We first saw it, along side the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, at NAB 2013. That day in April I drooled, pined, and even thought about canceling my Blackmagic Cinema Camera order to get my hands on this camera. It was what I was looking for in a camera: 4K, Global Shutter, a S35 sized sensor, only a stop less dynamic range than the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, and a base ISO of 500.
Unfortunately, just like the BMCC, the BMPC was delayed because of sensor calibration issues. Now, it seems the camera is in its final testing stage and we can expect orders to be filled within a short time. Here are a few words from CEO of Blackmagic Design Grant Petty
Additionally, Grant Petty shows us the first footage from the camera, which he shot over the last two weeks. Here is the link to download his footage: http://video.blackmagicdesign.com/Camer … _Shots.zip
Now be mindful that this is 4K footage edited via Avid and it's AMA and posted to Vimeo. This is not how it will look coming off the camera. Otherwise, to me the footage looks great. It wasn't shot Raw, but ProRes so this is not the best the camera can do. The deep distance clarity found in the city scape shots are great looking. It's detail without a lot of sharpness. And, the night shots are not as bad as I thought they would be considering that when I first heard about this camera it was called “not a low-light camera.” What I want to see is what this camera is capable of in the hands of more experienced cameramen shooting raw. Here are a few more words from Grant Petty about that such thing.
Personally, I cannot wait to pull this footage into my DaVinci Resolve and start pushing and pulling it to see what it can handle. I don't even care if it's “not really a digital film camera” as Grant is calling it. It's a camera that helps me accomplish my production goals, and there is no one camera that can do it all. Now, so you can read all of this for yourself you can find the original post by Grant Petty here: http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16615 As for those who ordered their Blackmagic Production Camera right after NAB 2013… I hope you have a blast with it. The rest of use may have to weight a bit as they fill all the pending orders.
Finally, the 4K camera for 4K is close to shipping. Lastly, anyone else wonder what Blackmagic will release at NAB 2014?
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Here is a link for more information about The Blackmagic Production Camera: http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicproductioncamera4k