nofilmschool » johnbrawley

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…)

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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…)

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Watch the Surreal 'We Are On Fire' Shot on the Weisscam HS-2, Plus Blackmagic Cinema Camera BTS

Dave Kendricken — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 22:00:24 +0000

Slow motion is one of the many beauteous benefits gleaned from the advancement and proliferation of digital technology — not only has it been made less of a headache to achieve, it’s also effectively cheaper now, too. Like any of the benefits of digital proliferation, it has the potential to be overused, but more importantly, the potential to be gorgeous when executed tastefully. The music video for CocoRosie’s “We Are On Fire,” shot by Filip Piskorzynski with some additional work by John Brawley, is an example of the latter — in this case, shot on the P+S Technik Weisscam HS-2 Mk II — plus, Mr. Brawley has just posted some impressive looking behind-the-scenes material for the video, shot on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. (more…)

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Aaton's Penelope Delta Camera: Innovation, 3.5K RAW, and Time Travel (Sort Of)

Dave Kendricken — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 07:08:32 +0000

Upon its eventual release, the Aaton Penelope Delta just might be the most innovative digital cinema camera on the market. The Delta features 14 stops of latitude, onboard 3.5K RAW recording in CinemaDNG (with simultaneous proxy recording ability), the world’s first optical viewfinder for a full-res internally-recording camera, an ISO 800 base sensitivity, a mechanical shutter able to reduce that sensitivity by 3 full f-stops, a revolutionary sensor package that simply boggles the mind, and all within a quiet, operator-friendly body. This machine means business — and it’s not going to be cheap, either — but the specs and design plainly speak for themselves. Read on for the full details. (more…)

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No Rig? No Problem. Handheld Footage with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera

Joe Marine — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 12:01:56 +0000

We’ve discussed the ergonomics of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera on numerous occasions, and there are plenty of people who refuse to believe the camera in its current form is capable of any sort of decent handheld without a serious rig. I’m of the persuasion that pretty much any camera has a specific way that it can be held to maximize stability and get great footage without a rig, though there are certain shooting instances where a rig will make your life easier. But what if you can’t afford one, or you need to shoot in a very confined space or without calling attention to yourself — is the Cinema Camera up to the task? John Brawley thinks so, and he shot quite a bit of handheld behind-the-scenes footage on a recent TV show he DP’ed called Puberty Blues. Click through for his thoughts and some of the footage. (more…)

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Blackmagic Cinema Camera Getting Micro 4/3 Mount This Year

Joe Marine — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 15:32:50 +0000

Well, unexpected would be an understatement. I triple-checked the information very early this morning to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Today at IBC Blackmagic announced that they will be introducing a model of the Cinema Camera with a Micro 4/3 mount (same mount used on the Panasonic GH2). One of the biggest complaints about the camera was the lens mount being EF only, and now this issue has been addressed. This is fantastic news — but there is a little bit of a catch. (more…)

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Why is the Blackmagic Cinema Camera Such a Big Deal?

Joe Marine — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 14:02:43 +0000

If you haven’t graded some RAW CinemaDNG files yet from the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, check them out here. We’ve talked quite extensively about the camera on this website, but if you’re still on the fence or you don’t quite understand what all of the hype is about, John Brawley recently gave a presentation at Sydney Institute Film Academy and went over the reasons for the camera’s existence, why it’s truly groundbreaking for its price point, and what it can do that no other camera can at this price point. We also have an audio interview that John did with Den Lennie (who we covered recently for his Duran Duran live concert video). Check out both of them embedded below. (more…)

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Blackmagic Cinema Camera Gets Its First Real Low-Light Test. Watch Footage from 'Afterglow'

Joe Marine — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 19:19:18 +0000

Have you downloaded the RAW CinemaDNG files from the Blackmagic Cinema Camera yet? If not, I highly recommend doing so if you’ve been on the fence about pre-ordering the camera. The clips that John Brawley has made available are from a short film he’s been working on called Afterglow. While it’s not clear if the final product will be in this style of not, John has uploaded an extended cut of scenes that run of the gamut of lighting scenarios and really show what this thing can do — especially in lower light. Check out the footage below. (more…)

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Blackmagic and John Brawley Release RAW Cinema Camera Files for Download

Joe Marine — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:50:19 +0000

We often have to blindly trust spec sheets and compressed online footage before purchasing a camera. Sony, Nikon, Canon, and anyone else that builds cameras are all guilty of this — at best we get a few 720p YouTube or Vimeo videos, and at worst, we don’t get any footage at all. Thanks to Blackmagic and John Brawley, you won’t have to do the same thing with the Cinema Camera because just this morning, he posted RAW files (in Cinema DNG format) on the new Blackmagic forum. Five short clips were selected from a film he had been shooting that range from internal lighting, to external lighting, to low-light — all in a completely adjustable RAW format. So what are you waiting for? Download the files now and start pushing this footage as far as possible. (more…)

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A History and Complete Overview of Blackmagic and the Cinema Camera with John Brawley

Joe Marine — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 16:37:35 +0000

The much-anticipated Blackmagic Cinema Camera is just weeks away from finally being released after an impressive NAB showing. John Brawley, a Director of Photography from Australia who has been posting video samples from the camera and has also frequented our comments section to answer questions, sits down with Chris Zwar from ProVideo Coalition. The topics range from the history of his work, to his philosophy about shooting, to the history of Blackmagic as a company, to a complete overview of the Cinema Camera. The entire conversation runs a little over an hour, but the sheer amount of material covered will likely answer any questions you have about the camera. (more…)

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A Mini Alexa for $3,000? New Blackmagic Cinema Camera Clip Proves Comparison Isn't That Far-Fetched

Joe Marine — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:49:54 +0000

Depending on your level of excitement for the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera, the picture on the left is very promising. There has been plenty of skepticism regarding the BMCC and the suggested retail price (and certainly the image quality), but every single piece of footage just continues to improve the prospects of this camera. The fact that you can get an image like the picture on the left, is just astounding, and it shows just how flexible this camera will be. John Brawley has thus far been the only DP allowed to release footage (since he’s helping develop the camera), and today he’s got a nice clip that may just blow you away. It certainly begs the question, is this as close to Arri Alexa image quality as low budget folks will get? (more…)

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First Blackmagic Cinema Camera Footage Since NAB, Camera Won't Have Optical Low-Pass Filter

Joe Marine — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 18:53:18 +0000

Earlier in the week John Brawley, a director of photography helping Blackmagic with the development of their Cinema Camera, posted some full resolution screenshots of footage he’d been shooting with that camera — the first such material since NAB. Now we’ve got the next best thing — he’s posted a minute of footage online. Video samples from this camera have been rather scarce, according to Brawley, since Blackmagic has been working on finalizing the sensor calibration and wanted to wait until they felt good that the calibration and firmware were fully mature. There has been quite an interesting revelation in the past day, however, and it has been revealed that the final camera will not have an optical low-pass filter (or anti-aliasing/blur filter as it is sometimes called). We all know that moire can be a problem on many of the cameras we shoot with (mostly DSLRs), so the big question many are wondering is, how will moire be on the camera now that it won’t feature the OLPF? (more…)

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John Brawley Shows off More Graded Material from the Blackmagic Cinema Camera

Joe Marine — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:06:53 +0000

While most of us have been waiting to see new material from the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, John Brawley has been shooting a great deal of footage with the camera. If you’ve been following his blog or following him on Twitter (he also frequents this site), you’ll know that the camera has been thrown up against C300s and Alexas, and it has fared extremely well. At times he has even referred to it as a baby Alexa. This is not a toy, this is a proper digital cinema camera, and it has the image quality to back up its name. Though the first footage was released all the way back in April, John has now released some graded material on his blog, which you can check out below. (more…)

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