It's unclear what Blackmagic may be doing with their lowest-end camera in the future, but one thing is for sure right now: the $500 discount on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is only for a limited time. How limited? Though they mentioned it would last until the end of the summer, the other stipulation was that the special price was "subject to limited availability." This means that once a certain amount of stock runs out, retailers will begin charging the full price again. This seems to already be happening in many places, though a few, like B&H, still have the camera listed at its discounted price for a little while longer.

Here's a snippet from their previous press release (emphasis mine):


Blackmagic Design today announced an exciting Summer Special discount for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera for the low price of US$495. With a normal recommended retail price of US$995, this Summer Special represents incredible value and is available for a limited time and will end on the 31st of August 2014. This Summer Special price is subject to limited availability, after which the price will return to the usual recommended retail price of US$995.

B&H is stating on their website that this offer will last only until Monday, August 4th, likely because of limited stock. Some other places have already started selling at full price again, but if you really want this deal, this might be the last time we see it for quite a while. The value of the Pocket Cinema Camera is definitely higher with the recent ProRes Proxy/LT/422 update, which allows the camera to record much, much longer at reduced data rates, meaning you can fit more on a single card, and save on hard drive space later.

Blackmagic has given huge discounts on their cameras before, but this is the first time they've done a temporary discount. Judging by the way they've done business in the past, there may be a new product or a more permanent price reduction down the road, but it would be surprising to see anything new in this category at least until NAB 2015 (though they have announced product additions at IBC, which is coming up again in September). Then again, Blackmagic has rarely done what people have expected them to do, so there's always a chance for surprises.

Check out the link below for the ongoing deal.

Link: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera -- B&H