Atomos: Ninja comes clean on DSLRs - sharpens new Samurai Blade

Many users, particularly of DSLRs, might find the new lower price of the Atomos Ninja-2 (HDMI input) recorder appealing, as it can now take clean HDMI feeds from a lot more DSLRs, including the Canon 5D MkIII – thanks to a firmware update from Canon (Atomos also worked with Canon to develop start/stop trigger and timecode over HDMI).

The Ninja-2 now costs $695, and comes with a redesigned docking station, battery, AC mains adaptor, single battery charger and shims for Canon and Nikon batteries.

Atomos also launched the new Samurai Blade at NAB, with higher quality screen for monitoring, and reduced the price of the existing Samurai. For full details, and more Atomos NAB news, go to the main UrbanFoxTV technology blog.

Firmware upgrade for XF305 + XF300

Canon has announced a firmware upgrade for the XF305 and XF300  to help those shooting in 3D and adding double-slot recording.

Most of the new features were already available on the XF105 (because it was launched after the XF305) including the ability to configure two units for 3D HD video capture.

But, there are some things I feel are still missing, that could easily be added.

Training Course Notes: Tapeless - Compact Flash Media

The Canon XF300 and XF305 record to compact flash cards. This tapeless workflow worries some people. But it shouldn’t. Yes, you will see some horror stories on forums telling tales of lost data. But, tape had its problems too. So here is a guide to working tapeless without tears.

Canon XF305 and XF105 Review

Canon XF305

To kick start this new blog here's the review I wrote for a the Guild Of TV Cameramen's magazine, Zerb....

2010 was a good year for Canon watching. At Broadcast Video Expo 2010 there were more Canon DSLR cameras in the exhibition hall than traditional camcorders.