Blackmagic Announces Two New Cameras! Texas Media Systems

What am I missing, I paid more for my AF100. Its specs look great, do they have a bad reputation.
 
"As we mentioned in the video, the expensive CFast cards that this camera requires really does bump it into a high price bracket for ownership than it might seem at first glance. At ~$1,200/120gb, that’s nearly 10x the price of SSD media at ~$1.00/gig."

That's kinda pricey.
 
No OLPF is worst problem along with very, very ugly highlight handling. Scarlet is much better deal - does much more in a smaller package for way less $$$ all told (because Recode is well compressed with almost no loss within reason and uses up way, way less data for same resolution). Save a penny loose a dollar (and image quality…)
 
Samuel H said:
no idea about the others, but about the no-OLPF thing...
https://vimeo.com/87285279
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the worst part of moire effect is not obvious stair-stepping and rainbows, it is the sharpening effect it has on skin imperfections - wrinkles and pock marks are more pronounced. Add highlights that clip hard (as they do in 4K BM cameras) and you get a wrinkly AND greasy skin look. Great way to get fired off any job is make all your actors/interviewees look a bit older and less healthy - unless a zombie movie of course :-)

Basically BM cameras have a the equivalent of a somewhat harsh sharpening algorithm that you can't turn off through their omission of an OLPF filter. Fort that reason, I would only shoot architecture or landscapes with them, never humans.

A used Red One MX has better specs and much better image quality and weighs less than an Ursa. There is no reason to buy the new BM cameras unless you can't find a used Red One MX at a reasonable price.
 
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You're bunching the BMCC and BM4K together, and they're really different cameras. Watch the video: no aliasing/moire on the 4K. Or at least much less than with a C100.


About the RED One MX, you may be right. It may be a strong contender for the URSA (not for the cheaper blackmagics, it's a different price bracket).
 
Robert Ruffo said:
A used Red One MX has better specs and much better image quality and weighs less than an Ursa. There is no reason to buy the new BM cameras unless you can't find a used Red One MX at a reasonable price.
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I have wondered the exact same thing. The knock against the Red One even when it was far ahead of its time was its weight and media costs/heavy workflow. Now BM in 2014 is coming out with a heavier camera? extremely expensive media. I just don't get it. I guess they are taking the original RED model and bringing out cameras before finished firmware and with the promises of upgrades down the road (something RED got lambasted for by many in the industry). Not my thing but different strokes for different folks. I just don't get this one.
 
RatLabProductions said:
I have wondered the exact same thing. The knock against the Red One even when it was far ahead of its time was its weight and media costs/heavy workflow. Now BM in 2014 is coming out with a heavier camera? extremely expensive media. I just don't get it. I guess they are taking the original RED model and bringing out cameras before finished firmware and with the promises of upgrades down the road (something RED got lambasted for by many in the industry). Not my thing but different strokes for different folks. I just don't get this one.
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Several points in Blackmagic's defense.

1)CFast 2.0 isn't proprietary so the cards can potentially be used in other systems including the latest Alexa models.

2)BM isn't setting the price for the CFast media. Hopefully as more CFast 2.0 cameras come on the market from other companies prices for the cards will drop quickly.

3) This camera is user upgradable which could seen as a positive for many. No waiting for the camera to come back from a too busy service center.

4)I think many people see future upgrades as a possible plus. The Sony FS700 was sold as 4K capable with almost no indication from Sony of what the upgrade path would look like. Now with their upgraded cameras equipped with Odyssey 7Q FS700 owners appear to be delighted with their camera purchase. Witness the 1300 responses on the February Odyssey 7Q update thread here. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?319109-Odyssey7Q-February-2014-Firmware-Update

5) The camera is dirt cheap. Even if the first model isn't perfect it could be a killer camera once they get their first sensor update. In fact by next year BM might have enough volume to order a custom 4K sensor.


Having said all of that I don't relish the idea of a 20+ pound camera for what I do but to each their own.
 
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Some good points. I guess given the track record I have zero confidence BM will ship the camera anywhere near on time and since they have done little for their existing cameras via firmware updates I am not confident into buying into a system will little support and known sensor issues with the current 4K camera.

That is a good point about Cfast2.0. as a media format and user upgradability although that goes back to when options for an upgrade would be available. I felt the same with the red model and was proven wrong (sorta) so time will tell and like you this camera isn't aimed at what I do so I'm comfortable to sit on the sidelines and wait for a stable supported product to either come to fruition or not.
 
For the record: a CFast card is basically a repackaged SATA SSD drive. They'll probably be around the same price as CF cards once demand picks up and manufacturers become interested in the format.
 
Instead of the ginormous lcd, which is nice, they need built in ND and a good EVF and then this competes with the Canon C500 which costs 20K. It seems to me like you can live without a monitor, but you're going to need an EVF and ND if you do any outdoor shooting at all. I would rather plug a big lcd monitor into the Canon C500 if I needed it, than rig the Ursa with an evf and matte box. Obviously the price points are very different and I'm just talking about design priorities. If black magic could get an evf and built in nd in this thing for under 10K it would be like a Canon C500 for half price which seems like a good deal.
 
We just received one of the new Studio Cameras (HD) on Friday, and plan on using it in a production tomorrow. We did some testing today - and were quite impressed with it. Monitored on a 60inch plasma and found no signs of FPN at all ISOs and using an ND filter to darken the image. Worked very well with Panasonic 12-35 and 35-100 lenses, and we were able to smoothly control focus using an LANC controller as well as push-auto focus and do iris steps. The screen is nice - but it does appear a bit noisier on the built-in screen than the actual feed from the camera. Let me know if you guys have any questions, etc.
 
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