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Black Magic: Official $1,995 raw cinema camera topic, series 2
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  • With Cinema DNG out of the question for Premiere Pro, I suggest Cineform RAW to anyone planning on going RAW with this camera. It transcodes and decodes very fast, and most importantly, the file size is about a fourth of CinemaDNG at the lowest compression setting. It is visually lossless (see for yourself) and I can edit/grade it at full speed on my 2 year old laptop. When you edit, you can choose a fast and basic debayer method, then you can select a better debayer method when it comes time to render. If storage is still an issue, you can compress it further similar to Redcode.

  • @mintcheerios - thanks for the info! I was worried about my MBPro's capabilities...

  • I Just ordered another m43rds lens(oly9-18) kinda regretting if I get this camera....I mean the passive mount is Ok but wouldnt it be better to get the Canon Lens mount model? Or does sensor size factor in differently here?

  • @No_SuRReNDeR No difference in sensor size. Actually, the sensor size is what makes the M4/3 version a better fit for the BMCC. (Bloom went into detail about this) I come from a film background (for the most part), so I really don't use many electronic lenses. I also like the fact that I'm going to be able to mount a PL lens on this bad boy with my adapter. I've invested more in Nikkor mount glass, so I'd rather have the M4/3 for reasons that might make no sense, it's what I'm comfortable with...

  • Maybe Adobe is giving it up and BM takes over? After all, they are competitors now ( Resolve vs Speedgrade ).

  • @rockroadpix ...good to know but I though for sure I heard it was smaller sensor...weird Well as long as the crop factor isn't worse...I am in. I suppose keeping the old Gh2 for photos and a B cam is good idea anyways.

  • @No_SuRReNDeR EF vs M43 version of the BMCCD: Same sensor - different mount.

  • The Cinema DNG Initiative has been discontinued and is no longer hosted on Adobe Labs

    http://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2012/09/cinemadng-in-after-effects-cs6-and-elsewhere.html

    Wouldn't doubt if panasonic, sony, and canon all joined together and paid off Adobe...

    Can't have people getting real cinema-quality files for under $50,000 now can we?

  • @bwhitz @nomad @brian2020 @fatpig @Vitaliy_Kiselev

    http://blogs.adobe.com/toddkopriva/2012/09/cinemadng-in-after-effects-cs6-and-elsewhere.html

    They added an updated statement:

    "What this is intending to communicate is simply that the experimental plug-in for CinemaDNG for Premiere Pro CS5.5 was removed from the Adobe Labs website. The CinemaDNG format continues to be an open format, and its development is not limited to Adobe.

    CinemaDNG files can still be opened by any current Adobe application that includes the Camera Raw plug-in for importing DNG files. This includes After Effects and Photoshop. Also, we just issued a bug-fix update for SpeedGrade that makes it work better with CinemaDNG files."

    So nothing about the general Adobe support for DNG, just Adobe Premiere.

    Also note that they say the want to hear from people that want Premiere Pro to add support for DNG:

    "One question that we’ve been seeing a lot–especially since the recent announcements of a couple of cameras–is why Premiere Pro doesn’t import CinemaDNG files. The answer is simply that we have not been satisfied with the performance that we have been able to achieve with CinemaDNG files in Premiere Pro, in which real-time playback is crucial. If it’s important to you that we add native import of CinemaDNG footage into Premiere Pro, please let us know with a feature request so that we can get a sense of whether this is an area where we need to put more effort. We really do value those feature requests."

  • @thepalalias

    In fact, this blog post original meaning is clear.

    Adobe does not want cameras having CinemaDNG support. As it does not bring them any money.

    CinemaDNG support was poor from the start. As it is "open" format made by corporation with sole goal of making money.

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev

    That may be the case, but the revision seems to indicate they do not see that as good PR at this point. The more people mention wanting them to support CinemaDNG, the worse they look not supporting it...

  • The more people mention wanting them to support CinemaDNG, the worse they look not supporting it...

    And?

    I never saw corporation who suffered from "looking worse"..

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev Most companies want to maintain good PR and marketing - just look at how much money even publicly distrusted companies like Goldman Sachs and WalMart poured into dealing with their PR problems.

    There does not tend to be long-term data on negative PR (most companies are smart enough to start trying to reverse the situation fairly soon after things get bad) but the short-term effect can be easily seen in many cases, especially in the case of scandals.

    BP spent over $250,000 on the YouTube video channel used for damage control after the Gulf incident, $50 million on an ad campaign, not including hiring PR firms in each of 4 affected states.

    The U.S. Government penalty toward Toyota for $16.3 million million in 2010 for their handling of the issues leading to three safety recalls.

    Goldman Sach's stock suffered a dip of 23% in response to PR damage before they began PR repair.

    Source http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2050808/Online-Reputation-Management-Case-Studies-BP-Oil-Spill-Toyota-Recall-and-Goldman-Sachs-Fraud-Charges

    There are lots of examples of the ROI of putting money into good PR, but here's a really simple Vocus White Paper citing a 275% ROI on PR spending for Proctor & Gamble.

    Source http://www.vocus.com/codies/Marketing_ROI.pdf

    This isn't really the place to discuss the data but this the tip of the iceberg. I wouldn't repeatedly get hired to do combined marketing/PR work if companies did not ascribe value to the PR side of it.

  • Most companies want to maintain good PR and marketing -

    Yes. And this is why they TELL people that it's because they're not "satisfied with the performance"...

    Have companies never lied before?

    It's weird though, because actions like these don't sound like Adobe. It really seems like they might have been "persuaded" by other companies to drop support. Cinema DNG is simple. An open RAW format is easy for everyone. Now think of how much money the camera makers generate from creating an artificial-markets with 100's of codecs at industry-planned price-points? The last thing they want is for the industry to just settle on 2 or 4 acquisition formats... especially when they sell the 12-bit ones at a 50x markup... and especially when they're non-propriety.

  • Hi !
    any opinion on the quality of the Prores available on the BMCC ? if I understand well it is a quite high bit rate codec I saw the Bloom's review of the BMCC. He speaks quite highly of it. For a lot of tasks it could be just what is needed, after all. Thanks a lot and regards, gino

  • @lumiere61

    BMCC records: 1980x1080 422 "ProRes 422 (HQ)" at 220mbps, 1980x1080 422 "DNxHD 220" at 220mbps, and 2.5K (2432x1366) RAW CinemaDNG at 1200mbps.

  • Hi ! I have no doubt about the extremely high quality of "RAW CinemaDNG at 1200mbps", this is for when the highest quality is required I believe But considering the other two modes, "1980x1080 422 "ProRes 422 (HQ)" at 220mbps, 1980x1080 422 "DNxHD 220" at 220mbps", same bit rate ... same image quality ? Moreover and please excuse if I trivialize the issue, but a lot of very well received professional camcorders stop at 50 Mbit/s for bit rate, and nevertheless they do not fail to give very nice images. My feeling is that also the two compressed modes proposed are of very high quality and maybe enough for most uses. But I do not know if this is the case. I am just asking opinion of experts. By the way, I have found a very interesting new, not very new actually http://www.blackmagicuser.net/index.php?/topic/89-blackmagicuser-cinemashot-awards-resolvemasters-2013/ an extremely good way to promote the BMCC I think. Very well BM ! Thanks and regards, gino

  • Both the ProRes and DNxHD formats are comparable. They are very similar, and the only real reason to choose one over another is which NLE you or your client will be using. Both formats are miles better than 420 H.264, which is what most DSLRs shoot.

  • Thanks a lot ! Very very interesting product. Hopefully as someone already said a "game changer" ! Bravo BM !

  • Just generate some ProRes from any high quality footage you have and look for yourself. It's standardized by Apple, whoever is implementing it needs to do it in the same way.

  • New firmware v.1.1 released today:

    For the few lucky folks who have a Blackmagic Cinema Camera in-hand, Blackmagic Design today released a new firmware update version 1.1 which includes long-promised support for DNxHD recording, plus new features: Support for EF lenses with IS (image stabilization), and some additional shutter angles. http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/

    Of these changes, IS support is perhaps the biggest deal. It’s a completely brand new feature, not yet mentioned on the BMCC product page.

    With this v.1.1 firmware update, BMD also apparently improved the BMCC’s audio input feature. It’s reported that sound recorded via the “Mic” level input setting now sounds fuller, less “thin”. The “Line” level input sound quality is reportedly unchanged. In general, the BMCC has very good audio specs for a $3K video camera. A brief before & after audio recoding sample was posted to BMCuser.com : http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?1234-How-good-is-the-audio-quality-of-the-bmcc&s=fefd148792b1b0ff55a86afecdd8603c&p=27497&viewfull=1#post27497

    Below is a list I made of the reported new shutter angles and their shutter speed equivalents calculated using this website (to the best of my knowledge the list is correct; since I don’t have my camera yet I can’t confirm it, regrets). http://super8arena.com/shutter_speed.php

    Below that is the text of BMD’s Read Me file (Mac version). I assume the Windows version of the Read Me file is similar:

    ===========================================

    BMCC firmware v1.1 shutter angle and shutter speed equivalents, at 3 example frame rates:

    @ 24p:

    360 = 1/24th,
    324 = 1/26.66,
    270 = 1/32,
    216 = 1/40,
    180 = 1/48,
    172.8 = 1/50,
    144 = 1/60,
    108 = 1/80,
    90 = 1/96,
    45 = 1/198.

    @ 25p:

    360 = 1/25th,
    324 = 1/27.77,
    270 = 1/33.33,
    216 = 1/41.66,
    180 = 1/50,
    172.8 = 1/52.08,
    144 = 1/62.5,
    108 = 1/83.33,
    90 = 1/100,
    45 = 1/200.

    @ 30p:

    360 = 1/30th,
    324 = 1/33.33,
    270 = 1/40,
    216 = 1/50,
    180 = 1/60,
    172.8 = 1/62.49,
    144 = 1/75,
    108 = 1/100,
    90 = 1/120,
    45 = 1/240.

    ===========================================

    BMD’s READ ME:

    About Blackmagic Cinema Camera Utility

    Welcome to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera Utility for Mac OS X. This utility allows you to update your Blackmagic Cinema Camera to the latest software release for new features, bug fixes and other enhancements.

    Blackmagic Cinema Camera Utility 1.1

    What’s New?

    • Avid DNxHD MOV support
    • Support for EF lens with in-lens image stabilizer
    • Increased number of available shutter angles

    Minimum system requirements for Mac OS X

    • Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or later
    • Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or later
    • A suitable USB 2.0 port
    • Thunderbolt port for UltraScope and Media Express

    Installing Blackmagic Cinema Camera Utility

    The Blackmagic Cinema Camera Installer will install the following components:

    • Blackmagic Cinema Camera Utility
    • Blackmagic Media Express
    • Blackmagic UltraScope
    • Blackmagic Disk Speed Test

    Before installing the software, we recommend that you run “Uninstall Blackmagic Cinema Camera” first.

    Additional Information

    Please check www.blackmagic-design.com for additional information on third party software compatibility and minimum system requirements.

    © 2012 Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd. All rights reserved. Blackmagic Design, Blackmagic, DeckLink, Multibridge, HDLink, Workgroup Videohub, Broadcast Videohub, FrameLink, and “Leading the creative video revolution” are trademarks of Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd., registered in the U.S.A and other countries.

    Some applications use the QT UI framework (http://qtsoftware.com) under the terms of the LGPL version 2.1. The QT dynamic libraries, built from unmodified source are included in the application bundle. A copy of the LGPL is included in the Blackmagic application support directory. The support note at http://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail/supportnotes/supportnote/?sid=3945&pid=3985&os=linux&isSDK=0&snid=9703 provides further details including how to obtain the QT source.

    Updated October 04, 2012.

    ===========================================

    EDIT: Added info about Mic level audio improvement with v.1.1 firmware.

  • nice to read - all what people are missing now is the camera ;-)

  • Just brilliant all of this. IS ? Just brilliant.

  • anyone seen the rumour on 43rumors.com? BM supposedly releasing a new version of the camera in early 2013. http://www.43rumors.com/ft4-new-blackmagic-camera-with-full-electronic-support-coming-2013/

    Considering they can't get the EF mount out the door on time I find this highly unlikely timing. Either Blackmagic are extremely stupid or this rumour is a pile of shit, hmmm I wonder which...