Ninja or Shogun: Which new Atomos product is for you?

Atomos has been a leader in the on-camera monitor world for a while now, and they’ve just released two brand new products this week at IBC 2023: The Shogun and the Shogun Ultra.

Alongside the two additional recent updates to the Ninja and Ninja Ultra line, there is quite literally everything to cover your needs, whether you’re a solo content creator or a top-of-the-line filmmaker. DIYP chatted to Paul Scurrell from Atomos about these exciting new products.

New operating system

Underpinning all the new products is the Atomos S11 operating system. “It’s much faster, much easier, and it has a fresh new look as well,” says Paul. The new features are rolled out across all four new products, including improved false colour options.

So what’s the difference between the Ninja and the Shogun series?

Ninja versus Shogun

There are a lot of common features between the Ninja and Shogun and the Ninja Ultra and Shogun Ultra. Essentially the Ninja is smaller than the Shogun, with a 5-inch HDR screen. The Atomos connecter can be placed on the back to turn it into a cloud-connected device.

The Shogun is fully equipped with interconnectivity integrated within the device, so there’s no need to attach anything extra. That includes cloud connectivity, wireless sync, and ethernet. It also has a larger 7-inch higher resolution screen.

Essentially then, you’re choosing between the hardware, even though the software and userbility have plenty of crossover.

What does the Ultra offer?

Now you can record the master file in ProRes RAW up to 4K 60, which is a big step up from the previous versions. And you can record the proxy files at the same time. That will save a lot of post-production time for small crews.

Paul explains that this feature has been asked for by people shooting at higher frame rates, for example, when shooting sports and action sequences.

Is this the end for Proxy files?

The proxies are also not really proxies in the traditional sense. The ability to record a single codec in H.265 in 4k, which is actually a completely usable file in its own right. Is this the end of proxies?

All of the cloud collaboration systems, such as Atomos Cloud Studios or Fram.io, are able to cope with these larger files, and as Paul says, there is demand for this. So we have to ask, is this the end for proxies?

Price and availability

You can buy the Ninja and Ninja Ultra for $599 and $799, respectively.

Preorder the Shogun and Shogun Ultra for $999 and $1199.