy carpenter...if it weren't raining, maybe I could have been getting some clips!

Another potential issue, I'm curious about (because I have been bitten by this particular gotcha!) is aliasing. Be aware that if your camera currently exhibits objectionable aliasing, especially if it is a higher resolution sensor than that of the output (case in point, DSLR to HD) then you might see MORE, and it's a crappy thing to find.

The reason I'm curious about this is that when using the PIX220 with the Sony V1U, and also a bit with the Z5U (not as bad) I got aliasing artifacts on diagonal lines, (power lines, rooftops, boat hull details, etc, and also on repeating patterns like leaves and glacier details from a distance.

Interestingly, this aliasing either was not as bad or not evident at all on the HDV version of the clip (since I was shooting simultaneously to backup and to compare). I was also seeing more NOISE than the HDV version.

WTF? Spend a couple grand to have video with more problems? Not happy.

So my theory is that the highly compressed codec (HDV) "absorbed" the aliasing and noise. Sure, I lost some detail, but after EXHAUSTIVE comparisons, synched frame accurate and aligned on tracks so I could directly A/B them, there's not a lot of detail lost (at least on a single progressive frame) and the faults were more than the benefits.

So a DSLR, downrezzing from a 18-22 MP sensor to 1920x1080, to a lossy codec may show more aliasing than normal.

I'd be VERY curious as to whether this is the case. I expect that the FS700 might show me something I did not want to see, but I'll reserve judgement until I do tests. The FS700 already exhibits aliasing I for one find objectionable, especially in the Stupor Slow Motion mode, which angers me. I have a feeling the 4K from the FS700 will be fraught with issues, which would explain the delay in its implementation, or it will be golden.....what do you wanna bet it's the former?

Of course, I also see aliasing in productions that are WAY bigger budget than me, or many stock shooters are likely to be, so maybe it's just one of those things the general public don't notice or care about, like stagecoach wheels spinning backwards or diagonal lines shimmering.,....but then, we don't spend thousands of dollars on the perpetual quest for better gear just to please the general public...we do it to try to please our buyers (may they be fruitful and multiply), and also ourselves, right?

And finally, one more gotcha:

Drive speed.

So the ProRes or DNxHD codecs are easier for the computer to digest and play back, right? Well, maybe that's the case. But consider the higher bit rate you've lusted after and finally gotten....you've already got a fast motherboard, processor and RAM, and you can play back your in-camera video without a hitch, right?

Well if you don't have really fast drives, that higher bit rate codec you're now shooting in demands faster drive transfer/data streaming speeds....and while it's working your processor and RAM less, it's now restricted by the bottleneck in your data busses.

Why did I learn this? Well, because I was trying to figure out why my machine does not play DNxHD or ProRes as easily as it does HDV, which is supposedly harder on the machine.

For what it's worth, my computer has 4 drive, a SSD C: drive, three 1 TB media drives (I work from 1 or two, and render to the third, and these three drives are Caviar Black, 7200 rpm, SATA - now once, like when I first got this machine, I thought this was fast...now I see that I need FASTER!

......and so might you....

(notice that I didn't even mention Uncompressed?!)

... and a couple of these :) http://www.g-technology.com/products/g-raid-thunderbolt.cfm