Blackmagic Cinema Camera 2.5K Footage VS 5D Mark III

So I was able to get my hands on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera for about two weeks and I had a lot of fun with it. It was a huge difference from what I was used to with the 5D Mark III. These are some of the features that I found that would be helpful for someone looking to buy this camera in the future.

A Simple Interface

Upon opening the box to reveal the camera I noticed something very odd, no huge user manual. Unlike the 5D Mark III that comes with a book when you buy it, this camera comes with a little piece of paper folded into thirds that could fit in your wallet with a few instructions on it. The interface was so simple to use and I didn't even have to look at the instructions to learn the camera.

I really liked the simplicity of the menu system and the size of the screen in the back. There were just a few menus and no submenus inside the camera to go through. All you did inside the camera was name your shots, change your video and audio quality and of course your lens aperture and shutter angle controls.

The Quality and Clarity of 2.5K

The picture quality of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera is amazing in RAW. I have never used a Red or any other high resolution camera prior to the Blackmagic and when I saw the quality of what I was shooting I was in love. When shooting RAW the camera records individual DNG (Digital Negative) files that you can manipulate using many different editors. You can click here to see a comparison I did with the Blackmagic VS the 5D Mark III. Make sure you turn on Original Quality to see the difference between the cameras. I explained what I did for each shot in the description.

The Feedom of Color Correction in RAW

It was fun to color the RAW footage from this camera. Davinci Resolve comes with the camera when you purchase it but I wan't able to learn it fast enough in a week well enough to do any amazing color correction (I actually got a little impatient after messing around with it for a while) but I did put the images through Adobe Camera Raw and then combined the images into video using Adobe After Effects. I really liked how I was able to maintain detail in both highlights and shadow and it felt similar to editing a RAW picture from the 5D Mark III.

The process that I used however was very processor intensive and I was worried at times that my computer wouldn't handle it. It got through the footage after a few hours of processing and then I was able to edit the footage in Premiere. If you are shooting RAW you can't go straight to Premiere or Final Cut because you can't import image sequences straight into these programs. You have to go through Davinci Resolve, Quicktime Pro, After effects or any other program that allows you to recompile the pictures into video to be able to edit. Once it was in Premiere I had no problem editing the footage for my video.

When I tried to color correct the Blackmagic Prores 422 1080 footage I wasn't able to get near the results I did from when I shot in RAW. For some reason I even liked the 5D Mark III footage over the Blackmagic because there just seemed to be a little more color control there. I am not that well trained in color correction so don't take my word there. I have read that the Blackmagic Prores 422 dinamic range is still much greater than the 5DMIII.

The File Size

If you are prepared to burn through terabytes of storage per project this is the camera for you. Although the picture quality is amazing on this camera it comes at a cost. A 500GB per hour cost. Using this camera I needed to learn how to be more conservative with my shots because I knew that I would have to put the footage somewhere. I was using a 500GB solid state drive and I filled it pretty quick. You kind of lose track of time when you are having fun. If you are like me and like to take lots of angles and keep shooting for long periods of time you might need to switch to Prores 422 1080 on the camera to preserve space and be able to shoot longer. You don't get as much clarity, quality or dynamic range if you do this but the option is there for you if you want.

The Weight

Holding the camera for the first time I was surprised of how heavy it was compared to how heavy it looked. There is no easy way to hold the camera with your hands unlike the 5D Mark III so some sort of stabilization unit would be necessary for this camera.

The Monitor Difficult to See Outside

The size of the monitor in the back is great. The only thing I didn't like was when I stepped outside I couldn't see anything. I had to go under a sweater to be able to see the monitor well enough to make decisions based on my shot.

The battery and external battery sources.

You can not replace the internal battery in this camera. If you are mobile and are on shoots away from power sources you have to bring your own. If you already own Canon batteries you can use them with an adapter to power the Blackmagic. There are many adapters for all the different kinds of batteries out there so you shouldn't have too much of an issue finding something that works for you.

The Crop

The only thing that made me really sad about the camera was its 2.3x crop sensor. I had a 24mm lens on it and it acted like a 60mm lens. There was no way of getting any kind of super wide shot which I use a lot when I shoot video. I have read that there might be a ring coming out that will allow you to have a full frame look on this camera. Philip Bloom talks about this here.

The crop isn't bad for everyone though. This is such a great camera for all kinds of film. You are only limited with wide shots so if your film requires anything but super wide shots this is such a great camera.

The Price

B&H has the Blackmagic listed at $2995. This is nearly $500 less than the 5D Mark III but you will probably be spending just about that on a solid state drive worthy for the camera so overall they end up being about the same.

Click here to see the Blackmagic on B&H
Click here to see the 5D Mark III on B&H
Click here to see a good solid state drive for the Blackmagic on B&H

Philip Bloom does a more in-depth video review of the camera here. He also compares other cameras besides the 5D Mark III.

A list of other cool features:

• - Focus Assist Button - This allowed me to know where I was focused without having to zoom in and double check.
• - Highlight control button (Aperture) - Push this button and your camera ajusts the aperture to make sure you are not clipping in the highlights.
• You can use EOS lenses if you buy the camera with an EF mount. If you have already invested in EOS lenses you can jump right in with this camera without having to buy anything else.