Shooting with the Atomos Ninja V+

Since adding the Atomos Ninja V+ to my workflow for higher-end shoots, I have learnt so much and somewhat changed my post-production workflow on these types of projects.

Connectivity: not all cameras can output RAW via HDMI. I had a negative experience when hiring the Sony FX6 for example, which can only output RAW via SDI, meaning the Atomos recorder needed an additional module which I didn't have at the time. Similarly, some cameras can only output RAW via micro HDMI, which is a different connector. It might sound basic but make sure you camera can indeed output RAW via the connector you've chosen!

Colour management: this was one of the more surprising learnings, shooting with the Fujifilm X-H2S for example. I would have expected the ProRes RAW recordings coming out of the Atomos to be in an F-LOG2 or F-LOG2C colour profile. However, the image was much richer and did not come out in any kind of LOG profile. It reminded me more of the Eterna profile with much more detail and colour information. The image itself was gorgeous, but it meant I couldn't just use my existing LUTs.

​Editing software: the Atomos itself shoots in ProRes RAW, which is accepted in Adobe Premiere Pro but not in DaVinci Resolve. I suppose this is something to watch out for if your workflow is exclusive to Resolve. Blackmagic must be doing this so they can push their own recorders such as the Video Assist which output Blackmagic RAW instead.

Sequence settings: when editing RAW files in Adobe Premiere Pro, you need to set your sequence to HLG in colour profile rather than REC709. Similarly, make sure you check your exports as this workflow can sometimes introduce differences between how the footage looks in your sequence vs. your export which will be in REC709.

Recording settings: before pressing "record" on the Atomos, make sure the output settings of your camera are exactly matched to those on the recorder. The frame rate needs to be the same - but also make sure your shutter speed is correctly set to be double your camera frame rate. I mistakenly changed the settings during a shoot and the resulting footage was jittery, More on this below.

Frame rates & AI:  as mentioned above, having mismatched recording settings between your camera and recorder can cause real issues. But if your footage is affected, and the shot isn't long, you can try putting it through Topaz AI for video and using the frame interpolation functionality.  To do this, you select your target frame rate and choose Chronos as a preset. 

Continuous recording: I tested a continuous recording on the Atomos using an affordable Netac 2TB SSD drive - provided you have the right battery solution for both your camera and recorder, the Atomos can absolutely record continuously for a long period of time. I used it for 90 minutes straight and it didn't overheat or drop frames.

Power: I was using a 25000mAh INIU power bank, using a USB C Type-C to Locking DC 5.5 2.1 power cable from the recorder into the bank. The continuous recording above only used about 30% of the battery, so you can assume the bank itself would last the whole day. I found that using NP-F type Sony batteries yielded less good results, as the batteries would often get empty in under an hour of recording. Those NP=F batteries are good to have as a redundancy but I would not rely on them.

Storage: the great thing about the Atomos recorder is that you can use pretty much any type of recent SATA III SSD drive - this means storage is relatively affordable. Those drives don't need to be high-spec such as Angelbird for example - a basic Samsung or SanDisk drive can do, I even use the cheaper drives from China with no issues. You then need to purchase a spare caddy for each drive so you don't have to unscrew it every time to swap drives.

File sizes: these vary from camera to camera, but I have seen the ProRes RAW files to be around 3GB/minute in 6K. The Atomos can record up to 8K though, so this would affect your file size as well.