Blackmagic Design 2.5k Cinema Camera Review

For people on a budget that want to get a great picture, this may be the camera for them! Shipping in July at $3k you get the ability to shoot RAW 2k+, how awesome is that?! This camera also has the ability to pipe out 10bit 4:2:2 via SDI, which means you get the full dynamic range of the camera shipped out to an external recorder. This puppy records to 2.5″ SSD’s which are pretty affordable and claims 5hrs of RAW footage to a 480 gig card, not bad. If you need to invest in the external recorder this package would be a great option from B&H.

With all the greatness, there comes a drawback to make this affordable… a micro 4/3 sensor. Bummer. But, I’m over it. S35 looks amazing, but focusing on it is a pain, and I generally shoot at f4 anyways so that focusing is a bit easier, and I find shallow depth of field to be a bit cliché anyways. The other drawback is audio… 1/4″ audio, no XLR… which means back to shooting with the Zoom. Monitoring will be an issue as well, seeing how there is only 1 SDI connection, and no HDMI. Since there is no flip out viewer, you’ll be forced to record to the SSD, and use your SDI to an external monitor. The other option would be to record to an external, and then pipe a feed out from there to your monitor. Over all the rig will pretty sizable… but for $5k you can get a RAW workflow.

Over all, when I have the money I may just shoot with this.

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/techspecs/

4.19.12 UPDATE
A friend that checked out the camera mentioned rolling shutter issues, which seems to be the buzz right now on this camera. More info to come soon!

Canon Unveils EOS-1D C and C500 4K Camera Review

Canon announces new Canon unveils EOS-1D C and C500 4K Cinema cameras.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/12/canon-c500-eos-1d-c-4k/

Both cameras seem very compelling at a first glance, with the new buzz word being “4k”. While 4K is a great feature to have for many reasons, the average user that will be shooting with this camera will most likely be delivering in 1080p for some time to come. Down scaling will be great for resolution, and the fact that the C500 records raw is fantastic. The downside is that you have to purchase an external recorder to do so. After all is said and done, the package could cost upwards of $30k for a system that is not upgradable. Why would you purchase this camera instead of the RED Scarlet? That is a good question, and there won’t be any real answers until these cameras are released. I personally would love to shoot with it, but wouldn’t purchase the 500 over the Scarlet.
The 1Dc again is a great concept, but personally if I was going to spend near $15k on a camera I would want to be getting away from the DSLR form factor. This camera can be really handy though if you want shoot footage like “Act of Valor”. Focus pulling may be a real issue on this camera, especially with such a small LCD on the back. You will most definitely have to get an external monitor.

All cameras things they are great at, and not so great at. It really comes down to the right tool for the job. While in theory these cameras are awesome, 4K delivery is just too expensive for most… and there is no common platform for displaying the footage. It is great to see cameras finally getting higher resolution, but what it comes down to for me is sensor latitude. I would rather shoot on an Alexa anyway over the above cameras.