Master Guide to Rigging a Blackmagic Cinema Camera

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

For the absolute newbie I've put together a 10-part guide on rigging the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Right now parts 1 to 5 are online, and the rest will be uploaded daily till Aug 29th.

Part I - Ergonomics and Connections

Part 2 - Lenses and Filters

Part 3 - Matte boxes and Follow Focus

Part 4 - Audio Gear

Part 5 - External Monitors, Viewfinders and Power Supplies

Part 6 - Baseplates, Rods and Cages

Part 7 - Tripods, Heads and Other Support

Part 8 - Handheld and Steadycam Rigs

Part 9 - Other Specialized Rigs, LANC Controllers and Miscellaneous Tools

Part 10 - Bags, Cases and Straps

Hope this helps.

[Alister Chapman]

Why recommend an HDMI only viewfinder for a camera that only has HDSDI and thunderbolt. There are plenty of EVF's with HDSDI?

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

I did think hard about that. I looked at Cineroid, e.g., but decided to recommend the one that I've actually used.

Can you recommend a good one - I'll take your word for it and update the article.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

All parts are now live! Thanks for reading.

[Patrick Tan]

Thanks for compiling such a thorough list.

Patrick

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

You're welcome, Patrick! Thank you for reading.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

I have updated the guide to include recommendations for the MTF mount as well. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

Thanks for reading!

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

The 6.5" 1024x768 monitor seems like an odd choice considering its 4:3 and 1280x800 5.6" monitors have been industry standard for about a year...

Also I would never recommend those Blackmagic HDMI-to-HDSDI mini converters to anyone as field equipment. That is from many experiences being forced to use them in the field. They suck and will break after a couple uses since all the connectors are PCB-mounted and will come loose quickly in the field from cables moving and tugging on the connectors.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Thanks Noah! Can you recommend me a 1280x800 monitor of the same caliber?

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

TVLogic VFM-056WP
SmallHD DP6
Marshall V-LCD56MD
Ikan D5w

All good options and seem to use the same 1280x800 5.6" LCD panel. The Ikan and Marshall are brand new so I don't have experience with them, they might not be available everywhere yet since they are so new. SmallHD is less expensive but has fewer features and I tend not to trust their color like I would a real Broadcast monitor company that's been around more than 3years, but I know people that swear by the DP6. And the TVlogic is an industry standard with lots of features, probably still the best there is, though it is over a year old now.

[Jonathan Levin]

Sareesh,

Thanks for putting this together.

Jonathan

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Thanks, Jonathan! Appreciate it.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Originally Posted by Noah Yuan-Vogel

TVLogic VFM-056WP
SmallHD DP6
Marshall V-LCD56MD
Ikan D5w

All good options and seem to use the same 1280x800 5.6" LCD panel. The Ikan and Marshall are brand new so I don't have experience with them, they might not be available everywhere yet since they are so new. SmallHD is less expensive but has fewer features and I tend not to trust their color like I would a real Broadcast monitor company that's been around more than 3years, but I know people that swear by the DP6. And the TVlogic is an industry standard with lots of features, probably still the best there is, though it is over a year old now.

I could be wrong but my logic is that the monitor should be better than the panel on the camera itself. I eliminated the DP6 for that reason - it doesn't offer any significant benefits.

I'll take a look at the other three again and re-evaluate. Thanks for the tip!

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

Originally Posted by Sareesh Sudhakaran

I could be wrong but my logic is that the monitor should be better than the panel on the camera itself. I eliminated the DP6 for that reason - it doesn't offer any significant benefits.

I'll take a look at the other three again and re-evaluate. Thanks for the tip!

What does the one you listed offer that the DP6 doesnt? Isn't the LCD on the camera a 800x480 screen that has poor contrast and brightness due to the touch film and cannot be moved or seen from most operating positions? I think just about any external monitor would offer some benefit, if only to have an equivalent monitor that can be viewed by the operator without holding the camera way out in front of you. That said, the DP6 has 2.5x the resolution of the BMCC's LCD and a couple standard focus/exposure functions that may be of use to some. It doesn't have the waveform or vectorscopes or some other features of the other monitors but it may be of interest to some due to its lower price. Personally its one of my least favorite of the monitors with that panel but its still probably worth having given the limitations of the BMCC built in LCD.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Originally Posted by Noah Yuan-Vogel

What does the one you listed offer that the DP6 doesnt? Isn't the LCD on the camera a 800x480 screen that has poor contrast and brightness due to the touch film and cannot be moved or seen from most operating positions? I think just about any external monitor would offer some benefit, if only to have an equivalent monitor that can be viewed by the operator without holding the camera way out in front of you.

It has my blessings! Just kidding.

The BMCC monitor has a resolution of 187 ppi, which is good enough for focusing. The DP6 is about 230 ppi - that's really not that different to my eye. Secondly, I'm going by BMD's word that they will have a future firmware update with waveforms, etc.

Let's say for argument's sake that I'd like to spend serious money on an external monitor:

The DP6 is 300 nits - the Marshall is 650 nits.
The Marshall has more screen space than the DP6. It averages about 200 ppi. The vertical resolution will fall a bit due to the 4:3 aspect.
The Marshall can input and output 3G-SDI, the DP6 can only take input.
Most important - the Marshall has tactile knobs on the monitor, while the DP6 doesn't.
The Marshall has an XLR power connector

In my experience, these are some serious advantages on a professional rig.

The DP6 for a $1,000? No way. I'll take the Marshall any day.

Maybe the DP7, let's see.