rick.lang wrote:A few years ago people would ask what camera I was using? Answering that just drew a blank expression. In this last year that’s not happening. People have heard of Blackmagic even if they don’t know much but they know the brand now. And some have said, “Is that a Blackmagic camera?” Maybe one day, that ubiquitous declaration “we can shoot with a RED” and “we can do that on a RED” will be replaced by “we shoot Blackmagic.”
The Black Magic brand is already well enough known that it's not a disadvantage to be shooting with Black Magic. There are still people who sell their cameras without any talent to back them, and those ones still push their Reds and Alexas, but those whose marketing is based on the quality of their work are fine with BMD cameras. They rent for less, so they're popular with independent filmmakers.
If I'm applying for a gig with a tight budget, I'd advise for a Black Magic camera instead of a Red, and use the savings to pay the crew better or hire a better caterer (or both) rather than pushing for a Red, even if the Red is mine.
The Red still attracts more attention from onlookers, but Black Magic cameras are very popular, especially in independent film... where they are pretty much dominating. Kinefinity and ZCam are the closest competitors, with the Panasonic S1H getting into the fray but requiring an external recorder...
Even without a major upgrade, that still puts Black Magic in the lead as far as features + price vs image quality, and I figure BMD probably has an update coming soon for the Ursa Mini line, but it's probably behind schedule because of the pandemic, along with a legion of other companies' release schedules.