The Atomos Shinobi ll is the third non-recording monitor in the Atomos Shinobi series. The original Shinobi 5in monitor was introduced in 2019 and it came in HDMI and SDI versions – initially at least, as the SDI model faded quietly away. A 7in version, the Shinobi 7, was released in 2021 and sports both HMDI and SDI, and now we have this updated 5in monitor in the Shinobi ll. The mark ll version of the 5in monitor is also HDMI-only but comes in a slimmer and lighter body, has a brighter display and offers the enticement of the ability to control certain camera settings via its touch screen. We’ve had Camera Control before, of course, in the Shinobi 7 – well, when I say ‘we’ I really mean those who own a Z Cam. Now though the feature is offered to camera owners of recent models from all the major brands. It sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

Specification

The Atomos Shinobi ll is a 5in monitor designed for use with cameras that output via HDMI. It weighs very slightly more than the original model, at 210g, due to the new cable clamp, and is about 10mm slimmer, at 20.8mm. The display has the same 5.2in diagonal as the original and the resolution is the same 1920×1080 pixels, but this new model offers us 1500 nits instead of 1000 – so that’s a pretty significant upgrade.

While we have HDMI-in there’s no HDMI-out, just as before, but now we have a USB port for power and for connecting to a camera when we want to use the Camera Control feature. Z Cam users get a 2.5mm serial jack that they can use for Camera Control via an optional USB-to-Serial cable. Further ports include 3.5mm audio-out for headphones and a SD card slot for firmware updates and loading LUTs to the monitor.

The monitor can offer us 4K DCI/UHD in frame rates of 23.98/24/25/29.97/30 fps and FHD Progressive at those rates plus 50/59.94 and 60, while Interlaced comes in just 50/60i. We can also have 1280×720 at 50/59.94 and 60p. The display is tuned to Rec.709 and can be calibrated when needed with a Calibrite ColorChecker Display Pro and Plus via a PC or Mac computer.

As usual the monitor can be powered using a regular NP-F battery, a dummy battery or via a direct connection to the mains power. Now we have USB-C Power Delivery we also have the choice to run the monitor via the USB port from any source that provides 6.2-16.8V. It’s worth noting too that the power delivery is both ways, so when a camera is connected via USB for Camera Control it can also receive a charge from whatever is powering the monitor.

On-screen features

Atomos has thrown all of its on-screen monitoring features at this little display, so providing we keep the firmware up to date we’ll get the same options as the majority of other Atomos devices – including all the new ones. Despite this being a small screen that many will think aimed at lower-end users it comes with gamma and gamut settings for every main log and colour profile, along with AtomHDR and the ability to run 17 and 33 point .Cube 3D LUTs – of which it can store eight in its library. Screen brightness can be adjusted from 1-100% (backlight), and we have small sliders to adjust Lift, Gamma and Gain.

The list of monitoring features is pretty extensive and includes everything you might expect. As this runs the latest AtomOS operating system we get the new Analysis View that shows waveform, histogram and vectorscope at the same time alongside a window displaying what we are shooting. We get Atomos False Color of course, but also Arri False Color, and an EL Zone display that might feel easier to understand if you are used to working in stops.

Beyond these newer features we get all the regular monitoring displays, six ‘cinema’ guide frames and seven for social media platforms, eight anamorphic desqueeze settings, 1x, 2x and 4x zoom, and RGB parades. It’s all pretty comprehensive.

In use

If you’ve used any Atomos monitor or monitor/recorder in the past you’ll be right at home in no time at all with this Shinobi ll. It works just as you’d expect and the controls are just what you’ll be used to.

You may have worked out a way to turn your Atomos product on and off on the first go with some confidence, but this process is something you might have to learn again for this new model. A short press of the slightly recessed on/off button brings the monitor to life – eventually. Atomos allow us just enough time of inactivity on the screen for us to believe we didn’t make our intentions clear to the machine, so we press it again or use a long press to be more convincing. Unfortunately that second press could switch it off before it properly came on. It takes a good three seconds for the Atomos logo to appear on the screen, then a further seven seconds for the device to make itself ready to use. That can feel like an eternity. As there’s no fan to kick into life and give us a clue that something is actually happening we’re left looking at a blank and silent device hoping that this time we really have switched it on. This seems a frustration that would be very easy to avoid for a company at the cutting edge of so much, but it’s one that repeats itself through the range. A simple mechanical switch, with a lock to avoid accidental activation, would take all of the anxiety out of the situation.

It is great though that there is a wide range of ways to power the monitor, so we can make the most of the lightweight design. Adding an NP-F750 to the Shinobi ll doubles its weight, so it nice to get the battery off the back of the monitor. If you are using a mini V-Lock battery to run your camera it’s easy to also power the monitor either from a D-Tap port to a dummy battery as you might have done before, but if you only have one D-Tap you can use the USB port instead. A further good reason for using a mini V-Lock or powerbank to run the Shinobi is that if you are using the monitor’s USB-C to connect to your camera for Camera Control you’ll find power running to it as well as data communications, so NP-F type batteries will have an even shorter life than usual. I love that the Shinobi ll is so light. When I got the box I genuinely thought they’d forgotten to put the monitor in it.

In the slimming down of the monitor from the original design we’ve lost the mounting point on the top of the body. We have one on the base, with a pair of anti-rotation holes either side, but nothing on the sides or the top. That may or may not be an issue for you, but it is still possible to mount from the bottom and then hang the monitor upside down as the display can easily be rotated – so that’s almost the same thing.

Another new feature in the physical design of the Shinobi ll is the cable clamp that comes in the box. This screws onto the rear of the monitor around the HDMI and USB ports to provide some protection for the connections even when we use regular cables. Atomos though now sells its own HDMI cables equipped with a locking clamp designed specifically for this attachment which holds the cable securely in place. The company offers these in micro, mini and full HDMI to full HDMI versions – and they cost $65 for 28cm of cable.

What we get for free though is the HDMI port positioned on the rear of the monitor. This port in the original model was on the side of the housing which left cables sticking out ready to catch things as we walked by them. Having the port on the rear is a much better idea.

The 1500-nit brightness of the Atomos Shinobi ll makes it very easy to use outside even in sunny conditions. I found I could see it clearly and operate all the menus, see my image and even adjust camera settings via the screen in all the conditions in which I used it. Inside turning the backlight down avoids blinding us and gives batteries a bit of a rest. I liked the colour rendition too, and while it may not have matched my camera monitor exactly it always seemed pretty close – and certainly close enough.

Camera Control and Touch AF

Of course all the noise around the launch of the Shinobi ll concerned the monitor’s ability to control certain exposure elements of the camera directly from the touch screen. And then a little later came the news that some camera owners would also be able to use the touch screen to direct the camera’s focus. As I mentioned before, Camera Control isn’t really new, as the Shinobi 7 had it, but this time it can be used for more than a single model of camera – and in fact Atomos has included compatibility with the recent models from most main-stream camera brands. So now it is actually a useable feature rather than something that was there but which, in practice, couldn’t be used. It’s the communication possible with USB-C that makes all the difference here – as Atomos boss Jeromy Young told us at the beginning of the year.

The idea is that we connect the monitor with the USB-C port of the camera and they begin to talk. The monitor recognises the camera, and then the aperture, white balance, shutter speed and ISO values get displayed at the base of the screen. We can adjust these values with left and right arrows either side of the text. If we activate it, we can also have a remote shutter button on the display so we can take stills or stop/start video recording.

This all sounds great, and it is in theory. In reality though the control points are very small and fiddly to use, and there are some limitations that take some of the shine off the feature. Despite my camera being able to display shutter angles the monitor would only show shutter speed in fractions, and I could only deal with white balance in kelvin instead of the usual AWB/Sunny Day/Cloudy Day etc.

A smaller number of cameras can have their AF point controlled via the monitor – so we touch the monitor display where we want the focus to be and the camera focuses on that point. It works, but again with caveats – focus is slow, focus modes switch to contrast detection and we can’t track a moving subject.

I was quite excited for this feature since I couldn’t use it in the Shinobi 7 and since Jeromy Young told me he’d implement it in a new Shinobi, so perhaps I built it up in my head a little too much. It feels a bit primitive though frankly, and as though this is just the beginning of Camera Control. I hope many improvements come this way in double quick time.

Conclusion

The 5in monitor market is pretty crowded and users have a lot of choice, so I suspect Atomos hoped its Camera Control feature would make the Shinobi ll really stand out. It could, but it needs a bit more work before I can tell you it’s a feature worth buying this monitor specifically to get hold of. However, the short-comings of Camera Control don’t mean this isn’t a good monitor, and even those whose cameras aren’t compatible with this feature will still get to enjoy a nice bright display with an excellent collection of monitoring tools in a body that is well built and well designed. As I said, there are a lot of 5in on-camera monitors available, but not too many that can match the Shinobi ll for its combination of brightness, weight, build and price – and possibly monitoring tools as well. So even without Camera Control this is still an excellent monitor, but it has the potential to be even greater with firmware updates in the future.

www.atomos.com

Price: $349/€349/£342

Dimensions (W x H x D mm): 151mm x 91.5mm x 20.8 mm (28.5mm with locking cable adaptor attached)

Weight: 210g / 7.4oz.

Mounting Points: Bottom: 1 x 1/4-inch 20 with anti-rotational points

Construction: ABS Polycarbonate Plastic

Cooling: Passive heat sink

Touch Screen: Capacitive Touch

Input Voltage: 6.2V to 16.8V

Power: Via NPF battery, USB-C PD, DC-In Connector and D-Tap via Battery Eliminator

Display Size: 5.2-inch

Resolution: 1920 x 1080

Viewing Angle: 178 + H & V

PPI: 427

Bit Depth: 10-bit (8+2 FRC)

Backlight Type: Edge-lit

Brightness (cd/m² / nits): 1500

Aspect Ratio: 16:9

Color Gamut: Rec.709

Manual Calibration: Yes, via Calibrite ColorChecker Display Pro & ColorChecker Display Plus

Gamma

Sony SLog / SLog2 / SLog3, Canon CLog / CLog2 / Clog3, Arri Log CEI160 / LogCEI200 / LogCEI250 / LogCEI320 / LogCEI400 / LogCEI500 / LogCEI640 / LogCEI800 / LogCEI1000 / LogCEI1280 / LogCEI1600, Panasonic Vlog, JVC JLog1, Red LogFilm / Log3G10 / Log3G12, FujiFilm F-Log, PQ (HDR10), HLG, Nikon N-Log

Gamut

BT2020, DCI P3, PDCI p3 65, Sony SGamut / SGamut3 / SGamut3.cine, Canon Cinema / DCI P3 / DCI P3+ / BT.2020, Panasonic V Gamut, ARRI Alexa Wide Gamut, Rec.709, JVC LS300, RED DragonColor / DragonColor2 / REDColor2 / REDColor3 / REDColor4 / REDWideGamut

3D LUT Display: .Cube format (17 & 33 points supported)

Monitoring Modes: SDR Native, HDR HLG, HDR PQ, 709 LUT, User LUT

Video Input: 1 x HDMI (1.4)

Input Bit Depth: 8 / 10-Bit

Audio In: HDMI Embedded 2-channel, 24-bit, input dependent

Audio Out: 3.5mm headphone jack, 2-channel

Resolution and Frame Rates (Monitoring): Up to 4K DCI 30fps/FHD 60p

Supported Media: SD Card for firmware & LUTs

Cine Frame Guides: 2.41, 2.35, 1.91, 1.9, 1.85, 16:9

Social Frame Guides: 9:16, 4:5, 2:3, 1:1, 5:4, 4:3, 3:2

Anamorphic Desqueeze: 2x, 1.8x, 1.79x, 1.65x, 1.6x, 1.5x, 1.33x, 1.25x

Display Flip: Horizontal & Vertical

External Device Control: USB-C and serial 2.5mm jack for Camera Control