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BlackMagic Micro Cinema Camera for drone, $995
  • 205 Replies sorted by
  • _gl_gl

    @eatstoomuchjam fair point, I don't have any experience with this type. How's the price/performance ratio compared to 2.5" SSDs, and can they hit the same speeds?

  • johnnymjohnnym

    Great cam. But i want a 4K sensor even if only for recording to 1080p.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    @_gl - m2 can theoretically perform better than 2.5" SSD if they are using their PCI express lanes or perform the same if using the SATA 3 interface (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2). Price-wise, they are comparable to 2.5" drives, but seem to run a little higher for the same capacity.

  • _gl_gl

    @eatstoomuchjam, cool, I guess the other issue is though that bare circuit boards are no good for the target audience (action/drone). At least SD cards are water and static proof.

  • _gl_gl

    Well I've pre-ordered two (UK), ProAV has only a handful of orders so far and only want 10% deposit (fully refundable they say): http://www.proav.co.uk/blackmagic-design-micro-cinema-camera

  • J_CooksJ_Cooks

    I Pre-ordered the second the camera was announced, but with BMD eta's what's that really mean?

  • _gl_gl

    Hard to know. Usually BMD trickle only a handful of cameras on their launch date, so it depends if your shop gets any/enough. And supply after that was still slow & patchy (EDIT) I think many people waited a few months past launch for their Pockets in the UK (I bought mine later in the half-price sale, but they took a few months to arrive as demand was apparently higher than they expected).

    I wonder if they start small partly because early bugs might be found, so it's less expensive in case they need to be fixed/recalled. The Pocket had two bugs at launch, black-hole sun & highlight bloom (miscalibration apparently). If so I don't blame them, they're doing amazing stuff and need to manage their risk, but it can be frustrating. Maybe it's smoother this time.

  • _gl_gl

    BTW re. 4K sensor, I suspect the other problem is that getting one the same quality as the 1080p version (same DR/sensitivity) is too expensive for the Micro price point. The 4k Micro Studio sensor seems to be much lower DR (8-10 stops @ ~320 ISO were apparently mentioned at NAB).

  • J_CooksJ_Cooks

    @_gl

    "I wonder if they start small partly because early bugs might be found, so it's less expensive in case they need to be fixed/recalled."

    That is a good theory.

  • _gl_gl

    Thanks @J.Cooks. I think BMD said with the Pocket bugs that the prototypes they had in their labs didn't have the bloom issue, so it was actually introduced with the first production run. That's probably the kind of thing they're worried about, once it's reliable they can ramp up. Speculation but sounds right :).

  • rumirumi

    Why they did not include WiFi is unfortunate, I mean they advertis this as a action cam, I would love to mount this on a bike etc, and view it via my smartphone, that is such a simple solution. And that it's max frame rate of 60 f.p.s, is on the slow side compared to the leading action cam at 1080. Yea raw, 30 f.p.s, ok. Let's have h.264 at 120 or 180 f.p.s, then we're talking action cam, this is BM after all they can do it.

  • firstbasefirstbase

    @Leto ... as you stated, "I'm not the "fanboy" but I really love this company. They build stuff that's logical and often inspired instead of appearing like the product of some committee trying to please another committee of advertising execs trying to please another committee of accountants..."

    To me, BM is close to becoming the Apple of the video camera world. (Their previous bottleneck delivery issues aside.) Innovative, fresh, customer-driven, pushed to excel beyond the norm.

  • _gl_gl

    Well well well - the MCC might actually have a 15 stop sensor! Slashcam is fingering the Fairchild CIS1910A sensor as the most likely in the MCC - and it has 15 stops DR.

    This could make sense - BMD UK have confirmed to me that the 13 stops are available in global shutter mode (not that reps are always right). And we know from other sensors that global shutter mode usually drops 1-2 stops of DR. So it's possible that the rolling shutter native DR is actually 15 stops.

    If true, will BMD artificially limit the rolling shutter DR to 13 stops to make the URSA 4.6k sensor look better, and as a side-benefit to make MCC advertising simpler? Or will they actually allow 15 stops in rolling shutter mode (yay!)?

    EDIT: Grant Petty confirms the MCC sensor is not the Pocket sensor but a higher-performance version:

  • froboy88froboy88

    cool news. BM may also be quoting 13 usable stops of DR with 15 actual thought that seems unlikely as its not the best marketing. It does make the Ursa look better for sure but the MCC wouldn't steal that market anyway. two different form factors and users.

    Can't wait to get my hands on it either way. have it preordered

  • froboy88froboy88

    Thanks @_gl that was a cool find. Interesting that the MCC could out do the 4.6k sensor in DR and sensitivity. Hopefully they don't limit it!

  • _gl_gl

    Most online UK prices have dropped to around £744inc VAT (not sure why). If you pre-ordered, make sure they're giving you the new price.

  • CaptainHookCaptainHook

    @_gl - the sensor is not being limited artificially for any marketing reasons. It should be close to the Pocket cam with DR in RS mode, but potentially cleaner in shadows for a little more useable range (possibly).

  • _gl_gl

    @CaptionHook :), is that you confirming that RS does have a little more DR? Or another way, is it correct that even GS has the 13 stops? That would of course be awesome.

    BTW, there's a rumour that you managed to solve or reduce aliasing a little with the new sensor, but it still doesn't have an OLPF correct?

    Honestly I wasn't expecting that to be fixed, but it is the only major weakness of the BMPCC for me. I'm just working on a program that can turn Windows devices (tablets/laptops/PCs) into full-featured HDMI monitors (with full dual-cam 3D support inc. synced remote control of Micro Cines), I actually wrote it initially to see aliasing and micro focus issues properly on a shoot.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

  • _gl_gl

    Always surprising that the reps never mentioned the global shutter. Kinda a big deal.

    Just studied the official pics more carefully (designing my 3D rig). There's a meaty heatsink, so I'm guessing this one is passively cooled to save battery juice (the Pocket used an active cooler which I guess made battery life variable based on ambient temperature). That probably also helps getting the better noise performance.

    Anyone heard any shipping news? Still on for (end of) July?

    I also want a really thin battery, I will use external batteries so I just need it to hold the date and ~8 min emergency shooting time backup in case the external battery fails mid-shot. Slimmer is better for packing. Anybody seen a cheap generic one like that?

  • chauncychauncy

    -gl sign me up when you get hdmi in working on laptops and tablets. That's a huge deal. Something that we've needed for years.

  • suresure123suresure123

    I don't get why they couldn't put all this stuff into a body that looks like a camera. I blame RED for this obsession with selling parts of a camera.

    Seriously, if they put one of their sensors in a camera with an LCD that you could actually see, a global shutter and even an evf I would pay up to $5,000 personally. Hell I would pay $2,000 for a pocket cam with a global shutter.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @suresure123

    What this rant means? Please read why this camera made the way it is made first.

  • _gl_gl

    @chauncy, cool I'll post a demo vid when it's ready. It already works but I need another pass to fix a few bugs.

  • filthyfilthy

    Has anyone heard of updates on the status of the micro cinema version? I thought these were supposed to ship near the end of july. Really keen to see some results from real world aerial tests. But haven't heard a peep in several weeks.

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