Dream Camera

[Steve Siegel]

Les,

Read your Crop Factor Nonsense article. Yes, he's right. It's the field of view that changes, but that's exactly what you want for shooting small wildlife. You get the desired magnification without having to schlep an 800 lb lens around. And what is this 21st century obsession with depth of field? It's like 8 track tape. Everything while it's popular, a non-starter once the glow wears off. Can't happen soon enough for me.

[Les Wilson]

Yes, FOV and resolution are issues. Shallow DOF obsession has gone on a long time. Maybe slo-mo is the new fad. Come to think of it, wouldn't slo-mo and cache recording be great features for wildlife in addition to reach?

[Lauri Kettunen]

Hi David, I haven't tested the BlackMagic camera, but all samples I've seen suggests it's not bad at all. Personally I find raw-images very important in wildlife shooting. Another issue is dynamics. I've also moved away from long teles and use them sparingly. The reason is, long teles create images everybody has seen over and over again. Instead have spent a lot of time processing how to manage with short lenses.

[Mark OConnell]

Originally Posted by Bo Skelmose

I am playing with a panasonic GH-3 and I must say that it make the best video quality I have ever seen from a DSLR or DSLR like camera. Maybe better than the footage from my other cameraes - the Panasonic HPX2100, Sony PMW350 and EX3. But I am still testing.

You like the image from the GH3 better then that from the EX3? Am I reading this correctly?

[Mark OConnell]

Another camera to consider would be the Sony pmw 160. It's lens is equivalent to about 600mm, it shoots 4:2:2 at 50mb/s and is small and light. I'm thinking about this one.

[Markus Nord]

Originally Posted by Lauri Kettunen

Hi David, I haven't tested the BlackMagic camera, but all samples I've seen suggests it's not bad at all. Personally I find raw-images very important in wildlife shooting. Another issue is dynamics. I've also moved away from long teles and use them sparingly. The reason is, long teles create images everybody has seen over and over again. Instead have spent a lot of time processing how to manage with short lenses.

Hi Lauri, I've been thinking about the BMCC for wildlife too... I'm on the waiting list. I've seen a solution for the power there the shooter carry a battery as a charger in the backpack and hook up the camera in between shots and on the move. That way the camera staise clean and light on the tripod. The crop factor is good too. My main problem is storing the raw. I'm thinking about the solution to fix the exposure and create a nice looking shot in Resolve and conform it to a more editing friendly codec (I hope BMD will implement Canopus HQX) and then trash the raw. That would save a lot of space and that's my biggest fear, to run out of HDDs, with this camera.

[Kin Lau]

Originally Posted by Steve Siegel

Les,

Read your Crop Factor Nonsense article. Yes, he's right. It's the field of view that changes, but that's exactly what you want for shooting small wildlife. You get the desired magnification without having to schlep an 800 lb lens around.

The point was to help new comers, but I don't see using FOV as helping either.

Imagine the conversation "You need a lens with a FOV of 1 degree to get that nest there"... "1 degree?!? Where's the marking on my lens?" or "I have a 400mm lens, what's the FOV on that?", and we come back to the crop calculation.

[Sverker Hahn]

My dream camera is the Red Epic. Expensive. Modularity. Raw. Intelligent mounts. High resolution.

It was the dream camera without price considerations, wasn´t it?

[David Rice]

Yes any Dream Camera priced within reason. Say under $20,000 for the camera?

...and for wildlife filming, I'm talking about a camera that will be used for stocking wildlife or filming "wild" wildlife from a hide or blind.

Many so called pro's travel to Alaska and end up filming "Zoo Bears" in enclosures, or get their close-ups of marine animals in a aquarium. You can get great close-up shots of Bald Eagles with any camera, if your filming in a Raptor Center or Bird Sanctuary.

Dave

[Sverker Hahn]

So, Red Epic it is (USD 19K).
Well, necessary extras makes it much more ...
Otherwise I could accept :) a Red Scarlet (USD 9K) which will make it around 20K.
Lenses from 11mm to 400mm from Tokina, Canon or Nikon.
Several batteries and a lot of storage for many days in the wilderness.
But still dreaming ...

[Sverker Hahn]

... the most important accessory would be the guy carrying the equipment ...

[Lauri Kettunen]

There's a review of the BlackMagic camera in HDMagazine HD Magazine - HD Mag

Here's the review which is rather positive.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

I am filming with the Canon C300 in some extreme low lights and at times with a little bit help from a torch light. I wish for the next version of the C300 when the sensor is just two stops more sensitive so that I can peacefully shoot in the night. Ofcourse, then I will ask for sensitivity to shoot in no moon nights. :)

Cheers,
Sabyasachi