An EF mount 4K cinema camera
For the second year in a row, the biggest buzz from the show has come from Blackmagic Design (you're a close second Freefly).
Last year they launched a 2.5K cinema camera that has been plagued with availability issues. People that have got their hands on one seem to genuinely like the camera. Although there are still a lot of people that have been frustrated by their inability to get one.
This year Blackmagic Design launched two new cameras, a compact cinema camera for $995 and the very exciting 4K camera for under $4000. The camera itself has a Super 35 sensor and has a global shutter, which eliminates the rolling shutter frustration.
From Blackmagic Design
“Shoot Ultra HD TV or 4K feature films with the new Blackmagic Production Camera 4K. You get a large Super 35 size sensor with professional global shutter combined with precision EF mount optics, high quality visually lossless compressed CinemaDNG RAW and Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)™ file recording for a complete self contained solution. The built in touchscreen lets you monitor, change settings and enter metadata directly on the camera!”
I spent a half an hour or so with Blackmagic Design along with my friend Mitch from Planet5D. It was a good talk and has changed my view of Blackmagic Design and how successful I think they can be.
First up, the production issues of the first camera. The company feels those are behind them, they've learned a lot from the issues. The first camera had issues with sensor production, one of the only a handful of parts inside the camera that Blackmagic Design doesn't manufacture themselves. For the last year, they have had an abundance of camera bodies without sensors inside them. The new sensor comes from a new supplier and they've made sure they are going to be able to meet demand. Blackmagic Design wouldn't tell us who that manufacturer was at the time of writing this, as they don't feel it matters to consumers where the sensor comes from. As long as they can produce them, and the camera gives good results, who cares? I agree with that point, but I do appreciate the passion of camera lovers.
That being said, the speculation is the sensor is made by CMOSIS , as it shares some physical similarities to the Leica M sensor. CMOSIS also makes a Super35 sensor that is in the Apertus camera.
The camera will only be available in EF mount, as the distance to the sensor prevents a PL mount version of the camera. The image circle is also too big for Micro 4/3 lenses.
The camera is slated for release in July, so there should be decent stock of them in August if what were told today about product was true.
This may not be the only cinema camera you own, but it's shaping up to be one a lot of people with add to the kit. At under $4000, it's almost a no brainer. One may appear in my camera bag, so I can continue to make bad movies, but at 4K resolution!
Thanks for your time Blackmagic Design.
Visit Blackmagic Design | Preorder the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K $3995
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