Giovanni Bertani

Sold two months ago my 5D MKIII this is my next camera. Canon bye bye

I have macs updated with SSDs. 1 Macbook Pro 15", 1 MacPro and one Macbook 12" no one problem with Yosemite.

. so you're looking at around $18,000 for a fully loaded Mac Pro with two 4K monitors . . . . .

 

Well... you do not need this setup.
 

Base model is already a great configuration for editing multiple 4K streams so is future proof for some years of nice work. The Mac Pro also supports 3 4K monitors at 60hz by default. You can update the SSD and RAM with cheaper third party solutions. In January you will see the first 28" quality monitors around $1000 and the bigger ones will be dropping price soon. So the situation is not so bad.

Ok well, would you buy Nikon glass for use with the BMPCC exclusively?

There is something I would do and be safe to not regret it. If you buy some nice Nikon manual lenses on ebay you will be still able to use them on both Nikon and Canon bodies beside BMPCC. Also used lenses are not going to loose value so much.

Andrew great footage. Your blog is really my first choice for updates that matter.

I am shooting with a Mark III in Raw and Canon still has a full line of video cameras with EF lenses. You can mount Nikon glass over a Canon mount. So for me now selling all my glass makes no sense.

This is great and basically removing most of the limits of BMCC.

 

To be the perfect combo with a Canon Mark III we need EF lenses version now. Please!

Is there any news about the 4K Production Camera? 

Well... beside all the talks I am really waiting to buy the Blackmagic Pocket + Speed Booster MFT for Canon lenses. So this will be the end of the story for me for sometime.

 

In my bag soon or later:
Canon Mark 3 body for stills

Blackmagic Pocket body for video (ProRes + Raw)

Set of primes

 

Is this really far away to the almost perfect solution everybody is talking about?

 

I think not... and we should be around the corner as Speed Booster MFT for Canon lenses should be ready soon.

 

Cheers

Oh yes... Nikon entering the fashion business. There is no reason at all this can be taken seriously over a D800E. A tool is a tool and this is obviously not marketed to photographers.

 

My perfect set in the bag now is a nice set of lenses mounted over:

A7R for greatly detailed photography in a compact body good for gallery size large prints Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera with speed booster to use the same lenses on Raw video

 

Looks like to me that in a modular world having two optimized sensors/bodies with a great shared lens set will be a wiser choice than a limited hybrid.

 

And this will be the direction I will take. 

Great article. Very impressed about the Blackmagic Pocket. With the Canon EF to MFT active speedbooster and RAW firmware update this will be my preferred movie camera:

 

http://www.43rumors.com/speed-booster-ef-to-mft-adapter-release-delayed/

This is my perfect photo camera. As ugly as a quality focused technical design should be.

 

...and totally agree that could be just killer to have a ProRes or Raw option.

 

I have to see how the glass part works with adapters etc... for my Eos lenses. If this works well my X-E1 + two lens will take a nice trip on Ebay before the end of the year.

I assume that you will be able speed up rendering by adding these boxes and using OpenCL.

 

This could be the killer expansion at $ 200-250: 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7040/computex-2013-thunderbolt-graphics-from-silverstone

 

Cheers

No independent film maker has used this camera in its final version so we can not judge. I am personally waiting to download and grade some footage before any decision or judgment. The rest is just guessing.

After using the 5d MKIII in raw my expectations are very high. The bar has risen.

The only thing I am sure about is the ergonomics that should be much more improved.

Andrew

Just bought your book with the same spirit I donated ML form the beginning. The spirit of community and sharing is the best thing internet has to offer and we see the fruit everyday.

 

Beside that your book is a great shortcut for somebody that wants to shoot RAW.

 

Ciao

As usual Apple plans for the long term. First to drop floppy, first to drop optical and now first to drop internal expansion with external modular approach.

Totally agree with Apple. No way they can build a strategy in which the pro apps are running proprietary acceleration like CUDA. A modern OS must be open.

Seams to me that a lot of developers were heading on the wrong direction while Apple has been promoting fo quiet some time OpenCl as the open standard for for GPU accelaration and now they are running to update their app to support this new machine.

The bigger failure is Red with the new rocket that has no new computer to be installed on.. They probably should have just invested in OpenCl, whith such installed double GPUs I think they could be more than safe in supporting their codecs in realtime.

DaVinci Resolve 10 is already optimized and running on OpenCl at BlackMagic on this Mac Pro:
http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=8898#p56608

Adobe Premiere Pro will be optimized too:
http://www.dslrfilmnoob.com/2013/06/10/adobe-premiere-pro-creative-cloud-supports-opengl/

CUDA is now obsoleted as not standard proprietary technology will matter less and less. OpenCl is the future.

SSD and Ram are user upgradable.

This is the first true 4K RAW fully integrated editing workstation.

Soon I will be able to switch from my MacBook Retina setup to a 4K workstation in a way as easy as plugging the cables. Future will be about plugged modular components. FCPX with its OpenCl integration, project management and files management was built exactly for these future machines from scratch. Plug a module (Storage, GPU, Dsp, Monitor, video I/O etc) , auto recognize and start working.

Andrew thanks again for your great coverage. Your blog is such an incredible source of independent practical advise!

i am bored of these overrated japanse paied Magic Lantern critics (Read Laforet) that are just as ridiculous in their opinions as it is Canon with such piloted pricing and specs policy.

The fact is that even if I am very happy of the raw I am getting now on the 5D Mark III , I feel the strange paradox of having at the same time lost all my respect for Canon.

I am using quiet a different workflow and the results are actually impressive anyway. 5d Mark III is such a huge step for me in terms of potential for experimentation. This is not just a video file but a series of photos put in sequence... I am planning to shoot the first full project  in few days including some footage with our Cinestar Drone.

 

My workflow:

Magic Lantern Raw Dng Conversion --> Lightroom Export Uncompressed Tiff  --> Apple Aperture --> Apple FCPX for editing (Very dependable and quiet fast and accurate)

 

Magic Lantern Raw Dng Conversion --> Photoshop Batch-> Apple FCPX for editing (Very buggy and slow thanks to Photoshop)

 

https://vimeo.com/67519411

Stats and specs are one thing, but what really matters is how the image makes your audience feel! sometimes sharp is the right choice, sometimes not. 

 

That's why pre-ordering is such a gamble. It could be great on paper but a practical nightmare! Just have to wait and see...

 

Given Black Magic experience in editing, approach seen on BMCC, sensor producer DNA and first footage seen at NAB looks like we can expect something really interesting. As the first pre production or production cameras will be soon tested by the press, by being  able to get an original BMCC in a short time just in case well...  I do not see such a risk.

 

Regarding the "too sharp" "too much definition" ... I really do not agree here at all. Not at all... Black Magic Cameras seams to me just great 24P / 30P photographic tools able to produce very interesting organic looking visuals. 4K will improve this and the rest will be a matter of artistic aesthetics and skills.

 

Has anyone really complained of the jump taken by Nikon in terms of resolved pixels with the switch from D700 to D800? Is this making any Nikon photographer looking like Peter Jackson in the Hobbit because of the added pixels? Well... there is much more to be or not to be Cinematic and involving.

 

I want a greatly resolved image with wide DR all in RAW/Prores to start from there to build my very personal visual expression. Those über compressed, über blurred days will be gone soon.  ;)

I am sure they have learned the lesson and we will have no delays. Canceled my original order and switched to the 4K.

Raw 4k for $500 more than a 5D MK3 body price... This is my Bye bye to Canon... My 5D mk2 replacement is postponed and my Canon lenses will be used on this new beast.

Regarding BM I am sure they will deliver this time. I was surprised by their announcement... Almost hungry... But thinking a little bit... I can understand their point. The original sensor supplier almost destroyed their efforts in the camera business but now looks like they have serious partner that is, by chance, also working with another very serious company called Leica that does not compromise (At a price...) on quality manufacturing.

As most of the big corp outsource their production to hardware production specialists (Including lenses...), with good design it is possible today to revolutionize the market in a way it was unthinkable some years ago. Exciting...

Regarding the 1080p full sensor size output I wonder if this achived by a smart selection of pixels in the global shutter reads. Maybe this is a way to avoid huge scaling cpu loads and loss of definition.

Ciao

I'm just blown away that this technology even exists. This is something that should just be built into all small sensor cameras right? I mean, wouldn't it be great if the Black magic cinema camera just had something like this built into the camera? Just before the lens mount? Why not?

Exactly my thinking...

Well... This is Just great as I have so much Canon glass. I was going to buy a wide angle zoom for my coming BMCC and suddenly instead this adaptor comes out and all my full frame lenses work just fine for a little more price I was going to spend. Then with the increase of speed BMCC will also get great low light performance and sharpness not achievable before.

My second use will be on my X-E1 that now will became an even more incredible performer for sharpness and low light performance. Great.

This is not going to make me a better photographer or film maker but will improve my toolset very much

[quote name='Paul' timestamp='1348173076' post='18754']

I think the Apple/Canon comparison is interesting.

[/quote]

Well is not interesting at all. The comparison does not make sense at all.

In iPhones you pay the software developement R&D and services development while Android is given free to handset producers together with free services and google should earn money (Not much really) by advertising. (I live alone that Android is a copycat so Google just didn't have Apple costs in R&D...). iOs is a controlled system intended for casual and advance consumers not focused on pure specs but on usability, Android Samsung phones are intended to the more... "Nerdy" consumers (Galaxy etc) focused on performance or to the market of cheap alternatives to iPhones (Entry levels). So we are talking of different business models to approach the same market.

A better comparison...

Compare Canon approach to BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes etc... offering in EUROPE the same engines with different "power steps". You look at those and you realize that the 110 HP and the 180 HP are basically the same engines with the same production costs but you pay quite a price difference. This works because every car manufacturer uses the same approach and you are oblidged to follow them.

Well with Canon... The difference is that now they have an incredible competition and pressure not following their approach at all.... Cameras are getting compatible with EOS lenses and there less and less reason to get stuck with such "dumb consumer" strategies.

Canon did this with 500d, 550d 600d 7D 60D etc the same camera with slightly different software and body. Is doing this again with 1D C and 1D X but I think it is plain stupid. I really expect a huge loss of confidence and respect on the brand if Canon continues like this... We read, we have fantastic blogs to source information and communities like Vimeo to see real world results. No fooling here...