Capture Card: Blackmagic or AJA?

[Aaron Neitz]

Blackmagic makes a good product. We personally switched to all AJA products a couple years back – BM wasn’t as “on it” with driver stability and they simply had too many models of cards. However I think the consensus is they’re very solid now.

Now the Kona 3 has been out for how many years? And it’s still the king of the hill. Bar none.

[Walter Biscardi]

If you have no need for 2k, and it sounds like you don’t, then the Kona LHi is the way to go. Has the most flexibility and realtime conversion features out there of any products except the Kona 3.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
Credits include multiple Emmy, Telly, Aurora and Peabody Awards.
Owner, Biscardi Creative Media featuring HD Post
Biscardi Creative Media

Creative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital.

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[Arnie Schlissel]

I have used both Kona and Decklink cards. Both cards deliver more or less what they advertise. Both work well and are reliable.

Buy the Kona.

Aja has better software. the control panel is easier to use and allows you to configure the card much faster and more easily. Plus, I get to decide which input or output I want to downconvert or upconvert, so it’s not a mystery only to be solved by arbitrarily connecting, disconnecting and reconnecting until I accidentally find the one that works the way I want it to.

Aja TV is worth the price difference, alone. Why should I have to open up FCP every time I want to see something play out on my broadcast monitor?

And I really shouldn’t have to look up my serial number every time I want to update my driver. If I didn’t own the card, I really wouldn’t need the driver now, would I?

And then there’s the break out box. It seems like a little thing, only 1RU high, but in reality, it really saves you a lot of time and effort when you need to connect or disconnect anything. Why should I have to crawl around under a desk to do that? There’s dustballs down there! And it doesn’t get tangled!

And the ins and outs on the Aja are labeled. Which means that I don’t need to consult the manual when I decide to rewire something.

Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/

[Herb Sevush]

If it were my $700 and the Decklink had all the features I needed, I’d save the money. Aja has better tech support and better features especially for up and down scaling, however the Decklink is a very solid product and if you don’t need the other features, spend the money on more memory for your MacPro.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions

[Gary Adcock]

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/1051804

Go kona….

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows for the Digitally Inclined
Chicago, IL

https://library.creativecow.net/articles/adcock_gary/AJAIOHD.php

[Rafael Amador]

I think the same than Herb.
If your workflow is HDV/XDCAM > BetacamSP, the ‘Decklink Studio” have everything you need.
Many things to do with 700 bucks.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Chris Borjis]

Someone may someday bring you a 720P HD file they need a beta tape of.

only the Kona will do that right. 🙂

[J. Tad newberry]

Hey gurus, thanks so much for all your quick input on this. Called a local dealer this morning and he has (in-stock, on the premises!) a BM HD Extreme 2 for $800 which i think i’ll go get since time is of the essence, or i could also get an HD Extreme 3 for $950, or order a Decklink Studio for $700, but it looks like the Extremes have quite a few more bells and whistles…though i THINK i really need is the Studio. No word from my other dealer as to whether he wants to talk me into an AJA or what they might have on hand. Thanks again. Any good stories about the Extreme cards? 2 or 3? or even what is the diff between the two?

Thanks again!

J. Tad Newberry
Big Ya Productions
Mac Pro 2.66 GHz Quad-Core
3 GB RAM
http://www.bigya.tv

[Shane Ross]

[Chris Borjis] “Someone may someday bring you a 720P HD file they need a beta tape of.

only the Kona will do that right. 🙂 “

Uh…gonna disagree with you there. I have a few colleagues that use Decklink cards and deal with HD and SD and the need to go from HD to SD all the time. They have no problems at all with the BMD cards, and the quality is great. Equal to what you get with AJA.

I would mention the Matrox MXO2, but that is the same prices as the Kona LHi…but another option on the table.

Still, BMD makes a fine product.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[J. Tad newberry]

Thanks Shane, glad to hear it, because it looks like i’ll be grabbing that Extreme 2 card shortly. Any thoughts on the 2 vs. the 3? I didn’t see anything about the diffs (or even that the two versions exist!) on the BMD site. As long as i can get a card that will fit in my Mac Pro and talk (both ways!) to my UVW-1800 (at least until that deck completely turns into a boat anchor!), i will be a happy camper, and an even happier editor. Thanks again guys for the input.

Thanks again!

J. Tad Newberry
Big Ya Productions
Mac Pro 2.66 GHz Quad-Core
3 GB RAM
http://www.bigya.tv