Blackmagic Cinema Camera VS 5D mk III RAW

[Michael Van Ostade]

Hi, i'm about to make a (for me) big investment of getting my own camera rig. Doing commercial work I'm surprised at how high the demand is for a simple but qualitative shooting setup without going to rental companies etc... And i also need something to hone my skills on. I've worked with Alexa, Red Epic, Ikonoskop, 5D pre-raw days, Black Magic, ... a lot basically, but for my own investment, i'm looking at the 5D with RAW and the BMCC.

Which will give me the best bang for my buck?

 

In my eyes:

 

PRO 5D
- Full Frame

- 14-bit raw
- Magic Lantern is actually more user-friendly than the current BMCC firmware

 

CONTRA 5D

- Price

- "Only" FullHD

 

PRO BMCC

- 2.5K

- Price

- Free Resolve

 

CONTRA BMCC

- Crop sensor

- 12-bit RAW

 

When i see videos of the 5D with RAW i'm always amazed on the quality of the image, while on the BMCC, i'm sometimes stuck with this "video" feel. I think this mostly has to do with the actual DP/operator, so that's why i was wondering if you guys would way in.

 

I will be shooting anamorphic in the future, as soon as i can afford the new Letus adaptor or find an Isco 36 somewhere here in Belgium. I've shot with the Elite anamorphics on an Alexa and with Hawk C-series on an Epic and am absolutely in love with the anamorphic look.

 

The right question to ask is what my shooting style is, and it is not run and gun, but very prepared. I mostly do shorts and advertisements. My showreels are on my website: www.bearwithme.be

What do you guys think?

[Planetsea]

I went through the same  process last summer and ended up getting the 5D3 and right away installed ML , (I had finally decided on the BMCC 4K but as I had already gone through the waiting process for the BMCC 2.5K - I cancelled my order due to waiting) Today if there was the 4K model out, I would go for that, especially for Resolve and you being a colourist makes more sense. I am happy with the RAW ML 5D3 but the workflow is a bitch. A buddy of mine has the BMCC and workflow is much better. The other thing really to consider is your operating system be it Mac or PC! You got some great work on your site - if you ever need anything water related - thats me;-)

Calm Seas

Shaun Arrigo

[QuickHitRecord]

I also faced the same decision last year. Sensor size aside, here's how I see it: the 5D has interchangeable batteries, cropped video modes (great for anamorphic shooting like you said that you are looking to do), no issues with moire, a built-in professional stills camera, a high stealth factor, and daily "firmware" updates. Plus I believe that its re-sale value will be higher than the BMCC's because it is and will continue to be a highly-sought stills camera.

 

And Resolve Lite is free!

[bzpop]

between those two i would still go with 5D3,

full frame is such an awesome thing in many aspects, plus the low light of 5D3 is just unbeatable.

i think today 5D3, with it's ability to shoot raw, is the best ever 'bang for your buck';

[HurtinMinorKey]

Resolve light doesn't have everyting you'd want to practice:

 

Here are some more plus minuses:

 

Pro 5D3: Ergonomics (by far)

 

Con 5D3: No audio (yet), definately no pro audio inputs though.  Weird motion cadence when their is a lot of movement in the shots (maybe this has been fixed). It's almost as if the shutter angle is not being set honestly.

 

Pro BMCC: Storage, being able to use a nice big SSD is awesome.

 

Con BMCC: Some moire. Although if you downsample from 2.5K it's not that bad. But in the right setting, it CAN ruin a shot.

[Michael Van Ostade]

Thanks for the first responses. Audio is no issue for me, as I am usually the DP for projects and there is a seperate person on set for audio. I actually forgot about the Moire and aliasing, this was also a big plus for the 5Dmk3.

I've used the BMCC before on professional shoots and have had mixed results, i don't have experience with the 5D in RAW mode though. I'm just slightly, slightly worried about the future proofing of the 5Dmk3. Datastreams are capped at about 100mb/s i believe, on the fastest CF cards, so i don't see 2.5K or even 4K shooting coming soon to the 5D, so the BMCC does have that going for itself.

I'm leaning towards the 5D, but am still very interested in other opinions.

[QuickHitRecord]

Con 5D3: No audio (yet).

 

The MLV_SND module allows for audio recording as of late December. It is not a part of the nightly builds yet but it can be added to your modules directory and used when recording MLVs. It isn't perfect (I think it's consistently a frame or two early, and it doesn't automatically synch up in Resolve like the BM cameras do), but at this rate it's only a matter of time before it gets there.

[odie]

for me the best affordable cameras out there are hacked…gh2 and 5d3...

[Michael Van Ostade]

I have a hacked GH2 but am planning on selling it, i'm not quite happy with the image and the usability of the camera. Had a lot of shit during pro shoots where I got in trouble with the production because fast SD cards werent fast enough for the hack etc...

If someone's looking for a cheap GH2, i'm selling mine for 350€. I'm from Belgium so postage will be "something".