Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

Omega is now taking preorders for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera on our website.

You can either charge a $200 non- refundable deposit on your credit card or provide us your contact info to be notified when we have cameras in stock.

Allan Barnwell
Sales & Marketing
Omega Broadcast Group - Professional Video Sales, Rental & Services

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

Were those actual production models at NAB? I didn't think they were, they looked like unfinished prototypes....too much plastic. I hope the real ones look better.

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

Your opinion of the camera's looks reminds me of the old joke:
"Man - your wife sure is ugly..."
"Yeah, but boy can she cook!"

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

lol! But seriously, were those the finished products? I didn't think so.

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

Placed a deposit. Any idea about actual availability Allan ?

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

As far as availability, Blackmagic just says "July".

There have been some products in the past that have not shipped when expected, but Blackmagic has become much more conservative about their projected ship dates.

As far as the pre-production models on display on the show floor, I've no idea if there will be changes made to the production models. Again, Blackmagic has learned a few things about build issues with their converter product line. I would expect to see them address build quality issues with the goal of avoiding long term warranty repair issues. But this is all speculation on my part based on my experience as a dealer and product user.

With the way camera technology continues to accelerate, I don't foresee many customers purchasing this camera for 20 years of use. We are in an age of "disposable" production equipment. Much like NLE systems, many users have a planned obsolescence built into their purchase. My guess is that for many, this will be one of several cameras they will own over the next 4 years. Just my opinion.

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

I agree with Allan on the shelf life of this camera by BMD. but now since, BMD started into the camera making business, I foresee a better model coming up very soon. I'm now seriously considering getting this, but also at the same time, I'd always wait for a later more refined version since this is a company that is new to camera manufacturing. but this does look interesting.

i wrote up an article on my blog about this camera by BMD, I don't know if it will be much help, but at least for people considering this camera, they have an extra opinion:

Fadly.M.H.Wychowvski: My take on the Black Magic Design's Digital Cinema Camera

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

A short shelf life? Really? With a near film-like dynamic range, and DNG/ProRes/DNxHD as the internal recording methods - I can't really see how the camera would become obsolete quickly (at least compared to more conventionally specced cameras). Once you hit a point of diminishing returns with something, the need to endlessly upgrade it become far less of a concern.

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

Yep, I'd agree, short shelf life.

I would expect later versions to get a better sensor with sensitivity more in line with other current cameras, lower noise, less skew and a better size match to the lens mount so you won't have to deal with crazy crop factors.

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

Is there a site or a review somewhere that has determined this camera is noisy and has poor sensitivity? Not being cranky, I'd just like to read it if there is. I realize this little "underdog" won;t be able to run with the big dogs like the RED, C300 or F3, but what are we comparing the "noise" and "sensitivity" to? AF-100? FS100? XF300? DSLR (not even in the same ballpark for codec and clarity due to line skipping).

I know this camera is targeted at a different market segment and coming from a Canon XLh1 and a Canon 7D and longing for a Scarlet or an F3, this might be something intermediate that fits the bill at a price that many of us can justify. If some company releases a 4k cam with a bigger chip that records RAW "and" prores right in the camera for 3K in the next 12 months then this would have a short shelf life....but I am not sure I understand the thinking. DVinfo net has always tried to be about using the equipment and not getting hung up on the "next great thing" and never actually buying anything. This still seems to hit a big hole in the market at "this time".

Just pondering out loud I guess.

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

I think they noise statements are based on Brawleys stuff, as listed above or here:

Blackmagic Cinema Camera - John Brawley

Just remember if every one is buying a $ 15K F3 or a C300, they aren't to admit that anything shot by a 3 K camera can compete. Its human nature not to accept that type of premise once you have plunked down the money.

I just put out another $400.00 into my 5D II to get the moire and aliasing filter, and to me it seems like that brings the 5D II to a higher plane, but you won't ever see anyone admitting that the camera will do the job if handled right. To me, you buy what you can, and do the best you can with it, and give up on the pixel peeping.

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

If preferring to use a low noise, higher sensitivity camera with a sensor size that matches the lens mount over using a noisier, less sensitive camera with an inappropriate lens mount is pixel peeping, then I'll continue to pixel peep.

Sure, not everyone can afford more expensive cameras, but about the only things the BMD camera has going for it, in my opinion, is the price and perhaps the RAW possibilities. One thing to consider with RAW (or any workflow for that matter) is rubbish in, rubbish out. I am NOT saying that this is the case with the BMD camera as I have not had a chance to play with any raw footage myself. But just because it has RAW capabilities it does not automatically make it a better camera than a non RAW camera. The best cameras tend to be those that get a good mix of dynamic range, resolution, sensitivity, noise and usability. I have yet to see any footage from the BMD that makes me think that overall it is better than a Canon T3i or Sony VG-20, but it is more expensive than the T3i and the lens mount/crop factor is far from ideal. I certainly have not seen any clips that have made me say wow! Yet I frequently see DSLR footage that has that Wow factor. I am particularly skeptical at this point as I know that BMD and others have shot side by side comparisons with the BMD and a 5D, yet are not prepared to show the comparison footage from the 5D. There is a lot of talk about the sensor not being calibrated yet, but with a RAW camera that's meaningless as all you are doing is taking the RAW sensor data and storing it for external processing. Any noise, moire or other issues can't just be calibrated out. You can alter the nominal sensitivity by adjusting the gain of the A to D converters, but any noise will just go up and down in level too. I could understand the "not yet calibrated" argument if this was a traditional camera where you fine tune the way the DSP processes the image, adding noise reduction, gamma, knee etc, but this is supposedly RAW.

It is a very good deal when you consider the value of the bundled software, but is it really a "cinema" camera as we have come to know it in recent years? I'm convinced that there will be another version not too far in the future, perhaps this time with a sensor/lens mount combo that is a better match as opposed to what was available off the shelf cheaply. Believe me, I would love to not have to spend the money I do on cameras.

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

Alister,
I respect your opinion but having shot with the Canon XLh1 and a Canon 7d now, I can honestly say that the Canon XLh1 via SDI out to a ProRes 422 blows away the 7D. The quality of the codec and the sharpness of the images are in a different league. Mind you, it is still a 1/3" sensor and is not very sensitive and can be noisy if not shot a 0 or -3db of gain, but the resulting files are tighter and can be graded to a point that my 7d cannot. In fact, editing a piece just yesterday and the 7d footage looked downright soft next to the XLh1.

Now....having said this, the optical properties of the 7D with the larger sensor is preferred, but the low quality codec, the moire and aliasing and the general softness of the image have greatly soured me on DSLRs at the moment. Perhaps if I had not gone to the Samurai and seen 422 ProRes out of my 6 year old XLh1 I'd be more prone to settle for the 7D quality.

Now, to the BMD camera, it seems to me that it would be an ideal match for me. Shooting to ProRes much of the time and Raw when needed nets me more record time on SSDs. It should be much sharper than my 7D using Canon Glass. I am not crazy about the form factor but will adjust for now. I need to be able to shoot "commercial" grade codec with 7d style DOF.....and to me this seems to be the best I am going to get in that price range.

Regarding the footage posted.....I am not blown away by it per se, especially since it was just more of the "go out and shoot whatever is available" for testing. But in my mind it did appear to be sharper than DSLR footage. TIme will tell I guess. I have one on pre-order from the guys who started this thread before we derailed it! So I am at least a little on topic. :)

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

Allan- anything new for us regarding availability and features ? A lot of silence on the camera out there. I see your site doesn't even show it.

Re: Blackmagic Camera preorders now on our website!
 

There has not been any further news from Blackmagic on the camera - although they did recently send out an email to dealers letting everyone know they are still shooting to ship in July. The exact phrase used was "we hope to ship" in July.

I've noticed many products ship from Blackmagic without features enabled that are advertised on the website - so it is possible that this will be the case here. An example of such a product is the HyperDeck Shuttle and Studio - which according to the website support closed captioning. But this has yet to be enabled via firmware - so buyer beware.

On the positive side, Blackmagic will add features never before advertised via firmware often. So this cuts both ways.

BTW: We still have the Blackmagic camera on our home page in the rotating banners - as well as in our online catalog for pre-orders.

Allan Barnwell
Omega Broadcast Group - Professional Video Sales, Rental & Services