Friday, April 26, 2013

First Footage from the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera - 13 Stops of Dynamic Range for $995!

John Brawley, pro cinematographer from Australia (and Blackmagic Design's most trusted camera tester), has posted what seems to be the world's first test footage from the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera.  Talk of the show at NAB 2013, this camera has the dynamic range of a film camera in a body the size of an NEX-5 - with a native micro 4/3 lens mount!  Here is what John shot casually at his local market:



Note the exposure match between the foreground subjects, the sky and the people in the background. The Dynamic Range from the $1000 BPCC is clearly wider and more "film like" than any 8 bit consumer camcorder or DSL camera (even my $1300 GH3).  Case in point - see the blown-out backgrounds/skies in this otherwise wonderful little GH3 test film:



And the skies in this Canon HF G10 test:



The BPCC delivers a very similar look to the 16mm film cameras I shot with in the 70s - at a much lower price in 1970s dollars - with the addition of internal sound recording, lens stabilization, focus peaking and a headphone jack - and without the hassle and expense of film processing and splicing.

This test footage was what I was waiting for. I just pre-ordered my BPCC from Adorama!

Really looking forward to what this little camera can do when it gets the CinemaDNG RAW upgrade.

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