New! Blackmagic 2.5K Raw cinema camera!

[Jim Giberti]

The expression game changer get's ridiculously over-used, but not in this instance.

[Greg Fiske]

Actually, you can use a powerpack, so looks like a good b-cam replacement for a gh2 for ceremony coverage.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Looks very interesting.

The 2.3 magnification is a big problem for ultra wide SLR/DSLR lenses and would even crop with EFS lenses or Olympus 4/3 lenses.

The low light performance is nowhere near that of the DSLRs.

No viewfinder or many other options as standard on a DSLR body.

It cannot shoot 23MP or 36MP stills combined with HD video.

So, I can't see it 'killing' DSLRs at all.

But, it still has caught my interest and want to find out more.

Certainly a bit of 'Black Magic'! :)

[Frank Glencairn]

The active sensor size is 15.6mm x 8.8mm.

More than a A-CAM (10,6 mm x 6 mm) and less than a FS100 (23.4mm x 15.6mm)

[Greg Fiske]

Most likely ccd sensor?

[Brian Drysdale]

That's pretty close to Micro 4/3. Assuming compatible mounts, I guess those lenses might make sense on this camera.

[Thomas Smet]

The choice of using EF lenses is an interesting one. I agree with others that the crop factor is going to be a bit interesting to deal with. Users are going to need some very wide lenses to get wide shots.

The one thing that is interesting however is the amount of EF glass out there already. Pretty much any Canon DSLR user out there which we all know is a dime a dozen these days already has most of the gear they would need to transition to the BM camera. Glass is the area where most of us spend the largest chunk of change when we adopt DSLRs for video. As a Panasonic user myself this kind of sucks since I do not have any EF lenses.

So for current Canon users the tradeoff is going to be buy another DSLR to shoot stills and deal with heavy compressed low detail video with artifacts or be able to shoot raw video or at the bottom end 10bit ProRes. Of course the DSLR will offer perhaps better range and better low light but is that worth it to give up raw or 10 bit recording that is virtually uncompressed. Tough choice really.

To be honest I don't put much stock in low light shooting anyway. We always light our video. You can always add light to a production but it is much harder to add 12 bit raw recording.

Finally audio has always been the bastard child of the DSLR world. The BM camera seems to have that area covered fairly well. If any DSLR user ever wished they had better audio support this camera may be it.

One thing is for sure, it will be interesting to see how the DSLRs respond to this. If the BM camera really takes off Canon and Panasonic may have to rethink their directions.

[Jim Giberti]

Yeah, but I'm not looking for a stills camera that shoots video, I'm looking for my next filmmaking camera.

We definitely need to see more, but the ups seem way more than the downs - 4:4:4 pro res ready to edit ad grade right out of the camera, A focus on film latitude and workflow.

Keep the VF on the 5D and use this as your A camera with SDI out to your monitor. For $3k I can deal with a crop sensor if it rivals Alexa image quality.

Amazing potential.

[Chris Joy]

Daaaammmnnnn! Focus peaking, iris control, xlr's, 5" screen and so on - very nice -- but -- integrated battery with 90 minute record time and 2 hour charge time. Not exactly your camera for a day of shooting. I do like the strap lugs on top, that'll be something hanging around your neck.

[Meryem Ersoz]

This looks like a very interesting option.

It's super light, compact, I think they borrowed a few pages from the RED playbook on user interface which is very straightforward and intuitive. The menu structure isn't overly complicated but has everything you need. 2-channel audio inputs running 1/4'' jacks so similar sound quality to XLR inputs. You can choose ZF mount or Canon mount.

Shipping in July reportedly. The guy I spoke with said that 128gb drive would cost about $140, so not exactly cheap but not exactly expensive either - media in the middle, cost-wise.

The form factor is a little unusual and offers little in the way of visible mounting points, which can be problematic. The guy who I spoke with didn't have any answers to that question. My impression is that it took him slightly off guard - but right now I didn't get an answer on where you would mount an external monitor, microphone, even basic items. I'm sure third-party and even BlackMagic solutions will come fast once they hear back from a user base.

I don't think this is "killer" anything. Just a very interesting option in a field of increasingly interesting options. Honestly, I think the acquisition wars are reaching a point of saturation - affordable post-production, storage, and delivery systems are the next important bits.

Actually, I think Canon is still a big winner in all of these camera wars because they stand to sell tons of lenses to a burgeoning, emerging market.

I have some pictures but my stupid Flip cam #$%^& ran out of batteries so I can't load anything until I obtain some batteries. By then, someone may beat me to it.

It's pretty cool though. Finally, one of these companies is getting with the fact that RAW is the revolution. I'm still surprised that Canon has not been able to take advantage of that fact. BlackMagic taking the step of bundling Resolve with this camera is a bold move from a company which has become known for its bold moves.

[Walter Brokx]

Looks interesting.
It expands the choice we have even more.
Super16 and raw (at 2,5K) isn't available yet, is it?

The cropfactor will probably make this camera interesting for wildlife-projects.

I think the internal battery is a weird choice. That means you need to add extra stuff to your riggs if you need to shoot for more than 1,5 hour.

[Zach Love]

This is the best thing I've read so far:

Compressed Recording Formats - Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD. All compressed recording in 1920x1080 10-bit YUV with choice of Film or Video Dynamic Range.

I love being able to take a ProRes file & start editing. Still great quality & much smaller file sizes than raw.
--
Dissapointed in the audio input, I'd much rather have XLR than 1/4".

Analog Audio Input - 2 x 1/4” jacks for professional balanced analog audio, switchable between mic and line levels.

--
Intrigued by this:

Thunderbolt port for capture of RAW video and audio.

--

Mounting Options - 3 x 1/4" thread mounting points on top of camera.
1 x 1/4" thread tripod mount with locator pin.

I wish there was more than a 1/4" & VHS pin on the bottom of the camera. I have fallen in love with the 2x 1/4" + VHS pin on the bottom of my Z7U, I was happy to see it on the EX1R & think Panasonic took it a step farther by have a 1/4" & 3/8" + VHS pin on the AC130/160 HPX250.

Two threading points are sooooo much better than a single 1/4" & the VHS locator pin.
--
Happy to see this:

Remote Control - 1 x 2.5mm LANC for Rec Start/Stop, Iris Control and Focus Control

[Thomas Smet]

Not entirely sure but this may also be the cheapest camera ever with HD-SDI out. The cool thing about this is that with the record options the camera has you almost don't even need it except for live productions or for a monitor. If you ever wish you could have SDI instead of HDMI or no option at all then this camera is a no brainer.

The native thunderbolt output is interesting as well. First time I heard anybody use thunderbolt as a direct port to feed video data.

[David M. Cole]

I keep mulling over the Blackmagic site, hoping/wishing for Genlock to appear in the feature list.

-- DC

[Greg Fiske]

So reading more, doesn't look like its the Ikon sensor, different size and more dynamic range. Looks like they capitalized on their gopro acquisition? So whats the gopro have for a sensor? Is this a fancy gopro camera?