As you probably know I am very excited to record uncompressed 4:2:2 clean video from the Nikon D800 using Atomos Ninja. The Ninja is a great solution for run&gun type shoots, as long as you are using the D800’s native LCD to frame and focus (Zacuto Z finder), however, if you are planning to use an external monitor to frame your shots and to focus, check out the Samurai, features a high resolution 800×480 LCD (with focus peaking and zebras via latest firmware). More after the break

There is only one small problem: the Samurai connects through SD-SDI and the Nikon D800 connects via HDMI. The guys at Atomos are on top of it and are planning to release the h2s connect (HDMI to SD-SDI) and s2h connect (SD-SDI-HDMI) by the end of March! It will fit right between the battery and the Samurai!

Samurai Spec’s from their website: (click here to visit Atomos Samurai page)

The revolutionary Samurai is a portable touchscreen Professional 10bit HD Recorder, Monitor, & Playback device that captures pristine video and audio direct from any camera with HD/SD-SDI. It encodes in real-time to the visually-lossless Apple ProRes format, onto low-cost, removable 2 ½ inch hard disks. You can then review your footage in realtime onto the pristine 5″ display or out onto any HD-SDI capable device, including directors monitors & broadcast equipment. With up to 10 hours battery from the 2 included Lithium Ian Camera batteries, you truly have a deck & monitor in the palm of your hand, a super high quality deck & monitor.

It has a super high-resolution 5″ HD/SD SDI monitor with an ideal workflow: from sensor to timeline in unparalleled Apple ProRes quality. All the innovative features of the Ninja plus timecode and genlock and the ability to work with multiple synchronised units. The Samurai is the portable touchscreen HD/SD-SDI recorder/monitor the world has been waiting for.

The Samurai builds on the already impressive HDMI based Ninja to bring a host of new production weapons aimed at camera professionals with HD/SD-SDI cameras:

5″ TFT/LCD 800×480 super high resolution screen
HD/SD-SDI Connecitvity
24 PSF support with 24/60i 3:2 Pulldown removal on capture
SDI Play Out or Loop-Though: connect to an external broadcast monitor or director’s monitor and record and playback on set

SDI Arsenal:

Captive connector
Long cable lengths
Time Code and Gen Lock support
3D support with 2 Samurais Genlocked
Multi Camera Support
More Professional Cameras with better lenses and sensors

Samurai packs a host of features into its compact, rugged aluminium body:

Recording direct to Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD* (* coming Q1, 2012) via HD/SD-SDI – Pristine HD uncompressed video from camera lens and sensor directly to selected codec
Monitoring – Super High resolution 5″ 800×480 built in Samurai monitor
Playback – Instant playback for review of Apple Prores files to the Samurai screen
Touch Screen – Simple intuitive touch screen functionality – no complicated menus!
Continuous Power – Atomos Continuous Dual Battery Technology
Affordable Storage – Infinite affordable 2.5″ HDD/SSD storage capability

*Avid Codec is optional upgrade – available Q1, 2012.
£89 ex. VAT | €99 ex. VAT | US$149

And transforms your video production by:

Eliminating the need for capture cards and wasted time logging and capturing by avoiding the lossy, time consuming capture-to-edit process.
Bypassing the image-degrading compression needed to squeeze HD onto in-camera flash storage.
Providing limitless and cheap storage through the use of removable 2 ½ inch hard disks.
Including all accessories in one rugged case – Batteries, Chargers, Disk Caddies and a PC/Mac docking station.
Recording to a high quality editing codec at the camera in the field: simple.
Recycling older cameras with obsolete tape and compression technology and updating them with a modern, high-quality file-based workflow
Connect press release: (Click here to visit Atomos connect page)
Connect converters are the ultimate portable, battery-powered conversion tool. Connecting HD-SDI to HDMI (Connect S2H) or HD-SDI to HDMI (Connect H2S), they remove Pulldown (reverse-telecine) where necessary, and include an inbuilt test pattern and audio tone generation for confidence – all in a compact, rugged and modular form-factor.
Continuous Power

Atomos have included the world’s first dual battery (one internal and one external) system into the Connect converters, which inherit Atomos’ Patent-Pending Continuous Power system. With up to 32 hours continuous operation from one external battery and the ability to swap batteries on-the-fly thanks to the internal power cell, Continuous Power is a major advantage in any remote location, away from the studio. Just connect and forget: they’ll last the entire event. (AC power options also available).
Future Proof 3G

Connect converters are future proof, as well. With true 3G chipsets and updatable hardware, they are a sound long-term investment. Ideal for use with Electronic Viewfinders (EVFs), large-screen monitors, cameras, decks, video switchers and field recorders, they integrate perfectly with Atomos’ Samurai and Ninja recorders for extra video input and output options.

“Atomos is all about turning great ideas and mind-bending technology into awesome, practical products – always going just that bit further than anyone else,” said Jeromy Young, CEO and Co-Founder of Atomos. “With Connect, we’ve designed two products that are not only outstanding format converters, but they remove pulldown, supply test patterns and audio tones, and have multiple power options including dual battery, which means you’ll never be without a working product, whatever happens. These really are the ultimate tools for video production and infrastructure.”
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