I decided to try it on my Thunderbay using softraid, and AJA also reads slower, though not as much.
That’s 6.7% slower on the write speed and 13.2% slower on read.
I am betting AJA is more accurate, but would certainly like to know for sure. I sure hope AJA isn’t boosting speed on it’s products, but they are engineers so I doubt it.
This is a 4K ENG style Camera with only PL lens mounts (unlike BlackMagic having Canon EF Lens models) and even without a viewfinder (except a small LED on the left side). I will cost $8955, and doesn’t even have a viewfinder, but can use industry standard ones, and rails and batteries. You will need to get AJA storage though, as it uses yet unpriced AJA Pak SSD drives and a USB 3 Dock for them, unlike the BlackMagic which uses CFast 2.0 Media.
It does seem to be more a standard size and use more industry standard accessories than BlackMagic, and has a higher resolution recording capabilities, even without a replaceable sensor.
We will have to wait and see image quality, but this 4K APS-C sensor camera is certainly going to give BlackMagic a run for it’s money.
Overall it sounds like the AJA is a little more Pro, with the ability to record above ProRES HQ in ProRES 4444 (even with the URSA’s upgradeable sensor). Still with no viewfinder you either need a bigger investment or to already have rails and other gear to go with it.
And the worst thing of the Cion, other than not having a viewfinder of it’s own, is that is uses AJA created storage, unlike Blackmagic which uses off the shelf components. Of course hopefully you can then trust them more, but they will cost more.
He is right though, this looks to be the Canon/Nikon of the Videography set.
Little Frog has a review of the AJA A-Tap which converts thunderbolt to SDI or HDMI with 8 tracks of embedded audio, for those who don’t need input, since everything is acquired digitally now days anyway. Only $299.
Videoguys has info on AJA’s updates to it’s Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini. This is a free upgrade via firmware.
• Data Transfer via FireWire 800 – Ki Pro can now be configured for data transfer to FireWire 800-equipped Apple computers, for situations where the unit is not easily accessible for physical data removal.
• Data Transfer via LAN connection – Allows transfer of files through standard Ethernet networking for Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini.
• Super Out – Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini can now burn timecode and transport state into the video signal, providing at-a-glance status to users monitoring output, without having to check the device itself. It is also convenient for times when video is dubbed from Ki Pro/Ki Pro Mini to another source to track timecode throughout post. A user selectable Super Out (window burn) option for SDI has also been added to both Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini.
• Playlist creation – A new feature for the web UI adds flexibility in selecting clip playback order for both Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini.
• FireWire 400 (1394a) port enabled—Provides Ki Pro support for camera start/stop commands as well as timecode values; particularly useful for HDV cameras that may lack LTC to SDI timecode outputs.
• HDMI timecode support in Ki Pro Mini for Sony NEX-FS100 and other Sony NXCAM cameras.
• ExpressCard/34 Support – Ki Pro now supports ExpressCard/34 (34mm wide) memory cards (not ExpressCard/54). Check the AJA Ki Pro support page for recommended cards.
• Additional RS-422 Functionality for Ki Pro to support use in post-production applications.
• LANC Support – Ki Pro now supports LANC, enabling camera operators to control shooting via LANC-based controllers and LANC enabled cameras.
• 1080 Variable Frame Rate Support for certain Canon camcorders, for Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini.
• Presets can now be created, saved and recalled for easier interaction with device settings in Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini.
• Continued Recording Option – v3.0 adds an option for continued recording upon video input loss. Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini will generate a status change video frame, then pick up recording automatically when a valid video signal is returned.
FCP.Co has a report on the new Thunderbolt equipped AJA Io XT with HD-SDI dual link support and HDMI input and output. Now if only someone could come out with a Thunderbolt PCI card for older MacPro’s (I know they say it is not possible). And I love that new cards are working with Media Composer.
OneRiver Media Blog had an awesome twitter exchange with AVID today. It seems that Media Composer may soon support AJA Kona cards! Woohoo!
Studio Daily is reporting that AJA has released drivers for Premiere Pro 5.5. that allow realtime editing with the CUDA accelation. They are working fast after Final Cut Pro 7 was killed. Nice!
I installed them and a small test looks like it’s running fine with good performance for the Mercury Playback Engine with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 for Mac. Once installed, you get a full set of AJA presets:
If Adobe is really serious about competing in the pro video editing space (and I think they are), they’ll get on their hardware partners like AJA, Matrox and Blackmagic to be as quick supporting Premiere Pro as they have been about supporting Final Cut Pro.
