Blackmagic Cinema Camera

Will the Blackmagic Cinema Camera take the place of HDSLR’s?

In THIS article, Marco Solorio from OneRiver Media, discusses a new product, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. This camera has a very different look to it, in comparison with most HDSLR’s. Solorio talks about the possibility of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera taking the place of HDSLR’s. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera retails for $2,995 and this includes the camera body, DaVinci Resolve grading software, UltraScope used through the use of Thunderbolt, and you get the Blackmagic Design’s media Express software which allows you to preform live capture of the RAW footage. This bundle of extras do not come with any DSLR on the market that I know of. Another cool feature is the five-inch touchscreen on the back of the camera. This screen has many useful features, one of which is the ability to enter metadata onto each clip. The Blackmagic can also accept most lenses that are made for Cannon 5D’s and 7D’s with an EF mount. This is a great idea because there is already a wide variety of these lenses out on the market, so people who own older DSLR’s and have these lenses and are ready to upgrade their camera, will be able to keep their lenses to use with the Blackmagic.

The Blackmagic camera has many benefits compared to DSLR cameras, which are in the same price range. The Blackmagic has a 13-stop, 2.5K sensor resolution and has the ability to be recorded at 12-bit RAW, internally or externally. You can also record in other formats such as, 10-bit ProRes or DNxHD at the full 1080 HD size. This camera has qualities and functions that only higher end cameras have. The Cannon C500 is the next, cheapest camera that outputs a live, uncompressed, RAW output that is higher than 1080 HD and is higher than 8-bit, but this camera costs around 30,000 dollars.

One of the areas where DSLR’s have an advantage over the Blackmagic, is its sensor size. It has a much smaller sensor in comparison with the Cannon 5D Mark 2 and 3.  IF you have a larger sensor, you will gain to things. The first thing is a greater sensitivity to light, and this will also give you a lower amount of noise at higher ISO values. The second benefit in having a larger sensor is that it will give you a narrower depth of field. There are other ways to get a narrow depth of field with a smaller sensor size, it just takes a little more work.

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera is a very new camera with great functions and qualities, and also has its drawbacks. It has many features that are only offered on higher end cameras, and has a new innovative design. I believe that this camera will become a very popular, cheaper alternative to other cameras on the market.