Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

The new firmware download is available at Atomos

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

No DNx yet

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

I assume that the rumor alleging that DnxHD would be included with a firmware upgrade was just that ... a false rumor? B&H is still showing it as a paid upgrade for the originally suggested price and indicates a June 1st availability.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

There's a long blog post from Jeromy Youngs (Atomos CEO) on the Atomos website (The Atomos Blog | Just another WordPress site), which goes into some detail about the various issues raised on this forum. It's certainly worth reading and, whilst not changing the frustration from waiting waiting, it does give realistic timescales and some interesting updates.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

I've just updated my Samurai to Ver 3.0 and am wondering if the "new features," i.e. Zebras, peaking, etc, can only be activated when the Samurai is receiving signal from the camera, since the unit by itself gives no indication that these features are available when invoking the menu command immediately following update?

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Ron, et al...will wonders never cease? I'm glad ATOMOS got FW v 3.0 released. I have one minor correction regarding the 'rumor' that DNxHD would be included in the v. 3.0 FW. It was not a rumor, I heard Jeromy Young say it would be included in v. 3.0 during an interview at NAB '2012. You may decide how that affects your opinion of Jeromy Young and ATOMOS.

Best regards,

J.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

I have to say that the peaking looks pretty cool so far...but I have only tested it in my kitchen under very good lighting. The LCD was not washed out in this setting, so the monitor actually proved useful. However, I feel as though it will likely become unusable as soon as I get into a real work setting where I am shooting unscripted events. We will see. But I can say the focusing with my 6x XL lens appears to have become infinitely easier than when using only the EVF itself.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Does anyone know what the new "Export xml" icon is telling me? It's on the bottom of the "Media" screen.

Regards,

J.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

I'm surprised that some minimal form of documentation was not included with the firmware release vis-a-vis the new features and "export xml."

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

I asked Atomos about the lack of instructions and they have just told me that they are currently putting together some documentation for users. Let's see ...

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

I look at all the issues you guys have had with Atomos and the Samurai and I wonder: Is the product really good enough to justify all the hassles?

I can understand the points in the blog, but it does make them look like a pretty amateur operation.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Despite the apparent frustrations, I have to say yes, it's worth it. For my needs it's a fantastic bit of kit and it does exactly what I want it to do and it does it well. The frustrations I have faced are all about expectations of extras not being well managed. That's all.

The initial delay in getting the unit was very frustrating, but since it arrived I've had great success with it and contacting Atomos directly with any issues has always resulted in an excellent customer service experience.

It's like with any tool - you choose it based on what you need to achieve at the time. It does everything I need and any new features are pure bonus. But, like anyone who enjoys a new device, I am always keen to get my hands on the newest and best, so it is frustrating being told it'll be with me on day x when it doesn't in fact turn up for a while after.

Atomos seem to be trying to get to grips with their comms and they seem to accept that they have been a bit too hasty with projected delivery dates. But, all that's unrelated to the fact that the basic product is excellent and well worth it at the price.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

I have to agree with Dominic, the ATOMOS Samurai is a good product(I don't have a Ninja, so I can't comment). It's reasonably well designed for its primary function, recording HD video on commercially available 2-1/2-inch hard drives using an excellent recording CODEC. All of this functionality at a reasonable price-point.

My biggest complaint is the company's inability to provide solid delivery dates for its products and their lack of communication skills in making their customers aware of the delivery issues they are experiencing. I recently received notification via email regarding the new Ninja II and the offer to sell the new product to 'registered' owners at a reduced price. Apparently they are capable of mass emailing when they want to sell you something, but chose not to notify 'registered' owners of 'Jeromy's Blog' article or the delays in FW v. 3.0 delivery.

Regards,

J.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Thats great to hear. I've pretty much figured out the new features in v3.0 but scoured their website looking for info on what colors represent what exposure level in the new false color feature. A few I've figured out by changing the zebra setting and toggling the false color on to match exposure areas.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

What IRE values can be chosen for the zebras?

I´m using a camera that can only show zebras down to 70% so it would be fantastic if the samurai zebras can be set to 40-50% for exposure metering on a grey card!

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Unfortunately the zebras only start at 70 on the Samurai as well. From there they jump to 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100 and to 105. For use on the F3 with S-Log, 50 and 110 would of been great. With that, I never use the Samurai to check exposure, focus or color balance. Maybe that will change with the new features..

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

What about false color? Shouldn´t it color everything in different colors so you can distinguish the whole range?

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Yes, False Color covers the whole range. There is apparently no documentation yet from Atomos explaining what colors cover exactly what exposures but some are pretty easy to figure out.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Ok, thanks for your help!
I´ll write an email to atmos, asking them for the color scheme

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Felix...if you get an explanation of the 'color scheme' from ATOMOS would you please share it with the group? I'm a 'neophyte' regarding video capture and I don't really understand what the color bars and scene colors are telling me. I presume it helps establish a baseline during 'post production' color correction.

Thanks!

Best regards,

J.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Hi Bill and others,

I've attached a document which shows how the colors are mapped to IRE values in the Samurai false color function.

If there are any further info requests then let me know.

Kind regards,

Ivan Radley
Atomos

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Howdy Ivan! I’ve been urging Atomos to maintain a presence here. Welcome to the board and hope to see many more posts from you and Atomos.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Mr. Radley..."Welcome to the jungle". Heh, heh!

Thank you for your thoughtful response. Speaking only for myself, I welcome you to the community and encourage ATOMOS to become a regular contributor to DVINFO.net.

Best regards,

J.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Green 43-47 IRE. That´s great! I was afraid the steps would be to big to use for a greycard exposure but that´s perfect!

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Felix, or anyone...I come from a 'stills' background and am not familiar with the "IRE" scale. Is "43 to 47 IRE" considered the same as "Medium Gray" in the 'stills' world? And, can someone give me the '30-second' class on using the 'IRE scale'?

Regards,

J.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

As far as I know, when you shoot REC709 HD, the absolute standard gamma curve, your greycard would be at 50 IRE.
But when using a camera with "cinegammas (a more non-linear gamma curve)" I understand the IRE of middle grey should be more like 42-45 IRE to gather more highlight detail. I think it´s also because cinegammas start compressing the brighter parts of the image earlier but smoother than REC709 gamma and you ould not want to get your skintones compressed. In post production you could then rearange your midtones, make them brighter.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Felix...thank you. When researching 'picture profiles' for my Sony HXR-NX5U camera, even though I didn't understand why, many of the 'PP' recommendations I obtained listed "GAMMA ITU709 Matrix" and "Color-Mode ITU709 Matrix", I accepted those 'recommendations' on faith, because I didn't know any better. The camera also has a "CINEMATONE1 and a "CINEMATONE2", I chose not to use those settings. Now, I'm wondering if I should do a little more experimentation? I'm trying to understand the 'language' and you have helped fill-in a piece of the puzzle.

Regards,

J.

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Hi Ivan, Thanks so much for posting the false color key here and adding the feature to the Samurai. Very useful!..

Re: Samurai V3 NOW AVAILABLE on Atomos website.
 

Felix has his facts correct about middle/medium grey. I would add that for S-Log ( Sony F3 ) which is a much stronger version of CineGammas, you would want to place your middle grey at 33%. It has to do with the clipping of the white points that S-Log performs. Your faces will look underexposed but are regained in grading without losing skin tone color.