Andrew Reid

You can have razor thin DOF on the Blackmagic. That is what the interchangeable lens mount is there for.

I kind of lost interest in shallow depth of field when I shot Zen on anamorphic and realised that at F5.6 on a 1.86x crop sensor (GH2) it wasn't giving me much shallow depth of field but that the character of the blur was what mattered most, not how much of it there was. Here is the relative size of the Blackmagic's sensor to the GH2 and others.

You can still isolate the subject from the background. It is not small chip. Who wants a completely creamed out background any way? No major motion picture I can think of off the top of my head is shot entirely at F1.4 on S35mm.

It isn't approx S16, it is approx Micro Four Thirds. Big difference. You try a S16 lens on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, likely will vignette by quite a margin. Sensor size is one aspect of the image, try not to get too hung up on it. Worthwhile endeavour? Don't be silly.

Samyang 24mm wide angle isn't wide on the Blackmagic, you need a 10,11,12 or 14. I prefer the Samyang 35mm F1.4 it is sharper.

Pile of crap, there you can say it. But you're wrong. The DSLRs are still as good and as exciting as they always were it is just that the Blackmagic Cinema Camera is EXTREMELY good and has raised the bar at the $3000 price point. You can blah blah blah about Red all you like, they are not $3000. Big difference for most of us.

The form factor really is good for my kind of work. I don't 100% understand the obsession with excessive rigging. Here I have with the Blackmagic a much larger screen than a DSLR and a picture making box with securer connections on top of sticks. Want more? Not me. On a DSLR you have a tiny screen and wobbly HDMI port, then inevitably spidery arms to whatever add on is flavour of the month. Not for me really. I like the simplicity the Blackmagic gives my shoots.

The 1D C in my opinion looks very nice. But it is $12,999 (maybe even $15,000?) and that is the problem. The Blackmagic is $3000. Shoots 12bit raw. You may have heard of it :)

http://vimeo.com/53821829 In a joint shootout with Slashcam in Berlin, EOSHD put the Blackmagic Cinema Camera into a bear pit against all rivalling cameras between $500 and $4000. It was a clear day and the results are just as stark. Here's my verdict on which camera you should buy - based purely on image quality. The following cameras are in this test: Blackmagic Cinema Camera (retail) Panasonic GH3 (pre-production v0.5) Panasonic GH2 (hacked) Sony FS100 Canon 5D Mark III Sony NEX VG-900 (full frame E-mount camcorder)

This is something I'd like to see on the market for MFT and E-mount, but I'm not an optical designer so don't know if it is possible or not. Anyone else chime in?

[quote name='BurnetRhoades' timestamp='1353099045' post='21804'] Is the patent still in a stranglehold on the Iscorama though? That'd be great if it functioned like you're saying but I hadn't even considered it because of the patent. [/quote] Actually is out of patent now, I am told.

I don't ban people for negativity, rather then they have absolutely zero of interest or knowledge to offer the place...

You shouldn't be surprised by that John! Get a bunch of guitar players together, give them the same model and see if they all make the same noise. Comes down to talent in the end, and avoiding the kind of shot that the camera is poor at. Unless you are showing it for testing purposes, you wouldn't use a camera at wide angles which was bad at resolving lots of fine detail.

[quote name='gelly' timestamp='1353198180' post='21881'] Great write up. Would be very interested to learn more about the external battery you are using with the BMCC (and maybe competing battery options). Cheers. [/quote] It is the Blackmagic camera solution from Switronix, a PB70, full review soon. http://www.switronix.com/products?page=shop.browse&category_id=50 Once you have the PB70 (power base) then you can also use it with DSLRs as well as the BMC. Just buy the appropriate connector.

It is in the right aspect ratio. Bokeh remains squeezed with anamorphic optics.

Don't feed the troll :)

[quote name='haarec' timestamp='1353097658' post='21800'] New design of anamorphic lens or converter is a realy nice. I have read about it couple of days ago and I liked it right away assuming I can afford it :) My tips: 1. No dual focus Sedulous design: 2. Sharp images full of tiny datails. 3. No barrel distortions (can be seen of a video - streetlight on the right) 4. Not to much anamorphic flares 5. 21:9 compliant. upcoming standard 21:9 is 2,35 (2540x1080). In this case may be little more than 1080 to crop it in post production but not less. In a 1920 world it should give 1920 x 820 rather than 815 - no 2 pixel wide letterbox in 21:9 screen. 6. Affordable. normal lenses price in mind. I don't realy care about oval bokeh [/quote] Nice list and good point about 21:9 standards. There's already a Philips TV with that ratio isn't there?

No nothing can save the VG900 footage from the notoriety it is going to achieve in the shootout, not even a Mac :)

[quote name='Stunko' timestamp='1353095803' post='21792'] Longest, most convoluted write-up on a single camera since like.... ever. Also, this "test footage" must have been the most boring I had ever watched. You needed a camera recording RAW to create -- THIS? Regarding the image quality.... seems to me that an $800 digital camera recording not in RAW could have pulled this off just as well.[/quote] Oops cut you off there, since you instantly lost credibility.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. In order of importance what do you think is most critical to you? Single focus barrel (not dual focus like Kowa) OR adaptable to different primes? If the adapter cost for example around $1000 (I just made this up, nothing to do with actual pricing as this is not decided on yet) and was dual-focus would you buy it? With dual focus you cannot rack focus during a shot and it takes longer to confirm focus, is trickier too. How much would you be prepared to spend on a high quality single focus anamorphic (like the Iscorama)?

Let's test this intuitive Windows 7 claim :) Task 1. I need to backup the entire system. I click Time Machine, it is done. You click.... Task 2. I need to have live mail, iMessage and twitter updates top right of my screen. I click Notifications in the control panel and tick a box. You click... Task 3. There's a problem with your hardware configuration. Through research on Google you realise the BIOS has a wrong setting in it. Oh this never happens on a Mac, next... Task 4. Your operating system is in German. I click Language & Text. You click... And tell me how many steps this takes in Windows 7 Home Premium. Task 5 and final task for we want to go back out and shoot. DaVinci Resolve is crashing due to QTDecoder issue, you also have green speckles over video playback in ALL APPS... You fix it for me, whilst I play with my Mac :)

Eye opening because the VG-900 is a total, unadulterated, nightmarish disaster.

[quote name='matray' timestamp='1353056455' post='21755'] Where is the oval Bokeh ? The sharpeness isn't great at all and again ? Where is the oval Bokeh ?! Only flares aren't good enough. An oval and strong bokeh is definiteively needed ! Flares can be faked like with the Atlantic filter, but not the bokeh. That's what matter the most to me. [/quote] Are you referring to [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3][background=rgb(247, 247, 247)]Apefoscope? I prefer image quality from the SLR Magic.[/background][/size][/font][/color]

Not just design, you pay for better engineering and build quality.

I'm editing the shootout footage now and it is eye opening. Expect it on the blog later!