Small Camera that does 2160p29.97?

Hi all,

Recently upped our livestream to 4k (well, UHD), and now looking to get some shots on stage. Any small (Go Pro, Marshall, etc.) that do 2160p29.97 output? HDMI or SDI is fine with me.

If I use a teranex mini to upscale one of the 1080p options, what am I looking at it in terms of quality? Anyone done it that way instead?

Thanks!

Micro Studio camera might do the trick.


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I agree, if you have the subject well lit, the Micro Studio is a great little UHD camera.
Cheers

The Blackmagic Micro Studio camera is definitely a good option to consider. It's also one of the only small cameras you are likely to find with 4K output over SDI and it has interchangeable lenses so it's easier to get the angle of view you want.

But this also means that depending on what lens you attach the Micro Studio camera, you may end up with a package that's quite a bit larger than an action camera or one of the Marshall POV cameras (even with one of the Micro 4/3 pancake lenses attached, the Micro Studio Camera is still well beyond a GoPro in size).

So if you need something smaller (action camera sized), you might check out one of the following:

• Sony FDR-X3000
• GoPro HERO 5
• Garmin VIRB Ultra 30

I believe these cameras are capable of 2160p2997 live output over a Micro HDMI port.

Many of the other 4K action cameras either are not capable of 4K output over HDMI (GoPro Hero4), are not capable of any live HDMI video output (Nikon KeyMission, Olympus Tough TG-Tracker), or lack an HDMI port entirely (Yi 4K and 4K+). And unfortunately Marshall doesn't make any 4K capable POV cameras that I am aware of.

Using a Teranex Mini to upscale 1080p video is also a viable option in many cases. Depending on how far you are from the screen, and what content you are shooting, it can often be hard to differentiate 1080p from 2160p even when shooting with high end cameras. Not to mention that most viewers will probably be watching in 1080p or below anyway.

And even if watching on a 4K screen, few people are likely to notice the resolution difference when cutting between an small POV camera in HD and a full-sized camera in UHD. The POV camera would probably look different, but that has much more to do with color, dynamic range, depth of field, lens quality, etc. than it does with resolution. You could cut between a 4K action camera and a full-sized HD camera and the full-sized camera would still look better in most cases.

Keep in mind that only the Teranex Mini HDMI to SDI model does upscaling to UHD, and it does not do any frame rate conversion. So if you want 2160p2997 output you would need to feed the Teranex Mini a 1080p2997 input over HDMI. If you need frame rate and resolution conversion, you'd likely need a Teranex Express.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Looks like a lot of good options- I think the smaller the better,
but I do like the versatility of the Micro4k and it's lenses.

So if you need something smaller (action camera sized), you might check out one of the following:

• Sony FDR-X3000
• GoPro HERO 5
• Garmin VIRB Ultra 30

I believe these cameras are capable of 2160p2997 live output over a Micro HDMI port.

Thanks for the great post! I can't seem to find anything laying out whether these will do 2160p29.97 live out of their hdmi ports, or if they just playback at that resolution? I love the footage from the Sony I've seen, and it's the right size for what I want (despite being white). I may just get one from a BestBuy or box store and return if it can't.

Do the GoPros still do a fisheye type shot? I've not seen one for years, and don't know if the footage online is being "rectified" in post. For that matter, does the Sony need to be fixed as well, or is the shot more or less good for live?

Thanks again so much for the help!

As usual when looking for info on these consumer type cameras the web site is near useless.
Looks like all info given for 'video resolution' is proceeded by mp4
Which makes me believe the cameras can only record uhd.

Also I can't see anywhere it states that the HDMI has a live feed, let alone clean feed.
So that makes me think it's for playback purposes only.

Andrew, it would be safe to assume that HDMI out in most consumer type cameras is for playback and/or monitoring only, not recording a live feed. I think the best choice here is the Micro Studio which was designed to output a UHD video signal for live production/recording use. Sony is also coming out with a small live action camera, but it has not been released yet, pre-orders available at B&H
Cheers

Thanks for the great post! I can't seem to find anything laying out whether these will do 2160p29.97 live out of their hdmi ports, or if they just playback at that resolution? I love the footage from the Sony I've seen, and it's the right size for what I want (despite being white). I may just get one from a BestBuy or box store and return if it can't.

I'm pretty sure that the 3 cameras I mentioned (Sony FDR-X3000, Garmin VIRB Ultra, and GoPro 5) can do 2160p2997 live out over HDMI.

Here's a useful video which looks at the live output capabilities of several different 4K action cameras and includes demonstrations of the Sony and Garmin:

Unfortunately, that video doesn't include the GoPro 5 (which would have been nice for comparison purposes), but there is another video I came across with 4K GoPro Hero 5 footage recorded from the HDMI output to an Atomos Shogun recorder:

I'm pretty sure that the 3 cameras I mentioned (Sony FDR-X3000, Garmin VIRB Ultra, and GoPro 5) can do 2160p2997 live out over HDMI.

Thanks Dave! Just wanted to check back in-- I went with the Sony X3000, and it does indeed output 2160p29.97 over HDMI. Have it paired up with a mix of DVX200 and UX190's on BM4k Production Studio and it's all working like a charm.

Thanks again!