Canon R5 + Atomos Ninja V Setup Tutorial for Nearly Unlimited 4KHQ Recording

The Canon R5 + Ninja V Rig

Now that everyone knows that using an Atomos Ninja V with the Canon EOS R5 unlocks the true potential of the camera, I’ve been asked by many to set up a tutorial showcasing how I set mine up, along with the settings needed to get nearly unlimited recording times. So above is the video where I explain all the gear you’ll need, the settings to choose, and bugs to watch out for. Below are links to many of the products (some affiliate) I featured in this video. If you want to support No Life, using those links is a big help.

Ingredients:

• Canon R5
• Atomos Ninja V + 500GB SSD & Reader Bundle
• Canon Dummy Battery / AC Adapter
• Atomos Power Kit
• Andycine Monitor Cold Shoe Mount
• Micro HDMI to Full HDMI Adapter
• Neewer Camera Grip
• Rode Video Mic Pro +

Setup

Now that we have all the ingredients, check out the video above to see how it’s all put together. The main thing you want to know is that the CFExpress card seems to be the bottleneck. So you need to make sure that if you want to record 4KHQ or 4K60fps externally, without worry of overheating, you’ll need to do it without the CFExpress card in the slot (I’m still testing to see if SD cards in the slot make a difference). Now that you’ve taken care of the heating limits, it’s time to take care of the battery limits. So utilizing the Canon dummy battery with the Canon AC adapter will ensure your camera runs indefinitely on AC power. You can also use the Atomos Power Kit to run to wall power to it also runs indefinitely. Note, if you want a more mobile setup, you can use Canon batteries in the camera, as well as Sony batteries for the Atomos, without it affecting overheating. It’s up to you whether you need to be mobile, or need to film uninterrupted for hours on end.

Settings

Lastly, we need to make sure our settings are correct. Again, all this is covered in the video. But to gain the highest quality 4K recording, you’ll want to record in 4KHQ. After setting that up, make sure your Sound is set to manual, then turn on C-Log to gain the best dynamic range and get a flat image ready for grading. Last, but certainly not least, you’ll want to make sure that your HDMI display setting is set to “Camera + Display” (this is featured in the video), and have overheat control turned off. It seems that these modes are bugged when shooting externally, and if you set this up incorrectly, you may limit your recording time, but also run into screen off/disconnection issues.

And that’s it! You’re ready to use your Canon R5 to record in that beautiful 10-bit C-Log, 4K downsampled from 8K shooting mode, without any worry of the camera overheating all thanks to the Atomos Ninja V. And best of all, because you’re utilizing the power of the Atomos, you’ll be shooting in ProRes h264, which is infinitely more easy to work with on modern PC’s. And now the camera’s weird limitiations are a thing of the past, and you can solely focus on capturing the story you want to tell, in the highest quality possible.

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