C100 & Ninja 2 recording break

[Mark Bloomfield]

I have a Canon C100 and Atomos Ninja 2 connected via HDMI. I periodically get a break in recording. The screen on the Ninja goes blank as well as any attached monitor, as if the unit momentarily powers down. There is a resultant recording break of approximately 1 second. I have very kindly been sent another unit by Atomos, who are very responsive, but the replacement is also doing the same thing.

I have run the camera with just the monitor attached and there is no break in output to it from the camera, so I suspect here is something going on with the external recorder. I have tried different drives. I am currently using Sandisk 120 Gb SSDs, but have used a clients HDD and experienced the same. I have tried several HDMI cables, Perfect Path and Commtel, doesn't seem to be any difference. Battery power is good, cable length < 1 meter and plugged in properly. Therefore I am at a bit of a loss on this one.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue?

[Gary Huff]

Hey Mark, I have a Ninja-2 as well, and the only problem I've noticed is that on a rare occasion it will "freeze up" on recording 24p footage (with the removal of the 3:2 pulldown). I almost always run the Ninja with the monitor feature turned on, and it will stop updating, but it's still recording, and putting motion in the frame always unfreezes it, so I would assume the pulldown gets confused.

I am, similarly, running Sandisk 120GB discs and PerfectPath HDMI cables (while pricey, I love 'em). Since it is two new units giving you issues, I'd like to know what format you are shooting in when this happens. Is it 50i? 25p? Both have the same issue?

[Mark Bloomfield]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for your input!
I am recording 25PsF on the camera and recording 1080p25 on the Ninja 2. Haven't tried recording at 1080i50, perhaps I should give that a go and see what happens. I am using the Canon setting and the HDMI setting to start/stop the Ninja 2. Interestingly the TC>0 function button is completely greyed out.

I have seen references to the 3:2 pulldown, but the same issues do not exist with 25p as far as I am aware.

[Al Bergstein]

Mark, in the video I reference below, the author references that the TC issue is fixed by unplugging the HDMI cable and plugging it back in. Apparently if you plug it in and then try and change the TC menu, it doesn't work. So the process is: get the Ninja plugged in and ready to go. Go to the menu for the TC on the C100, unplug and replug in the cable (maybe that can be done prior if you set the TC a different way, I don't know) and then you should be able to see the TC menu change. The overview of the Ninja2 is done on the second half of this video. Let it download and then you can easily find it. Good luck. As someone planning on getting a Ninja soon, I'd like to know if you solve this problem or not.

Canon EOS C100 feats Atomos Ninja 2 engl. on Vimeo

[Mark Bloomfield]

Hi Al,

Thanks for your reply, the video is very useful. The TC>0 issue is resolved by removing the camera specific setting on the Ninja 2. As for the dropout I have been out shooting today and all seems to be good. I really hate anything that has an intermittent element to it. I would still recommend the Ninja 2, a great piece of kit and production like it as the footage is straight to edit. For most of my shoots there is no increased data issue as most editors work on a ProRes timeline anyway.

I have sent my original Ninja 2 back to Atomos and I'll feedback anything they find. Atomos over here in the UK are very supportive. Hopefully that is reflected globally.

[Mark Bloomfield]

For anyone discovering this older thread, I have recently updated the firmware on my Ninja-2 to version 4.21 and have done several test recordings some just under two hours in length and have seen no breaks in the recording at all!

has anyone else seen this?

Best wishes,

Mark

[Paul Hildebrandt]

Couple things about the C100 with Ninja.

- If it starts going black on you during recording, call Atamos and have it sent in for a replacement, it's a defective unit. I had to do this with mine for that exact issue.

- Do not playback footage on the Ninja using the instant playback button on the camera, as you will lose pulldown. Switch to the media menu on the camera to playback footage, or playback footage on the NInja. I made this mistake and ended up with unfixable interlaced footage in a 24p wrapper.

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Mark Bloomfield

I have a Canon C100 and Atomos Ninja 2 connected via HDMI. I periodically get a break in recording.

I've been doing some testing on this recently because I saw the problem, then I got a new HDMI cable and never saw it again.... until yesterday.

I happened to be filming a robotic machine operating continuously (for several hours) over a period of several days trying to catch a particular event / error happening without someone having to watch it full time, plus we'd have the benefit of being able to replay the robotic error and analyse it.

So, for 24 runs at between 1 and 4 hours each it ran fine. Each time I got a single (huge!) file in ProRes. Until yesterday when it was broken in to 19 files with between 6 and 9 frames missing at each break.

The ONLY thing I'd done differently was cable routing from the camera to the Ninja 2. So, now I'm in to more testing to see if that is the culprit or if something else is the cause.

BTW - this was using one of the 500GB HDDs that are on the Atomos highly recommended list.