Shogun vs the 7q+

[Nick Hiltgen]

Has anyone recorded with the 7q+ yet? Sorry if this has been discussed already I have a hard time searching with my mobile. I've seen quite a few reviews of the shogun (and been lucky enough to use one myself but most of the 7q+ reviews seem to be theoretical. I have the previous version (7q) and while I've been happy with it for the most part (the picture looks good and the one time I used it for arriraw it worked flawlessly) but I've been a little disappointed with the firmware updates (they've been saying they'd add a vectorscope for over a year now. And honestly the price of the hard drives leave a lot to be desired. My fear is that I think the shogun offers a better price point but the 7q offers more functionality unfortunately I'm afraid I'll never take advantage of that functionality.

Has anyone had some first hand experience with both to help me make a decision?

[Eric C. Petrie]

I think you've pretty much summed it up already. The Odyssey is going to have way more functionality, however, unless you're using it to record Arri RAW 4 channels of simultaneous HD you might not tap into all that functionality. Convergent Design already has key RAW support for Canon C500, Sony FS7, Sony FS700, etc. BUT, if you're goal is to record a ProRes 4K signal form a DSLR (GH4, A7s) the Odyssey is probably overkill. Nice yes, expensive yes, overkill perhaps. Besides, if you have been using an Odyssey 7Q the user experience is not going to be very different with the 7Q+. Certainly not worth swapping for unless you need one of those key new features, like HDMI 4K. Admittedly, this is my simple subjective opinion.

Eric Petrie
provideoandtape.com
Lease the Canon C100 for $129 a month
Lease the Sony FS7 for $248 a month

[Nick Hiltgen]

Thanks Eric, just want to make sure i'm not overlooking anything.

[Jeff Zimmerman]

Heard that the Odyssey Q7+ only includes ability to capture ProRes HQ up to 1080p30. Other formats require activation. The activation is specific, requiring purchase to unlock other resolutions and codecs. Also requires there own proprietary SSD's.

For my money I'll be getting the Atomos Shogun which is already fully unlocked and allows the use of your own 2.5 hard drives.

[Ryan Douthit]

I just received my Odyssey 7Q+ on Friday. Bought it specifically to connect up with the A7S.

Thoughts:

It's ridiculous they have a mini HDMI plug. (Same as Shogun) I've found that not all cables/connectors work and you pretty much have to use the cable and ADAPTOR they included. No micro to mini HDMI's work reliably. I saw in another thread they decided to use mini because it holds a connection better than standard. The fact that we have to use adaptors negates this "benefit", of course.

I feel a lot more confident with CDs certified media as opposed to off-the-shelf Shogun media. This isn't a hobby for me and I can't afford downtime.

Formats I've been able to record to (out of the box) include ProRes 4k and ProRes HD. I think there was also a ProRes 2k option there... I don't have it in front of me now. No raw. I wouldn't use that anyhow. C-D has said that other flavors of ProRes are coming and I'd welcome 4k LT.

I haven't edited anything off of the C-D yet, so I can't comment on quality. Still working on rigging it up so I'm comfortable with it.

R

[Ivan Mosny]

"It's ridiculous they have a mini HDMI plug. (Same as Shogun)"

Shogun uses normal size HDMI plug.
It can use Prores or Avid formats. After last update make Shogun use of 3D LUTs - so we can record slog2 but have REC709 on the screen.

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Jeff Zimmerman

Heard that the Odyssey Q7+ only includes ability to capture ProRes HQ up to 1080p30.

The Odyssey can record 1080p60.

Originally Posted by Ryan Douthit

It's ridiculous they have a mini HDMI plug. (Same as Shogun)

I agree it is ridiculous, and as Ivan pointed out, the Shogun has two full sized HDMI connections.

I feel a lot more confident with CDs certified media as opposed to off-the-shelf Shogun media. This isn't a hobby for me and I can't afford downtime.

I agree that certified media was a good call on CDs part, but I have been using two Sandisk Extreme 480GB drives and have had zero issues with them. It makes picking good media your call, but it is a call you can make.

Formats I've been able to record to (out of the box) include ProRes 4k and ProRes HD. I think there was also a ProRes 2k option there... I don't have it in front of me now. No raw. I wouldn't use that anyhow. C-D has said that other flavors of ProRes are coming and I'd welcome 4k LT.

The Shogun already supports ProRes LT, 422, and HQ in both 1080 and 4K. It also now supports DNxHR. I have definitely been request to provide lower-bitrate versions of ProRes for clients, so I really like having that option and it's astounding to me that CD still doesn't have it yet.

Still working on rigging it up so I'm comfortable with it.

The Shogun has mounting points on the top and bottom of the unit. The Odyssey has one that points outward away from the rear of the body, which is odd to me, though I know why they had to do it like that.

[Nick Hiltgen]

Just to update, I ended up going with the 7q+ when they through in 2 256gb drives. The newest firmware finally adds prores and proreslt support and a pretty cool in monitor down convert function that gives you a high quality HD recording from the 4k source.

the hdmi mini port does seem dumb, and i wish it offered 4k out over the cdmi port. On the plus side I will say I was able to playback 4k on the 7q+ with no issues from day one, it seems that all of these recorders have growing pains.

[Roger Martin]

My buddy likes his Shogun so much that he bought a second one.
He was aghast when I came back from NAB and announced I was getting the 7Q+ for my A7s.
At NAB, I got "Hands On".
The Video Devices PIX-7 easily came out on top with the best monitor, features, and price for my use.
But it won't be available until at least November and more likely next year.
The Shogun came in last choice with the poorest build and least features but the ability to use cheap hard drives.
I decided to get the 7Q+ promotion that included two of their proprietary SSD
and the firmware upgrade to include ProRes LT.
They also announced compatibility with the much cheaper new SamSung 1TB SSD.
So far it seems they have not delivered that but I would not want to chance getting glitchy software
and can wait as the two SSD they provided are more than I need.
I am using the 7Q+ to DownRes 4k to 1080P30.
The results have been much better than what I get internally and I can record a lot more than 29 minutes.

[Ryan Douthit]

Update: I've found that the Hyper Mini to Micro HDMI cable works with the Odyssey 7Q+ without any issues.

HyperThin World's Thinnest & most flexible HDMI cable Mini to Micro (0.8m Black)

I also bought the Nebtek Sony L battery cage.

https://store.nebtek.com/cages/309-o...sey&results=20

Now, it's a lot more convenient to use. Considering adding the Nebtek V-Mount to get even more runtime from the 7Q+ in the field.

[Nick Hiltgen]

+1 for the hyper thin cables, just ish the were a little bit longer.

[Roger Martin]

Originally Posted by Ryan Douthit

Update: I've found that the Hyper Mini to Micro HDMI cable works with the Odyssey 7Q+ without any issues.

HyperThin World's Thinnest & most flexible HDMI cable Mini to Micro (0.8m Black)

I also bought the Nebtek Sony L battery cage.

https://store.nebtek.com/cages/309-o...sey&results=20

Now, it's a lot more convenient to use. Considering adding the Nebtek V-Mount to get even more runtime from the 7Q+ in the field.

I have the HyperThin cable and it delivers 4k with no problems.

The Sony L battery adapter will not deliver the 3+ hours I need although I heard there is a new NP990 battery that might do it.
So I bought a "dummy battery" for it and plugged it into the 32,000 mAh Poweradd that should last for days and/or power my A7s as well.