Hello all, I will apologise in advance if this report seems a little haphazard and chaotic. I have been on the road now for 3 weeks with just over a week to go running around the edges of the Indian Ocean for a new BBC series. I managed to secure one of the first Atomos Samurai ‘on board’ recorders to take with me on this shoot. It finally turned up at my house at 23.30 after having been on show at BVE North that day.I have been talking to Atomos’s UK reps since March with a view to taking the new unit with me on one of my trips this summer to Afghanistan or Africa but due to production issues this opportunity never materialised. Anyway, better late than never as they say and off I went to Heathrow and my first stop, Sri Lanka.

I have to say that my first impressions of this recorder are very good indeed. When I finally managed to get time late one night to set the Samurai up and get it running , all it took was just ten minutes, no manual and very little head scratching indeed to record my first pictures on the unit. The unit looks well made, it feels like that it would be to the rigours of location filming.The graphic on screen menus and icons are clear, well laid out and easy to read. The menus are simple and intuitive. Anyone who has used the Nanoflash recorder will know what I mean. The Nano flash menu feels like using a Texas Instruments calculator circa 1978, the Samurai by comparison is very simple to navigate. The unit overall is a breeze to use and will work straight out of the box. 

What I am about to say to you all is with the complete blessing of the the MD of Atomos, Jeromy Young (no relation at all, by the way !). What began to occur to me very quickly as I began to use the Samurai on my current shoot is all cited below. The point I want to stress is the relationship Atomos wants to build up with their end users.Their outlook towards us as end users is very refreshing. In the couple of weeks I have been using the unit, I have had several direct phone calls from their MD and senior development engineer  as well as number of emails outlining my concerns and thoughts. The team at Atomos originally completed their initial research for the Samurai by talking to camera crews who work predominately in commercials / drama / features which tend to be on the whole more controlled environments. Certainly not like the world of docs and ENG and the single camera man / end user. The team at Atomos come from a post production background and freely admit that they now appreciate that a large number of the end users they anticipate are going to be the one man band crews and owner ops. They are actively looking to receive feedback to help improve their product further. To show how much Atomos are committed to what they say about looking after end users, there have been two firmware updates in the last ten days with another planned very shortly that picks up and corrects the biggest concern I have had from the moment I starting using the Samurai.  

1- The biggest single fault I have found operationally with the unit is the need for a screen lock. A screen lock / switching the monitor off in an ENG / single user mode is a must to get better battery life out of the unit and prevent unintentional switching of modes like TC trigger / video format / HDD formatting etc . I have suggested a double tap in one area of the screen only or an I phone style pin code to access the screen. Virtually every time I have checked the unit during filming, the screen menus have been accidentally    activated and something has been changed (25p to 50 i), timecode trigger from HDSI to Time of Day, the format command screen for the hard drives (gulp !). I have reset the unit to my preferred settings I am using but still just with the general hurly burly of handheld filming , menu settings are getting changed accidentally from just carrying and moving around with the camera . No cameraman wants to be in the position of trying to apologise for his or her footage or lack of it because a piece of kit hasn’t worked properly.

On the first day I got 8 hours out of the batteries with the screen brightness turned down to its lowest setting but around 7 hours in the last two days but probably shot more than 4 hours of footage.I would suggest that on the two supplied batteries with the kit , you could easily run for 6 hours safely before needing to change them. The batteries are based on the Sony NP570. I am using 750gb HHD Hitachi Travelstar drives which Atomos recommended and tested as suitable for their OS on the Samurai.

2-  The unit needs a remote tally light on a cable from the unit to allow the user to know they are recording. If the Samurai unit is mounted at the rear, you can’t just keeping taking the camera off your shoulder , looking at the back ,checking you are recording etc. This will be a major hinderance . With my Nanoflash I have the cable which has a red led in the end placed very close to the viewfinder so I can keep an eye on the recording . It is a major confidence booster.The Atomos has a LANC in and out put and their designer is looking at using that route to provide a remote tally light. The current firmware has added red bars top and bottom to show you are in record mode on the screen. This really only helps end users at the moment who will mount the Samurai on the camera top to use the monitor as a view finder.

3- I have spoken to Atomos about the idea of producing of a light weight non-monitor version of the Samurai for ENG camera mounting with connections on either end and with flat sides for ease of mounting on sides of camera panels , inside a Portabrace camera jacket or on the rear of cameras at the right hand side or even on the camera battery itself. The lightweight unit should be external power only to run off the onboard power on a camera. A lot of guys have radio mics on the rear right of the camera mounted next to the battery, so the only place to put another unit is on the right hand panel between the lens and the tape cassette door. Or on the rear handle at the back ? I have seen home made cages for Nano flash mounted this way.Atomos tell me with out the monitor they could make an onboard recorder much much smaller.On the point of external power , many ENG  / docs cameramen have to change their batteries very quickly in the field. Sometimes I have been unable to stop mid take and so the battery has just run down, causing the recording to stop then I quickly change over to the new battery. With tape all you have to due is press return on the lens and the tape pre rolls back to frame accurate timecode to continue where you left off recording. At the moment I have no any idea what will happen if power to the Samurai is cut whilst recording in this way. Will all recordings be lost, does the hard drive have a cache buffer etc to allow this to happen ? If for instance the unit just stops and everything recorded up to that point is lost, there are going to be a lot of very unhappy people. I am wanting for an answer from Atomos.My own anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that the last recorded clip would be safe but any clip still be recorded might be lost.

4- The original cables supplied with the unit are high quality and flexible but are the wrong sex for the ENG user. This came as a shock to me when I opened the box for the first time. Again, Atomos took their lead research from the drama / commercial world with lots of people to help on set etc. These guys all said ” we don’t need more cables” so Atomos supplied adaptor cables only. They supplied micro BNC female (to mate to micro male BNC on the unit) to normal size male BNC as a short adaptor. All ready Atomos have addressed the this issue and started supplying longer right angled BNC female cables to mate to the camera male outputs. Personally, I would suggest a cable of 30 to 40 cms would be a good length. The one man band doesn’t need yet more stuff hanging off the camera in loops that could get caught in a scrum / flowing situation. I also pressed Atomos on the point of connectors , please, please go for industry standard, don’t go do the Sony route of trying to make your own propriety connectors that cost a fortune, only one supplier stocks them and then piss everyone else off because there were perfectly good solutions available before ! On the external power issue, the D Tap (originally from Anton Bauer has become the standard for external power supply), I have also asked  if Atomos could consider making sure that for the non monitor Samurai, could they make the power conector latching or locking so it can’t come out during filming (eg like an HDMI  lead).

The inputs / outputs on the unit are micro BNC for HDSDI, 3.5 mm for audio monitoring and analogue input (not that I have tested it as I have used HDSDI embedded audio , 4 tracks) and LANC in and out. On the other end of the Samurai, the HDD slots inside the unit via a flip cover . Once the 2.5 inch HHD is inside a caddy that comes as part of the kit and inserted inside the Samurai, It protrudes by about a cm to enable the the user to get a grip on it for removal.

5- Mounting. There are only a few places to put the unit on the camera. For ENG , upright and left hand side of camera is out of the question. It will get in the way. Most cameramen have radio mics already on the right hand side as well and it you throw in a wireless monitor link, It is going to be tight. The unit weighs approx 1.1 kgs with both batteries on board. This makes my HDX 900 with Anton Bauer batteries a pretty heavy camera indeed. Thank goodness for my Easy rig ! I have mounted my Samurai on a blank Anton Bauer radio mic plate on the right hand side of the camera with Velcro on the two batteries to hold it in place.This isn’t elegant but it is secure and I have been filming on fishing trawlers and numerous boats at sea. Again speaking to Atomos, they are looking at making some sort of cage or holder with connections in it to mount the Samurai for ENG use. Get your thinking caps on gents.What would you like to see ?6- From early next year in qtr 1 2012, the Samurai will be able to run Avid DNxHD and Pro Res side by side in the in the same unit.This will be a game changer to compete with the Sound Devices Pix . At the moment I have been shooting Pro Res LT , which at 100mbps matches the DVC Pro HD tape I am shooting.For most crews ,it will be good enough for broadcast productions who have gone down the XDCam 422 50 Mbps route. 

7- Fortunately, the unit I have is 3/8 Whitworth screw threads top and bottom for mounting, not one of the rogue production 6mm thread units.Anyone with the wrongly supplied 6mm thread units can get a 3/8 thread replacement from Atomos.

8-  Also, the screen isn’t quite as sharp I would like especially if I were to use it as a viewfinder but the on screen touch controls work very well and again are intuitive. Again, I have asked Atomos if they would consider a peaking facility as part of their next firmware update. The one area that has been the biggest hit with the producer I am working with is the ability to review material from that day on the way back from the shoot in the car. He has been able to judge the presenters PTC’s and links etc with out having to resort to setting up playback that evening.He is sold already !

I have only been using the Samurai so far as a recording device in the field. I haven’t been laying off to back up drives as yet as the production I am on is firmly tape based and quite frankly were very Luddite in their attitude to me using this new bit of kit.They just weren’t interested and the shoot PC was actually dismissive of the new technology as he has ” had numerous problems with tapeless shoots and doesn’t trust it “. I will, when I have more time conduct some back ups and try to report back about the download and edit side of using the Samurai. My apologies to those who edit as well as shoot, I am sorry that I can’t be more specific for you. If any one has any questions for me whilst I am on the road with the Samurai, feel free to ask and I will conduct some more tests.

Very sorry for the long and rambling email but I was keen to share my findings with you all sooner rather than later.I really feel that once Atomos have ironed out a couple of the issues I have highlighted and they add the Avid codec , the unit is going be a real winner , especially for the price point.

Good night all.best Jonathan 

Jonathan Young
Documentary Lighting Cameraman
Debrouillard Limited
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I have been in Cairo since the early hours of Sunday morning. My colleague and I decided to break the curfew before 7am. We left the airport with the only taxi driver who would take us, a guy from Gaza who was driving a 1972 vintage stretch mercedes that had since many better days.We drove in to the down town area to be met by the first of many vilgilante checkpoints. The checkpoints had sprung up in response to looters taking advantage of the police pulling back from the streets. The checkpoint guards are all concerned citizens who have armed themselves with shotguns,baseball batts and even kitchen knvies taped to broom handles. These checkponts in some areas are literally ever 50 meters.

in the last couple of days the tensions at these checkpoint have rocketed as the some guys manning the checkpoints are delirious with lack of sleep. These checkpoints are manned by upto sometimes 30 people especially those crossing the Nile bridges. One guard I spoke to had witnessed the beating to death of one of a pair of looters in his neighbourhood the previous night

I spent all of yesterday and most of the evening in Taherer Sq. with the protestors. The noise was truly deafening, the constant shouts of “down with Mubarak” and “Hurreya” ,freedom in Arabic. Little did I know that today would bring such a momentous backlash from the pro Mubarak protestors. The early part of the day was noisy and energetic running around the city with the rival groups. Then the anarchy started with the horses and the camels in the square. As I turn in for the evening,I can see the odd muzzle flash in the distance and certainly hear the gun fire and the constant sound of the Sikorsky helicopters buzzing over the square. What chaos will tomorrow bring, bukkara inshallah

Since the return from Christmas, I have shooting a documentary for BBC around an number of contributors who fled Iran after the election in June 2009. They all have one thing in common,they fled in fear of their lives. They all detail the truly terrible and vile conditions and treatment that they have had to endure as opposition supporters in Iran. Their testimonies are graphic,compelling and an indication of how a regime trys to control what it sees as dissent inside it’s national borders.

The shooting of this programme has been across rural Turkey into the heart land of the refugee pipeline.Further on,it has taken us to the new home in Norway of one of the most promient women’s rights and social media activists at the time of the election.From the safety of her new adopted home amosngst the spruce trees and fjords,she is able to carry on her work against the traditional punishment of public execution by stoning.The irony is though, Norway is the most connected and wired country in the world. The internet in Norway is the fastest and most reliable in the world,ensuring her message and campaign against stoming reaches the greatest number of people worldwide. This was something she could only dream about when she was blogging from hiding in Tehran.

The programme will be broadcast at 20.30 BBC 1 Monday night ,mid Febru[[posterous-content:pid___0]][[posterous-content:pid___1]][[posterous-content:pid___5]][[posterous-content:pid___3]][[posterous-content:pid___4]]