Ninja Recorder Review

Ninja Recorder Review

The Ninja, a portable touchscreen Professional 10bit HD Recorder, Monitor, & Playback device that captures pristine video and audio direct from any camera with a clean HDMI output, will transform the way you work with video. It encodes in real-time to the visually-lossless Apple ProRes format, onto low-cost, removable 2 ½ inch hard disks in Apple ProRes.

The Ninja makes the output of video files to your computer much simpler, eliminating the need for SD cards and bypassing the image-degrading compression needed to squeeze HD onto in-camera flash storage like P2, SxS, SDHC, etc.

The Ninja is strong, light and portable, with a super-tough aircraft-grade aluminum chassis that weighs only 550g excluding disks and batteries, and 900g fully loaded with batteries and disk. The Ninja can be mounted almost anywhere using its top and bottom ¼ inch tripod screw thread mounting points.

Inside the Ninja is the ATOM-OS, a custom made operating system just for video. It dedicates critically accurate tasks like encoding and camera input support to the precision hardware inside. The ATOM-OS also runs the Touch-Screen, the User Interface, and runs on top of our hardware much like a computer running Mac OSX.

2.5 inch spinning disks or flash memory-based SSD’s are the most reliable and affordable types of storage on the planet. Use super-cheap spinning disks (up to 750GB HDD) for everyday studio and event work then switch instantly to flash based SSD’s to give you the robust recording in vibration-sensitive or harsh recording environments. This is the same flash memory as in Compact Flash, SxS, P2 and SDHC cards but at a fraction of the cost. The Ninja’s tight integration with Apple ProRes® means recorded footage is instantly and natively editable in Final Cut, Media Composer, Premiere, Edius, Vegas and Lightworks.

See the image below to see how video files can be easily transferred to your computer.

Ninja Recorder

Ninja packs a host of features into its compact, rugged aluminum body:

  • Recording direct to Apple ProRes via HDMI – pristine HD uncompressed video from camera lens and sensor directly to Apple ProRes via HDMI
  • Monitoring – On the Ninja Screen
  • Playback – Instant playback for review of Apple Prores files to the NInja screen
  • Touch Screen – Simple intuitive touch screen functionality
  • Continuous Power – Atomos Continuous Dual Battery Technology
  • Affordable Storage – Infinite affordable 2.5″ HDD/SSD storage capability

The Ninja comes with everything you need to start shooting video right away:

  • Ninja Unit – Recorder, Screen for monitoring and playback, Touch Screen for easy control
  • HDD/SSD Master Disk Caddy (x2) – you buy the disks and insert them. This is by far the most affordable way to record video onto media
  • 2600mAh Batteries (x2) – for continuous battery operation
  • Charger – to charge your batteries
  • Docking Station (and cables) – to connect to Mac or PC via Firewire 800 and USB2/3 for downloading or editing immediately from the Ninja Disks
  • Ninja Carry Case – Tough, light and portable carry case to protect your investment

See below for more images of the versatile Ninja recorder.

Ninja