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Black Magic: Official $1,995 raw cinema camera topic, series 2
  • 1111 Replies sorted by
  • Hi guys, just looking for opinions ... I'm shooting a feature at the end of this year. I have the GH3, with most of the famous MFT lenses. Everything from the 7-14mm lens, nokton 17.5/25mm (thinking of getting the 42.5mm), Panny 14mm and the 12-35mm-35-100mm panny zooms plus the Noktor 12mm. I really like the GH3 but i also love the footage coming from the BMCC. I really dig the proress footage i'm seeing...

    I know all about the extra cash I'll need to make the bmcc work. I can take that cost. So I've waited a couple of months for any news about an active mount BMCC. There hasn't really been anything solid so it's either the dumb MFT or EF versions of the bmcc. The reason i'm mentioned the EF is that we plan on doing a lot of handheld shots as this will be a gorilla style shoot. Small crew and we need to be mobile. So IS would be important (I think). Unfortunately, i would love to use the panny zooms but at least with the EF version i could buy the Canon 17-55 F2.8 which has IS (same as the link above) and for real lowlight stuff just use my GH3 and the Noktons. Does this seem smart? Or should I get the MFT version because of the lens investment i already have? I'm just worried about jello. The other thing is, if i buy the EF version is there a chance of BM announcing a active MFT mount... Cheers guys.

    Or wait for the GH3 hack :)

  • Just my personal-view, but the BMCC really isn't great handheld. I would consider the EF mount. I have the MFT mount, but despite the fact I think the camera is excellent it is not for hand-shooting.

    If you want to brave it, you'll definitely need a shoulder rig for rough-style or steadicam for smooth, especially at 24fps. For comparison, I don't think the GH2 can really handle handheld either.

    Best advice, however, is rent/borrow and test for your eye!

  • The one thing I will say is try not to shoot with both cameras. You will have to dumb down your BMCC footage to match your GH3 footage. It's just how it is. Then you're losing the reason you bought the BMCC in the first place. yeah, it can be done but you're working backwards IMO. The handheld stuff can easily be controlled with a basic should rig, which you will need for the EF version anyways. You could always pic up the Sigma 18-35 to help out with low light. It's damn nice at 1.8!

  • Damn it... just bought 2 SanDisk 240GB Extreme SSDs. One mounted and formatted on my 2008 macbook pro via estata adapter fine. I shot some test footage but now it won't be recognized on my mac (won't mount to my PC with MacDrive either). The SSD still works fine in the BMCC.

    What type of SSD dock are you guys using??? Thanks!

    -W :/

  • @Wilbo I'm using the Seagate GoFlex Adapter (Thunderbolt). Works just fine with Sandisk 480 GB SSDs.

  • Also using the GoFlex

  • thanks for the recommendations guys :) no thunderbolt on my MacBook so illl have to look at the other options :)

  • @Wilbo Hey Will, I had a big docking station but I opted for one of these since it's smaller.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057UAB2K/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

  • Anyone got the cineroid MSS, the metal one with SDI, working with BMCC? I heard it didn't work but then read it would with firmware update. Would be good to know someone succeeded before I buy. Thanks.

  • So to change the discussion to lensing for the BMCC real quick here...

    I need to replace my Sigma 30mm 1.4 with something a little closer to a true 50mm FOV... the 69mm FOV of the Sigma on the BMCC is pushing the "normal FOV" just a bit too much for me. I've already decided on the Rokinon/Samyang (since I really like the 16mm 2.0). But here's the tricky part... to go with a Rokinon 35mm and the Speedbooster... or just using the Rokinon 24mm straight up? Besides the negligible 2mm extra length of the Speedbooster/35mm combo... will the actual image perspective be any different? Besides the FOV? I know I've heard it said many times here that a 35mm is a 35mm, no matter what. So would I expect the SB/35mm combo to have a "deeper", yet still 50mm-FOV, look to it than the possibly more "compressed" looking 24mm+2.3xcrop? I thought I knew my lenses and crop factors and such, but I just haven't been able to find any comparisons or a definite answer yet, and it's kind of stumping me...

  • FoV will be close. The Speed Booster image will be slightly different tho. The bonuses of the Speed Booster are is it will add a stop, make the lens sharper, and reduce the CA. The negatives are slightly softer edges at faster f-stops (in my opinion barely noticeable) and Andrew Reid from EOSHD noticed a blue fringe on highlights at faster f-stops (I have't really seen this yet).

    Andrew has a good write up on the Speed Booster.

    http://www.eoshd.com/content/11041/metabones-speed-booster-for-micro-four-thirds-review

  • 24mm Rokinon and call it a day. The out of focus areas and corners of the speedbooster draw attention pretty bad. It's really easy to notice in daytime shots. I wanted one so bad but every time I see daytime footage from the SB, my eyes are drawn to the weird, smeared bokah. Just don't want something else to deal with. You can see it really easy in Captain Hooks footage from his newest shoot.

    That promo I just posted was shot with all Rokinon Cine glass. 75% or more was shot with the 24mm and 85mm. The 85mm is frigging awesome on it! Easy to tell which is which. There's your proof right there instead of us writing some stupid opinions here :)

  • @belfryman - I have the cineroid metal SDI and it only works when shooting 29.97 with overlays turned off. That is the only way that I have found you can get 1080i out of the sdi.

  • The Blackmagic Cinema Camera's image quality is simply amazing. If you've been shooting video / cinema with any other camera (DSLR or camcorder) that costs less than $20,000, you won't believe how good the BMCC is. And when you add the fact that either the EF or MFT version now costs under $2,000 and you get the full version of DaVinci Resolve that retails for $1,000 included, it's nothing less than a steal.

    http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/camcorders/bmcc_first_impressions.shtml

  • Did a little more testing today on a shoot. Loving the results. Not the sharpest shot, but the talent was a head bobber...

    Screen Shot 2013-09-05 at 9.36.29 PM.png
    1595 x 899 - 2M
  • @rockroadpix Thank you. Have ordered it having read a couple of people saying it was now compatible. But I'll be shooting 24 or 25. Oh bums.

  • @vicharris

    I use the Nikon to MFT Speed Booster almost everyday and the drawbacks aren't really as bad as you are making them out to be. On a APS-C sensor or even the GH2 it can get a little soft on the edges, but on the BMCC the edges are barely soft if you have a sharp lens. Captian Hook used an old Nikon 50mm f1.4 from the 60's. That lens is already soft on the edges at fast f-stops. I'm not saying you are wrong, the Speed Booster isn't perfect. You just need to use the right glass with it and use it when it makes sense to use it. The Rokinon 35mm is the right glass. The Speed Booster is a really nice tool to have.

  • @vicharris I've just bought a speed booster and a nikon 17-55 2.8, do you think this is a good combination cos this layout is killing me! And I need a new mac to run Resolve! Didn't quite budget this one right! That $1k off destroyed my reasoning/predictive faculties!

  • @vicharris sorry meant that for @brian202020 I've just bought a speed booster and a nikon 17-55 2.8, do you think this is a good combination cos this layout is killing me! And I need a new mac to run Resolve! Didn't quite budget this one right! That $1k off destroyed my reasoning/predictive faculties!

  • @rockroadpix read that it's compatible after the 1.3 firmware update so my fingers are crossed!

  • @belfryman

    I have no experiance with that lens unfortunatly. Maybe try to find a Ken Rockwell review to look at that lenses characteristics. Look at it this way the sharper the lens the better the results. If the lens has softer edges this problem basically gets magnified and the edges get even softer with the Speed Booster. The smaller sensor size of the BMCC reduces it a little tho. If I had a APS-C camera I would not buy a Speed Booster unless it was super cheap. With the Blackmagic it's great with sharp lenses. Like I said it's a good tool to have for BMCC owners.

  • @Brian202020 Cool. Well one on the way, figured if I got the 17-55 Nikon - which is supposed to be jolly good - and speedbooster I've got a kind of sigma 18-35 1.8 when i want it only starting a good bit wider and then going longer at 2.8 when i want that end! As long as it works!

  • @belfryman - Pardon me, I was mistaken, I forgot to add that it will work with 25fps, as well.