43

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

12.18.12 @ 6:30PM Tags : blackmagic, bmcc, camera, cameras, cinemacamera, johnbrawley, marcosolorio

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 »

51

Lenses Face Off on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera: Samyang/Rokinon 35mm vs. Canon 35mm

11.12.12 @ 8:08PM Tags : blackmagic, cameras, canon, cinemacamera, lenses, marcosolorio, onerivermedia, raw, samyang

While you might not have your Blackmagic Cinema Camera yet, there are still a few who not only have them, but have been extensively testing various parts of their workflow. Marco Solorio has had numerous excellent tests with both the camera itself and some of the lens options, and now we’ve got a very thorough test with one of Canon’s better lenses, the 35mm f/1.4 L series lens, and the Samyang/Rokinon 35mm T/1.5 Cine lens (Samyang and Rokinon are just brand names, but the lenses are identical). While they’re both full-frame DSLR lenses at heart, how do they stack up when paired with the BMCC? Click through to find out. More »

145

8-Bit is Still 8-Bit, Why DSLRs Are No Match for the 12-Bit Blackmagic Cinema Camera

10.28.12 @ 3:18PM Tags : 5dmarkiii, blackmagic, cameras, canon, canon5dmarkiii, cinemacamera, dslr, hdslr, marcosolorio, onerivermedia, raw

People have done as much as possible to argue against the test that was performed with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera by Marco Solorio and OneRiver Media. That test compared the 5D Mark III and the BMCC, and even though the superior resolution and dynamic range of one of those cameras should have been obvious, many still prefer the Mark III and complained that a better picture profile or some post sharpness would make the differences less noticeable. Well, Marco is back with a new test, and (in my personal opinion) it’s hard to argue against these results, as he’s pulled out all of the stops to really test the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and show why 8-bit will always be 8-bit, and what it means when you’ve got the capability for 12-bit images. More »

173

Blackmagic Cinema Camera Shows the Canon 5D Mark III Who's Boss

09.21.12 @ 4:41PM Tags : 5dmarkiii, blackmagic, cameras, canon, canon5dmarkiii, cinemacamera, dslr, hdslr, marcosolorio, onerivermedia, raw

It’s hard to really explain to some people the advantages of one camera system over another. There are many people who just glaze over when you start talking about 12-bit RAW and ProRes 4:2:2 HQ. If you are one of those people, then we’ve got a comparison for you, which gives you pretty pictures and hard evidence to compare two similarly priced cameras: the Blackmagic Cinema Cinema at $3,000 and the Canon 5D Mark III at around $3,500. The test was conducted by OneRiver Media, who also recently took the camera for a go in this short film. Click through for the test video. More »

53

Wide Angle Lenses Compared on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera

09.6.12 @ 5:17AM Tags : blackmagic, cameras, canon, cinemacamera, lenses, marcosolorio, onerivermedia, raw, samyang, sigma

After image quality and design quirks, the most discussed topic regarding the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera is lenses. Specifically, the issue regarding wide lenses. Since the BMCC‘s sensor is slightly smaller than Micro Four-Thirds, but uses a Canon mount, one of the complaints has been that it won’t be possible to get a sufficiently wide image with the available lenses in that mount. The team over at OneRiver Media set out to prove exactly what was possible with current wide lenses, and they’ve also created one of the first short projects shot completely on the Cinema Camera (besides everything that John Brawley has done so far, of course). More »