KI Pro Mini

[Joe Batt]

If anyone is interested B&H says they should have the Ki Pro Mini in stock by the end of this month.

[Ron Wilk]

Hi,
I too am interested in the mini but have not been able to get any information in re power requirements other than what is on the AJA site.
I would like to couple a mini with my Sony PMW-350 and its Anton Bauer Gold mount adapter and power both the camera and the mini with an Anton Bauer Dionic 90, but have not been able to determine if such is reasonable, or if the Mini requires its own power source. A separate power source would likely render it a no go for my application.
Any thoughts?

[Jon Thorn]

Ron W. - We plan to have detailed information about third party accessories and power options available on the AJA website soon.

In short, you can power the Ki Pro Mini and a camera from a single battery source with the appropriate adapters for the batteries and cables for the Ki Pro Mini. In fact, even with the higher power consumption of the original Ki Pro, we power the Ki Pro and a Sony PMW-EX1 from an Anton Bauer Dionic 90 at AJA in our QA department. This works nicely.

Ki Pro Mini has a maximum power requirement of 15 watts, but typically runs around 11 to 12 watts. I referenced the Sony PMW-350 camera brochure from Sony's website where it states a low power consumption of 18 watts for the camera, so I wouldn't foresee a real issue with powering both devices for a fair amount of time with a Dionic 90 battery. Personally, I am a big fan of this battery as it makes a good trade off between weight, size and operational time.

Hope this is helpful information,
Jon Thorn
Product Manager
AJA Video Systems, Inc.

[Ron Wilk]

Hello Mr. Thorn,

Thank you for your reply.
I will be looking forward to the availability of the Mini and subsequent purchase.

[Ron Wilk]

To Mr. Thorn,
I am about to place a pre-order for the KI Pro Mini but I have a question in regards to mounting.
As I mentioned in a prior post, I am using a Sony PMW-350 with the Anton Bauer Gold Mount adaptor to facilitate use of an AB Dionic 90 battery. With this in mind, could you suggest an effective means of mounting the Mini with the aforementioned battery attached to the rear of the 350 ... preferably, with the Mini seated behind the battery as opposed to one side, so as not to disturb balance.

Thank you in advance.

[Jon Thorn]

Ron W. - You have a variety of choices when it comes to mounting the Ki Pro Mini. You could elect to attach the Ki Pro Mini to the hot shoe at the front of the camera via a small arm with a 1/4-20" going into the Ki Pro Mini Mount Plate if you didn't want to put weight toward the back of the camera.

Or you could attach the Ki Pro Mini at the rear of the camera by using wireless adapter components from companies like Anton Bauer and/or BEC Group; if you elected to do this, you'd likely need a universal wireless adapter plate sandwiched between the camera and battery plate, then a side plate and right angle adapter and another side plate, then mount the Ki Pro Mini via the Mini Mount Plate to the wireless plate via 4x 4mm screws. In this configuration, you'd keep the unit behind the camera and the battery, you'd then supply power to the Ki Pro from the P-tap outlet on the Anton Bauer plate to the Ki Pro Mini via a simple P-tap to XLR adapter cable.

So for examples of these products noted, you can visit the following links:
2x of these:
The BEC Group
1x of these:
The BEC Group
1x of these:
The BEC Group
1x of these:
The BEC Group
1x of the PC-5 listed on this page:
Cables & Plugs - D-Tap/Power-Con/P-Tap/Anton Bauer Type Plugs

Again, many choices for mounting, but based on what you described in your note in terms of how you'd like to do a configuration, this is one possibility with the equipment noted.

Sorry for a somewhat tardy reply, but I'm on business in Europe at the moment.

Hope this information is helpful,
Jon Thorn
Product Manager
AJA Video Systems, Inc.

[Ron Wilk]

Hello Mr. Thorn,
Thank you so much for your detailed reply.
I will investigate the various suggestions.

[Dano Motley]

was interested but...went to the last two ny shows. aja was there and did not have it to show. now thinking back to the nano.

dano

[Jon Thorn]

Dano M. - I'm sorry you did not get to see the Ki Pro Mini at the events you attended. Pre-release product is often limited in number and therefore may not be available for all events.

I can check with our field marketing manager to see if there will be an event in the New York area soon where Ki Pro Mini will be available for your consideration.

Regards,
Jon Thorn
Product Manager
AJA Video Systems, Inc.

[Dano Motley]

thank you.

[Joe Batt]

does anyone know if Prores (HQ) can handle without degrading the SDI signal from the XL-H1? I'm not looking for the "all codecs are lossy" response. I also know what's coming off the tape. I just want to know if it's a good pairing. So, Prores(hq)from H1 VS. recording it with a diferent codec.The HD-SDI Output provides 1.485 Gbps signal at 1920x1080 resolution with 4:2:2 colour sampling as far as I know and I'm concerned that there may be something left to be desired with Prores HQ's max Mps.

[Jon Thorn]

Joe B. - You pose an interesting question. Since you made some qualifications about an answer, I'll tailor my reply accordingly.

If the optimal scenario is recording uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2 I-Frame video from the Canon XL-H1s via the HD-SDI output, then you can begin with this and put other compressions into context.

At the top of the compressed codecs is Sony's HDCAM SR at 880Mbps. Note that this would require the use of an HDCAM SR recorder. One tier below this is the HDCAM SR format at "normal" 440Mbps. Typically, 10-bit 4:2:2 sources would be recorded at this quality if recording to HDCAM SR.

Next is a close race between Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) at 220Mbps and Panasonic's D5 compression at 200+Mbps as well as the newly announced HDCAM SR Lite at 220Mbps. In these cases, you would be recording to 10-bit 4:2:2 with relatively light compression which results in the "visually lossless" terminology being used.

Below these compressions there are a myriad of choices, most at 8-bit quantization and lower than 100Mbps data rates in many cases. (Exceptions being AVC Intra and JPEG 2000.)

So one real benefit of working with Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) is high quality at a manageable data rate with good color specificity. A second benefit is that with Ki Pro or Ki Pro Mini, the codec is ready for post production. If you recorded to HDCAM SR, you would need to re-encode to edit as HDCAM SR is not native to the non-linear editors. Nor is Panasonic's D5 compression.

These are some of the compelling reasons to record to Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) from a camera source.

I hope this is helpful information.

Regards,
Jon Thorn
Product Manager
AJA Video Systems, Inc.

[Andy Shipsides]

Hey Jon

In the picture on you site you show the Ki Pro Mini with two mount plates. The plates are attached to rods with a rod adapter. Do you know which rod adapter was used? Could you share that with us?

Andy

[Jon Thorn]

Andy S. - The 15mm rod adapter pictured is simply one of the AJA Rod Endplates - inverted - from the original AJA Ki Pro product and the associated Exoskeleton. It works with just one plate by having the two 1/4-20 screws go threw the plate, get secured with knobs, and then the plate is attached to the Ki Pro Mini with four 1/4--20 screws, one at each corner. The second plate attached to Ki Pro Mini likely has an Anton Bauer battery plate and battery attached to it.

Hope this is helpful,
Jon Thorn
Product Manager
AJA Video Systems, Inc.

[Andy Shipsides]

Ahh.. I thought I recognized them. Thanks so much.

Andy