Interested in purchasing a Ninja 2 for my C100 for wedding videography... worth it?

[Edward Calabig]

Hi I recently just purchased a C100 and was wondering if I should purchase a Ninja 2 along with it as well.

I am currently using 2 5d Mark 3s and 1 Canon C100 for weddings and some corporate/ad work. I edit in Premiere Pro CC/After Effects and currently color grade in post and do not mind putting extra effort into grading the footage. I am not doing any sort of VFX work at all.

I currently deliver mainly on the web with the exception of the wedding dvds/blu ray. I currently do not plan to do any sort of broadcast work.

Would the C100 with a Ninja 2 match well with my 5d Mark 3s? Would the ProRes codec give me that much more control over my grades in post? I'm also wondering if it's worth the weight it would add to the camera as my C100 will be my handheld/R&G camera.

Thanks!

[Gary Huff]

What plugin are you using for grading? Do you use power windows and secondaries?

[Edward Calabig]

I'm currently using Colorista 2 and occasionally use secondaries to grade skies and bring out subjects. I just received a new computer today though so I'm looking into learning Da Vinci Resolve for the next wedding season.

[Steve Mims]

The Ninja 2 is a great device. I used one on a feature project this spring.

However, it is cumbersome compared to recording to onboard cards. Also, it turns out that it is almost impossible to distinguish between the camera's compression onboard to the 422 ProRes files recorded by the Ninja.

On our project we recorded to both simultaneously, using the onboard files as backups. Several times we forgot to boot up the Ninja,(or had a technical problem) so the backups were our only record of several shots in the final film. You can't tell the difference.

I think if you're shooting in C-Log you're way ahead in terms of grading later anyway.

But my biggest concern, if I were shooting on the fly with a tiny crew, is the whole issue to wiring the thing up, worrying about the HDMI cable and charged batteries for the device. Also, if you're shooting 24P you have to provide motion in front of the lens to activate the Ninja to get it to roll. Literally wake it up.

So it's a solution if you need 422. But it is a tiny can of worms. Worms you could be dealing with while the shot you need is happening in real time without waiting for you.

Good luck.

[Edward Calabig]

Thanks I do not think the Ninja 2 is right for me at the time. Sounds like it would be a pain to work with during weddings for the time being.

[Pavel Sedlak]

Ninja2 is better in a complex scene with a lot of moving details or at the case of using the higher iso (above iso4000) when noise is more visible (an AVCHD record makes noise more visible, I-frame only record is much better in this case). Nothing for weddings .-) .

[Winfried Dobbe]

I don't agree that you can't see the difference. Most of the time I can clearly see improvement in the Ninja2 footage (straigt out of the camera). Sometimes it is very subtle, sometimes quite significant.

See also the thread in the Canon Cinema EOS forum where internal AVCHD is compared to Ninja footage.

[Chris Hurd]

Moved from Cinema EOS to Atomos.

[Gary Huff]

You don't have to actually wonder. First, below is a link to a very complex scene (visually) that has both a AVCHD .MTS and a Ninja-2 ProRes .MOV. Straight from the media (shot with the WideDR profile):

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/..._vs_Ninja2.zip

On top of that, I can attest that you can easily mount the Ninja-2 to the C100 for run-and-gun shooting with these accessories:

Amazon.com: Perfect Path HD-700-4 High Speed HDMI with Perfect Lock: Electronics

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/616252-REG/Pearstone_9041670_9041670_4_2_10_7cm_Articulating.html
And I just purchased this cable, but I haven't tried it out yet. The Perfect Path is nice for the locking mechanism, but I'm interested in how the articulating heads will work out for me.

36" Standard to Standard HDMI Cable | Zacuto USA

[Edward Calabig]

Ah now I may have to give this consideration!

I actually have that Zacuto cable and loved it for my Zacuto EVF.

[James Davis]

Here are my test footages.

C100 Ninja 2 AppleProRes 422 and DNxHD 220 on Vimeo

In my opinion for run and gun for weddings, you dont really need it. I'm a wedding cinematographer myself and I have tried it in the field, it gets really heavy at times.

[Roger Martin]

I have a Ninja II with hard drive and case available.
I stopped using it when I got my D5300 and GH3.
It does not record 1080P 60
I also have a BM Shuttle II available for the same reason