View Full Version : KI Pro Mini


Joe Batt
October 12th, 2010, 12:08 AM
If anyone is interested B&H says they should have the Ki Pro Mini in stock by the end of this month.

Ron Wilk
October 12th, 2010, 08:20 PM
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
October 12th, 2010, 10:53 PM
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
October 13th, 2010, 10:23 AM
Hello Mr. Thorn,

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

Ron Wilk
October 15th, 2010, 01:26 PM
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
October 15th, 2010, 11:41 PM
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 (http://www.thebecgroup.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=11&language=&osCsid=bf01823387f862b6d233bba393d58299)
1x of these:
The BEC Group (http://www.thebecgroup.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=33)
1x of these:
The BEC Group (http://www.thebecgroup.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2)
1x of these:
The BEC Group (http://www.thebecgroup.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=36&language=)
1x of the PC-5 listed on this page:
Cables & Plugs - D-Tap/Power-Con/P-Tap/Anton Bauer Type Plugs (http://www.hawkwoods.com/products/cables_and_plugs/power_con_cables_and_plugs/power_con_cables_and_plugs.php?mainMenuItemToSlide=11)

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
October 16th, 2010, 09:52 AM
Hello Mr. Thorn,
Thank you so much for your detailed reply.
I will investigate the various suggestions.

Dano Motley
October 20th, 2010, 10:36 AM
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
October 20th, 2010, 11:15 AM
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
October 20th, 2010, 11:21 AM
thank you.

Joe Batt
October 22nd, 2010, 03:15 PM
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
October 24th, 2010, 04:33 PM
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
November 16th, 2010, 01:54 PM
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
November 16th, 2010, 02:54 PM
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
November 16th, 2010, 06:27 PM
Ahh.. I thought I recognized them. Thanks so much.

Andy

David Elkins
November 30th, 2010, 03:43 PM
Curious if this will be sufficient to power the Ki Pro Mini from an EX1.

BP-EX1 /BPEX1 Sony PMW-EX1 BPU Battery Adaptor (http://www.hawkwoods.com/products/details/details.php?code=bp-ex1&mainMenuItemToSlide=14&asi=la-12&asi2=hc-1)

It states it provides 72w which I imagine is enough juice. I am just trying to avoid having to buy into a new system of batteries (AB or V-backs) since I already have invested a bunch in the Sony BP series.

While I am at it anyone have any info on expected availability? Seems that the trail has gone a bit cold on that front.

Thanks in advance.

Jon Thorn
November 30th, 2010, 05:22 PM
David E. - The battery adapter you noted - along with an appropriate adapter cable - would appear as though it would be suitable. The specs say it has a 12 volt output via Hirose or D-tap, so you'd need an adapter cable to go from this to the 4-pin XLR connector on the Ki Pro Mini.

We currently don't have an official ship date, but imagine it should be relatively soon.

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

David Elkins
November 30th, 2010, 06:19 PM
Thank you, Jon. I actually spoke to someone at Aja today in sales who gave me a time frame on shipping. I won't re-state it here out of respect for you, but I will say, if it is accurate, I am happy with the info.

Peter Mykusz
December 18th, 2010, 07:48 PM
I use heavy duty velcro strips to mount my wireless receivers to my batteries. It adds very little weight to your gear and it's a very effective and inexpensive solution to mount anything to your camera. I don't know how heavy the Ki Pro Mini is but I know of a couple of cameramen who use velcro on their Convergent recorders.

Dano Motley
December 18th, 2010, 08:10 PM
Does anyone know what dealer has the mini in stock. I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Dano

Paul Cronin
December 20th, 2010, 04:57 PM
Dano it is not on the market yet. Dealers were told Nov but still nothing and no time frame is being given form AJA Video Systems. But Jon is on this thread so he might have a time frame at this point.

Dano Motley
December 20th, 2010, 05:37 PM
i have heard from others on the net that it is far from being ready..sort of vapor hardware at this point. speaking for myself only, i have been to a few new york video shows where the unit was not shown at all. the people working the aja booth had no idea where the product was. one gentleman told me he was promised it would be ready for the show and just got a call the day of and the people in charge told him soon....this was november.......go figure?

Dano

Paul Cronin
December 20th, 2010, 05:43 PM
Dano it looks like an exciting product and one that I have on pre-ordered with Abel in NYC.

If I ran my business that way I would be out of business.

Who knows maybe Convergent Designs will come out with a 10 bit recorder. I own the Nano and love it, but I am very interested to see the 10bit difference as are a few of my clients.

Jon Thorn
December 20th, 2010, 06:29 PM
Dano M. and Paul C. - The Ki Pro Mini is not yet shipping. We have demoed operational prototype units at a few select events recently including InterBEE in Japan.

With any of the products that AJA produces, we make our best effort to release the products when we feel they are ready to meet customer expectations. Sometimes, during our QA process, we see a need to refine certain aspects of the product's operation and this can result in shipping delays; we are sincerely sorry for such delays as we realize they may inconvenience our resellers and customers, but ultimately we have our resellers' and end users' best interests at heart.

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

Dano Motley
December 20th, 2010, 06:42 PM
John is it possible to see the unit here in the United States?

Dano

Jon Thorn
December 20th, 2010, 06:53 PM
Dano M. - There likely is an opportunity to see a Ki Pro Mini unit at an event in the near future. I will need to check with other staff members to see which events AJA may be attending soon.

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

Paul Cronin
December 21st, 2010, 06:32 AM
Understand Jon that prototypes have delays. I have designed and built prototypes for 30 years. But I don't offer a delivery date until I have solved the problems. That is my reason for writing what I did, I could not get away with that with my customers. And it was not all directed at AJA, it is a industry problem.

If and when you have a delivery date it would be nice to know here so we can plan.

Jon Thorn
December 21st, 2010, 08:11 AM
Paul C. - Your comments are duly noted. I will provide an update on the shipping status of Ki Pro Mini when I am able.

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

Paul Cronin
December 21st, 2010, 08:36 AM
Thank you Jon,

We appreciate that you are on the forum and answering questions. I look forward to using the Ki Pro Mini.

Kenn Christenson
December 23rd, 2010, 12:46 PM
I'd like to use the Ki Pro Mini with my EX1 and was wondering if this battery would work with the unit - with a 'D' Tap to 4 pin adapter, of course.

S-8U62 Li-ion battery for Sony Ex1& Ex3 (http://www.swit.us/libas.html)

Jon Thorn
December 26th, 2010, 01:18 PM
Kenn C. - The power supply with, as you noted a D-tap to 4-pin XLR adapter, would seem to be a viable power choice for the camera and Ki Pro Mini.

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

Kenn Christenson
December 28th, 2010, 04:14 PM
Thanks, Jon, that was my hope. Looking forward to purchasing the mini when it comes to market.

Dano Motley
January 12th, 2011, 08:25 PM
Jon Thorn. I am still awaiting your reply. You were checking to see if there was ANYWHERE I could see the Ki Pro Mini.

Please let me know soon???

Dano


Dano M. - There likely is an opportunity to see a Ki Pro Mini unit at an event in the near future. I will need to check with other staff members to see which events AJA may be attending soon.

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

Jon Thorn
January 13th, 2011, 11:40 AM
Dano M. - Sorry, there were not any events in January in your area (only an event in Boston). I will check on the February schedule of events.

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

Junior Chan
January 13th, 2011, 01:05 PM
We had a show on December 9th, 2010 with Sony Products at 550 Madison Ave.. We actually had the Ki Pro mini there, (Good job AJA team for getting us a demo unit). As a result, we received very good responses and pre-orders.

We are planning to host another event soon, probably Sony F3 / SRW9000PL / maybe NXCAM 35MM protoype? We usually have other manufacturers like AJA and Apple participating for Q & A on work-flows at our events.

@ Dano and Everyone else, Make sure you join our mailing list for these great events. Newsletter (http://ecprostore.com/Newsletter)

Jon Thorn
January 14th, 2011, 03:00 PM
Dano M. - The next event near your area (New York) where a Ki Pro Mini should be available to see is the MoPictive meeting on February 16th in New York City.

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