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[media]http://vimeo.com/53340005[/media] [i]A version of this review will appear in the UK edition of Mac User magazine. Check out the [url="http://subscribe.macuser.co.uk"]subscription here[/url][/i] [i]This review is based on the final retail model (not a pre-production camera or loan unit). I pre-ordered from CVP in London back in April. The camera is [url="http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/index.php?t=product/blackmagic_cinema_camera"]currently £2148[/url] at CVP but of course availability is still[/i] unfortunately very [i]limited indeed.[/i] The Blackmagic Cinema Camera is the most Apple-like camera I have ever used, in fact the only camera. Like the iPhone it stands out on the market as better than the mass market clones, at least on paper. Is it worth the wait?

[quote name='HurtinMinorKey' timestamp='1352900067' post='21621'] Images look stunning. Your review did a great job pointing out it's strengths. Using RAW makes it so much easier to get the exposure curve you want. Great stuff. I almost fell out of my chair looking at the shots of the ferris wheel. Couple questions about the hardware. 1.) Why are you convinced the workflow bottlekneck is in the GPU, and not in the CPU or Cache? 2.) Can you please provide the basic specs of your PC? [/quote] DaVinci Resolve uses actually 2 graphic cards: - first for interface (probably may be simple integrated card) - second with CUDA for rendering (using only CUDA cores, other graphic functions are useless) So if you want smooth/fast preview and rendering - CUDA card is most important. Of course you will need pretty good other component to not cripple your PC - fast CPU, HDD(SDD), lot of RAM. Good info you can find in: http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/4805318/Resolve_Win_Config_Guide_2012-08-30.pdf or on their forum.

[quote name='HurtinMinorKey' timestamp='1352900067' post='21621'] Images look stunning. Your review did a great job pointing out it's strengths. Using RAW makes it so much easier to get the exposure curve you want. Great stuff. I almost fell out of my chair looking at the shots of the ferris wheel. Couple questions about the hardware. 1.) Why are you convinced the workflow bottlekneck is in the GPU, and not in the CPU or Cache? 2.) Can you please provide the basic specs of your PC? [/quote] The CPU is a general purpose processor and raw needs a greater data throughput like 3D rendering does, or texture mapping in games. The GPU is purpose built for this kind of heavy number crunching so better suited to chewing through video than the CPU. But you need CUDA which adds a more programmable interface between the app and the GPU. ATI uses Open CL which is similar but not as well supported in Resolve. Basic specs are i7 3.4Ghz 2700k, GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1.5GB, 8GB RAM. Ideally you want to upgrade graphics to GeForce GTX 580 or 690 3GB and have 16GB RAM with an 480GB SSD boot drive.

[quote name='Germy1979' timestamp='1352895269' post='21612'] On the negative note, this also opens the doors to a new era of random cat videos on youtube. Some guys just like shooting doorknobs, corners, porchlights, etc.. Calling it a low light test and seeing how many comments they can get, lol. Like facebook. Vimeo needs a "like" button.. [/quote] So what? Let people enjoy their hobby. If they don't shoot their cat with a BMCC they'll do it with a 5D Mark III or their iPhone and put it on Vimeo / YouTube as well. A lot of people enjoy buying high end expensive gear. It's good for the economy. At least the cat video's now will have a great dynamic range (and crappy hdr over the top post processing because of the raw capabilities ;)) By the way, Vimeo has a 'Love' button already.

Wow, it looks great! Hope to see some more of your BMCC footage soon :). Following some advices from http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/media/4805318/Resolve_Win_Config_Guide_2012-08-30.pdf you can actually build a perfect DaVinci PC for about 1000-1500$ (capable real-time raw preview). So for Mac users it would be best to even build a PC just for DaVinci Resolve (and configure Windows to run DaVinci fullscreen on startup if you don't like the system ;)) - you would appreciate the performance boost.

Nice review! Now please go shoot some Anamorphic footage for us to drool over while we play the waiting game. Hopefully BMC will get their shit together and finally start shipping in volume.

[quote]They seem to love it. Not hard to see why! [/quote] I hope Apple don't have any aspirations of buying BMD - that would be a disaster for end-users, both on the hardware and software front...you'd probably need to connect to iTunes before pressing the record button. Don't underestimate a custom built Windows PC. I took some joy throwing my last remaining Mac into the trash the other day. It looked good, but that was about the only postive thing I could say about it when comparing its performance to even an average Windows PC, let alone the inferior quality of all the internal components and the absurd price tag, availability of parts and iTunes strangulation........screw Apple! Thanks for the review Andrew, no surprises there regarding the BMCC, but confirmation is appreciated.

Ah yes one of these! I had a whole day comparing the BMCC to GH3 today and the results are extremely interesting. More on this soon. [img]http://www.eoshd.com/comments/uploads/inline/1/50a2db75be6f9_gh3.jpg[/img]