The ultimate Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera lens - Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 with Speed Booster

[Andrew Reid]

http://vimeo.com/76881206

I would really love to see how this lens does against a $47,000 + tax cinema lens like the Optimo 15-40mm T2.6 because I honestly think it would come close.

Blackmagic must share a similar philosophy, because the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera gives an image that in many ways exceeds the $15,000 Canon C300 especially when paired with the Metabones Speed Booster.

Read the full article here

[Alec Moore]

Andrew, forgive me as I've been a little confused as to the crop factor for the BMPCC. 

 

It's an S16 sized sensor, meaning that S16 glass should have no crop factor.

Meaning that a 50mm S16 lens will be a 50mm lens on this body?

 

 

[NikolaOvcharski]

Twixtor is making magic

[Andrew Reid]

Andrew, forgive me as I've been a little confused as to the crop factor for the BMPCC. 

 

It's an S16 sized sensor, meaning that S16 glass should have no crop factor.

Meaning that a 50mm S16 lens will be a 50mm lens on this body?

 

Crop factor is just a way of understanding focal lengths, using photographic full frame as the standard.

 

We think of wide as 28mm, portrait 50mm, and telephoto 135mm+ on full frame.

 

The crop of the sensor narrows the field of view, so a 28mm x 3 crop = 84mm. It is like taking a photo with a full frame camera and cropping it in Photoshop.

 

Super 16mm lenses have a smaller image circle but the field of view is the same as a normal lens, so if it is a 50mm on a Super 16mm sensor the 3x crop applies when thinking in terms of full frame field of views. 50mm is telephoto on Super 16mm not portrait.

[dsavage]

Very impressive combo.  As a current GH2 user, this is starting to look like the right upgrade path.

 

I do have to say the warp-stabilized footage immediately jumped out at me though.  I still don't think warp stabilizer is a good replacement for lens stabilization.  That being said, if this is the only drawback, I'll take it. 

[Andrew Reid]

Yes Warp isn't perfect but the great thing about the Pocket camera is having no rig.

 

I'll reluctantly dive into adding bits too it later.

 

It just needs a loupe maybe, and a stock.

 

Of course you can go crazy and rig it up insanely, the image quality makes it an 'A' camera for a lot of people.

 

By the way... few more facts about the lens.

 

- Made in Japan at Sigma's main factory. They are a 100% Japanese family owned company. Not South Korean as with Samyang.

- 4 aspherical elements (most lenses have none, some have 1... but FOUR!!?)

- Back ordered in the US currently (none at B&H or Adorama). Price will be $799.

- I paid 829 euros for my Nikon mount version, the Canon version is usually cheaper in Europe and the UK (on Amazon).

- Ultrasonic AF motors

- All internally focussing and zooming. Front element never moves an inch.

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

You should be really careful with crop factors and f-stops.  It is misleading to say as you do that the "End result is a 38-75mm F1.2 zoom."  You have to qualify that to say the 18-35mm f1.8 lens with speedbooster on the BMPCC will have the equivalent FOV to a 38-75mm lens on FF35 and the DOF and sensitivity of a 12-24 f1.2 lens on S16, but if you want to give the full FF35 equivalent spec for the lens, you have to use the crop factor multiplier on both the focal length and f-stop.  So if you want to compare it to FF35, the FF35 equivalent is ~36-72mm f3.6.

[Andrew Reid]

I don't use the multiplier on the F-stop when it comes to speaking about low light ability. F1.8 is F1.8! And it is easier just to take it as given that with a smaller sensor you won't get as shallow depth of field as you will on full frame.

 

Crop factors are only useful in terms of describing the field of view. Everyone in the DSLR video world thinks in terms of full frame. A 28 is a wide, etc.

 

People in the movie industry don't think like that, they go in terms of Super 35mm and a 18mm is wide on a movie camera.

[Ben Prater]

Hi Andrew -- great article. I've been looking forward to seeing what you had to say about this combo. Looks like it's a winning package. All 3 are on my immediately wish list now!
 

Question: if I'm not needing this next week, do you think it is worth waiting for the Metabones EF-MFT adapter rather than buying the Nikon variation of the Sigma and Metabones?  

[HurtinMinorKey]

Andrew,

 

Did you go straight from the BMD log mode to film convert, or did you apply a LUT before hand?

 

The video looks great. One of your best ever. 

[Andrew Reid]

Question: if I'm not needing this next week, do you think it is worth waiting for the Metabones EF-MFT adapter rather than buying the Nikon variation of the Sigma and Metabones?  

 

Not unless you really really need AF on a Canon body. Nikon one adapts to a Canon DSLR just fine. The EF-MFT Speed Booster has no ETA. It is lost in space!

[Andrew Reid]

Andrew,

 

Did you go straight from the BMD log mode to film convert, or did you apply a LUT before hand?

 

The video looks great. One of your best ever. 

 

Straight from the card into Premiere and Film Convert. No need for anything in between, no LUT.

[ntblowz]

Well slap this on to Olympus body then you get the stabilized F1.2 fast zoom..

[dishe]

Well slap this on to Olympus body then you get the stabilized F1.2 fast zoom..

We'd need an Olympus body with a decent video mode first. Oh how I dream of that!

[dsavage]

Straight from the card into Premiere and Film Convert. No need for anything in between, no LUT.

This!  Everybody seems to (rightly) put image quality first, but there is so much to be said about workflow.  I've spent countless hours transcoding from camera codecs to a workable intermediate.  

 

When I get done shooting, I'm ready to EDIT!!!  Having to wait for footage to transcode is no fun.  Can't wait to ditch the overly-compressed camera codecs altogether.

[graphicnatured]

How would this lens be on the BMCC, or do you not have the MFT version yet?

[Marcio Kabke Pinheiro]

Andrew, you don't used any kind of rig in the handheld shots? Since the lens is somewhat heavier than the m4/3 lenses, it could not stress the mount? (not when shooting - then you always have one hand in the lens - but when "resting", lens facing down between shoots).

 

And do you think that this lens could be also valuable to Micro Four Thirds cameras?

[gepinniw]

Fantastic images. Love the grading, and the slo-mo/stabilisation looks very fine. Thank you for all your work here!

[MattH]

Audio duly muted!

[Andrew Benton]

So Andrew, you watch much Ghost in the Shell  :)