nofilmschool » bmcc

First Look at the Micro 4/3 Metabones Speed Booster on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera

Joe Marine — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:45:15 +0000

Back in April it became clear that the Micro 4/3 version of the Metabones Speed Booster (the lens adapter that makes lenses wider, faster, and sharper), was going to be delayed for some time. While it still probably won’t be shipping for a while, the company has sent out some pre-production versions of the adapter, and we’ve got our first look at images from the adapter thanks to Philip Bloom, who recently got his hands on one. Check out his video below. (more…)

Blackmagic Cinema Camera V1.3 Audio Improvements & New Issues, Optimization Update from juicedLink

Micah Van Hove — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:54:44 +0000

The latest firmware update for the current Blackmagic Cinema Camera only officially included one new feature, mainly for broadcast professionals who needed interlaced video in a TV environment. However, according to Robert Wolzak from juicedLink, it seems they also snuck in some audio functionality changes, but not without additional idiosyncrasies. Get all the details in the video below:
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Meet Switronix's Blackmagic-Ready Wireless HD-SDI Recon Micro & Hot-Swappable Battery JetPack

Dave Kendricken — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:02:12 +0000

When it comes to wireless HD monitoring solutions, companies like Teradek have some impressive offerings. That company’s Bolt, however, isn’t the only airwave-bound HD-SDI transmission system around. Switronix’s Recon is another such offering, with models including HDMI support and HDMI to HD-SDI conversion. Switronix has just announced a new addition to the Wi-SDI family in the shape of lighter-form factor Recon Micro, made more compatible with the smaller scale of cameras like the Blackmagic (pair pictured left). Switronix has also released details for a new modular battery power solution, geared towards anything from BMCC to Sony HD camcorders. If you’re looking into powerful, off-the-grid, untethered field shooting solutions, check the details below. (more…)

12 Things to Think About Before Committing to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera for Your Film

Micah Van Hove — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:00:40 +0000

When news of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera dropped, I got that warm, giddy feeling. Everything I need in a camera and nothing I don’t! A few months of research later, I decided: this will be the camera I will shoot my feature film with. The quality of images this camera produces is superb. I love the dynamic range, the sharpness, the texture, and the richness in the blacks. I feel closer to shooting on film than I ever have. However, when it comes to peace of mind on set, it can leave a lot to be desired. There’s plenty of praises to sing, but I want to talk about some of the issues I’ve had with it, hidden expenses, and quirks to be aware of that are pertinent to the independent filmmaker. Click through for a list I’ve compiled after shooting two indie features with it, along with some comments from Dan May, the president of Blackmagic Design. (more…)

MFT or EF Blackmagic Cinema Camera? Philip Bloom Weighs in and Reviews the Micro 4/3 BMCC

Joe Marine — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 03:14:18 +0000

The Micro 4/3 mount Blackmagic Cinema Camera was announced back in September 2012, and just recently we saw that beta cameras were starting to ship to people around the world. Many have asked which camera they should be ordering (since they both sell for $3K and you can switch your pre-order to EF), and while we’ve done our best to answer that question (and more), it’s always good to hear the perspective of someone who has used both models. Philip Bloom reviewed the camera back in September, but he finally got an MFT camera to try out, and he’s posted his review online. Check it out below. (more…)

Micro 4/3 Blackmagic Cinema Cameras May Be Coming Soon to a Neighborhood Near You

Joe Marine — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:58:02 +0000

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera is still steadily shipping out, but so far they’ve only been sending out the EF mount cameras. The issue of infinity focus with those cameras was confirmed to not be affecting the shipping speed, so there is hope we have seen the last of the delays and shortages. If, however, you’re one of those who switched your order to the Micro 4/3 BMCC (or ordered separately), it looks like shipment could be just around the corner. (more…)

MFT BMCC and John Brawley Capture More Beautiful Footage, and SLR Magic 25mm T/0.95 is Shipping

Joe Marine — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 19:14:17 +0000

It may be a few months away from getting into the hands of us regular folks, but the Micro 4/3 mount version of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera has gotten plenty of work in a number of real-world situations thanks to John Brawley. While he’s been testing plenty of PL mount lenses on the camera (we’ve got some brand new footage below), he’s also been trying out of all of the manual MFT lenses that are currently out there, including those from Voightlander, and a brand new lens from SLR Magic, the new T/0.95 lens, which just may be a perfect go-to option for the MFT BMCC. (more…)

Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED EPIC, and Arri Alexa RAW Camera Test Part 3: Overexposure

Guest Author — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 20:16:44 +0000

This is a guest post by Cinematographer Ryan E. Walters.

Welcome to Part 03 of Some Like It RAW, where I am comparing the Arri Alexa, Blackmagic Cinema Camera, and the RED EPIC. My goal for these tests is to explore how each of these cameras handle real world shooting environments. Part 01 explored how these cameras handle IR pollution. In Part 02, I tested underexposure. And here in Part 03, I’m exploring the world of overexposure and diffusion filtration. Continue on to watch the 10 minute video, read my summary, and get the downloadable RAW frames from each camera. (more…)

Blackmagic Solves Infinity Focus Issue with Cinema Camera, Will Require Hardware Fix

Joe Marine — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:21:34 +0000

There have been a number of reports regarding the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and getting proper infinity focus with quite a few lenses. Earlier in the month we showed you a few videos documenting the issue, and Blackmagic so far has been very responsive, telling us at that point that they were looking into the issue. We now have a solution straight from the company, and it looks like it’s going to be a hardware fix if your camera has already been delivered. (more…)

Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED EPIC, and Arri Alexa RAW Camera Test Part 2: Low Light

Guest Author — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 07:37:37 +0000

This is a guest post by Cinematographer Ryan E. Walters.

Welcome to Part 02 of Some Like It RAW, where I am comparing the Arri Alexa, Blackmagic Cinema Camera, and the RED EPIC. My goal for these tests is to explore how each of these cameras handles real world shooting environments. Part 01 explored how these cameras handle IR pollution. In Part 02, I test the limits of low light levels, or underexposure. Continue on to watch the 11 minute video, read my summary, and get the downloadable RAW frames from each camera. (more…)

Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED EPIC, and Arri Alexa RAW Camera Test Part 1: IR Pollution

Guest Author — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 19:59:37 +0000

If you’ve been using a newer large sensor digital cinema camera, you may have noticed that your image takes on more reddish tones when using increased neutral density filtration. This is related to the way many of these ND filters block visible light, but let in more infrared light which can pollute the image. We’ve seen a few examples showing what IR pollution can do, and today, we have a video comparing RAW cameras, specifically the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Arri Alexa, and RED EPIC, and how each of them handles black cloth when using IR cut filters of different strengths along with increased ND filtration.

This is a guest post by Cinematographer Ryan E. Walters. (more…)

Exploring Issues with Infinity Focus and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera

Joe Marine — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:18:45 +0000

Some conversations have been appearing recently talking about infinity focus issues with specific lenses and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. One of the biggest offenders so far has been the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens, which is one of the few faster wide options for the EF mount BMCC. Unfortunately, it seems that many people have replicated these issues, and a recent video posted online shows just how bad the situation can be. (more…)

Blackmagic Releases Cinema Camera Firmware 1.2, Includes Aperture Display, exFAT, and More

Joe Marine — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:00:05 +0000

While we got a sort of non-update a few weeks ago about shipping improving but not quite in full volume yet, it’s clear that more and more people are getting their cameras every day, especially those who pre-ordered very early. We knew this firmware update was coming, but now version 1.2 for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera has arrived without much fanfare — though anyone that has used the camera knows some of these features are incredibly important. Click through for more on the update. (more…)

Tutorials Galore: Dailies in DaVinci Resolve, CinemaDNG to ACES Conversion, Plus What's a LUT?

Dave Kendricken — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:29:11 +0000

Ever asked yourself, “What in the f#$% is a LUT?!” Or what a LUT’s relationship is with color space? Or what a color space is? If “yes,” not to worry — these concepts can be fairly confusing. Fortunately, engineering can and will work for you as an artist, so long as your understanding of it covers the fundamentals. And even if you answered “no” to all the above, you should still check out some of outstanding basic-breakdowns of these concepts below — including how to convert CinemaDNG footage into the Academy Color Encoding Spec color space (ACES) in Davinci Resolve, plus how to use that very program to generate dailies (like a boss). (more…)

Blackmagic Joins the Micro 4/3 Barbecue: is an Active MFT Mount Cinema Camera Cooking?

Dave Kendricken — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:20:42 +0000

Just a few short months ago, it was announced that the Blackmagic Cinema Camera would be receiving a Micro 4/3 lens mount option alternative to its original Canon EF mount. Granted, for those of us still waiting on the BMCC to ship, a few short months is no stretch of time to merely shrug off — particularly when the mount announced was to be a “passive” or “dumb” one, meaning electronic control would not be supported for smart MFT lenses. There’s been speculation that this would change — and given Blackmagic’s recent addition to the consortium of companies aligned with the official Micro 4/3 standard, this speculation seems less outlandish than ever. (more…)

Voigtlander 17.5mm and SLR Magic 12mm on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera MFT with John Brawley

Joe Marine — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:59:48 +0000

We are still waiting on the official word about whether we’ll start seeing volume shipping in the next few weeks on the EF version of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, but John Brawley has been busy putting the Micro 4/3 version through its paces. That version, which has a passive (non-electronic) mount, may actually be more suited for the camera considering the sensor is about the same size as MFT. There may not be a tremendous amount of lens support at the moment, but Brawley has tested a few that MFT BMCC users might think about purchasing, the Voigtlander Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 and the SLR Magic 12mm T/1.6. On a pre-shoot for a feature film he is working on, he busted out the BMCC and grabbed these shots: (more…)

Choosing Neutral Density Filters with Infrared Protection: Necessary or Overboard?

Dave Kendricken — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:30:19 +0000

At this point, solid state image sensors have matched or exceeded film in a lot of ways, including light sensitivity, responsiveness to shadow detail, and overall dynamic range — but that doesn’t mean our chips aren’t susceptible to certain problems previously avoided by the nature of emulsion. Indeed, ‘sensitivity’ nowadays means something different altogether — and with the virtual necessity of neutral density filters as a result, this often means vulnerability to infrared pollution. Unless you like shooting at f/22 or you’re already using the Aaton Penelope Delta, you may also require an IR filter with your ND. AbelCine has recently shared a great rundown of which cameras suffer the most from IR pollution — and what filters work best to correct each. (more…)

Watch a Possibly Final (For Now) Roundup of Blackmagic Cinema Camera Videos

Joe Marine — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 02:18:42 +0000

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera may be shipping within the next month or so, but in the meantime, we are continuing our review and we’ve now got a possibly final roundup of videos for this camera (at least for the near future until they start shipping), as it has finally made its way into enough hands to really get a sense of the quality. While we haven’t seen much narrative content make its way to the web yet, there are still plenty of different situations that show off just how much this little $3,000 camera can do. Click through to check them out. (more…)

Purchasing a Digital Cinema Camera Package: a Complete Guide from Ryan E. Walters

Guest Author — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 11:51:09 +0000

Things are moving fast in the world of digital cinema. Just a few years ago DSLRs were about the only affordable way to get a cinema quality image, but now we’ve got plenty of camera options under $20,000 that would have cost well over $100,000 just five years ago. We’ve already shared with you a rather comprehensive RED buying guide, and now we have a wonderful digital cinema buying guide from Ryan E. Walters. He covers everything you need to know about putting together a camera package, and gives personal experience about the package he is planning to put together.

This is a guest post by Cinematographer Ryan E. Walters. (more…)

Firmware Updates Are Flying, Cinema Camera Will Get Aperture Display, exFAT, Timelapse, and More

Joe Marine — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:30:09 +0000

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera is not quite shipping in volume yet and we’ve already got one firmware update, which added Image Stabilization and DNxHD, and now it looks like another is on the way. During my time with the camera thanks to Rule Boston Camera, using electronic iris lenses like Canon EF was a bit of a mess, since the camera couldn’t tell you the aperture of the lens on the display. While the iris button would automatically set the exposure based on the highlights, fine-tuning was difficult because there was no way to tell how open or closed the iris was without some serious fiddling, and even then, it wasn’t realistic to work that way in an actual shooting environment. That problem looks like it will be solved very quickly, however, and it could come before most people even get to using their cameras. (more…)