We’ve been working with Blackmagic Cameras for years now and love their look and plan to use them for a long time to come.
Our relationship with the Blackmagic brand started with the Cinecam 2.5k’s, we were torn with them at the start as the ergonomics aren’t the best, battery life is terrible and they are awkward to rig but when worked around we still love the work we shot with them as the colour science was great, even back then.
The Blackmagic URSA Pro Camera
Our next main rental was the Ursa Pro 4.6k’s G1’s, which was a big step up from the Cine’s with tones of great features such as in-body ND’s and BRAW (Blackmagic Raw) and as a bonus, the colour was even better. They also look professional which helps impress clients. One of the only downsides is they are no longer supported by firmware updates as of this year (2021). Word of warning, they also ate us a few of our C-Fast cards which led us to primarily use SSDs with this camera – This is a small but expensive gripe.
Our current go-to is the Blackmagic Pocket Cameras, we love the look from these little beasts. They can be lean for interview setups and talking heads and great when rigged up for more serious productions. The only downsides we find are the small sensor size, the battery life on Canon LP’s and the awkward shape.
If you’re just getting started and want to try using a cinema camera, the Cine’s can be picked up for as little as £600 which, compared to a DLSR they will still blow them away. The Ursa Pro G1 is still a beast however, the G2 and 12k are great upgrades with still quite a small price tag. The Pocket is insane value for money and we love working with them every chance we get. These cameras would be our recommendation to anyone who is seriously getting into film and starting a career in filmmaking.
We hope you enjoyed our bit of history with Blackmagic Cameras. For anyone who wants to see a condensed version, check out our Instagram.
Feel free to get in touch with us if you feel your business needs a little visual boost. We are more than happy to arrange a free meeting to discuss how video could benefit your business.
Brick
