Which Camera?

My head is spinning. All three cameras look amazing. Which one is right for me?

Twenty years ago, I worked at a camera rental shop and on the side did some shooting with 16 and super 16 arriflex cameras (I still cry for those lenses), plus beta and digi beta video cameras. Since then, I have mostly shot stills. Point is, I am accustomed to shooting alone, with a discreet package.

This year I will start shooting a documentary (meaning I need to be prepared to shoot almost anything). I expect to work mostly alone, hiring only for certain shots. I will be shooting off and on over months, including traveling at the last minute, so renting won't work. I hope to send the finished project around to festivals, so the better the quality, etc.

I have been toying with DSLRs for a few years but have not been satisfied with the quality or ease of use. I tried a few camcorders, didn't like any of them.

When I saw these cameras from Black Magic, my heart fluttered like it did when the Arri came out of its case.

I have not seen the budget yet, but expect to buy a package. If you were to design a camera package for me, what would you recommend? At first, I thought the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera would be ideal, but the more I read about it, the more I am looking upwards. My guess now: the Cinema Camera. But for 1k more... why not move up to the top? This is why I am confused.

Is there a basic recommended package (camera, lenses, etc)? There are so many choices....

I do not own any lenses that will work here (have a full set of E-mount lenses, alas). For instance, how about a set of legacy or Rokinon primes?

The pocket camera offers 50% less pixels than the BMCC 2.5k camera. So unless size is an issue, I would lean towards the higher models.

The 4K camera isn't out yet so we don't know how its performance will be. You can also save a few bucks on a BMCC buy purchasing used.

Sounds right.

I also just found this thread, which is helping a lot: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6824

My head is spinning. All three cameras look amazing. Which one is right for me?

For a two-man crew, I'd say absolutely get one of the bigger cameras. For a one-man crew that is traveling and "ready for anything" - I'd go with the pocket camera and a nice, sharp MFT zoom and a small, portable tripod. That would be a documentary filmmakers dream setup in my opinion.

I'm sure people will disagree with me but I don't think the BMCC is ideal for a one-man crew. The camera itself basically a big, heavy cube of metal. It's not designed like an ENG shoulder camera with ergonomic controls for all-day shooting. It was designed to be rigged with support gear. For hand-held documentary work you pretty much need a shoulder rig. I don't personally find shoulder rigs to be very comfortable to hold and pull focus at the same time for a great length of time. I'm sure somebody here can post a photo of their rig that is counter-weighted for comfort and has a follow-focus and various things attached for better ergonomic shooting. That's great but it's also longer setup time and more gear that you have to schlep around. The more gear the bigger your tripod has to be, the bigger everything needs to be etc.

The only negative of the pocket cam is the image resolution. But, at 1080p it's still going to be way, way better than what we've all been shooting on DSLRs for the past few years. You get 13 stops of latitude which, to me, is really what makes the image beautiful more so than the resolution. It shoots CinemaDNG on SD cards which are tiny and fit right into your laptop. If your footage doesn't look any good - it's not going to be the camera's fault!

The last thing to consider is whether it's more important that everybody notice you with your giant cinema rig on your shoulder, or whether you are just a fly on the wall, quietly capturing amazing footage on what looks like a little point-n-shoot...?!

Totally agree, Jason. Last year I preordered a Sony NEX-7 with this in mind. For stills, it is great. Not so for video.

Tough choice! But I am glad there are options.

It surely is a tough choice!

I'd say, if you were willing to spend $4k on the big boy - instead spend $1k on the pocket cam and then put that other $3k down onto this fine piece of glass: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-Zoom-Supe ... 27d1faa76a

You did say that you missed your super-16 lenses!