The film/videomaking world was set aflame last year when Blackmagic Designannounced its Cinema Camera. It looks like the rogues are back for more with a RAW-shooting, $1000 video camera that fits in your pocket.
Filmmaker John Brawley, Blackmagic's go-to guy for testing and revealing its cameras, has posted on his blog a detailed account of what to expect from the Pocket Cinema Camera. The device sports a super-16 sensor, a size slightly smaller than the one in the current, larger Cinema Camera. It records full HD 1920x1080 (30 fps max) to ProRes or CinemaDNG RAW, and supposedly packs the same 13 stops of dynamic range. As for lenses, the mount is active micro four-thirds, meaning you can not only use all your Olympus and Panasonic glass, but auto-focus and optical image stabilization should work as well.
There are even some advantages in the Pocket Cinema Camera over the original Cinema Camera. The battery is removable, and it records to SD cards (the big brother recorded directly to removable hard drives). Of course, the Pocket version doesn't record 2.5K resolution, but Brawley insists that the difference between the 2 cameras at 1080p is negligible.
If this camera delivers on image quality, it will be a huge deal for consumers. The DSLR market has mauled the field dedicated video-cameras, and to have a device that can provide the kind of cinematic qualities filmmakers drool over at such an accessible price is sure to leave many indy filmmakers grinning. It'll be available this July. We can't wait.
And if tiny video cameras aren't your thing, Blackmagic is also announcing their 4K Production Camera. This is essentially the same as the original Cinema Camera, but with a Super-35 sensor and 4K recording in ProRes or Compressed CinemaDNG RAW—for only $4000! [BlackMagic]
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