2011Video Assist and Video Accessories forum
Comparison of portable HD recorders and monitoring solutions including Sidekick, Atomos Samurai, HyperDeck Shuttle, Nanoflash, Sound Devices Pix240, and Cinedeck
15 years old. Gear and prices may have changed since.
DisputedParticipants disagreed and reached no conclusion. Read the findings as positions, not as an answer.
What the thread found
- Sidekick offers a 4.3-inch screen with 480x272 pixel resolution, which may be insufficient as a backup monitor but is suitable for recording purposes.
- Sidekick includes a 1/4-20 mount, compact size, lightweight design at 12 ounces with SSD, easy controls, confidence monitoring, and cross-conversion between HDMI and SDI outputs that remain active regardless of input source.
- Sidekick records in ProRes format only, which requires Mac-based workflows and creates compatibility issues for users preferring other codecs or non-Apple systems.
- Atomos Samurai offers similar functionality at $1495 without the 128GB SSD but requires choosing between HDMI-only or SDI-only models rather than supporting both simultaneously.
- Sound Devices Pix240 records in both ProRes and DNxHD codecs, includes professional audio preamps, and features a 5-inch high-resolution screen, expected to launch in September.
- HyperDeck Shuttle costs $345 and records uncompressed video with cross-conversion capability between HDMI and HD-SDI, though it lacks a monitoring screen.
- Cinedeck is the only recorder known to support user-installable codecs of choice but costs between $10,000-$12,000.
- Nanoflash supports XDCam-formatted files and 10-bit recording but lacks an integrated monitor.
- Sidekick may introduce processing delay of 5 or more frames, which could affect confidence monitoring.
- SSDs used in recorders require reformatting after each download cycle to avoid fragmentation issues.
- HyperDeck Shuttle requires only basic mounting with velcro and does not demand extensive custom cabling or complex setup.
Depends on
- Discussion occurred in 2011 before many of these products received extensive field testing.
- Sound Devices Pix240 had not been field tested at time of discussion, with September release planned.
- HyperDeck Shuttle was characterized as new with limited real-world usage reports.
- Specifications for Sidekick screen resolution and potential processing delay were stated without confirmation from actual users.
- Cinedeck pricing information may be outdated.
- Some participants disagreed about HyperDeck Shuttle setup complexity and SSD performance requirements.