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Black-Magic Design Announces 2.5k Cinema Camera


Tim Tyler

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FYI: Over the weekend, Blackmagic Design changed their website URL to:

 

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/

 

(They removed the hyphen that previously was between "blackmagic" and "design").

 

Update your bookmarks ...

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You actually don't need to update bookmarks Peter. The old URL redirects the the new URL. ...

 

Cheers, Rex. BMD's website was unreachable for more than 24 hours starting sometime last Friday. In much of the world the redirect didn't start working again until late Sat. or early Sunday. Attributed by BMD to a "problem" with their domain registration company:

https://twitter.com/Blackmagic_News/

 

 

Meanwhile ...

 

BMD's president, Dan May, has given a new interview (video, audio & text formats) about the BMCC:

http://filmmakeriq.com/2012/07/exclusive-blackmagic-answers-your-questions-about-their-new-cinema-camera/

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John Brawley has posted information about new example frames grabbed from BMCC ProRes "log" gamma footage, ungraded and graded, on his blog:

http://johnbrawley.w...a-little-tease/

 

Full-res 1080p (but JPEG compressed) versions of the frame grabs can be downloaded here:

http://johnbrawley.f...asey_1-22-1.jpg

http://johnbrawley.f...asey_1-22-2.jpg

http://johnbrawley.f...casey_1-2-1.jpg

http://johnbrawley.f...casey_1-2-2.jpg

http://johnbrawley.f...asey_1-13-1.jpg

http://johnbrawley.f...asey_1-13-2.jpg

http://johnbrawley.f...asey_1-39-1.jpg

http://johnbrawley.f...asey_1-39-2.jpg

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FYI: John Brawley has posted another example BMCC video, "Pool Shark" (however, original files are not yet available for download):

http://vimeopro.com/.../video/46460980

 

More info here:

http://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/pool-shark/

 

Cheers.

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... and more info, and a new grade of the "Pool Shark" footage, on JB's blog here:

http://johnbrawley.w...-on-pool-shark/

 

... where he frequently posts new info, images & clips:

http://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/

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You can color grade it all you want, but it still looks like video. Sadly :(

 

About that word, "it": These are highly-compressed H.264 streaming video files, and JPEG compressed stills, originated as 1080p 10-bit 4:2:2 ProRes HQ "log" files recorded by a pre-release version of a <$3K video camera (which will also be capable of recording 2.5K 12-bit RAW video) @ up to 13-stops latitude, and which will feature clean 1080p HD-SDI out, and which will also include a $1.5K software bundle.

 

So, yes, of course it looks like "video", because it is video. It also happens to be video which may look quite a bit better than any other <$3K video camera. When final production versions of the cam begin to ship, we'll be able to see what its camera-original RAW, ProRes & DNxHD video files look like.

 

Is it film? No. You want a genuine film look? Simple: shoot film.

 

Or, if you want better-looking video, or more in/outs/buttons/features, simple: Use a much more expensive video camera.

 

However, if you want the potential for great-looking video & pro software for <$3K, you could do much worse than to consider the forth-coming BMCC.

 

Cheers.

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August is the new July.

 

Blackmagic Design appears to confirm messages sent by some of its dealers to BMCC pre-order customers that the camera will begin shipping in the next 2-3 weeks, depending on final Thunderbolt certification (by Intel) and final internal testing (by BMD).

 

A BMD representative also posted the same information on CreativeCOW:

Shipping Status Update

 

Standing by ...

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FYI:

 

New footage from John Brawley. Shot using the camera's ProRes 422 HQ "Film" (log) gamma recording mode:

http://johnbrawley.w...camera-footage/

Note: No sound because the footage is a very rough edit of a short film that's not done yet, and the scenes are out-of-order.

Remember to click the Vimeo "HD" & full-screen buttons.

(Looks good on my 21" HDTV monitor, which now thanks to OSX v.10.8 Mountain Lion's new video driver software, finally works with my MacBook Pro 17" via HDMI. Yea!)

Cameras start shipping "in 2-3 weeks" … (mine might not arrive until sometime in Sept.)

- Peter

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Although the sensor size is slightly larger than Super 16 does anyone have any thoughts on using S16 lenses and cropping in on the edit?

 

I'd say a bad idea. It will be a substantial crop.

 

jb

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Shame , it would be a great way of getting wide angle shots with say an 8-64 canon zoom

 

It would be nice to be able to easily use lenses designed for 16mm film cams, but there are other video cameras which can do so. That's not a feature of the BMCC.

 

The BMCC promises to do many things extremely well and at a relatively low cost, but using 16mm film cam lenses is not one of them.

 

Meanwhile, the Sigma 8-16mm and Tokina 11-16mm and other wide DSLR zoom lenses can be used with the BMCC. Obviously not the same as using wide angle lenses designed for 16mm motion picture cams, but it is what it is.

 

Cheers.

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FYI: John Brawley, international man of action (!), featured in an in-depth, 4-part video interview, discussing cinematography, the meaning of life, and the BMCC -- complete with a really bad hum on the audio track! smile.gif

Blackmagic’s camera - The dark art of digital cinematography (part1)

Blackmagic’s camera - The dark art of digital cinematography (part2)

Blackmagic’s camera - The dark art of digital cinematography (part3)

Blackmagic’s camera - The dark art of digital cinematography (part4)

 

(I don't know what camera was used to shoot the interviews.)

 

 

Cheers.

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If S16 lenses were used would we not just end up with a 2K camera instead of 2.5K...and would that not be acceptable?

 

Someone please correct me if I have any of the following wrong:

 

The BMCC's 2.5K resolution will be recorded when the cam is in its 12-bit RAW DNG mode.

 

This is before debayering in post, and is intended to result in a relatively clean ~2K finish.

 

If the frame is cropped by using a S16 lens, the result will be significantly less than 2K resolution.

 

Alternatively, the cam can record to 1080p ProRes & DNxHD (reportedly the 2.5K is scaled internally to 1080 relatively cleanly). A S16 lens would crop this frame significantly, too, resulting in a significant loss of resolution.

 

Lenses designed for APS-C or full-frame DSLRs don't crop BMCC video, regardless of the recording format, so there is no resolution lost, at least not any due to cropping by the lens.

 

I suppose an optical adapter could be configured/designed to allow an S16 lens to fully cover the BMCC sensor, but I suspect there would be a loss of brightness requiring exposure compensation.

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In theory, it should be possible for optical adapters to be manufactured for Super 16 lenses, rather like those made for converting Std16 to S16. It's probably only worthwhile for zoom lenses, but I expect there are suitable S16 zooms out there.

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Although the sensor size is slightly larger than Super 16 does anyone have any thoughts on using S16 lenses and cropping in on the edit?

 

Looking at the original specs, I got this impression with possibly using S16 lenses on the BMD camera: seeing that the portholing would just happen on the corners, and essentially not the top and bottom of the center frame, I think if you overlaid a "pillar box" (the opposite of a letterbox) of black on the sides in post, you would end up with a kind of 4x3 center that was usable. And I thought that could be interesting, as 1:78 is at times becoming a little tired seeing that it is over used these days. Anyhow, this would obviously not work for every project, but I thought it could be a way to utilize production quality Sup16mm lenses on this camera.

 

I mean, at least you could use wide angle lenses. As of now, you are stuck with 'too long' 35mm EF lenses. It seems like a compromise on each end of the lens spectrum (16mm or 35mm), so you may kind of have to pick your poison maybe?

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As has been discussed previously, the BMCC sensor's crop factor is expected to be 1.6 compared to S35mm motion picture format, and 2.3 compared to full-frame DSLR.

 

So, compared to S35, the Tokina 11-16mm zoom will have about a 18.5mm FOV at the wide end, and the Sigma 8-16mm zoom will have about a 13mm FOV at the wide end.

 

See also:

http://www.abelcine.com/fov/

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Honestly, I'd say most of us can survive with that. I mean, how often do you really go for something wider than about 18mm?

Maybe it's just me; but I tend to "wide out" around a 16mm.

 

Again, I'd need to get my hands on the camera and some lenses and play 'round with it to say anything for certain. What is nice is that it's so thin you can back it up a good deal!

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