We got our 1st taste of Blackmagic Production Camera 4K footage yesterday, and now we've got even more -- this time some of the most gorgeous stuff that has been shot on any of the pre-production cameras. Hook, who previously shot with prototype Blackmagic cameras, has delivered some spectacular-looking images with his new video. If you've been waiting for some real samples to see what the Blackmagic 4K can do, you should really take a look at the video below:
Here is what he had to say about the footage, which was all shot in ProRes 4K on the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8, Canon 35mm f/1.4L, Canon 50mm f/1.2L, Canon 85mm f/1.2L, Canon 100mm f/2.8L, and Canon 70-200mm/2.8L IS (there is a UHD/4K link coming soon as well):
I went out and grabbed footage like with the previous two cameras just to see how it did 'out in the wild', but i also arranged with my good friends Tanya and Lance from The Storyboard to bring the camera onto a music video they were working on with me as 2nd Unit DP. Kent Belcher was the main DP for this shoot and a Red MX was to serve as 'A Cam' with me operating the 4K as 'B Cam'. After the first couple of shots of the shoot, Kent and Tarn (Director) were loving the 4K and it basically became 'A Cam'. :-D The shots i've included in this video are random clips i picked myself and don't reflect the edit or final video (still in progress as i write this). What was interesting to me is that this was a night shoot and i had the camera set at ASA400 (had already tested at night with 800 which is at the end of this video) and the red was at 1200 yet Kent and I were both surprised the Blackmagic looked brighter on the monitors!
The rest (and bulk) of the footage as i said is just me grabbing footage when i had the chance (busy time of year for everyone!), but i'm still impressed with this camera. I didn't think global shutter would be a big deal for me, but i LOVE the motion from this camera, and the colour is what i would expect from BMD (i REALLY like it).
Honestly i kind of went into this thinking i probably wouldn't like this camera as much as the other two, but right now i like it more! The images are really nice, really really nice. This time the BMDFilm coming from the camera has a lot more contrast and saturation than the previous two, so you don't have to do anywhere near as much to grade it (but yes i already have a LUT i've made/been using with it to speed things up even more). I went for quite a contrasty/saturated grade with most of this to see if i could push it 'there' (combined with my LUT i made it for it). I think it holds up really well.
Obviously any camera is going to look good in daylight, but we do get to see a little more night footage here. With fast lenses you might come pretty close to what the original BMCC is doing, but it will likely be noisier when pushed to higher ISOs.
The biggest thing we heard after the original announcement of the BMCC was that people wanted a Super 35mm sensor version, and now we've got it. Not only that, but it doesn't seem like the penalty going to a global shutter will be that bad judging by the footage. Yes, the original BMCC might edge this new camera in low-light and dynamic range, but it looks like you're going to be able to get nearly indistinguishable results from both (though extreme low-light may be a bit much for the new 4K cam).
It might be late, but it's better late than never considering there are no large sensor cameras at this price point giving you high-quality ProRes and RAW. Blackmagic might have some issues with quality control in the manufacturing process, but they've shown time and again that whatever they put out to the public is going to give video that is both cinematic and very malleable in post.
Just like with the 2.5K BMCC, the company has started with a Canon EF mount, and while it does make perfect sense for this sensor size, it does mean there are fewer options for adapting lenses, and no way of increasing the amount of light hitting the sensor with something like a Metabones Speed Booster. I am pleasantly surprised by this recent video, and it looks like the color science is very similar to the other two cameras -- even though the sensors are completely different.
We're likely going to get a lot more footage in the coming weeks, so stay tuned if you're still on the fence.
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