@DouglasHorn, what's your take on the Pix in outdoor situations. The specs are at the edge of what is generally considered usable outdoors. I'm guessing it's no good in truly bright direct sunlight, but how about other outdoor scenarios? Also, how's the glossy screen with reflections.

The idea of a pix-e 5 combined with sound devices preamps in the Pixlr is VERY tempting to say the least!

Looks like Pix is our low cost leader and plans on staying there. I already have an 7Q+ or I would get one just for the superior monitor that I saw at last years NAB.

http://www.videodevices.com/news/video-devices-news/video-devices-previews-h-264-at-nab-2016

LAS VEGAS, APRIL 13, 2016 — Video Devices will preview a new recording capability for the popular PIX-E Series of 4K-compatible recording monitors at the 2016 NAB Show – Booth C6040. The PIX-E Series will showcase two new features—the addition of the H.264 codec and the capability of simultaneously recording a high-quality, edit-ready Apple® ProRes file and a much smaller size H.264 MP4 file.

These new features will be available to PIX-E owners at no cost in a future firmware update.

I will explain why the A7sII is not better.

I only shoot on a TriPod. I don't need or want IBIS. There is speculation that the in camera stabilization contributes to overheating, it also makes it bigger & heavier. When I shot 4k internally my A7sII overheated and shut down after 4 minutes repeatedly in a room that was under 70 degrees. Charging the Wimpy battery while shooting is not viable. The solution was to use a dummy battery, external power, and record external only. The clincher for returning the camera was when I tried shooting 1080P120 in low light. The Video quality was poor and full of moire, evidently due to the 2.2 crop.

At ISO 6400-8000 the A7s with 4k DownRes to 1080P30 is very clean. Outside in the Sunlight I almost always use my GH4 instead. You get 3 hours of uninterrupted (1080P60) Video internally on one battery and card. My complete outfit with 3 lens goes in my smallest bag. I can use a small, lightweight carbon fiber TriPod if needed.

Back on topic: When the Pix recorders came out they were the best for price. Now that the Ninja Assassin has been announced, every one is rushing firmware upgrades. Great time to wait and to shop smart for a 4k recorder.

I currently have a Ninja II, Shuttle II, and 7Q+ recorders

For my use the codec in the GH4 is so good that I see little improvement when using a external recorder.

It is absolutely necessary in order to extend the record time in a Nikon or Sony. There was also a very noticeable improvement when used with my A7s, so much so that I would not shoot without it. I sent my A7sII back as the A7s is better for my use.

I'm interested how PIX-LR XLR Audio Interface performs but it seems that it's still unavailable. I have high hopes for it, if all features like pre-amps and limiter are standard Audio Devices quality, that could simplify rig setup / workflow a lot.

New firmware (1.10) for the Pix devices brings:

Accepts Higher Frame rate HD upto 120fps
Anamorphic De-squeeze support for GH4
6G-SDI to support 4K recording over a single SDI cable
Peaking & Zebras - now allows simultaneous viewing
Enhanced playback - Frame-by-frame jog, shuttle (from 1/8x to 32x) plus FF & RW 2x to 16x speed.

Firmware link.

Also the PIX-E5 records 4k in both UHD and DCI 4K. Something to think about that Atomos doesn't do.

The Cinema5D review is pretty much right - and I'm glad that the hotshoe ballhead they found is working well. I'll probably follow suit since my friction arms are able to hold it up... but barely and it's hard to get the screen level with the camera which makes it difficult to judge horizon flatness.

I took mine out for a bit last night with my A7s. For the most part, the recorder did exactly what I expected it to do and didn't make any fuss about things. Focusing with tap zoom is great. The physical buttons are nice and the interface is intuitive.

I didn't think to check the audio settings - I just assumed that by default it would record HDMI audio. That seems not to have been the case (that or I missed an option on the A7s to export audio over HDMI), though luckily none of my test shots really needed it (an excellent reason to test gear before shooting something which matters with it!). So - whoever else gets one, make sure to go into the audio menus and make sure that HDMI audio is assigned a track.

One other bit of weirdness - there were two times last night where I recorded something, waited for the record light to stop blinking, and then turned off the e5 and unplugged it. Then I carried it and the camera somewhere else. When I hooked it all back up and tried recording again, the e5 said that no recording media was detected. I unplugged and re-plugged the speeddrive and got the same error again. I shut it off, pulled both batteries, and turned it back on again. Then it found the media and was able to play/record again. Every other time, it worked OK. I'll probably open a support ticket with the manufacturer about that.

Oh yeah, and it does get pretty hot to the touch. Mine hasn't heated up to the point of burning me, though, so as long as it keeps working, no big deal!