Kino

Land claims that RED is the only cinema camera company other than Sony that designs its own sensors and ASICs (integrated circuits). He makes no claims about where the sensors are fabricated. Of the cinema camera manufacturers, only Sony, Canon and Panasonic have their own sensor fabrication plants and have the potential to do everything in-house. Like BMD, RED would have to "outsource" the fabrication itself, which involves many steps, including the wafers from a semiconductor plant and the various other components that are then attached. The finished sensor just doesn't come from one place or even one factory. It's an elaborate process that is almost always outsourced for companies like RED and BMD. The difference is that RED designs their own sensors and boards and those are exclusive to them. You can't buy off-the-shelf versions of the Dragon sensor made by Fairchild or any other semiconductor company. It appears that BMD has to involve third parties like Fairchild in sensor design, suggesting that they don't have the same mastery that RED currently has. This lack of expertise may lead to problems such as we have seen with magenta-gate, considering how the sensor and its integration into the surrounding circuitry and the larger image processing chain would have to be designed with absolute precision. Perhaps they will get there eventually, such that they will have custom designed sensors that are exclusive to their products and not sold simultaneously as off-the-shelf sensors as with the Fairchild/BMD 4.6K. At that point, I would expect better quality control, which was the entire basis of our discussion. And, yes, it is entirely possible that BMD contracted Fairchild for the 4.6K with an arrangement to create two versions of the sensor: one for BMD and one off-the-shelf version. But the fact that they have to go to Fairchild would be proof that they did not design the 4.6K sensor on their own and do not hold the exclusive license or the patents involved.

From the Kinefinity owners I've read about or heard from, it seems that they have excellent customer service. They are also an honest company and tell their customers the truth, which is a great relief after what has happened with that other budget camera manufacturer. Distribution issues aside, I have much more faith in Kinefinity than any other camera manufacturer in that price range and I'm sure the 5K version will be along shortly. The Apple ProRes certification is also really difficult to obtain, so maybe they will push that to a future firmware update. Of course, everyone has to make a decision that meets his or her needs, budget, and production time constraints. If you require a camera right away, well then the Terra 5K is obviously not for you. In my case, I'm sitting on the Scarlet-W order/deposit whose allocation date is unknown but likely in early 2017 at the slow rate that Dragon production is going these days. This is despite the fact that I ordered months ago. In which case, the Terra 5K is not a bad proposition, considering that the only other (new) 5K camera in this market is going to require the same kind of waiting period or more if you ordered one today.

Yes, the 5K has improved rolling shutter over the 6K, which is exactly the same as the Kinemax 6K. I corrected the sentence above in case it was vague or unclear.

The Kinefinity rep at NAB claimed that the Terra 5K version will have a "dual gain" sensor (for an expanded DR) as well as an improved rolling shutter mode in contrast with the 6K, which has the same specs as the Kinemax 6K. He made it very clear that the 6K version will perform exactly the same as the existing Kinemax 6K: A lot of the Kinemax shooters seem to love the golden 3K that is for sure. Here is a very useful review of the Kinemax 6K by someone who owns and operates the camera for a living: To me, 5K is absolutely the perfect resolution as 6K simply results in little visual improvement at the price of much larger file sizes and storage requirements. Just ask some of the RED Dragon shooters. Meanwhile, the improvements with DR and rolling shutter performance make the 5K a much better option in those areas. If I can only see some footage soon, I will consider cancelling my Scarlet-W order and moving to the Terra 5K. It has an amazing feature set and is almost too good to be true.

Nice, but where have I seen this type of modular design before? Recall that the Kinemax 6K has the worst rolling shutter of any cinema camera unless you shoot in the 4K "sport mode," which then defeats the purpose of buying a 6K camera. So I'm not sure I would go for the 6K version. The Terra 5K, however, has the potential to be the best value in this price range, with the switchable global shutter and a 5K ProRes option. 5K also makes a lot more sense than the oddball 4.6K resolution in its competitors the Raven and Ursa Mini when considering the advantages gained in debayering for 4K delivery.

So it's just a coincidence that the BMD 4.6k sensor and the Fairchild 4.6k sensor have exactly the same specs and were released at the same time, right down to the switchable global/rolling shutter we were originally promised in the Ursa Mini? Having said that, there have been no statements from either company on where these sensors came from. BMD reps have claimed in interviews that the company spent $10 million developing the sensor, but that tells us nothing about what its relationship is to the Fairchild sensor that came out in 2015. And no one said you would get the same results if you put the same sensor into different cameras as there are so many other important components that contribute to the camera's image quality. The point was simply that BMD uses off-the-shelf sensor technology in contrast with RED and the electronics conglomerates. In fact, their CEO, Jarred Land, makes this claim about RED's sensors and boards: "We are the only company other than Sony in this market that designs both our own ASICs and sensors, so we can leverage yields in the manufacturing process to accommodate an array of products in different price points that all share the same DNA." http://nofilmschool.com/2016/02/red-scarlet-w-5k-camera-shipping Essentially, you are arguing against his position, which I have simply restated here.

When they announced the C500 with the 1DC in April 2012, the existing 1DX was not marketed as a video camera. The 1DX II is very different and suggests that they want to sell as many as those 4K machines to P. Bloom and his "cats" before coming out with a new C camera. Now whether it's going to be a 1DC II or a C200 is not so clear. What is clear is that the C line is going to have a huge gap between the C100 II ($4K) and the C300 II ($12K) and I'm sure they are eventually going to fill it with a new release perhaps in 2017 or 2018. That is all pending on Canon discontinuing the 1DC ($5K), the C300 ($7K), and the C500 ($7K). So far, they continue to sell all those at retail and I don't see Canon moving quickly to fill in that price bracket. They are conservative and move like snails.

There are two issues here, one of which you have alluded to in your post. BMD's volume is much higher, but its price point is exponentially lower than RED. Consequently, BMD is a victim of its own success when it comes to these online complaints. It's the ultimate paradox: they offer professional grade tools at consumer and prosumer prices. As a result of mass producing what are otherwise high-end tools for professionals, they have to deal with all kinds of people complaining that something doesn't work right. After all, these CDNG RAW files are not easy to work with and are seriously beefy files! RED doesn't face the same online attacks because its products are not mass produced and are aimed mostly at professionals. When problems occur, their users are more likely to get in touch with RED directly than take to the forums.

I'm not sure I agree that RED's problems are "brushed under the rug." At least, that's not what I've seen with recent issues. The Raven problems I've listed here, in addition to a few others (e.g., overheating, black shading, stuck pixels), are reported and discussed extensively on Reduser. In fact, the black sun problem was apparently fixed through firmware very soon after it was reported. That was a case of RED responding in lighting time to a known problem. As for the OLPF flares that I posted above, there is currently no solution to that as it cannot be fixed through firmware (the Raven has a fixed OLPF unlike the other RED cameras). You just have to avoid shooting at small apertures while aiming at the sun. As we all know, there is no such thing as a perfect camera and you should know the strengths and weaknesses of your system so that you can avoid the latter.

Indeed, a lot of the so-called magenta examples on the forums are suspicious to me. They shoot a white wall at f/16 or some ungodly aperture, push the saturation to over 100% in post, and then complain that there is something wrong with the Ursa 4.6k sensor as opposed to their own test methods! Of course, if you do this with any camera, you are not going to get a good result. It's such a waste of time and it takes attention away from those units that may have real problems. As for the price/performance of BMD cameras, there is no argument from me. They are simply the best in their price range as I've stated above. Where else can you buy a $3K camera with 4K 12 bit RAW, 2 XLRs, an LCD, SDI out, a global shutter, and a Resolve USB key valued at $1000? It's a crazy good deal!

I understand what you're saying. I just don't see much magenta in the same way as some of the more blatant 4.6k examples. There are magenta claims on the 4.6k that are just not credible and require pushing the footage in post to reveal some anomaly, which is otherwise not visible. I'm not talking about that type of suspect activity that would show up any camera! Is there a slight color shift to the Sunday Afternoon image? It does look like it, but I'm not seeing any obvious magenta corners or sides. I know from REDuser that the guy who shot this didn't have any ND or IR filters and shot at very small apertures (f16/f22). Perhaps that has something to do with it. That is also a good reason not to shoot the 4.6k or any camera at extreme apertures, as color shifts will occur. I can't believe some people think it is a good idea to shoot footage at those apertures. The result will never be pretty for color or detail and sharpness.

RED Raven OLPF Flares

I've never seen any magenta corners on the Raven footage and I don't see it in the sample above. I have seen other issues, however, such as the orange OLPF flares (visible at 1:18 in the Sunday Afternoon clip above) and the black sun (if you overexpose enough):

I posted a sensor spec sheet from Fairchild that demonstrates how BMD uses off-the-shelf (or slightly modified) sensors in its cameras and does not manufacture its own sensors like Canon or Sony. You respond with insults and personal attacks. But please, carry on there . . . For the record, I do think the specs on the Fairchild sensor are world class and superior to almost anything else out there. Let's hope that BMD can release the camera in greater numbers and without any issues.

Blackmagic must be doing something right as the Ursa Mini 4.6k is sold out wherever you look. For all their problems, they offer something that no other camera manufacturer does in this price range. The only company that comes close is Kinefinity, but they have nowhere near the global reach and distribution that BMD enjoys.

From their quality control, it does look like it. Does the "Big Mac sensor meal" come with a side of magenta?

BMD outsources more than most of the companies I listed as manufacturing their own sensors: Sony, Canon and Panasonic. I never mentioned ARRI, and what I claimed about Blackmagic I backed up with a link to the Fairchild sensor at the heart of the Ursa Mini 4.6k. RED also does not use off-the-shelf sensors or "modified" sensors like the Fairchild. They design their own, which is then manufactured exclusively for them. There is a huge difference. I have no need to guess about BMD's manufacturing, when I already received two cameras from them with dust and particles behind the sensor protector glass. Perhaps next time you are in their factory you can mention this problem since I know others have seen it as well. Maybe they will listen to you considering your close relationship with the company . . .

Oh really? So BMD manufactures their own sensors and circuits and does not source them, as in the case of the 4.6k sensor from Fairchild imaging? http://www.fairchildimaging.com/catalog/focal-plane-arrays/scmos/ltn4625a As for the black hole fix in Resolve, it does not work on partially obstructed light sources or when you have a shot of the sun through leaves, for example. Moving objects and scattered highlights (the sun reflecting off water) are also difficult or impossible to fix using this tool. Otherwise, when the sun is clear of the horizon, it can really save a shot (it's still not a perfect solution, however). We should also note that the Ursa Mini 4k has solved the problem and no longer has the black sun that afflicts our BMPC-4K cameras.

Be careful what you wish for as it may come true. Canon recorded a loss for the last quarter. As one of the largest Japanese conglomerates, they wouldn't even be selling cameras if it weren't for the lenses they sell alongside them (and the fact that their imaging technology and sensors are utilized in several of their divisions). If the losses continue, however, Canon will simply get out of the camera business and focus on printers and everything else.

BMD's problem has always been quality control. Sadly, they seem to have only gotten worse with the Ursa Mini 4K and 4.6K. They don't learn from their past mistakes in rushing cameras out before they are ready. I think it has something to do with the fact that they source parts and do not manufacture their own circuits and sensors as with RED and the electronics conglomerates (Sony, Panasonic, Canon). They are a small camera operation (setting aside their post-production business, which is much older and more established) and offer niche budget products to indie filmmakers and videographers. I'm sure they will continue to focus on this market as opposed to producing cameras for larger productions, which require extensive service arrangements and logistical support. I shoot with the BMPC-4K and I had a 4.6K on preorder last year. Once I learned about all the problems, I cancelled it just before they shipped it to me. Currently, it's just too much of a risk. Perhaps when they have figured out all the problems, I can be confident in ordering one again. As for the price/performance, there is nothing even close . . .

The C300 II is not a "flop" but a victim of Canon's own success with the C100 line and C300 I, which are the most popular doc cameras in the world. The 1DC may be phased out, in which case its place will be filled by another C camera, perhaps the C100 III, or "C200," with 4K. However, I still believe that Canon intends to release a 1DC II and that it will be very similar to the 1DX II with only a slight premium on the price and features. I don't believe that 10 bit is possible in the weather-sealed body, since it would necessitate the introduction of fans. It would also raise the cost significantly and require them to redesign the 1D body from its newest version. They would also need a new codec other than MJPEG, which would undermine the "hybird" nature of the camera that is advertised as motion stills. The only other option would be to redesign MJPEG using a newer spec such as JPEG-9, which allows for 10-bit and 12-bit processing: http://www.infai.org/jpeg/ In this case, the camera will cost way more than a 1DX II because the R&D would go through the roof. I don't see Canon pursuing this more ambitious option and I expect them to stick to their conservative ways and their incremental product advancement with any 1DC II release.

By releasing the 1DX II, Canon has already demonstrated that it can bring this technology to market at less than half the cost of the original camera. A 1DC II is not going to cost $12K, or anywhere near the price of a C300 II. It will be a premium version of the 1DX II with a price tag of around $7-8k and it will add C-Log and a few other exclusive cinema features. It will also not cost Canon anything much on the R&D front. I've been certain about the 1DC II as soon as I heard about the 1DX II (especially with the lack of the cinema features from the 1DC). One follows the other, just like last time.

He, he! I'm thinking more about $8,000, or the price point just evacuated by the 1DC.

This all but confirms that the 1DC II will be announced by the end of the year to ship in 2017.

It has nothing to do with the 5D IV, which will come in at a much lower price. Rather, it keeps the 1DC competitive with the 1DX II and makes room for a 1DC II announcement perhaps later this year.