[Brian Wells]

I have the camera and the Blackmagic. Here are my observations.

1) The output of the camera is 1080i60, according to all my Panasonic monitors (I have several models).

2) The camera, by default, crops the 1080i60 output to letterbox, until you hit the “info button.” Then, it’s more or less full screen. It still has frame lines overlaid on the live output, same as the camera lcd.

3) As soon as you hit “record” there’s a five second black out on the HD-SDI monitors, while the camera changes to a 480i60 output over HDMI, which is 4×3 letterbox. That only happens when you’re recording. As soon as you hit “stop” it goes back to the 1080i60 output over HDMI (and after another 5 seconds…)

4) The black line issue that some people (including me) have experienced while the camera is in 480i mode, is corrected with a firmware update, using Blackmagic software and the USB port.

5) My particular unit only liked 5v – 12v power sources. Anton Bauer Dionic’s do not seem to work.

Highlights of the Blackmagic unit over the AJA:

1) AJA is 5v only. So I don’t know how anyone is going to power that in the field without hassle’s.

2) AJA doesn’t advertise support for 480i over HDMI. So, it apparently goes black while recording (I have no way to confirm this, since I do not have an AHA HA-5 available for testing). Would appreciate feedback.

One Gripe about the Canon 5D:

1) It does not output audio over HDMI. If you plug in the stereo mini plug audio output cable, it kills the HDMI. So, it seems there is no way to get HD video and audio at the same time. This is a bummer, of course, because there are now ways to record quality audio with this camera (using magic lantern firmware) and yet you can’t play your footage back on a monitor, and hear the audio, both at the same time. Ridiculous.

[Brian Wells]

[Bob Zelin]“aren’t most guys using the Raptor DDR because of DC operation ?”

That looks like an excellent, first class system for doing video assist. It certainly meets my clients request for a system that does variable frame rate playback in high definition. However, they also said it needs it to do, in their words, “Final cut editing on the set, and green screen verification” as well as having some limited form of scopes capability. So, anything but a computer based system is out of the question, for their needs, and budget range..

So, for this project, I am interested in the capabilities of Imagine Products HD-Log and possibly Scope Box, as a separate purchase. HD-Log will supposedly start and stop the recording, based on the incoming time code, with a USB-port LTC adapter (or presumably an IO HD’s LTC in port). So, technically, the Macbook Pro could be left unattended if that capture method works flawlessly. Which would totally rock! But, has anyone tried it yet?

[Brian Wells]

[Jeremy Garchow] “Not if you’re capturing live.”

EXACTLY!

Or, again, if you’re capturing from a camera without a TC output. It’s especially important.

[Brian Wells]

The primary difference (from a purely functional perspective) is that the AJA IO HD lets you capture video from the HD-SDI port on a video camera and have a unique time code number for each clip on the hard drive, based on the SMPTE RP-188 standard. The MXO-2, on the other hand, does not support SMPTE RP188 (embedded time code over HD-SDI) therefore every clip will start with the same number (ie – 00:00:00:00) instead of a unique number, making logging the footage virtually impossible with prosumer cameras, such as the Sony EX-1 or Panasonic HPX-170, which have HDSDI, but do not have separate TC output ports. Also, the MXO-2 does not capture 1080p23.98 PsF, which is the standard output format of the Sony F900 and, I believe, the EX-3.

So, these are the two main issues with the MXO-2, as far as I’m concerned. I could live with DVCPRO-HD, but I cannot live without time code. Frankly, I just don’t see the value of Uncompressed Recording (ie MXO-2) with a product that doesn’t read the embedded time code over HD-SDI. I would much rather have a compressed codec, such as Pro Res, at least for now, with a device that allows standard workflow (like referencing unique time code ID’s to sort through different clips). I don’t see how anyone in this industry could even use the clips from an MXO-2 without time code. It boggles the mind how they could overlook this issue.

Gary will be happy to know I am buying an IO HD after this experience. Nice, too, since B&H just dropped the price for me : )