Atomos quick to take advantage of EOS R’s external recording

Nicely sized: the Eos R and Ninja V

While its full frame mirrorless capabilities have stolen the headlines, don’t forget that the new Canon EOS R is the company’s first model to offer 4k 10-bit 4:2:2 external recording via HDMI.

Whenever a new product that moves the goalposts drops on the market, other companies are very quick to line up and show you how you can hit the ball into the back of the new net. Atomos is skilled at doing this, and while it has nothing with the EOS R to match the time it launched the Ninja Inferno and upgraded Panasonic’s GH5 from its shipping internal 8-bit 4:2:0 Long GOP to 10-bit, 4:2:2, ProRes/DNxHR in one fell stroke, its kit is a good match for the new camera.

A necessary one as well as, as is common with the rest of the full-frame mirrorless cameras on the market, internal recoding on the EOS R is limited both in terms of format and in terms of time. Effectively the various compromises designers have to make to accommodate the larger sensors have led them to offload this functionality onto third parties, reasoning that anyone who is serious about shooting video on the units is going to bring an external monitor/recorder into the equation.

Atomos says it has worked hard to support Canon Log for both standard REC.709 and HDR production. All Atomos monitor/recorders resolve the Canon Log output from the EOS R and convert it into 10.5 stop HDR on-screen in realtime. For REC.709 from Log there is a Canon preset, plus the ability to load a huge number of custom looks onto the devices.

The Ninja V, which ships this month for $695, is worth namechecking here too as its ergonomics — a 5-in screen and 360g weight — fit nicely with the new Canon. Using it will enable EOS R shooters to enable HDR monitoring and recording in 4K 10-bit and deep colour to Apple ProRes, something that Atomos CEO Jeromy Young refers to as “an amazing first from a mirrorless.”

For those looking at an overall shooting package, it might add 25% to the body-only price of the camera, but it also adds a decent degree of functionality too.