Jax, by the way, what is your favorite existent digital camera that you'd prefer to work with, supposing money or access were not problems?
Alexa, for sure
It's funny, a company that's been making cameras for nearly 100 years comes makes a camera that actually works, and everyone is surprised
I should say; all digital cameras
work, just that the Alexa is designed from a place of experience, and knowledge about what is wanted and needed in a camera system, in particular a digital system. I prefer the image out of it and general operation a lot more to the image out of a RED, although that's probably because I am partial to the look of film. If I wasn't, maybe I'd enjoy the look of RED - certainly there are those that truly believe that RED give the greatest images.
At the end of the day, I've shot on nearly every major format, from film to DSLR and whilst it's great to have a high-end format, you can still get nice images out of a 5D if you know how to work it. Similarly, you can get crap images out of an Alexa if you
don't know how to work it.
Too much importance these days is put on the camera body itself. Yes, the camera body is an important choice, but it is not the decider of a great film. I'll fight to get higher end cameras because I like the images out of certain cameras, I like the workflow and operation of certain cameras, and generally I like to push for a certain camera or format that supports the story. At the end of the day though you can still get a nice image out of just about any camera, and when you're not working with Hollywood budgets, you often have to compromise on the camera format (though it's nice when you don't
). As an example, I was discussing with a Director how much S16 with 70's Cooke lenses would simply lift a film we were shooting to another level. Didn't have the budget, so went with 5D and Compact Primes. Still looks great, still works well as movie. Would it look better on S16? Yeah. Does it look bad on a 5D? Not in the least.
Everything that happens in front of the lens mount (including the lens) is much more important than the camera itself.
But, damn, working with it does not sound very fun. For one thing, no interchangeable battery? Yeah, yeah... there's a third party solution. But if I were developing a camera (fat chance of that, and let's face it, I'm about as far away from being an engineer as you can get), it's difficult for me to imagine saying, hell yeah, let's not give it that...people can buy an accessory thingy, if they want that. Seems like a fumble to me. Then again, I'm obviously not hard core, so, there ya go.
These kind of issues arise from the fact that Blackmagic are a) using cheap off the shelf parts to keep the cost down (part of the reason they're having such issues in the manufacturing) and b) are used to working on breakout boxes and the like which are designed to sit on your desk forever. I see the BMCC as their RED One equivalent - a new camera system from a company that's never made cameras before, with a whole lot of faults, but people will shoot on it because it's raw at a high spatial resolution.
Just like the Epic and Scarlet are mich better cameras than the 'One', I think BMCC 2.0 will be much more feasible than the 1.0.
That's not to say it's a bad camera, I've seen it intercut with Alexa footage, and most avergae Joe's probably couldn't tell you which was which. It certainly gives you a decent image, and it's now a low-low-budget option that I can suggest instead of a 5D that will allow shooting without the ridiculous compression, and a bit of a nicer image. Does come at the cost of some weird workarounds though..
