Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
The new Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K is now in stock and shipping. I’m actually surprised to see this happen with a Blackmagic camera. They usually fall well behind demand during the initial launch window. But, right now, the new 6K pocket camera is shipping immediately and the early user reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Check it out here at B&H Photo.
Blackmagic has announced its new Pocket Cinema Camera 6K to follow on the popular Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. It records up to 50 fps 6144 x 3456 video and brings in a bigger Super 35 sensor, which is a step up from the 4/3 format sensor found in the 4K model. It also adds the larger Canon EF lens mount. Like the 4K model, Blackmagic claims 13-stops of dynamic range on the new 6K camera. [Read more…]
At its NAB 2018 press conference this morning, Blackmagic announced an update to the wildly popular Pocket Cinema Camera. The new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K captures up to 4K/60p video, as well as windowed HD video at 120p.
It offers 13 stops of dynamic range and uses a full size Micro Four Thirds sensor and lens mount. The body is a new carbon fiber and polycarbon blend for a lightweight design. The new camera features a rethought ergonomics design and a large 5″ touchscreen display. There are dedicated buttons on top of the camera grip for quick access to ISO, shutter speed and white balance. Additionally, the 4K Pocket Cinema Camera offers the ability to capture still images – using a separate, dedicated button apart from the standard video record button on the camera’s grip. [Read more…]
When Blackmagic Design unveiled Davinci Resolve 12 a couple years ago at NAB 2015, the company raised lots of eyebrows with what it presented as a full-fledged NLE for video editing from start to finish with all the power of Resolve’s color grading tools in it as well. It had a dot-five upgrade last year to give us Resolve 12.5 and this year gets a full version-and-a-half jump with an impressive set of new features. [Read more…]
Nearly a year after the camera was announced, the Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera is in stock and now shipping. The camera is touted for its compact size and ability to accept radio control commands while mounted on a drone. [Read more…]
Blackmagic has update the Video Assist to version 1.1 to include focus peaking, zebra exposure too, 2x zoom and HDMI timecode. The Video Assist is a $495 HDMI & 6G-SDI recorder and 5″ monitor. It uses SDHC/SDXC memory cards to capture ProRes 10-bit 4:2:2 video and is powered by Canon LP-E6 batteries or AC power.
More details on the original Blackmagic Video Assist announcement.
Blackmagic Design has released a final version of DaVinci Resolve 12. Both the Standard and Studio versions are available. [Read more…]
Blackmagic Design has unveiled a B4 lens mount for its URSA Mini PL camera.
The B4 mount replaces the PL mount on the URSA Mini PL. It requires users to take the PL lens mount off where it is normally removed for shimming PL lenses and bolt the B4 lens mount into place. [Read more…]
Blackmagic Design has released Blackmagic Camera Setup 2.6. The new camera software adds support in the Blackmagic URSA for the new URSA Viewfinder that was announced back at NAB 2015.
Additionally, the URSA gets an option to display timecode input by tapping on the timecode display, along with various other performance enhancements and improvements that are not itemized.
More details available here on Blackmagic’s website.
Blackmagic Design has dropped the prices on its Studio Camera HD and Studio Camera 4K models. The HD model will reduce in price by $300 and the Ultra HD model will reduce in price by $500.
The HD Blackmagic Studio Camera model is now $1,695 and the Ultra HD Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K model is now $2,495.
Blackmagic notes that the reason for the price drop is based on customer feedback regarding the lack of use of the fiber connection. Blackmagic has removed the connection from the cameras and made it an aftermarket accessory that can simply be plugged into the camera.
Personally, I think the biggest detraction from the studio cameras is the lack of lens options. Sure there are plenty of Micro Four Thirds cameras in the world and you can buy an adapter for virtually any other lens mount. However, many users would like to put studio B4 lenses on these cameras and that is just a clunky option.
If Blackmagic had built these cameras with a 2/3″ sensor and a native B4 lens mount, I don’t think they could make them fast enough. Sometimes, a bigger sensor is not always the best option.