Jim

What the world needs now... is love, sweet love...   Goodness me, what a lot of anger and rudeness people. We're talking about a new tech product here, not issues of human morality!   I'm a newbie to this forum, at least as a poster. I have found it to be as very helpful and enlightening resource. Andrew, while I don't always agree with his views, is very knowledgable and generally helpful (except when he's being attacked from all quarters, and who amongst us wouldn't get a bit tetchy?), and I for one am more knowledgable thanks to his forum. I have also learned things I didn't previously know from many other posters here. We are all different, shooting different things with different preferences and different areas of expertise. Why insult and denigrate others who may be equally "professional" and knowledgable in their specific arena?   I think the lesson here is... some people will like this camera for their working needs, and some won't. What is the point in comments like "you shouldn't be a cinematographer if you... shoot super-wide/like shallow dof/shoot prores on a RAW cam/blah, blah and indeed, blah".   My own personal tastes are for a sensor size as close to S35 as possible. So I prefer APSC, MFT, BMC etc to 135 FF. But that's just me. I don't often find myself needing a 'cinematic look' in a small, dull space, but then most of my jobs are dramas rather than corporate promos or documentaries. There are plenty of options to achieve the look you want if you know how to get them. Many people have mentioned super-wide solutions for MFT or APSC. There are insanely fast options for MFT if you want extreme shallow dof, and so on. While the 5d is not for me, it has undeniably been the catalyst in a truly amazing revolution in "affordable" videography. Good on Canon. I couldn't have seen the BMC happening so soon, if indeed at all, if not for the soaraway success of their flagship DSLR hybrid.   Crop factor/Schmrop factor, a wise man decides what fovs he needs to tell the story and selects a range of glass to achieve that end. And it is all there, for any interchangable lens system (at a price of course). As many have mentioned, dynamic range is far more important to me in choosing a camera, and I choose my glass accordingly. But again, I have a specific set of requirements that others may not share.    I completely fell for the MFT system as soon as the GH1 was hacked. It is ridiculously cheap, affords the widest range of glass, and has a dof that pleases my tastes. Am I an idiot for shooting on an AF101 or a hacked GH1 instead of a 5d? Ok, the GH1 may not be production friendly with the lack of monitor-out capabilities and limited dynamic range, but one of my favourite and most successful pieces was a short film shot on it with a set of vintage LOMOs, beautiful low-contrast seventies independent hollywood look achieved on a no-budget shoot. And I have shot on REDs, FS700s, 5Ds, Arri-S16s and just about everything short of the Alexa. Remember shooting on old ENG cams with a dof adapter and a bit of stocking on the back of the lens? You just use all the tricks to achieve your desired look on whatever gear the budget will allow.   So back to the BMC. I think this is a near-miraculous and revolutionary first step to the next gen of camera tech. I probably won't be buying one, as I can simply rent when they eventually sort the shipping issues, and I prefer to wait for the 2nd gen of tech that will inevitably follow in response. But I am mightily impressed with the bang-for-your-buck factor. I'm sure it will be a hugely popular choice but won't be for everyone. Let's just discuss what it is we like, and what we dislike about the camera as regards our own individual tastes/commercial needs. Whether you buy/use this camera, it is a very exciting time for cinematographers.   Rant over. Nothing more to see here. Go about your business.