Earlier this year, there was a lot of excitement about the upcoming arrival of an external 4K video recorder that could connect directly to an HDMI output from a camera like the Sony A7s or the Panasonic GH4: the Atomos Shogun 4K was then shown as a pre-production prototype. 4K Enthusiasts were waiting for something like this because using an external 4K encoder gives extra options in terms of battery and processing power available to the 4K encoding.
The extra size certainly provide more options when it comes to board size and thermal management. Additionally, the 7-inch integrated display is more comfortable than integrated displays that are often half the diagonal or less. Obviously, you’re not going to carry this around as a tourist, but for semi-pros and pros who want something relatively compact, this should provide a good ratio between bulk and image quality.
The Atomos Shogun can record in 4K and RAW using either Apple ProRes 4K or Cinema DNG Raw. It can accept data from HDMI or HD-SDI and features a 1080p 7” monitor (325ppi) with full color-calibration. Finally, it can record 1080p at a maximum rate of 120 FPS. If you want the full specs galore, head to the Atomos website.
In mid-July, Atomos had started accepting pre-orders (at around $2000), but the company is now showing the final retail units, which should start shipping sometime this month. I don’t think that I’ll need one of those for my small-time video needs, but the tech looks very impressive.
Filed in . Read more about 4K, Inter Bee and Inter Bee 2014.