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blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 12k for VP - SDI woes
Catalyst-IntARMedia posted a topic in Troubleshooting
Hello, Looking for semi urgent help as we have JUST gotten a Blackmagic Ursa mini pro 12k camera for our teaching in university and today on first test came to find we cant get any form of SDI signal output from either front or rear SDI output. We have reset and updated the camera following a phone call with blackmagic themselves but concerned how a new camera cant output a signal or are we being dumb. We followed advised SDI in/out process and used new cables. Any help or advice as I am aware LTT has some ursa 12k cameras and curious if they ran into any issues like this? -
Anyone here using a Blackmagic Camera (like the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K) with a good iPhone-app to control the features like white balance, iris, shutter and preferable also focus remotely? The Blackmagic Camera Control app is only available for iPad (not iPhone) for some reason...?
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I have a Gigabyte X570 UD motherboard (with 3 x PCIE x16 length slots) and a Mellanox ConnectX-3 10Gbe card. When I install the Decklink card, the 10Gbe card no longer appears in device manager. I have tried switching the slots between the two, but nothing changes. Both cards work perfectly when the other one is not plugged in. I have tried changing the PCIe Biufication the PCIe Gen settings in the BIOS but that doesn't help. I have tried an old Blackmagic Intensity Pro (2009) I had lying around and it works perfectly with the 10gbe card. I have also tried an Intel intel X520 10gbe card instead of the Mellanox one, and it doesn't show up if the Decklink card is installed I have upgraded the X570 bios firmware to the latest version I am stumped on this one, hoping someone here might be able to help. System: Ryzen 3800XT Gigabyte X570 UD Rev1.1 Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 MHz- 32GB (2x16) Gigabyte RTX 3060 12GB Mellanox ConnectX-3 10Gbe card (also have a intel X520 10Gbe card which I can switch out) Blackmagic Decklink Studio 4k Windows 10 Pro 21H1 19043.1288
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blackmagic Deciding on a Blackmagic switcher
Mr Technician posted a topic in Photography and Videography
I'm looking to purchase a video switcher for producing services at my church. I've narrowed my search to a few models but am torn between a combined switcher/control panel or buying a separate control panel. Software control isn't an option. The cheapest option that meets my needs is the ATEM Television Studio Pro HD, but the controls don't look as good as the dedicated panels. Alternatively, I could purchase the ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel (with physical camera controls), which I could pair with either the ATEM Television Studio HD or ATEM Production Studio 4K. The latter option is significantly more expensive than the former but also has significant advantages. I will need to use luma keys, basic transitions, and basic PiP. From what I can tell, all three switcher options will allow this. Is there a significant difference in capability (DVE, M/E, etc.) between the production studio 4k and television studio HD (be it the Pro model or otherwise)? Do I need to worry about input resolution and framerate matching for any of these models? Can both the SDI and HDMI program outputs on the Production Studio 4k be used simultaneously? The other parts of the setup are as follows: Two HDMI cameras 1-3 Additional cameras (possibly PTZ) in the future Two HDMI inputs from ProPresenter for video content and song lyrics Four monitors, one each for multiview, ATEM software control, OBS stream preview, and general computer usage. A computer running OBS with an Intensity Pro 4k installed. I will purchase and SDI to HDMI adapter if my selected switcher does not offer Program out over HDMI A Streamdeck for controlling OBS functions Any input or suggestions are much appreciated. I have reached the limits of what I can do with OBS directly as video production needs have increased and I want to move to a dedicated switcher as soon as possible. Spec sheets below: -
So i want to get a BMPCC 4k and an Elgato CamLink to replace my webcam (stupid i know) and to anyone who has it, can it do 1080p at 60fps while using the CamLink? Now I know its main use is for 4k cinematography, but those colors... even the 720p vids look nice on youtube. So can it
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Hi all. I work with a small company doing Video production. We are running into a Issue with long term storage of all our 4K footage. I believe only 2- 3 months ago we acquired a 36TB Raid, with is now full. We are using 4 Blackmagic Pocket cinema camera's in 4K (Blackmagic Raw/12:1) on a shoot, ranging from 1.5 Hour, to 6 hours. Just this week we have done 3 days in the studio, recording 4 hours each time with 3-4 camera angles. Some key points- - Currently there is 1 part time experienced editor. So deleting unusable clips will be slow to happen. - End products are hours long, compared to more 4k YouTube videos being about 20 minutes. - Being a small company, money is somewhat of a issue. So I hope you can see our dilemma here. At the time being we are just accumulating raid boxes, and that's not attractive. Thanks in advance for your knowledge and time! Tyler~
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Didn't know what subforum to put this in, so sorry if this shouldn't be here : So I have a Blackmagic Intensity Pro and I am having issues getting the HDMI input to work. I've tried using my main PC, a PS4 and an Xbox 360 going into it, and I get no picture from any of them. I don't really have anything else with an hdmi output, so I don't know if I'm running into issues with copy protection, or if my capture card isn't working. Does anyone know what could be wrong with the card? Thanks for any and all responses!
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Hey Everyone, I'm looking for an internal thunderbolt 3 card that's compatible with multiple types of motherboards (specifically Asus Z97-K and MSI Z370-A Pro). I'm wanting to be able to use 2 Blackmagic Ultrastudio Minis. I've been using my MBP for them but it's struggling... badly. So let's attach it to the beefy Xeon PCs.
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With more eGPU options like new razor core X and Apple Black Magic eGPU... Can these be run in SLI if you have two USB-C thunderbolt ports? Can you daisy chain them? also... Is mining possible? I think the mining videos showed running 16x slot cards on a 4x link, so I don't believe mining needs many lanes. What are the limits here? Enclosures are expensive... but can you put more graphics cards in one system than traditional means? Haven't seen anyone test/review the limits on this.
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I recently bought a Samsung 850 Evo for my macbook pro from 2012. My mac does have sata 3, which means the ssd is getting the full 6 gbps. The rated speeds for this ssd is a read speed of 540 mbps and a write speed of 520 mbps. However, I get extremely low scores for write speed when I test the disk using blackmagic's software. I reportedly get from 300 - 485 mbps, which is not as high as 520 mbps. All apps were closed when the disk test was run. The read speeds are normal while the write speeds are very low. Help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Blackmagic Pocket Cinema vs. Cinema Camera
Eazy Cheezy posted a topic in Photography and Videography
Hey all, So I'm wanting to save up and upgrade from my Canon 60D to one of these two Blackmagic Design Cameras. I have spent days researching both and am well aware of the many pros and cons with each one. My problem is, I just can't seem to decide which would be the most effective purchase. I am moving into full time videography for a local studio and have gained an extensive knowledge of video codecs and color grading. I'm ready to move into a ProRes/RAW workflow. I also want to make short films in my free time. Essentially, I believe that my good ol' 60D is starting to hold me back in respect of the codec's flexibility. I would like to say I'd get the pocket cinema camera due to it having the same features/better portability/lower price, but being able to utilize that extra bit of resolution with the standard cinema camera. Anyone have recommendations? Any input is greatly appreciated!- 7 replies
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Hello Guys. Earlier Linus Posted the New Wan show Setup and It Looks like we will never have trouble watching Again. Well.. Hopefully xD. Anyways I'm here to give a suggestion to Linus Media Group, especially the Wan Show. Don't get me wrong the setup is Great and if it's suite them along the way then you can just appreciate my Suggestion LoL. So First I will explain what will i add that will benefit the current setup, then next i will explain what needs to be removed. Okay So the first Item that i will suggest is a Production Switcher. Now "What is a Production Switcher?" You Might Ask. According to Wiki: So basically in a nutshell.. it is a kind of device that is used to switch between different sources, (in our case it's Video). Same functionality goes for Audio thus it's called (Audio Mixer). Now there are 2 types of Production Switcher: Software Based Production Switcher - this is one of the most popular choice for Gamers and Streamers as it is cheap,effective and easy to use. All you need is a source (camera), a device that will accept the source i.e Capture Cards, Usb Capture Device,Elgato,Avermedia...etc. and a software that will enable you to switch between the sources. (OBS,Wirecasts,Xsplit and so on.) of course since it's software then you need something where you can operate it, in our case it's a PC or a Laptop. Now the Wan Show Setup is based on a software that Linus use To switch between sources, (xSplit) he then used their capture device which is the Amazing Epiphan, it can be found here: http://geni.us/XI8jN5 and here https://www.epiphan.com/avio/wan/ to accepts inputs and then send the information to the wan show PC. This type of switchers requires a lot of processing power thus most Streamers used an i7 and above configuration to encode the stream and send it to the internet. Hardware Based Production Switcher- this is the kind of Product that most Media & TV networks use in their setup, as it provides Professional grade hardware that the consumers don't have such as mix effects, professional SDI Inputs & outputs and so on. Oh, I forgot to say that these products are no joke and costs a lot of $$$$... Popular Brands in these Category are Black Magic Design, Data Video, Grass Valley,Roland, For A., Sony, Panasonic and so on. Recently BMD (BlackMagicDesign) Recently released a new and Improve switcher, if you're following the AV industry You know that BMD has a lot of products, one of those is the infamous Atem brand. Atem is the name of their Production Switchers. These switchers are the Atem Television Studio, Atem Production Studio 4K, Atem 1 ME 4K Production Studio, Atem 2 ME 4K Production Studio and the new and improve ATEM TVS HD. Furthermore: These Products do the same job, but one does the job better and with a lot of features. The setup that i am suggesting is the ATEM TVS HD. that retails for around $945 (which is not cheap but affordable.. Well it's LMG.. they can afford lots of this.) Basically this will replace the Wan Show PC and most of the Hardware in it. All you need is this switcher, the cameras, laptops or computer for the Screen Cast, the Audio Gear and the streaming hardware.. Which i will talk about later. Now in this section i will explain what needs to be removed if you pursue this option, because the Atem has most of the features you will ever need. 1. The capture cards can now be removed because the Atem has 8 Inputs, 4 are HDMI's 1.3? (Not Sure) and 4 are SDI's. You can use All of them Simultaneously. 2. The Scarlet Studio Audio Inferace Can Also be removed, as you can just use the output from your Soundcraft mixer to the Audio Input of the Atem. (take note: you just need to remove the 6 channel audio interface, i'm not sure why do you have the 18i20, for expansion maybe?. What i understand from the Audio Setup of the Wan Show is the Mic's are inputted in the Soundcraft Mixer, then the output of the mixer will go to the compressor then its output will be inputted in the 18i20.. Or the other way around. (I'm just guessing by the looks of it). Anyways that whole deal yo is complex. Simple solution is Soundcraft Mixer to the Compressor & Limiter then to the Atem. I'm sure that compressor is 2 channel and so is the atem. That's it.. We are almost Done. Almost. Well. You need a streaming hardware- it is a device that will encode the stream to the internet... in Linus case it's their PC. Here i present to you the following. They can asked their contacts at Epiphan to try this out LoL 1. Epiphan broadcaster 2. AJA H264 Streamer 3.Blackmagic Web Presenter - I would not recommend this if you need to stream 1080p videos at it will stream at only 720p. (I'm not sure if they will upgrade it to stream 1080p in the future.) By the way these are stand alone Hardware that needs configuring via it's WEB UI. Or Other Alternative is Linus and Jake can build a streaming Server Lels... Which is Fun To Watch.. Also Remember luke trying the Float Pane? Club? (I dunno what it's called) Well they can used this to stream specifically to that =)) Now you're thinking, Dang! This Costs A Lot. Well yes it is... really Anyways... I'm not a Professional AV Head, I'm just a AV Gear Geek and would love to try these stuff in the future if i can,My Dream would become a TD (Technical Director), BMD does not support me in any way, this is just the most affordable production switcher brand that i can suggest especially if you are in a budget. On the other hand, I do have a switcher here in my possession but it's only in SD ( Standard Definition) Which is a bit nostalgic hahahah. =D . Alright that concludes my suggestion guys. Feel Free To Comment What you think. I'm just a concern LMG Fan out here and i would never dictate what is good or bad, If the Current Setup Works for them in the long run then Great. Thanks for checking this out.
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I am trying to run a stream for events, and the video keeps freezing when I plug in more than one camera to the capture cards. (Excluding USB Webcams). Setup: Computer: i7 6700k @ 4.4 ghz 16GB RAM Windows 10 Pro MSI 650ti Boost Capture Cards: (2x) Blackmagic Decklink Recorder (PCIe) Cameras: (2x) Canon Vixia HF G30 Logitech C920 Webcam Audio: Behringer Xenyx Q802USB Problem: I have 3 camera sources-2 Canon camcorders brought in by Decklink capture cards, and a Logitech C920 webcam. The stream will run fine with one of the Canon cameras and the C920 plugged in, but as soon as I plug in the second camera, I start to get problems. The video from the first Canon camera will freeze. I can re-initialize the source to get the video back, but then the other will freeze. I have tried with multiple different cameras, from different brands, different cables, different PCIe Slots, everything I can think of. I have tried different streaming software, and both work fine in vMix and XSplit-no freezing even after hours of streaming, so I am assuming it is some kind of issue with OBS Studio, rather than my hardware. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Log file: https://gist.github.com/cc4ab95c22b02490e9fcc99c19d262ff *Note-the C920 was not plugged in when I got this log file. I am aware that there is an update available for OBS, and will be downloading that shortly, but doubt that will fix the problem. Regardless, I will be posting results back here. If I have left anything out please let me know. Thanks!
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Relevant Information YES I am aware that Blackmagic has since Monday released a new 4.0 BETA firmware for the Ursa Mini 4.6K, but since I sent the camera back before this was out I made this video using firmware 3.3. The new firmware does add A LOT of awesome features including quicker access to controls, so thumbs up to Blackmagic for getting that rolled out. Camera Body I/O aside the Blackmagic had a few quirks that I will mention here for anyone considering on purchasing an Ursa Mini 4.6K. The first is that all the threaded mounting points on the camera are sized for ¼”-20 screws. The reason this could be a small issue for some is that most tripod plates come with a single ¼”-20 screw and a single 3/8” screw, meaning that you will need to have extra ¼”-20 screws on hand to prevent your tripod plate from twisting loose. My second minor gripe with the Ursa Mini’s body is that the power button is ONLY on the inside of the monitor. This was particularly annoying when I was using the camera handheld eventually needing to switch batteries and in order to do so I had to take the camera off my shoulder open the monitor, power the camera off, set the camera down or have someone hold it then finally change batteries. When trying to work quickly with a crew in particular this was a minor but noticeable annoyance. My third and final physical complaint is the omission of the global shutter. While I understand that Blackmagic could not make the process work with both the promised DR and the Global shutter it is a bit of a let down. The silver lining to this is the rolling shutter on the Ursa is very solid and was never an issue even when using the camera handheld. In all the work I put this camera through not once did it cross my mind that the rolling shutter made the image much worse. I consider Global Shutter to be a feature reserved for higher end cameras and there aren't many cameras close to the Ursa's price point that have it. QC Issues Like all of Blackmagic’s releases this camera has been in high demand and had a lot of people in line with pre-orders. While I can only guess, this seems to have led to difficulties in their QC process. Our unit from B&H had a small imperfection on the cameras monitor that was not generally noticeable when you had an image on screen but was definitely visible going through the cameras menus. This could very easily be damage the camera received during shipping but ether way we ended up with it, annoying. The second more pressing issue we had physically was the REAR SDI out on the camera did not work at any point in time. I tried multiple camera and full size desktop monitors and half a dozen SDI cables with no luck. This was disappointing but not something I believe Blackmagic would fix if my past customer service experience with them is any indication. This is however something that many will find unacceptable since you will be without your camera for up to several weeks depending on where you live. The last and possibly the most talked about QC issue that people have been mentioning is the magenta cast that some of the 4.6K sensors seem to be exhibiting. While I was shooting with the Ursa Mini I was using a GenusTech Variable ND filter and a Hoya IR Cut Filter since I was often outside shooting for this video and the short film. When using those two filters together I did not notice any magenta cast in any of the footage I shot, making sure to go through every shot start to finish checking for it. The corners of the frame seem to be the dead giveaway on other owners units but I did not experience such a drastic issue. That being said when I was not using the ND filter with the IR cut filter I did notice a SLIGHT magenta cast in some of my evening footage particularly at 800 ISO (Will be adding screen grabs in the morning) When I first noticed it I was a tad bit concerned however after doing a simple tint correction with in Premiere Pro (nothing fancy) I was able to remove all signs it was ever there, in fact many shots in the video originally had the slight tint and I am fairly certain you would never know it was there to begin with after colour correction was done. It is a shame others are having issues with their copy of the camera but if most currently shipping Ursa Mini’s give the images I got from the one I tested I think there will be many happy owners of this camera out there still. I do hope Blackmagic addresses this issue full swing as its one of main drawbacks being talked about this camera at the moment, but it is also something that should be fixable with time as these cameras begin shipping in larger numbers. It isn't something to brush past if you are considering this camera but if you can afford the time to correct it when it arrives the rest of the image will impress. Finally I hope you guys enjoy the video and if you have any other specific questions about the Ursa Mini 4.6k please done hesitate to ask me on twitter: @Brandon_Y_lee
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Amazon: http://geni.us/xSB3OMQ Brandon's review game has reached another freaking level with this one... the URSA Mini 4.6k review is here, and trust me, it is freaking awesome!
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Have anyone some nice Tricks or Tipps to Work faster and more Effecient with Resolve or do you know a few nice plugins please text me
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So I have a Blackmagic Intensity Pro 4K card that is way too loud, it has a 2 pin Cooler mounting layout and I was wondering if there are any standard cooler sizes that this card uses, I want to use a bigger aftermarket cooler. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/intensitypro4k Which cooler do you think works? what measurement should I take from the card ? Thank you!
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I've seen Austin Evans using BlackMagic Disk Speed Test on many videos. Eg: https://youtu.be/FoOs1YrKjkw?t=1m13s Please tell me where can I get that. I just love the interface. I know alternatives. But I want the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test. CANNOT FIND ANYWHERE ON WWW.
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Hi there, I'm looking for an internal capture card, but my requirements are: I want to be able to capture from analogue sources, such as old games consoles, so the card requires some form of SD input But I also want to be able to capture 1080p60 and higher footage, for futureproofing reasons. I've seen a small amount of cards, like this one from AverMedia, but due to it's age it doesn't even have support for 1080p. There's also the Intensity Pro 4K from Blackmagic, which sounds good and comes with a breakout cable, but I've read that some people had issues with this card, though they may have fixed these issues now. So, i'm looking for some general advice and support on the matter from someone who knows a bit better than me
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Blackmagic. They make some nice stuff, no doubt. I had the Intensity Pro for years, and we use decklinks at the office. Great products. So naturally, when the IP 4K came out, I had to snatch one up. Start with the packaging: As always, minimalism isn't a bad thing. We have a simple box, internally partitioned into 2 sections. One with the card and manuals, the other with the breakout cable and s-video adapter. Also included are two dual-fold information trays, one with the manual and drivers, the other with the lite version of DaVinci resolve (an excellent product, I might add). Both of these come on standard SD cards, but the software is also available on the website. Inside the electrostatic bag is the card itself, with a fan on it. This fan is the one issue I have with the unit. It is small, and doesn't have variable speed, meaning it screams. I actually am probably going to disconnect the fan, as I have plenty of airflow going right over it, but it depends. On the back of it, as with the old one, there is an HDMI in, HDMI out, and breakout to component. The card uses PCIe 4x interface, so I was able to put it between my graphics cards. It is passively powered. It is capable of capturing up to 4K30 YUV 4:2:2, but also handles 1080p60 RGB 4:4:4. Now, using the device... I've had it for about 5 hours now, and it's been a dream in using it so far. It's done everything I needed it to, and more. It fully supports 10-bit color, so when it goes in the rig it is meant for, capture will be a wonderfully accurate thing. The camera I was testing with, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4, was able to send video flawlessly to the application, recording exactly the way it should, with 0 lag over HDMI. Now, this card won't be for everyone, and Blackmagic doesn't intend it to be. There are better game streaming capture cards available, for cheaper, and even general work cards. But for creative professionals working in 4K, this is a cheap, simple solution that works as it should and for an excellent price point. Edit: I apologize for doing the unboxing pictures on my MBP box, to all the die-hards out there. After taking the card out of the case to go in the workstation... I burned my hand. I have excellent case flow, and it still caused massive heat. 5 minutes after (I had to find my IR thermometer) it was still 114 degrees. Keep in mind this is what the cost of 4K recording is, but be aware of it if you want to buy one.
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http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/10/blackmagic-production-camera-4k-now-shipping-1000-less/?ncid=rss_truncated Almost affordable!!?
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Blackmagic Cinema Camera NCIX: N/A Amazon: http://georiot.co/31AJ HyperX 3K SSD NCIX: http://bit.ly/1d7RVB8 Amazon: http://georiot.co/2yJJ The Blackmagic Cinema 2.5K camera is our newest piece of equipment. If you liked the "HD-ness" of the latest WAN show, then I guess you already like it! We went with Kingston HyperX 3K SSDs for our camera because they're on the validated list. Sandforce-based drives are perfect for use with this camera because of their strong write speeds and great performance with highly compressible data.
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Blackmagic Cinema Camera 2.5k - EF Mount Seemingly Relevant Information I had pre-ordered the camera some time last year and forgot about it until I got a call one day early this year. Did I still want follow through with my order for the camera at ~$2,995 plus taxes? After an internal struggle lasting a couple of days, I declined. Then it went down $1,000 a few months later and I bought one off Amazon from Adorama. Win! Out of the Box The box was dinged in transit but everything inside was well packed. You'll find a small packet with some instructions, a CD/DVD for Resolve and other software, the USB dongle license for DaVinci Resolve, carrying strap, camera with sun shield, and a modular power adapter with several tips to accommodate power sockets around the world. The design of the box is fine, it's a box, the artwork and layout is detailed but clean. The box is hard to open as it creates a bit of an air seal. Once you get the lid off and pick it up, you're greeted with a surprisingly heavy chunk of metal. Pretty On the Outside The ID is subtle, clean, bare, and incredibly solid. The aluminum unibody is sexy, heavy, built like a tank. The simple and flat form factor has garnered a bit of hate for its lack of ergonomics of any sort but if you go into it with the understanding that you're going to put it on a tripod, shoulder rig, what have you, it's just not an issue. Would it be nice if it was shaped more friendly for holding? Absolutely. Do I hold it against the camera? No, it has a purpose and handheld 'run & gun' isn't it. If it's not metal, it's soft-touch or rubber. The front, with exception to the barrel turret, is soft touch with a metal border. Covering the side I/O are rubber flaps. A hinged metal door serves as the SSD compartment lid; there is no locking mechanism to keep the bay closed and my SSD is too thin; it wobbles and rattles inside without a shim to keep it still. The buttons and area on the face are soft-touch. It feels nice, it feels like a premium feature. Unfortunately, this makes the buttons feel less robust and instills in me a fear that the coating will come off. Rational? No idea. We'll see in time, I guess. Immediate observations are that it picks up dirt right quick and it shows easily given that it's black. The screen is bright, clear, accurate, and informative. Along the bottom is all the information it will ever display. If you're out in the sun or have a light behind you, good luck seeing anything because the glossy screen isn't just glossy, it's like a god damned mirror. Wear a hoodie at all times when operating the camera so you can block out the light.With only 9 buttons, it looks deceptively simple for something capable of so much. User Interface via Touch Coming from DSLRs, ENG cameras, small camcorders, or the FS700, having so few buttons or physical controls seems crippling until you realize that there isn't much to control. There's a button to enable peaking, a button to auto-set the iris, power, menu, then playback controls. So how do you set everything else? Through the touchscreen. Again, you find the bare minimum. It has everything you need to operate it contained within 4 screens. Though it offers everything you need, it doesn't have everything you would want. There is no custom white balance, leaving you only 6 presets to choose from. When you tap on the screen you get the slate where you can input the shot metadata. Sounds good, right? It doesn't work. Only FCP and Resolve seem to read it and it doesn't do it well, several parts are even missing within Resolve; Premiere and Avid don't seem to be able to read the metadata at all. As someone who uses Premiere at work and Avid at home, it's disheartening to see that there was no consideration for those two. Through the menu you can set your frame rates (23.97, 24, 25, 29.97, 30), timelapse intervals, video/film colour profiles for recording as well as the display, sound options, and things like zebras. It's quick, responsive, and accurate. What more can I say about it? It's touchscreen countrol done right. Beauty Is Only Skin Deep; It's What's Inside That Counts Right? Well, so far the picture is great. I find it to be kind of grainy out of the camera but cleans up beautifully in post. ProRes and DNxHD 4:2:2 are adequate alternatives to the RAW CinemaDNG files. There is definitely enough leeway in the codec to make changes in post, whether stylistic or technical. Though the white balance was considerably off, it cleaned up well enough after fixing it in Resolve that it didn't really even matter. Coming from h.264 on the DSLR and the related AVCHD from the FS700, the data contained within the ProRes and DNxHD codecs is a refreshing change. The dynamic range offered by the video LUT is great, the range offered by the film LUT in RAW is amazing. I'm hearing 13-stops and I'm not going to argue with that. When used with the included DaVinci Resolve, you've got plenty to work with. Though I might argue with Blackmagic's decision to not include lossless compressed; RAW at 5MB per frame leaves my 512GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD capable of only holding about 50 minutes of footage. Shooting RAW that uses up so much space means you're filling up the SSD completely and quickly, potentially leading to a quick death to it. The matter is made worse by Blackmagic's incredibly stupid decision to not include the ability for the camera to send a TRIM command to the SSD. if you don't know, TRIM is the SSD equivalent to defrag and is necessary for keeping your SSD from slowing down and dying, especially when you're shooting RAW. The high write speeds required to do so is easily compromised when you're not properly maintaining the SSD integrity and failure means dropped frames or worse. The ~2.4 crop factor hasn't really bugged me that much, really. I don't think I'll be getting a wider lens any time soon while my 17-35 exists. This might bite me in the ass in the future if I find myself in a cramped space but until then, I'm running happy-go-lucky. Sticking a 70-200mm on it is a bit much unless you're looking for extreme close-ups. Incredible But Flawed There's no denying the amazing image that you can get out of this camera. Though it's up to the user to make things look good, having the data/material to make it look even better is not something to be disregarded when considering cameras and their codecs. The 12-30v DC input for an external power supply is something I greatly appreciate as it allows me to avoid buying extremely expensive batteries or numerous small ones that I would have to change out constantly (Pocket, I'm looking at you!) The crop factor is acceptable, the touchscreen UI is the best I've seen, the build is perfect and the price is right. With all that said, it's infuriating that TRIM being so easy to implement (literally a few lines of code, apparently) was left out. Blackmagic's decision not to implement TRIM has and will render SSDs unusable in short order as I doubt most would even know how to induce TRIM on their own. There's no way to know how full your SSD is either. You have to keep a running tally of your runtime; it's simple math and they couldn't include it. Then the lack of custom white balance leaves you standing there thinking to yourself, "What the fuck could they have been thinking?" A slate input screen is great in theory but utterly useless when nothing reads it. Audio? Didn't mention it earlier 'cause it's unusable too. Not only is the frequency response inaccurate, at one point it was automatically switching from MIC to LINE if it detects clipping, rendering it essentially inoperable (I'm not sure if this is still the case). If you know what you're getting into and have a solution to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera's numerous problems, you should be more than happy with it at the MSRP of $1,995 USD. Update: LUT used for 'Video' record/display renders reds noticeably orange and overall is more orange than displayed on screen. This applies for the in-camera Look Up Table as well as the one used within DaVinci Resolve.
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