Update on July 17, 2014: Blackmagic made some noise at last year’s NAB Show for unveiling a pocket camera that shoots RAW uncompressed video, pricing it at less than $1,000. Well, if this pro-quality camera had you intrigued and you’ve waited this long to get one, you should know that it has gotten cheaper. For a limited time, you can get your hands on one for $495. But act fast, as the pricing only last until August 31, 2014, or until supplies run out.
“We have worked hard to set up this exciting special price to allow more people to afford a super compact digital cinema camera that they can personally own,” says Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design, in a press release.
We aren’t sure why Blackmagic is slashing the price in half, but when price drops like this happens, it could signal a replacement product is on the way, and they are clearing shelves of older equipment. Perhaps Blackmagic wants to get more of these cameras into filmmakers’ hands, or that it isn’t selling as well as the company hoped. Whatever the guesses, as Pop Photo points out, if you’re a budding filmmaker looking for affordable professional equipment, this is a good opportunity to try it out. (H/t Pop Photo)
Original article: Bragging that your digital camera can shoot 1080p high-definition video these days is like saying it can take photos; video recording is now a standard feature found in even in the most affordable point-and-shoot. While the recorded footage is fine for sharing amongst friends and family, most digital cameras aren’t suitable for shooting cinematic features. Unless, of course, you’re talking about Blackmagic Design’s new Pocket Cinema Camera, which was announced this week at the NAB Show in Las Vegas – a tradeshow that doesn’t target consumers but is highly important to those in the film and broadcast industries.
While the equipment demoed at NAB tend to be in the high thousands –Blackmagic also announced its Production Camera 4K, which costs $3,995 (although that’s considered “affordable” by industry standards) – the Pocket Cinema Camera is making noise for its $995 price tag (lens not included), which makes it attainable to general consumers who dabble in video. If you’ve been looking at video-capable DSLRs or a camera like the Canon EOS M, you now have another option.
Shipping in July, the Pocket Cinema Camera is a highly compact and portable shooter that uses the Micro Four Thirds mount, so it’s compatible with MFT lenses from the likes of Olympus, Panasonic, Sigma, and Tamron, as well as pro cinema lenses via an MFT adapter. The camera’s features include a Super 16mm 1080HD sensor, 13-stop dynamic range, lossless compressed CinemaDNG RAW capture, 3.5-inch LCD, Micro HDMI out, external mic input, and SD card storage. Blackmagic says the camera contains most of the features of the larger Cinema Camera that was announced at last year’s NAB.
Besides the convenience offered, the Pocket Cinema Camera’s super-wide dynamic range means it can shoot feature film quality video akin to professional Super 16 cameras – with increased detail in black and white areas – and not the typical digital camera quality video.
(This article was originally published on April 10, 2013)
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