No BMD announcement of any kind., strange

Did you try it out ?
I'm very curious, but yeah, seems to be that for a tracking shot nothing will beat a good AC, or an AI trained to follow a patern.

I find it hard to find any real world exemple at 24 or 25fps of the Lidar II.

I shot this entire short solo, using the DJI RS3 PRO and their Lidar. For solo shooters it's invaluable.

New Sony a7R V Mirrorless Camera with AI-assisted focus. They are bringing in their phone teck.?

Ricardo Marty

I'm pretty sure they are rather using the buzzword for marketing, AF of the current ones like A7SIII and A7IV is probably also based on machine learning.

I'm impressed with the autofocus with the Sony A7IV for stills. However, I have not tested it for any video purposes yet.

The A7RV is impressive. But I'm not gonna race out to buy one. If Blackmagic releases something worthy of me needing to race out to buy it I'll be more likely to do that.

Same here. I'm pretty sure the A7RV will have massive RS. It will replace larger sensor photographic cameras for many professionals, but as a hybrid stills/video camera IMHO the A7IV is the better (and cheaper) choice.

For video I'd always go to BM.

I'm just going to say that I have also gone back to shooting 35mm film for photography. So um... old school and retro is making a comeback!

I’m a Contax user / collector.

Manual focus lenses that AF?

I give you the Contax AX

https://emulsive.org/reviews/camera-rev ... cus-lenses

JB

Fascinating!
From that camera to the size of a BM 'Pocket' you won't need much adaptation

I'm a big fan of Zeiss Y/C lenses too, plus the Minolta SR line.

Fascinating!
From that camera to the size of a BM 'Pocket' you won't need much adaptation

I'm a big fan of Zeiss Y/C lenses too, plus the Minolta SR line.

Yes.

I've long hoped those making IBIS could do something similar, but I think they don't move far enough....

JB

Fascinating!
From that camera to the size of a BM 'Pocket' you won't need much adaptation

I'm a big fan of Zeiss Y/C lenses too, plus the Minolta SR line.

Yeah my Minolta SRT-102 is in for repairs right now. The back door won’t latch. But I do love my Minolta camera and the lenses.

Speaking of Minolta lenses, did you know that Ancient Optics has done some cinevised versions of the Minolta Rokkor lenses: https://www.instagram.com/p/CiK_lLjvKZ0 ... MyMTA2M2Y=


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Why repair? I have 5 functioning classic Minolta bodies sitting on my shelf which I couldn't avoid, since they were clinging to lenses I wanted

There's a detailed article on those cinevised versions:
https://www.newsshooter.com/2022/09/06/ ... ne-primes/

I'm glad to see the 100mm rehoused, since its original body was the most fragile Minolta ever made and the glass is great. But choosing the 135mm f2?
It's such a huge chunk of glass and so soft at f2 that you want to stop it down anyway, and it's very rare. The 135mm f2.8 (the 4/4 version) is tack sharp from the start and easily available. The other end of the line is not faster (the 21mm) and the 200mm (a bit too much CA in my opinion) is f4 anyway.

WOW, beautiful soft-focus portrait lenses!
Oh, not the intention?
I like razor sharp acuity, so I guess I'll stick to modern day glass.

Well, IMHO 135mm is a bit long even on photo FF. But if you like portrayal specialties, there’s the 85mm Varisoft by Minolta or the 100mm Sony STF, based on a Minolta concept.

Why repair? I have 5 functioning classic Minolta bodies sitting on my shelf which I couldn't avoid, since they were clinging to lenses I wanted

It was the back door latch. Guess it got bent. It's repaired now and working again.

But yeah, I do really love my Minolta glass. I've shot with it on my Sony through an MD to E-Mount Adapter. The stills look great. However, this does drive home a point about how much nicer the mirrorless mount is for simple adapters.

Again, the new Minolta Cinema Lenses are nice because they are PL Mount. I will definitely want to rent a set sometime.

BMD, make that announcement, you're already losing market share to 1980's Minolta.

So... when's the next possible chance BM could make an announcement? January, right?

WOW, beautiful soft-focus portrait lenses!
Oh, not the intention?
I like razor sharp acuity, so I guess I'll stick to modern day glass.

To each their own taste, but most of the Minolta Rokkor lenses would not be described as soft (other than the 85mm Varisoft, which was designed as a soft-focus lens). Many are low-contrast when wide open and have interesting aberrations, but like most "character" lenses their qualities change as you stop down.

Some examples:

MC Rokkor 100mm f2.5:
Rouge by Brad Hurley, on Flickr

MC Rokkor 58mm f1.2:
Jean-Marie by Brad Hurley, on Flickr

MC Rokkor 55mm f1.7:
Le rosé du dimanche by Brad Hurley, on Flickr

MC Rokkor 35mm f1.8:
Havre du Bic by Brad Hurley, on Flickr

MD Rokkor 24mm f2.8:
After the rain by Brad Hurley, on Flickr

Second that.

BTW, the 55mm f1.7 can be found dead cheap, since everybody is going for the faster ones in the 50-58 range. I made a little guide a while ago:
https://www.reduser.net/forum/shooting- ... ival-guide

You can easily fit them on the BMPCC 4K.

BTW, the 55mm f1.7 can be found dead cheap, since everybody is going for the faster ones in the 50-58 range. I made a little guide a while ago:
https://www.reduser.net/forum/shooting- ... ival-guide

I got my Rokkors thanks to your guide, Uli! And yes, I paid about $80 for my 55/1.7, one of my most-used lenses. I don't use them for cinematography, though, because I'm still using the original Pocket and the BMMCC, which have a so-called crop factor of 2.88 so even the widest lenses are too long; there are Speedboosters available but some of my lenses don't work with them.

I’m a rokkor lover, I used for many times 50 and 35 md rokkor 1.4 for many shooting. Very sharp and very creamy bohen, better then my Samyang video. Sure it’s matter of taste, I like rokkor md character


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Thanks for the kind words!

If I may correct you, Carlo, there is no 35mm f1.4, only the 1.8 (great lens). Just to avoid that folks are hunting down a lens that will not show up. Zeiss had a 35mm f1.4 in the Contax C/Y line – heavy and costly.

Thanks for the kind words!

If I may correct you, Carlo, there is no 35mm f1.4, only the 1.8 (great lens). Just to avoid that folks are hunting down a lens that will not show up. Zeiss had a 35mm f1.4 in the Contax C/Y line – heavy and costly.

Yea Uli, you can correct me, 50-55 1.4 many flavours mc md, 35 1.8 md
Thanks for correction

Ps for rokkor lovers I suggest this website

https://www.rokkorfiles.com

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And this Swiss site if you understand German: http://www.artaphot.ch/minolta-sr/objektive

BTW, for those with an EF-mount, where only the expensive 58mm f1.2 can be adapted, there's an alternative with similar characteristics: Pentax Takumar in M42.

And this Swiss site if you understand German: http://www.artaphot.ch/minolta-sr/objektive

BTW, for those with an EF-mount, where only the expensive 58mm f1.2 can be adapted, there's an alternative with similar characteristics: Pentax Takumar in M42.

Unfortunately I not understand German, but Google translator is my friend
Thanks, it’s very interesting website.


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I just replaced one of my BMPCC 4k's for the ZCAM F6.
Wow, the exchangeable mount alone is worth it. From mft to PL. Allowing you to use pretty much any lens available.
And rock solid as well.
My Voigtlanders had a tiny bit of wiggle. This is rock solid.
So many great useable features on the camera.
Blackmagic should really make a box style with an SSD slot.

Hopefully they move on from the DSLR body format.

Did you try it out ?
I'm very curious, but yeah, seems to be that for a tracking shot nothing will beat a good AC, or an AI trained to follow a patern.

I find it hard to find any real world exemple at 24 or 25fps of the Lidar II.

I shot this entire short solo, using the DJI RS3 PRO and their Lidar. For solo shooters it's invaluable.

I enjoyed watching this.

I just replaced one of my BMPCC 4k's for the ZCAM F6.
Wow, the exchangeable mount alone is worth it. From mft to PL. Allowing you to use pretty much any lens available.
And rock solid as well.
My Voigtlanders had a tiny bit of wiggle. This is rock solid.
So many great useable features on the camera.
Blackmagic should really make a box style with an SSD slot.

Hopefully they move on from the DSLR body format.

Nice. Keep us posted on your experiences with the Z-cam. I’m also interested in it because of the interchangeable lens mount and box form factor. I’m thinking of getting the F6 Full Frame PRO with a PL mount. It’s got global shutter on the Pro. I wonder with an Atomos, will it be able to shoot Prores RAW?

I’m gonna assume that the next camera announcement won’t happen this year.
I really hope BMD shakes up the market with SOMEthing.

I’m soon to start a docuseries with the 12k and I’m pretty excited.

when i look at the new product introductions since a year ago,
i come to the conclusion that a new BMD camera will only be a PTZ camera.

The writing is on the wall. Blackmagic needs to update several camera lines to new Media Cards like CFExpress. They can still do the whole SSD recording thing through USB-C. They can also do lower HD or UHD formats on to SDX cards. But CFExpress is far better than CFast 2.0, and more adoption of CFExpress is happening across the industry with the other camera manufacturers.

And, honestly the SD card slots in the cameras should become for Proxy recording only. Thus the CFExpress or SSD does Blackmagic RAW and simultaneously the SD card does a ProRes Proxy format.

Beyond that the thoughts I have on new camera features and other design choices have been stated elsewhere.

I'm going to guess beginning of next year we'll see an announcement. Probably first week of March.

The writing is on the wall. Blackmagic needs to update several camera lines to new Media Cards like CFExpress. They can still do the whole SSD recording thing through USB-C. They can also do lower HD or UHD formats on to SDX cards. But CFExpress is far better than CFast 2.0, and more adoption of CFExpress is happening across the industry with the other camera manufacturers.

And, honestly the SD card slots in the cameras should become for Proxy recording only. Thus the CFExpress or SSD does Blackmagic RAW and simultaneously the SD card does a ProRes Proxy format.

Beyond that the thoughts I have on new camera features and other design choices have been stated elsewhere.

I'm going to guess beginning of next year we'll see an announcement. Probably first week of March.

Uhm I have many dubs about proxy in a different codec, if you have seen, camera Os do a small reboot when change from braw to prores mode, with actual Os I dubt that you can do two different codec at same time.


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https://petapixel.com/2022/11/04/atomos ... ame-8k60p/

FF, 15 stops DR (as per Atomos), global shutter and only 2W power draw.

So who will buy this sensor? Does it make sense for BMD when they already work on their own sensor? Panny?

https://petapixel.com/2022/11/04/atomos ... ame-8k60p/

FF, 15 stops DR (as per Atomos), global shutter and only 2W power draw.

So who will buy this sensor? Does it make sense for BMD when they already work on their own sensor? Panny?

It’s a head scratcher. Why make only a sensor? the hardest part of making a camera but not the rest….

Why not show some images from the brand new sensor you just designed and announced ?

Anyone who wants to use this camera still has 2-3 years of development to make it work in a camera. Normally this can happen concurrently with the camera, but porting it like this seems to just add time. I can’t imagine it will be profitable. Remember that they just DESIGNED a sensor that some other sensor fab actually makes. So it’s basically an IP licence.

Global shutter at 8k if it really has anywhere near that dr would be impressive but it’s best not to believe any marketing speak till there are images and files to look at.

JB

It’s a head scratcher. Why make only a sensor? the hardest part of making a camera but not the rest….

AFAIK Atomos bought the company, which had been developing that sensor for quite some time, because they had plans to enter the camera market but deem it to be "already too crowded" by now.

I think 3 years from now won't be too late for a global shutter FF sensor, especially if those 15 stops turn out to be true (which we all know they won't ) and with that really low power draw, allowing that sensor to be put into a tiny body.

It’s a head scratcher. Why make only a sensor? the hardest part of making a camera but not the rest….

AFAIK Atomos bought the company, which had been developing that sensor for quite some time, because they had plans to enter the camera market but deem it to be "already too crowded" by now.

I think 3 years from now won't be too late for a global shutter FF sensor, especially if those 15 stops turn out to be true (which we all know they won't ) and with that really low power draw, allowing that sensor to be put into a tiny body.

Axiom company (original Kickstarter 2014 I was once’s of backers) is since from 8 years that try to develop a cam, they just use existing sensor, but never go over a beta cam… they discover that is not simply slapping a sensor in a camera and record picture on a support. A sensor should be managed, you develop a color science to manage correctly sensors’datas, build ergonomic camera, support correctly lens mount by reverse engineering of lens (electronic lenses no share their working, to use it you should understand how they work).
And more … three years are nice to develop and idea of sensors, but from an idea to final product …


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It’s a head scratcher. Why make only a sensor? the hardest part of making a camera but not the rest….

AFAIK Atomos bought the company, which had been developing that sensor for quite some time, because they had plans to enter the camera market but deem it to be "already too crowded" by now.

I think 3 years from now won't be too late for a global shutter FF sensor, especially if those 15 stops turn out to be true (which we all know they won't ) and with that really low power draw, allowing that sensor to be put into a tiny body.

The power draw in the scheme of things doesn’t really contribute to it being put into a smaller body.

What draws power is cooling. Maintaining a sensor at a stable temperature is what guarantees sensor noise performance. Next is using ASIC processors over RISC. BMD and Arri for example use way more power hungry ASIC because they are faster to develop and far more flexible (to be re-programmed) where as many consumer manufacturers like Sony Canon etc use RISC which take much longer to develop, can’t really be re-programmed, but use far far less power.

You still want a HDR screen. You still need to run the same processors to write files. This is all the same power usage.

The sensor isn’t the biggest power draw in the camera. I’m guessing it would be a small saving once you add up the overall power draw.

I saw in their initial release they bought Grass Valley, who yes, made ENG cameras. I don’t think they were ever setting the world on fire with their cameras though.

“Already too crowded” sounds like marketing speak for we couldn’t make a competitive product for cheap enough.

You know Panavision designed their own sensor. It was to go into a never finished digital cinema camera to replace the Genesis. They never finished it but to this day, you can buy a “dyna-max” sensor that was originally designed by Panavision and then sold off when they couldn’t make a camera work.

https://cinescopophilia.com/panavision- ... ge-sensor/

It was a global shutter and was one of the first sensors to try and do HDR (multi exposures) on sensor, similar to what Arri, BMD and Canon do now for some cameras.

And as far as I know, it wasn’t used in any camera we cinematographers use.


The sensor is really hard to make. What’s even harder is the last step, making “nice” pictures from a sensor, using good colour science which is really just good taste in a look.

JB

They claim the sensor produces little heat so any cooling could be allocated to processing. I would think processing itself gets only more energy efficient every year.

I mean, that sensor sounds great. Suspiciously great. But regardless, I'd be happy for any new player in the sensor field.

The sensor is in a box that contains a lot of other heat generating items.

It’s not only the sensor, it’s the whole system.

And cooling isn’t about stopping something from overheating, is about thermal stability.

Arris cooling system ensures the sensor temp variation is +/- 0.5degC no matter the ambient temperature.

It’s not about keeping it “cool”. It’s about keeping it at the same temperature otherwise the noise floor changes.

And, smaller box, all those toasty warm boards also make it hard.

I’m not dissing it, I’m just talking from a little knowledge that specs are just a tiny part of the story.

Carlos reference to Axiom is a good example. A global shutter 4k sensor and years of open development and it barely got to a camera that made pictures in a test lab.

BMD and AJA both used it to make very average performing cameras within a couple of years. But it think the sensor was a dud ultimately. It had all these HDR modes but in the end it didn’t make nice pictures without a ton of work.

It’s great they made a sensor. But it’s weird that they didn’t make a camera. I don’t think anyone else will with this sensor.

JB

I agree a bigger player would have to step in to make sense of that sensor. I have no doubt though that someone like Panasonic could make it work and in a reasonably small package - the BS1H is tiny. We'll see, I'm happy for some fresh blood.

A lot of interesting developments didn't make it into a final product. AJA even developed a camera that made it to market, IIRC with the same sensor BM used in the early URSA, but it never really took off. Others were warned by the amounts of money that was sunk into such projects, so I think it was wise of Atomos to drop it. They found their own niche by co-operating with big manufacturers from the field of hybrid cameras.

I'm still very impressed that BM succeeded and made very affordable cameras at such a level of image quality. Even brought a truly innovative sensor to market in the 12K, which is a highly integrated development, sensor as much as compression technology. I would not be ashamed to bring it to a set where Arri cameras are hanging out.

It reminds you to some degree of the early years of automotive, doesn't it? Think of the rotary engine, developed by Wankel in Germany, improved by Mazda. The Japanese even won some races with it. It never made it to large numbers on the road, but Mazda and Audio seem to be resurrecting it for range extenders in hybrids.

Today was the first day of the Kickstarter campaign for the Zacuto Smart Z-Finder... The Cinematographers version was going quickly as most orders preferred that at $465. Only the first 50 people receive a 40% discount. I ended up being #44. Ships February 2023.

Not a new camera, but it’s one solution to assist in the practical use of the iPhone 14 Pro to shoot short ProRes clips as Camera C...

So that was in October and it’s finally being delivered to me in a few days. I was getting nervous about it never arriving!

I first plan to use it to improve the quality of capturing production stills in raw (DNG) on the iPhone for colouring in Mac ON1 via iOS Photos.

Guess that has the potential to make the iPhone my ‘new’ camera this year. I’ll post after I have more experience mid-May for those who may also want to go that route for BTS or other production work.

Not just gor Iphones thats great. wish they would have done iy for the p4-6k cameras

Ricardo Marty

I agree. I couldn’t find a Z-Finder for the BMPCC4K and BMPCC6K on the Zacuto website. They certainly made one for the original BMPCC:

https://www.henrys.com/zacuto-blackmagi ... 37230727.p

I have found this sunhood very helpful.

https://www.adorama.com/srvh2299c.html

I have found this sunhood very helpful.

https://www.adorama.com/srvh2299c.html

for me its not only about the sun its about the focus. need a one eye evf for this.

Ricardo Marty

That original Z-Finder had a 2.5x magnifier to aid with focus. The prototype for the Zacuto Smart Z-Finder also had a 2x magnifier but I believe they decided to scale that back so the entire frame would be visible. I’d have to check my many status updates (12?) from Zacuto to be more precise, but I’ll soon see how helpful it is.

The Zacuto Smart Z-Finder is assembled after a couple of hours! Lots more finicky than rigging a camera. And because your phone isn’t going to live in the Z-Finder permanently, each time I want to use it for a production job, it will take some time to remount and adjust. The Z-Finder comes partially assembled and a some of the parts look differently in the Zacuto video than the assemblies I received. Still it’s working and that’s another concern.

Controlling a phone housed inside a loupe isn’t trivial especially the way Apple’s Photos app has positioned the software button to take a photo. Since I’ll be taking several hundred photos during a live show, it’s work. If the phone was held freely in your hand where you had access to the physical buttons, it’s easier to snap a photo, but within the Z-Finder with some effort the power button can be reached but not the volume controls simultaneously with the power button due to the way the phone is supported in the Z-Finder.

Hopefully with practice, I’ll be more proficient, but today I don’t think I’d recommend the device when taking hundreds of voices. Good though if used to shoot video clips handheld. The handle and shoulder support work well to stabilize the camera. So I could recommend it as an option for video, but only masochists will use it for large numbers of production photos.Very sturdy all-metal engineering except for the baffles.

When I do the production stills shoot in a couple of weeks, I think I can use the remote control that my wife has for a selfie stick. If it works for me I wouldn’t need to have my finger poking through the loupe to hit the software shutter button. However will still be awkward as I like to use all three different focal lengths on the iPhone 14 Pro and so I need my finger to select the focal length changes. No problem if I had three hands. Maybe I can a fix the remote shutter to the handle on the Z-Finder and then my free hand can simply select focal lengths.

Very good, Kim.

The selfie stick remote control worked very well securely attached to the cold shoe on the side of the top rail of the Z-Finder so I have that concern take care of. Now I just need to reach inside the loupe to select the focal length I want to use. That’s fairly easy do.

I mentioned to Zacuto that having a few remote controls for Apple iOS Photos integrated on the Z-Finder handle would be great, so we shall see if a Mark II handle is released in the future. I would probably buy it as soon as it’s released.