DJI Ronin 4D gimbal camera ships - without ProRes RAW, but with price reduction

[18:34 Tue,15.February 2022 by Thomas Richter]

DJIsRonin 4D gimbal camera system will begin shipping tomorrow, February 16, but not quite as advertised, as the ability to record in Apple&s ProRes RAW has been dropped.

DJI doesn&t give a reason for the omission of ProRes RAW - we can only assume that there were unexpected issues with RED&s patent for internal compressed RAW recording - (in
our test copy of the Ronin 4D recording with ProRes RAW was still possible). It&s odd, though, that DJI didn&t finalize the issue earlier, and that ProRes RAW was cited as a big argument in favor of the Ronin 4D. DJI actually has experience with handling ProRes RAW as well, as DJI&s Zenmuse X7 camera is already since 2018 the only camera to support recording in ProRes RAW. If you still want to record ProRes RAW with your Ronin 4D, you can do so, but you need a mobile recorder like the Atomos Ninja V to do so - though it does make the setup a bit more complex.

DJI Ronin 4D

We feel reminded of a

similar case in March 2021 when Kinefinitiy disabled internal compressed RAW recording via CinemaDNG, ProRes RAW and KineRAW (KRW2.0) on all its current Mavo cameras (MAVO LF, MAVO 6K, TERRA 4K).

Vermutlich der Grund: Das RED RAW Patent

RED besitzt seit 2016 ein

Patent auf die interne Aufzeichnung eines komprimierten RAW Datenstroms in einer Kamera, welches Apple

2019 erfolglos angefochten hat. ARRI und SIGMA sind von diesem Patent nicht betroffen, weil deren RAW nicht komprimiert aufgezeichnet wird. Blackmagic scheint nicht davon betroffen sein, weil Blackmagic RAW zwar komprimiert, aber eben kein RAW mehr ist. Und Canon verletzt zwar mit der Canon Cinema RAW Light Aufzeichnung (z.B. in der C200) dieses Patent, RED scheint aber nicht dagegen vorzugehen - wir gehen hier von einem Patentaustausch-Abkommen hinter den Kulissen aus.

DJI: ProRes 4444 XQ und Preissenkung statt ProRes RAW

DJIs offizielles Statement ist etwas unklar: gesagt wird, daß zwar die ProRes Aufnahme nicht zum Marktstart verfügbar sein wird, aber später im Jahr dann per Firmware-Update die Aufzeichnung per ProRes 4444 XQ ermöglicht werden wird. The fact that DJI is refunding money and also that ProRes 4444 XQ will not be available until later in the year actually suggests that DJI itself does not yet expect to re-enable recording via Apple ProRes RAW in the indirect future.

In response to this subsequent change in specs, DJI will also lower the price of the Ronin 4D to ,799. Users who have already pre-ordered and paid for a Ronin 4D at the original price of ,199 will receive a corresponding refund.

DJI Ronin 4D: Firmware Updates

.
Two firmware updates (one in February, the second in June) bring numerous new features. The first update allows the 1,000 nits bright 7" wireless monitor to display and control the camera&s main monitor via mirror mode, and for the clean video stream to be output without overlays via the HDMI and SDI ports on its expansion board. It also brings support for auto-calibration of some third-party auto-lenses to allow their cooperation with the LiDAR focusing system.

The radio monitor

The June update then also gifts the Ronin 4D itself gets the option of clean output via HDMI, as well as support for timecode via the expansion board and time-lapse/slow-motion recording with customizable frame rates. Furthermore, the 7" wireless monitor gets the ability to record and playback video itself in H.264 on microSD card, control the Ronin 4D&s camera via motion, and process HDMI signals.

The Ronin 4D Gimbal Camera System

DJI&s Ronin 4D gimbal is the world&s first 4-axis stabilized cinema camera through the integration of the new Zenmuse X9 full-frame camera. Its features include a LiDAR focusing system, ~~internal recording in ProRes RAW~~, announced internal recording in ProRes 4444 XQ, an integrated ND filter, an interchangeable mount system, and a new video transmission and control system in a single device. DJI is targeting the new gimbal camera system squarely at professional filmmakers and high-end productions, to whom the new system should easily enable spectacular camera moves - this is also reflected in the price of around 7,000 euros (6K version) and around 11,000 euros (8K version). Here is our

review of the DJI Ronin 4D, but still with recordings in 6K ProRes RAW.

Bild zur Newsmeldung:

more infos at bei forum.dji.com

deutsche Version dieser Seite: DJI Ronin 4D Gimbalkamera wird ausgeliefert - ohne ProRes RAW, aber mit Preissenkung