The newest addition to Atomos’ Japanese themed Ninja lineup is the Atomos Ninja Assassin. If you need an HDMI monitor/video recorder, but do not need SDI connections, the Ninja Assassin is a powerhouse. While the new Ninja does not have the Shogun’s SDI options, RAW recording, Genlock and Lemo connector for balanced XLR audio inputs and outputs, it is 10% lighter and (at the time of publication) it is $700 cheaper. This is the perfect device to complement many DSLRs and mirrorless cameras such as the Sony a7S II, a7R II, the original a7S and the Panasonic GH4.
The Ninja Assassin can record in 4K UHD (3840X2160) with frame rates of 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30p, and Full HD with frame rates up to 120fps. It has an excellent 1920X1080, 7.1” (18cm) IPS touch screen that is very bright at 400 nits and high resolution at 325ppi.The Assassin has a myriad of tools to make sure you are capturing the images exactly as you want and at a higher resolution than you can get internally from your DSLR or mirrorless camera. There is a waveform monitor, focus peaking, audio meters, 1:1 and 2:1 zooms, clip tagging to mark good takes, and other features that will make your capturing easier and more precise.
The Ninja Assassin allows you to capture the highest quality footage your camera can output via HDMI, up to a 10 bit, 4:2:2 color space image. The device records onto 2.5” SSDs up tp 1TB in size, into edit ready formats such as Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHR. These editable codecs are miles better than the H.264 or MPEG footage many mirrorless and DSLR cameras record internally, which when attempting to manipulate in post does not hold up nearly as well as the higher quality footage from the Assassin.There is also no dreaded 30 minute clip limit (damn you European import tax!!!) when recording using the Assassin. Hallelujah! The recorder takes Sony L-Series batteries, records audio via the 3.5mm jack and has a headphone jack to monitor audio. If you want to record using XLR inputs, you may want to look at the Atomos Shogun.
For cameras that have overheating issues, such as the a7R II, this minimizes this problem while adding a ton of extra awesome features. I have recently purchased the Sony a7RII, and I am seriously considering purchasing the Ninja Assassin to get around overheating issues as well as the 30 minute clip limit. Plus, I am really looking forward to having an extra-large, high resolution screen with higher quality recording and touch screen focus checking. The Ninja Assassin is the right balance of price and features for me, as I don’t need the SDI of the Shogun. I do wish the Assassin had XLR input capabilities, but I am so used to working with external audio recording, this isn’t a big problem for me. If you have a DSLR, mirrorless camera, or HDMI camera and are looking for a feature rich HDMI-onlymonitor and recording solution, this is definitely your go to device.
