Atomos Ninja V 5″ Touchscreen Recording Monitor, 1980×1080, 4K HDMI Input – Bundle 5″ Accessory Kit for Shinobi, Shinobi SDI and Ninja V Monitors,…

After much research I purchased this Atomos Ninja V as a record deck and a camera monitor specifically for a Sony A7siii to record FULL 4k in ProRes Raw HQ. I did a good amount of research prior to making this purchase. My need was specifically to enable this camera to record a Live 1.5 hour Concert Performance in ProRes raw HQ continuously, along with my 7 additional Sony cameras and one RED. (FX3, FX6, a7iii)

The Atomos Ninja V works great and helps push the Sony A7siii to record beautiful footage beyond using the extremely expensive Type A CFast SD on board camera cards.

Unfortunately to properly use this device, as intended, many vague but crucial pre-production steps must occur. Additionally Atomos does not clearly instruct or warn the user about any of this extra time consuming work and prep.

First issue. Upon purchase the user must play a scavenger CIA type game to receive SEPARATE TOKENS for each of the three main features. You cannot activate/ nor use the device without first playing the spy game. You also cannot receive the TOKENS without connecting the device to your computer. To validate your purchase you must first provide date of purchase, serial number, place of purchase. Of course the serial number is small and difficult to read so plan on taking a photo of the serial number and then entering the number. Shockingly there were no clear instructions. You plug into the camera and it comes up and acts as though you are good to go. You are not. Disconnect the Atomos V and plug into your computer and start to set this thing up.

Second Issue. Firmware must be updated before you can enter the Tokens into the device. The instructions are vague. In fact Atomos made a video that features a shot of the Ninja on a table and then says “update the firmware”. That’s it – no further instructions.

Third issue. When buying the product the detail is vague about whether or not the RECORD DECK comes included with a hard drive. IT DOES NOT. Despite many online reviews stating that you can load any brand or size SSD SATA drive in the included drive caddy the NINJA will only work as advertised with the $400 atomX 1 T Angel Drive. (There is a slightly cheaper and smaller Angel Drive available).

Fourth Issue. Atomos comes Pre-set at 60fps. When you attempt to charge your FPS to 24fps on the Sony camera as you traditionally would you will see all the frame rates are greyed out. Surely this thing can shoot 24p right? I had no idea and Atomos didn’t want to let me know. I had to screen 5 YouTube videos to learn how to adjust frame rate. Atomos keeps this a secret for some reason. HINT: it’s in the HDMI OUTPUT MENU…

Prior to my purchase I viewed all of the Atomos instruction and PR videos. None of the above was featured, no steps to the process included. I paid $700 for this set up and an additional $400 for the ATOMOSX Angel drive, which about 95% of you will need.

The tech is great, I have enabled the Sony A7siii to reach its max potential. The $1100 cost is commensurate for what it provides. The build quality is fantastic, the ATOMX SSD is a heavy beast. Heaviest 1 TB drive I own.

BUT is there no communication? Why do I have to play spy games to get codes for a device in which I paid $1100.

Atomos why do you not clearly inform the buyer of any of these details? I had to perform a deep dive YouTube search to find out how to set up this device properly. There are no clear instructions, the videos provided are worthless. The information provided is virtually nil. This is frustrating. Hopefully someone reads this and saves themselves a lot of time. It would have been a HUGE HELP to have an instruction card or link to the above listed 4 items all of which are pretty standard.

I didn’t know that you needed additional parts and pieces before you can operate