Kays Alatrakchi

A few thoughts: At the end of last year I purchased a 5D3 (refurb, end of the year sale...screaming deal). My reasons were that I wanted a full frame camera for both video and stills, and ideally one which was at the cusp of gaining some quality improvements due to Canon's announced 1.2.1 firmware update with "uncompressed HDMI out." When the firmware arrived, and after reading up some enlightening posts, I was almost ready to sell the camera. When Blackmagic announced their new BMCC 4K and the Pocket cameras I was planning on putting the 5D on eBay asap. Then a small miracle happened, word spread quickly that ML was on the cusp of something big. I stuck it out, read anxiously as those early reports indicated that capturing RAW data was a real possibility, and eventually took a leap of faith and installed ML on the 5D3 and put in my order for a couple of Komputerbay 64gb 1000X cards. I haven't looked back since, the improvement in quality has been stunning to say the least. I have completely rethought my purchase and I now think it's one of the best decisions I have made. This has been strengthened by the delays in the BMPCC shipping, and some of the issues plaguing their Pocket camera. Further, I have been able to record at 1920X1288 resolution without any issues, this is a good format for anamorphic shooting, or subtle re-framing in post. Having said that, there are a few caveats which might or might not be deal breakers for some: 1. As of yet, no audio. This might or might not come back at some point. 2. Playback is a bitch. Currently in-camera playback is limited to a low frame rate b/w image, not something you want to show to your client for on-set approval. 3. External monitoring is kinda buggy, it definitely has issues but it's useable for basic needs. 4. Post production is a bit more involved, and the footage does take up a lot more space than h.264. 5. While I wouldn't call the learning curve steep, there is a lot to wrap your noggin around at first. 6. There are some issues with some CF cards, particularly Komputerbay. Order 3-4 and be prepared to send a couple back. If that doesn't scare you, and you own a 5D3 (or even a 5D2), then you should jump in because the quality upgrade is definitely worth it. BTW, I made a short video that shows the differences between footage captured with the 5D3 Raw, the Alexa and the BMCC as how the intercut together in post, you can watch it here if you want:

   Yeah, but Adobe would love to have your $$$ even more!

I think options for 1.5 as well as 1.3 would be nice.   I like the idea, and I have to say that so far I'm finding working with "projector" anamorphics to be tedious at best, so a better solution with better way of focusing and overall a more optimized way to mount the lens would be most welcome. Price, is also a factor of course since I don't think anyone wants to pay many thousands for these.   Mostly, I hope they actually come through with something, I feel that they've been talking about it for a long while now, and it would be nice if they actually bring something to production soon.

Yeah, Canon is weird. They have some strange corporate reason for making the choices that they do, and I doubt they're even liking the sales boost that ML have given to their products.

Just uploaded a test I did trying to see how the 5D raw would compare to the BMCC and the ARRI Alexa.   You can watch it here:   https://vimeo.com/72566458     Feel free to repost!

  This has been my experience with the BMCC actually. Image looks great as long as one is very mindful of the highlights, because once they go, they really go and look very noticeable even to a non-video person.

  Actually Gb for Gb an SSD is a far better deal. You can get an 120Gb SSD which meets the spec requirements for about $100 nowadays, a CF card with fast enough specs to handle the Canon raw is going to be at least twice that amount if not more.

  The C100? You're joking right? There is virtually no improvement in image quality between the C100 and a T2i, still prone to moire, still prone to rolling shutter, still same old crappy 4:2:0 h.264 codec.   At least Blackmagic offered a vast improvement in IQ despite the smaller sensor.   I think the only camera of note that Canon put out for video is the 1Dc, which if you ask me is what the 5D3 should have been (sans the $12k price tag).   Of all the things you mention, you forget that many of us prefer to customize our rigs with handpicked components that can be moved from camera to camera if necessary.

  I think the price point should be taken into consideration here (even before the discount). Look, the situation is pretty clear -- shooters' expectations about gear have been rising, Canon instead of delivering a true improvement over the mighty 5D2 put out an overpriced 5D2.5 which had everyone besides the most ardent Canon fans pretty disappointed. Then came their Cinema line which left everyone even more baffled with pricing that was far more than the 5D crowd was willing to fork over (without the benefits of RED's extra bells and whistles). Red  meanwhile failed on their promised 3K for $3k and continued their trend toward pricey and proprietary gear.   I think Blackmagic was the only company to truly understand the costumer base that made the 5D2 so popular and delivered a camera which addressed many (but not all) of the wishes of that crowd --- namely better image quality, higher resolution, better interfacing and more robust post friendly codecs in a DSLR pricing. Did they deliver on everything? Of course not, but I think most people are willing to cut them more than a little slack.

If Blackmagic said that they would deliver raw to the Pocket camera, I don't see the point in not believing it. My guess is that rather than heat, the problem is data wrangling and somehow squeezing it unto the SD card without any dropped frames and with audio. I'm confident they'll get there, but they probably will need to deal with some firmware optimization and possibly wait until SD card technology gets a bit faster.

  The problem with GoPro is the tiny sensor size. 

  I really don't understand this comment (unless it's trying to be purely sarcastic). Why would the BMCC suddenly become a doorstop if the company goes out of business or is bought? I see plenty of people still driving around with their Saturn cars even though the company went under 3 years ago. As a music composer I use a 30 year old keyboard which has not been officially supported for well over two decades.   It's not as if Blackmagic products need to "call home" every few days because otherwise they'll stop working...that actually would be Adobe products!

I think every once in a while a company comes along with a business model which goes against what everyone else has been doing and foregoes huge markups for mass appeal.   In the audio/music world I have seen that with Peavey at first, Mackie, and then M-Audio more recently.    Blackmagic is simply the same idea applied to digital video...a company who is manufacturing smartly, and taking shortcuts which most of us seem to be ok with. Their products aren't perfect, but they fill a niche that would otherwise go unfilled.   I don't think they're going out of business any time soon, and I think despite delays in delivery, people will not stop ordering from them.   They are giving away Resolve for free and taking a huge bite out of competing products while getting everyone used to working with it.   I am far from being a Blackmagic evangelist. I have criticized them plenty in the past, and I am not 100% crazy about the image that the BMCC delivers....but I think that in this case they're being very smart.   In my tests, the 5D3 raw delivers a much more pleasant image with more natural rolloff in the highlights, and yet here I am trying to figure out when I should put in my order for the BMCC (my birthday is coming up in a month...hint hint).

So? It's still a pretty amazing deal when you factor in all the extras you get.   I'll gladly spend an extra $1000 to get the full version of Resolve, not have to deal with getting EF to mFT converters for all my lenses, choice of ProRes and CDNG, more robust recording media, larger screen, higher resolution, larger sensor, balanced audio inputs, better external monitoring options, a field tested device.   Not saying that the Pocket camera won't sell, just saying that many of us who were in line to buy one are now leaning toward the BMCC as a pricier but much better alternative.   Plus...in a few weeks used BMCC's will start popping up on eBay and CL for $1500 or maybe even less.

I really don't get all the hate. Blackmagic seems to me like a pretty sharp company right about now. They have successfully diverted attention away from the negatives of the shipping delays for their new cameras while renewing interest for a camera which was on the path to be obsolete in a month or two.    Who was buying the BMCC last week instead of the upcoming one? Now several of my friends are thinking about putting in orders for the BMCC....brilliant!   Meanwhile the likes of RED and Canon Cinema division are left scratching their heads trying to figure out how to stop the hemorrhaging before it's too late. Who is buying a Scarlet or a C500 right about now aside from rental houses?   What Blackmagic has also managed to do is to potentially make ML obsolete as well by pricing the BMCC below the 5D3 (way below if you take into consideration the full version of Resolve that comes bundled with it).   Yeah yeah yeah, super 16 is no match for that full frame sensor. Hey, I'm with you, I own a 5D3! However I have seen some fantastic footage come out of the BMCC, with beautiful bokeh and amazing clarity, I know that I could shoot some amazing looking films with that size sensor.   Lastly, people who paid $3k for the BMCC aren't likely to be any more mad now than when Blackmagic announced their 4K camera. A lowering of the price was to be absolutely expected, anyone who thought that they would keep selling the BMCC for $3k forever should really wake up.   If anything, I can see this really affecting sales of the Pocket camera. I was thinking of buying one when they became available, but now I'm leaning toward the BMCC. Sure it's $1k more, but I get full blown Resolve, a larger sensor with higher resolution, an EF mount if I want, more inputs and outputs, a larger monitor, and already a hefty selection of accessories available to me. Only thing I hate about the BMCC and will always have an issue with is the lack of a swappable battery, but it's a small hassle compared to all the other benefits.   I say well played Blackmagic...well played!

    Hmmm...interesting. In that case I have to wonder if I should stick to EF mount since I own a great deal of electronic Canon glass that it sounds like I wouldn't be able to use with the mFT.

Yes, ProRes works great in Premiere Pro. Cinema DNG can not actually be read in Premiere without 3rd party solutions, and even then it kinda stinks.

I think this is a good move for Blackmagic. Shifts negative attention away from the delays, makes them price competitive against Canon/ML hack, and hammers yet another nail in RED's coffin (and Canon's Cinema line of cameras).   I can only hope that they are manufacturing these cameras in large quantities because I predict another shortage happening soon. My guess is that right about now, most dealers are getting inundated with new orders.     I have a question for Andrew....actually two:   1. With a mFT mount, would I be able to use PL mount lenses?   2. What is the advantage of an active mFT mount? Surely you wouldn't use it for auto focus while shooting....right?

Yup....pretty amazing news from Blackmagic:     We have done it and from today the Blackmagic Cinema Camera EF and MFT models will be reduced in price to US$1,995. 

I still feel that anyone who is serious about heavy duty video/graphic work but who has an allergy to Windows should consider building a Hackintosh. For a little more than the cost of an iMac, it's possible to build a machine which rivals and exceeds the top priced Mac Pros (and likely outperforms even the upcoming Tube Pro).

One technique that I heard mentioned is to shine a flashlight into the lens and look at the streaks to make sure they are as horizontal as you can muster.

  What I was told today (from one of the dealers) is this:   Pocket camera is shipping is low quantities (i.e. less than 100 units, I was actually told about 10 at a time). The manufacturing is apparently happening in Singapore.    The same dealer told me that the BMCC is also still a slow trickle as well. He mentioned that even right now he doesn't have any in stock and the only way to get some in is to start calling their distributor and raise some stink to get them to move quicker. In all fairness, he did say that BM is not as much to blame as their distributors who sometimes tend to play favorites (i.e. prioritize bigger dealers like B&H vs. some of the smaller dealers).   His opinion is that the BMCC's image quality is likely to outperform the new 4K camera, he also feels that the data management will be an even greater issue since 4K footage (at the Pro Res file size) is still quite huge.   FWIW, I recently ran a test on the Alexa, the BMCC and the 5D3 (video coming soon), and even though I feel that the Alexa produces an amazing image, the 5D3 raw was IMHO a much better image than what I was able to get out of the BMCC.    Either way, these are very exciting times!!!

Thanks for the info. I'm still waiting for the Sankor to arrive, I'm hoping that it will pair up nicely with my 85mm and that will be that.   As far as the Canon 135mm F2, I realize that I won't be able to use it wide open, but I figured that it's still a good lens to have for when I'm not shooting anamorphic.

Just got back from the L.A. Blackmagic event today. I suspect Blackmagic is about to get ranted on by quite a few online sites for pushing back the release date that they so confidently affirmed wouldn't be an issue back at NAB.   The Blackmagic Pocket is also a slow trickle. According to some dealers yes the Pocket cameras will start shipping over the next week or so....straight to the Blackmagic offices and not to dealers! That's right, the Pocket cameras will actually first stop at Blackmagic where they will receive a firmware update, and only then will they start to be shipped to the dealers. I'm told to expect a very few trickle, so for some people who preordered the Pocket cameras, it could still be a couple of months away.   The Blackmagic Production camera was also a disappointment, not just for the delayed shipping, but also for the fact that they still seem not quite ready in the software/firmware departments.   Lastly, Resolve 10 is supposedly still on track for "3rd quarter" which could be any day, or still a couple of months away.   All in all not a particularly exciting or revealing day with Blackmagic....but they did have free cookies!

They should, just look in the ML folder called "cropmks" which should contain a series of .bmp images that you can use as cropmarks. You can also create your own or download a whole slew that people have made and just place them into that folder.