Rick Lang
Forum Replies Created
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Excellent approach, Ryan.
One way that BMD distinguishes their cameras from the Canon 5D Mark III, and other video cameras, is the lack of the low pass filter in front of the sensor. The result is usually a sharper detailed image. The Achilles Heel of that approach is that moiré can be present even when you might not expect it such as when someone wears a rayon shirt (but no moiré from natural fibres such as a cotton shirt). There are many ways to minimize or correct the moiré and I expect some will appreciate the greater detail from the BMD cameras. You can always use a mist filter on the BMD camera or soften in post when you don’t want too much detail. Sharpening a blurred image isn’t my favourite solution since it adds contrast but not really more detail. If your shoot calls for fine detail, you may reach for a different video camera than the Canon 5D. But cue the makeup artist! Too much of a good thing can look too real!
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Ryan:
“Blackmagic is just getting into the camera game. They have to products to protect. However, I’ve seen some upset BMCC purchasers once the Pocket camera and Production camera were announced. They could also be upset because BM didn’t really hit their manufacturing stride with their first attempted camera.”I agree with your remarks. Since BMD is very early in the camera game, they have been able to differentiate their three or four cameras so that each camera is still viable with its own merits and shortcomings but they have not likely cannibalized their own markets yet. Yes, some people switched from the BMCC EF when the BMCC MFT was announced. And some switched again to the BMPC4K and the BMPCC when the production camera and pocket cinema camera were announced. But all of the newer cameras after the original will also attract new players and new uses.
For example, the BMPCC may be a good crash camera since you are risking less than $1,000 if you do crash. And many people are not colorists and will be very happy shooting ProRes 4:2:2 (HQ) Video mode and quickly editing their footage directly or even uploading it directly to YouTube or Vimeo (shudder) the way some people ship every still to Facebook or Flickr. At the other end of the spectrum, some people have access to PL mount ciné lenses, and needed the BMCC MFT. Others want to produce 2K deliverables and the colour quality of 2K or HD coming from the 4K capture on the BMPC4K may prove to be as good as or better than the 2.5K BMCC. Others will stick with the higher ISO and greater latitude of the BMCC/BMPCC sensors and shun the BMPC4K. I think it will surprise BMD how many people end up buying at least two BMD cameras because they are differentiated but strong in different areas. Still not the best cameras for any purpose, but very good for most purposes.
You are right that BMD must get beyond its shipping difficulties and deliver in volume to a hungry marketplace. I am sure the Magic Lantern hacks may cost them sales now because of the shipping uncertainties. In the long term, Magic Lantern will be a catalyst to improve the BMD products further through firmware updates or future models. Everyone gets to pick what feels best for them. At this point, I am banking on BMD because of their DNA. I own a Canon Rebel XT and a Canon HV20 video recorder. Both working fine, but my next camera is not going to be the Canon 5D Mark III. Let’s say the BMCC MFT or the BMPC4K have been a steal from that possibility. Then there’s the question of glass… Another topic!
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Ryan:
“But I do agree that the 1DC becomes a much less desirable camera if the 5DIII hack holds up. That camera appears to have a limited shelf life now. And it kinda makes me wonder what Canon is doing….they could literally own the full-frame RAW/indie market if they had done something like this in 2010/2011 as a successor to the 5DII. They could have been selling a Blackmagic like camera a year before BM did. Canon already has the infrastructure and scale to handle the manufacturing side of it. Maybe it’s a market they didn’t want or think they could get? Makes me wonder…”Interesting you and Levi have ordered the BMPC4K. I think it is premature to conclude the Magic Lantern hack of the Canon 5D Mark III will produce superior video in every respect compared to the BMPC4K or BMCC. It may prove to do that but we don’t know yet the image quality of the BMPC4K and have very little to go with regard to the image quality of the 5D. The conversation will be interesting as the development of both the ML hack and the BMPC4K proceed in the next couple of months. No need to list the strengths and weaknesses yet as there are so many unknowns.
But to respond to your assertion that Canon could have been selling a Blackmagic-like camera a year before BMD, I think the answer is in the corporate DNA of the companies.
It is BMD’s DNA to take a fresh approach to the pricing and configuring of products. There are numerous examples in the hardware they sell to reduce the cost of entry to a level that brings more players to the game. DaVinci Resolve is the best example of that approach towards software. Their Lite version is nearly full function and free, their full version is now bundled (free) with the BMCC and the BMPC4K.
It is Canon’s DNA, among most of the big players, to pursue a different vision of their market and their prosumer or professional products. Yes, they sell $79 or $999 printers that seem cheap until you buy the consumables and then you realize they are not in the printer business at all–their business is selling ink. They sell stills lenses that are of mixed quality and usually at a high price and all but a few are poor choices to put on a camera to do video. Their ciné lenses may be great but the costs are prohibitive for most people. Everything about Canon is controlled evolution, with the emphasis on the word control. Their concept of innovation are tricks to lock you into their system. The sensors and internal software/firmware may be amazing but the output codecs are always lacking in quality options for digital cinema… Unless you want their top-of-the-line product at an almost prohibitive price.
BMD may yet lead to a revolution in digital cinema; Magic Lantern may do it too. Neither of these will ever be the best you can buy, but they will be close enough at a price that most can afford. And with technological advances the bar may be raised higher at the high-end, like an 8K Sony, but the bar is also raised for the lower end with anyone able to produce 2K or HD cinema quality deliverables from 4K or 2.5K image capture. Of course the camera is only one piece of the puzzle in achieving cinema quality. If Apple is really thinking of making a wristwatch, what else might BMD be thinking about?
Canon and Sony and others will continue to sell products for their market where the very best of something is required at any cost. And then they’ll offer dumbed-down versions at lower price points determined by the marketing department (like the C100, C300, and C500 sharing the same sensor). But over time that may not be a sustainable approach even if it has worked well for many decades.
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Joe Campanale: “I’m having a hard time figuring out how, in the long run, consumers are getting more out of this.”
Adobe has created new applications in the last year that I believe are only available in their Cloud ecosystem. I think they will continue to do that so that people using CS5/6 will be drawn into the Cloud eventually when they need those applications. It is an inexpensive subscription if you only wanted one application but eventually you will move to the full subscription rate. Adobe may be doing you a favour in that there will be a lot of things you may try since you are already paying the full subscription.
In the short term it is a bargain if you use several applications. But in the long term I wonder if the value of new features will diminish, as I feel has happened with Photoshop. It doesn’t matter if Adobe introduces 200 new features a year if you don’t need any of them to do your work. But you continue to pay the subscription to continue working. It’s a fairly easy decision to start a subscription but Adobe knows it will be a very difficult decision to end your subscription. In the old model, you just stop upgrading and live happily ever after with whatever CS6 gives you until there is a ‘must have’ feature in CSx that drives another upgrade or single purchase. In the new model, you pay until you retire or expire. Something akin to cable television and cell phones.
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Shawn:
“If the BMPCC fits my needs like I think it will, my next question will be; is the higher spacial resloution and global shutter of the BMPC 4k worth the tradeoff of an extra stop in DR of the BMCC. :-)”If you think the BMPCC HD rocks now that we have the first admittedly hurried and barely graded sample video, wait for the BMPC4K footage coming soon to a Vimeo near you! Should be interesting to see the ProRes 4:4:4 (HQ) HD video that you’ll be able to downscale and render in post from the 4K raw.
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Paul, does the tool allow a simple change to the modern widescreen aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 adopted in 1973? Digitally for 2K that would be 2048×858.
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Steve, at this point I plan to order the BMPC4K after reviewing the image it produces in various lighting conditions. I assume you are going to do the same or do you want to get an early order in and cancel if it doesn’t measure up after all? I am in Canada but Adorama has a neat deal for Canadians that includes all taxes, duty, and shipping at the time of shipping so that I’d likely where I’d place an order.
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Shawn, I am not saying BMD is comparing their new sensor to full frame. I was just pointing out that the ‘crop factor’ compared to APS-C is a bit greater. I understand that the cinematographer’s yardstick is Super35 which has a larger size than both APS-C and the new BMPC4K sensor. I really think BMD has a winner with their BMPC4K version and it is close enough in size that it will have the caché of S35 in terms of typical shallow depth of field and so on. I was merely responding to the “too good to be true” comment and pointing out that it isn’t quite up to the marketing department’s claims but for all intents and purposes it is an amazing offering. We all have our fingers crossed that the raw image quality will approach that of the wonderful image from the BMCC EF 2.5K original camera announced last year at NAB2012 and just now shipping in volume. Can’t get too excited until we start to see what the pictures are like. If it nearly matches the BMCC “baby Alexa”, what nickname will this one have with the larger sensor? The “little brother” of the Alexa?
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Yes, TB is integrated with the i5 and i7 processor chipsets but the issue for the Mac Pro has been the lack of TB support for the Xeon processor chipsets that Apple would presumably use in their updated Mac Pro. But who really knows what will be used?
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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I hope when Intel says backward compatible they also mean that the cables use copper and carry power unlike the fibre optic cables that are planned to be used to reach 100Gb/s speeds.
With Intel production apparently slated for 2014, are they referring to their own motherboards but will it be possible for Apple to use this faster TB in their updated Mac Pro “later in 2013?” With the announcement of an UltraHD digital film camera from BlackMagic Design, can Apple keep pace with processing 4K media this year? Many questions!
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB