5D Mark III or Blackmagic Cinema Camera?

[simonfilm]

If I were Canon I would try to give the best improvements with a new 5D3 firmware WITHOUT keeping anything in the hat.

[galenb]

Corrected article on the audio jacks, thanks. I really need to get my head around those 1/4 jacks, so rare to see them on a video camera. 5D3 doesn't have peaking as Magic Lantern isn't yet available for it.

Oops, I was thinking of the 5DII. Sorry. :-)

[Andrew Reid]

If I were Canon I would try to give the best improvements with a new 5D3 firmware WITHOUT keeping anything in the hat.

I don't think they will be adding HD-SDI and 12bit raw in a firmware update :)

[galenb]

You know, I think shooting in RAW will be kind of nifty and it will be nice to have when you need it but, I have a feeling that a lot of people will choose ProRes. Now granted, we haven't seen any ProRes files from the camera yet but if they are anything like what you get when you convert the Raw files to ProRes, it's still going to be a huge step up in quality from DSLRs and even most large sensor video cameras like the FS700 or VG20.

I have a feeling people are going to be really surprised by the quality and flexibility of ProRes.

[Andrew Reid]

Is there any way you can change your avatar? It is awful, sorry.

[HurtinMinorKey]

Is there any way you can change your avatar? It is awful, sorry.

That's just fuckin funny.

[moebius22]

The comment button for this story on the front page seems broken. Anyone else have this problem?

[lafilm]

Is there any way you can change your avatar? It is awful, sorry.

:D

[Pierre_move]

To the 5D Mark III trolls :) Listen...the DSLR look is dead. Even Act of Valor was pushed hard not to look like your average DSLR shiznit - and that's something that 95% of DSLR users are not capable of because their grading skills suck. DSLR dynamic range without a massive help of lighting tricks is just weird and unnatural looking for motion picture. If you really dig it you've got some really freaky taste.

Oh and bohoo... BMC can't do still photos? Well lol.. buy BMC, buy Canon lenses and buy a used 550d body for a few dimes - its performance in still raw is very very usable even when compared with Mark III.

Andrew, great job trying to stay objective with these articles on real video cameras VS still cameras. Don't be distracted by people who can't tell a turd from a lion chocolate bar ;)

[tehgeek]

Wow.. ok.

[markm]

Wthout the DSLR revolution we wouldn't have large sensor cameras and be stuck with overpriced 2/3 three chip cameras. You could make a very nice cinematic feature using a canon mark 3. However they are deliberately held back and crippled so companies like canon can seperate pro's Smi pro's and the public in order to make as much as possible. All the canon needed was a 10 bit 4.2.2 out.The idea really is to buy the best tool and there may very well be times when the mark 3 is a better choice and to cut in with another camera if you can afford all the seperate lenses and messing about with two cameras.

The BMC does not have a large sensor and somehow the mark 3 can sometimes work magic with its look. Overall though if you seriously want to make a film with the highest quality and the best post options then the BMC is the right choice. The mark 3 is still a nice camera if you like out of focus backgrounds that sometimes have a very cinematic look if you dont mind working in 8 bits and try to get your grade as close as possible when shooting.

I think anyone that knows anything about film making and offered a choice of all the cameras out there below £12,000 would pick the BMC The next step up in my mind would be an F3 with an outboard 4.4.4 recorder.

[Tim]

Look at the day rate of a Red shooter, raw moves you the ladder in the eyes of a client. I know a lot of clients who are keen to avoid the DSLR kid look now having been stung before by a cack handed shooter clutching a Canon 7D.

Making cash as a photographer is a completely separate issue to making a living as a videographer.

If you cock up a shot with the 5D Mark III on a job you can't save it later. What if your white balance is off, or your exposure, or one shot doesn't match the other when you cut them together? Maybe you come back to do a re-shoot the next day and your exposure is different, then it doesn't match on the timeline - with a raw codec that isn't an issue. Far more safe.

Then there's the focus issues you get with a large sensor and clients really are getting tired of having their subject coming in and out of focus. On a smaller sensor again you have that extra safe margin.

I had never really thought about this issue until you posted it. Now I feel quite silly for buying a D800 (I haven't used it for as much stills as I thought I would). It'll be a while before I'll have the cash for a BMC.

[hmcindie]

If you cock up a shot with the 5D Mark III on a job you can't save it later. What if your white balance is off, or your exposure, or one shot doesn't match the other when you cut them together? Maybe you come back to do a re-shoot the next day and your exposure is different, then it doesn't match on the timeline - with a raw codec that isn't an issue. Far more safe.

Raw gives you extra latitude but it doesn't save your images if you can't shoot worth a damn. You still need to expose and light but you guys don't know how to light so the whole "exposing" stuff goes over the heads. I've seen plenty of shoots by different DOP's going to waste for different reasons and RAW has never got anyone out of those "I exposed badly" sorts of situations. It helps grading, white balance and keeps the tonalities in check but that's about it.

All of these articles are like weird "fanboy" stuff where you guys concoct the imaginary wonder cam that makes everything look great by itself. You still need to learn to shoot. If you can't match cameras without raw, you can't match them with it.

Then there's the focus issues you get with a large sensor and clients really are getting tired of having their subject coming in and out of focus. On a smaller sensor again you have that extra safe margin.

Do you even have any real clients or is this all just coming out of some odd "I wish I worked somewhere but don't so I come up with stuff" world? You apparently don't do any event work either because this BMC is just not capable of event work yet. So who are these clients you talk about?

[hmcindie]

I had never really thought about this issue until you posted it. Now I feel quite silly for buying a D800 (I haven't used it for as much stills as I thought I would). It'll be a while before I'll have the cash for a BMC.

That's just completely stupid thinking EOSHD is propagating here. The D800 gives you excellent and filmic images. If you can't shoot with it, the BMC will not help you.

[moebius22]

That's just completely stupid thinking EOSHD is propagating here. The D800 gives you excellent and filmic images. If you can't shoot with it, the BMC will not help you.

Why are you assuming he can't shoot? He doesn't do a lot of stills, so he supposes he may be better served with a straight movie camera.

[markm]

Undermining others in order to stop them having an opinion is really just sour grapes over a lost argument. I think most of us understand what is what here and cameras are just tools. I really don't like it when people treat cameras like football teams because they bought into it and now want to show the world what a wonderful decision they made and to justify the cost.. The fanboy stuff is a waste of everyones time and educates no one. Some forums actively promote brand names and ban you for not supporting what they sell. Others have self made Gurus who actively tell you a camera is better than everything out there and then blind you with psuedo science by telling you a version of the truth that helps their promotion while forgetting to mention all its faults. Or someone PAID by Sony or other companies to promote their stuff on the forum where they are given free reign.

Thank Goodness for Andrew's site and look may it be kept clear of one sidedness that some are nefariously accusing him of. In order to promote their own. Andrew is clearly saying it how it is re the BEST quality imaging HD camera for out there for making films below £12,000. If you bought a high priced marvel machine, I feel the pain I really do. But the truth is there is a NEW king and it's called -THE BMC.

We all need to see the new landscape and instead of trying to pull it down to congratulate Black Magic as it's the future and in all our interests if we really want to have proper tools to make decent films.

Thank you Black Magic!

-

[nigelbb]

Andrew is clearly saying it how it is re the BEST quality imaging HD camera for out there for making films below £12,000.

The BEST quality imaging HD camera for making films below £12,000 is the C300.

[lightpainter]

HI GUYS! HI ANDREW!

I am new in this forum, and yes the revollution runsssssss.. sancho.

I am a untypical Filmmaker because i am a Painter and Writer.

And i was blody upgrown with the spartanic of 16mm-Aaton.
Later in 2004 i begun to cut out Canons to bring them to film--first shame old
experiments burned 450er after 10 secounds-but i had my frames..
and many derstroyed canons... ( and much differnt optics..no i do not sell)
then the DSL-REVOLLUTION came..( i did not see it in first because..dysentrieb..harhar)
And then all was fast... today i burry ( in just runnig PROJECT// yalchup.com // it s an experiment)
3 , 4 , 5 gh-2s and the fit. also an crappy outwatered nikon, my old linskippa 5d2..i t works if you know
and other..some small.. and sometimes some fat ratts ( f65)( sony is an monster but sometimes does not
know waht do do..dropp 1000 types on us..ignore...breake and cut to revolution 3.0..we do not know)
( sorry for lefthandwritten on a cray--cablede in 3 macs-in 12 i7 pc--i sit in a exprient[ bring a colourgrading-prog
to its bordes so i begun to..tune it?..anyway] ( i look for the time after 4:4.4 and waht is 24bit ore more..)
And when you make ART you always are OUT OF MONEY ( EQUIPMENT IS EXPENSIVE)
EXPERIMENTS MUCH MORE ( jumped with chute and 3 gf3-all 50 canon optics down a ROCK--bechause
i nned the fly by of rock later in film)
and in a way( for me) creative shy...ore better like daniel dysenrtrieb.. I GET WHAT I GET and MAKE it.

the BLACK MAMBA.. sorry i will get my bmcs end 13 ( and yes it will be 2 of them...because of an selfbuild-computer-robotta-sys
wich is able to usea would say future greenbox [ means ther is no box- but how to do, if a monster in 3d runns in maya, blender
what ever - in a good evenig golden hour in a wOOD-ina REAL FILMIC WOOD with the natural glimpse - and ther is a big pice of
grren plastik ore blue ore gray.. how??..and so on)- so i call the BMC BLACK MAMBA-- because this littel beast ( and its light
my hydro-mini-nano-arms do not breake...and if the cam does not roll much we can make midfast runs and so on..)

WORKS FOR ME
IT IS FILMIC
IT DOES

AND MORE MONEY WILL GO TO ZEISS SAMYANG OLD RUSSIAN OPTICS NEW NIKORS COOL
STUFF..

So... weh have good days we get CAMERAS and then the old bratss stand up and maybe
a ARRI- ISABELLA is in shop... suddenly?

if not bought out by some chinese or northcorean.. oh joke... do you like LITTLE BRITAIN?
YES..

SO WE ARE ALL BROTHRES IN CAMS
PLEASE LOVE
THAT IN END WE DREAM ALL SAME

THIS FUKING COOL PICTURE.... yes

out

[Pierre_move]

Raw gives you extra latitude but it doesn't save your images if you can't shoot worth a damn.

And this is what we've been waiting for. Finally it's going to be all about the talent and not the tech features because they will be on a super usable level as a default - no more tech crippling. Sort of like the analog era - the film was a superb sensor.

[markm]

The BEST quality imaging HD camera for making films below £12,000 is the C300.

After testing the BMC footage Changing the exposure and colour correcting raw you must be joking? Right?