Atomos’ Shinobi II offers better camera control and brighter HDR screen

Atomos’ Shinobi II, a slim, lightweight, high brightness, five-inch 1500nit high dynamic range (HDR) monitor designed for vloggers, creatives and photographers, is now available.

Jeromy Young, CEO of Atomos, said, “The most common requests from Shinobi users have been for camera control and a brighter HDR screen. Camera control required a USB-C port for the widest-possible camera compatibility and a new, brighter screen required a redesign.

“So, Shinobi II has been rebuilt from the ground up for modern mirrorless/DSLR cameras and HDR or standard dynamic range (SDR) video workflows, as well as amazing HDR photo shooting.”

At launch, Shinobi II will control most Canon, Panasonic, and Sony mirrorless cameras over USB-C, and Z CAM E2 models through a separate serial cable. With future firmware updates Atomos plans to support cameras from Fujifilm, Nikon, OM System and SIGMA.

According to Young, Shinobi II’s camera control interface was designed with a focus on common settings that need to be adjusted on a shot-by-shot basis. “The exposure triangle is an essential element of all photography, and Shinobi II has sliders for adjusting lens aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

“With immediate and responsive access to these settings, getting perfect exposure on the 1500nit HDR monitor is a breeze, especially when used in combination with our powerful monitoring tools. These include histogram, waveform, false colour, zebra, focus peaking and zoom,” he added.

The camera’s all important white balance can also be adjusted via a slider. Shinobi II conveniently triggers camera recording from its screen, a great option when the camera is mounted on a gimbal. Recording status is shown by a red edge display, irrespective of whether the recording is triggered by the camera or from the Shinobi II.