I'm in the market for camera. Current thoughts?.....

I will be buying a camera this summer.
I was hoping for something more substantial from nab, like a firmware update to convince me of the cinema camera. BUT ALAS!

Anyway,

I am still "getting in" to this, to the degree which I don't have big corporate jobs where I am picky about what I need. Nor do I have money for something even entry-mid range.

But I'm far enough in that I want a good image for my own short films, and am willing to work around the "problems".
Here's where I'm at. If I do audio, It will be externally anyway. The low light is a little bummer, the black sun is eh... in camera formatting doesnt matter, battery life doesnt matter etc.

Here's the deal. As far as I can tell, at a used price cinema camera has some pretty wicked specs for a pretty low price.
Also, the ef mount is important to me. I have ef lenses, and almost everyone I know around me does as well.
Raw and film log are important to me as well.

There weren't any super low priced cinema cameras that shoot raw announced as far as I know?
And there aren't many others on the market?
I know theres a couple, but in terms of image for price, is the cinema camera still leading the way problems aside? What else is competing in terms of price/raw/film log/bit depth/ DR?

School me. What would you do?

What would you guys recommend for someone who can't really spend over 3k total right now, but needs a cam in the next couple months.

As far as I can tell, at a used price cinema camera has some pretty wicked specs for a pretty low price.

bingo! This is exactly where Id be looking if I were you.

School me. What would you do?

sit back and watch the used bmcc's start showing up, buy one in as good of condition as you can, for as cheap as you can

If you don't need 4K and you don't need HFR....the original BMCC still produces amazing pictures and it's cheap.

If you want the most complete no sun spot issue and compressed raw just get the pocket camera. It's the most "complete" camera to date

Both of you reflect what I was thinking.
The HFR is a bummer, but twixtor works in a pinch (since I'm doing professional work where detail matters) and I can live without it for the price.

Plus for serious things, I am in a film group with an fs700 so if I really needed the HFR good golly, we have it.

Mark, as for the pocket, I have watched pretty much every pocket/cinema video out there and the pocket is just too sharp/grainy for my taste. The cinema looks smoother, in general. Is that more resolution or image processing? Idk.
Also, I there is the lens issue. Not digging switching to MFT.

If your in a rush, go with the current gen camera because know we all their faults and how to work around them.

If you have time, wait for the Studio Camera reviews and see if that will work for you. If you have tons of money to blow, wait for the URSA and see how it will work out... I personally love both, but we don't know yet what kind of problems they may (or may not) have. So its not wise to invest in something at the current state of BMD camera hardware uncertainties. It's really unpredictable.

If you want to play safe, go with the GH4 or FS700..

I would tell you to stay clear of BMD products in general. They will let you down with no support, and leave you waiting for fixes to problems they cannot solve. Look to REAL camera companies like RED, ARRI, SONY, CANON, PANASONIC for a solid product

Josh, You sound like your expectations are pretty well grounded, and the BMCC 2.5K EF seems like the obvious answer to me. I went with the MFT version since I started with no glass and wanted the flexibility of the MFT mount. Others prefer the EF mount, especially if they have Canon glass, or if they want IS for handheld work.

I'd go with new instead of used, since the price is still amazing, and I would prefer having the warranty and other benefits of new. If you do buy used, make sure that you get the DaVinci Resolve dongle, or make sure you pay less than $1000 for the camera. I see that some sellers are selling their BMCC used and keeping the software dongle for themselves (a $1000 value).

I highly recommend the BMCC, especially if you are aware of the issues you would have to accommodate. But buy it for what it is today, not for features or fixes you would like to see implemented in the future.

Well, I can tell you what I did:

I went with the Pocket cinema camera for the purpose that for about $1650 (I bought a Speedbooster with mine & spills/drops for 3 years, $995+$490+$150) I had a body with S35sh image.

I bought a set of vintage Nikon lenses for $450 (5 lenses total, Ebay - a great start).

A dual EN-EL20 charger (watson, came with car charger as well!) & 3 extra batteries for $125 roughly.

$375 on a Tilta Cage/Rails set

$125 on a Kamerar FF-3 Follow Focus (fits the cameras size well I think, - you can get a fotga one with hard stops for $50 more if you'd like)

$165 on a Kamerar Matte Box w/Flags

$35 on lens filters & a lens cleaning kit/lens caps (1 Fotga Vari ND, not highend but works suprisingly well, 4 UV Protective filters)

$100 on 2x32GB Sandisk Extreme 95mb/s cards for RAW (1 to stick in camera while other dumps data for good DIT Practise)

Came out at $3025 and some change roughly (shipping/cali taxes)