Blackmagic Cinema Camera

April 20, 2012

in Gear,News

Probably the most exciting thing coming out of NAB for me was the Blackmagic Cinema Camera.

Basically its a Micro Four Thirds, 2.5K resolution, 13 stops of dynamic range box with a touch screen and a copy of DaVinci Resolve… For under $3,000… As Lenny Pepperbottom would put it, That’s pretty neat.

This little sucker looks like a real winner. I can’t wait to try one and hopefully get a review out to you guys. If you are already sold, or just need a cheap copy of DaVinci Resolve, you can pre-order this fella on B&H right now via the link below.

Blackmagic Cinema Camera

Tagged as: Blackmagic, Camera, NAB

  • http://www.arttyIV.com/ arttyIV

    I am really excited to see how this thing performs. For that price, I am very interested in picking one up, or at least renting one.

  • philhoyt

    This is the first camera I have given serious thought of buying to replace my DSLR. Really happy about this.

  • http://twitter.com/DrongoPhoto Jeff Drongowski

    Looks fantastic.  My only concern is the battery life.  From what I can tell, it’s internal and only last 90 minutes.  Other than that I’m sold.

  • http://dslrvideoshooter.com calebpike

    Hmm. Good point. We’ll have to see if there are any good external battery options. And put a little cage around that thing.

  • http://twitter.com/mjonespro Matthew Jones

    +1 for the internal battery being a negative… Although they say it’ll take a charge from any standard portable battery pack and/or it will even charge and power the unit via the thunderbolt port… so if you’re already using the scope software, you’ll be good to go. I for one shoot 75% of my footage near a conventional power source… It’ll be slightly annoying working around the cords as they drag beside the unit.

    Another limiting factor to consider is the field-of-view when using a 4/3 sensor with ef glass…
    My 50mm will have a 100mm field-of-view… Like I said, it’s merely a ‘limiting’ factor…

    Although when you compare the sensor size with a similarly priced video camera, the sensor blows away the older ‘competition’… (like a Panasonic HMC-150)

    Just looking at the material that’s available now… I’d also ask the question, ‘How’s the iris controlled?’… The single button and how it’s described in the specs sounds like an auto-feature to me… but maybe you can cycle through them manually with that same button?

    All that said, I’m really looking forward to seeing the images from this little bugger!

  • Coons30

    Do you have any suggestions for getting around the massive crop factor?  The loss of wide angle seems like a pretty big problem for me…

  • knoptop

    Ok, I get that this camera is coming in at $3000 offering 2.5k and 13 stops, but it’s going to require SO many add-ons to function like a normal camera, outside of a fixed mounted studio setting.  One of the biggest issues is that the camera currently doesn’t offer any options for an external monitor or EVF?  I’m still confused why everyone is buzzing about a camera that will easily push into the $5000 range, after investing in camera add-ons, and still only kinda work like regular camera.

  • http://twitter.com/mjonespro Matthew Jones

    I think you have to consider who this camera is for…  it’s aimed at the video DSLR market.  Those who will use it will typically already have rigs… If you’re looking for a RAW solution with a larger resolution image, this can’t be beat… even if it’s just a body…

    I do agree it’d be better with a mini-HDMI port… but can see why they couldn’t do it without significantly raising the price.

    I agree with Lenny, it’s pretty neat indeed!

  • http://twitter.com/SmackChopG G. Xiong

    YES! Do a review on this bad boy.