The main takeaway (and the point that many people ignore) is to use the right camera for the task. I also have an Alexa (M model - very odd thing) and the thought of trying to run and gun with it gives me the jibblies. I also just recently got the 6kpro and your point about ND filters is hitting home. The thing I've noticed is that the Blackmagic cameras CAN be used in narrative work where cinema cameras (Alexa, RED) have a hard time stepping into docu/RnG roles. (edited for typos)
"use the right camera for the task." 100% mate!! Totally agree. Good points (I too fear using our Alexa run'n'gun lol)... Good point on the Blackmagic cameras. They are Chameleons
I love everything about Blackmagic culture. They have fantastic prices and cameras that inspire me to tell stories. I too have had a few minor QC issues but BMD customer service always took care of me. And let's be clear, RED has had their fair share of QC issues as well. At least BMD design never released a mobile phone (Hydrogen Phone anyone?) for a ridiculous price point that they soon completely abandoned shortly thereafter. BMD is patiently playing the long game in terms of development and integrated workflow pipeline offerings. I have owned my URSA MINI PRO 4.6k for several years now and love that camera. The images, color science, resolution and codecs are fantastic given its price tag. It's a shame that no big studio projects have adopted the URSA for serious work. But let's not kid ourselves, there is a pretentious factor in this industry. If said camera doesn't cost x amount of dollars, we ain't using it. URSA MINI and even Pocket 4k/6k footage can go toe to toe with the much more expensive camera offerings. It's really about the glass and ability to light a scene, no matter what camera you use. If the dp sucks, shoot on RED (cause if they do, the footage HAS to look good right?) But if the dp has talent, GIVE THEM ANY CAMERA.
I agree 100% on Blackmagic culture. I think they are on a mission to democratise cinema tools (including cameras) and I think they are really passionate about it and believe in it... I wonder if the lack of an OLPF (I buy the rawlite one) has held bigger productions off from using Ursa... or is it just the other already entrenched systems / brands. That said Arri cameras are built to take abuse on film sets. BMD cameras not so much... But they cost A LOT LESS and their image quality is outstanding.
You had me on the autofocus part. I never comment on videos until I realized someone finally said it. I've been begging Blackmagic for intergrading continuous autofocus, as I am begging Sony to put internal raw recording for their cameras like A7siii, A1 or whatever next camera that might come out, R5 and R5c has a big advantage on that part.
The problem is, if you want more affordable camera, you need to sacrifice something. I think the Pocket series should be the one to integrate AF first as its already trying to target DSLR users with its body style. I don't find I need AF/IS but there have been occasions where my life would have been made easier for a certain type of shot. I think there are many other features improvements I would take over AF unless they can add a reliable one at no extra cost to the cameras.
@@kolecava The simplest way that autofocus would help us is when we are shooting and conducting an interview... Being able to shoot shallow and not have to check focus and having talent leaning forward/back would be incredibly helpful. I don't need it to perfectly track people running around... Just good face tracking for interviews would be very neat.
I've currently got my G2 at BMD I'm for the front SDI going out as well. G1 had a screen issue when it overheating and when I tried to send it in the said it was a "legacy product" and no longer supported. it was super disappointing to see their lack of support for recent products. Now having an issue with my G2 it has me seriously considering moving to an Amira or FX9.... curious about your thoughts on your G2 in 2022! Thanks for your video!
Hi Jason, we've kept our bmpcc 6k pro. But sold our g2. Have purchased a couple canon cameras plus arri alexa classic. Have a vid coming out next week about this change
@@AlucinorProductions thanks for the reply. It's a shame that the G2 leaves some doubt about reliability. Feature set and price point seem almost unmatched. Also, personally I find BM RAW such a pleasure to work with... I'll be curious to hear your thought process and what you landed on.
Braw is a dream. It's so smooth and stable for scrubbing and playback. Canon is good. Has benefits... but braw is the best in terms of smooth post workflow and quality to file size ratio. Love the G2. My second one was much better. Having braw for us and prores for freelance was excellent.
I feel like the 6k Pro is damn near the perfect camera. If BM puts out a cube camera with an RF mount, I'd be over the moon. If they got a RED level autofocus and ibis communication....I'd sell everything for it.
As a Canon R5 user and editor I absolutely agree. I have loved BM footage over RED when editing. If I could put my RF glass on a BM cam it would become my crew A cam and I would use the R5 for solo run and gun and B cam.
Yep, Blackmagic is unrivaled in image quality for the price. Build quality (when they first ship new cameras) seems to struggle - but newer models seem to be really well worked out.
Same... exact... boat. I was a little sad about leaving too! I LOVED RED being the industry game changer back like 12 years ago. It was 1/3 the price of anything out there. MX was amazing, Dragon... then, for me, Helium didn't really deliver what I expected. Monstro and Gemini were amazing but as good as the images are, the prices on everything were now pretty crazy, especially the media... with cards being over $2,000 each. I wanted to get a more 'stealthy' camera unlike my big RED rig so, at the time, I got the BMPCC4K. I never loved the Gen3 color science, it always felt super digital to me, a little dead, bad brown cast to it. However, then Gen4 came out and wow (and Gen5 is rrrrreally close to the Alexa look). That look in a small body, I was impressed but I was hoping for the Komodo. They teased it for almost two years and I got sick of waiting. Impressed with the BMPCC4K, then Black Magic dropped the 6K out of nowhere. I instantly jumped on it and was still impressed with how much punch it had for sure a low price. To even be neck and neck with a RED Dragon or Helium, that's insane for 1/10th the price. Then eight (?) months later the Komodo finally launched and I was super underwhelmed. It was kind of a mess with the 3rd party add-ons, the SDI port still frying, the software bricking, etc. And the image, to me, just felt like a super digital version of what RED was supposed to be. I wasn't a fan. Then, again, Black Magic drops their 12K Ursa. It had every... single... spec you could ever want. I wish it had more than 14 stops of DR but they don't lie about their DR either. RED is actually more around 14.5. I kept waiting for RED to drop their DSMC3 to gut the Black Magic (and now Sony) market. Nah. They released the Raptor with no test footage and $35K for a package to get started. Then the people started talking about the various issues with the sensor stitching (which you can see in some cameras, a line right down the middle). I was going to get one but said forget it... and got the Ursa 12K for $6,000 with built in NDs, XLRs, various I/O that RED doesn't have. Sadly, RED keeps pricing themselves out of the market they created. Same as with this video, I used to love having the same sensor that they used to shoot "Social Network." But they keep under-delivering specs while charging a premium then making excuses, "Ah, you don't need NDs... that's what a matte box is for!" I'd go back if they could get their quality control in order and get competitive with their pricing.
Loved the MX and Dragon. R3d is excellent, although braw is so cruisy on the system (not true raw but still sensational). Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Hopefully RED can get their QC issues sorted, I do like that they built a global shutter camera but havemt tried it yet.
My experiences is nearly identical to yours. We left Red Raven's earlier this year and moved forward with the Ursa G2. It is just a better fit for what we do, and the image is quite something. I honestly prefer it over our Red Raven's image. 4:40 perfectly summed it up. Both are great brands, just different.
So thrilled with my recently purchased 6k Pro. Yet to use on a client shoot. First one I’m gonna use the BM on (as opposed my A7siii on some corporate work before then) is a branded web video and I am wondering whether you’d go lower than Q5 for client work online? On the 6K Pro. Thanks.
We almost always have our cams set to q5 for Corporate work. We just lower the compression (Q0 or 5:1) for narrative or commercial stuff (or if a freelance client wants prores). Q5 is excellent. It can be less compressed than 8:1 or more compressed than 12:1. Saves a lot of space but gives you the data when needed and for online imo is more than enough
@@AlucinorProductions honestly no at all, I ve got Epic and Komodo, always some troubles with. I prefer rent Monstro and Gemini for big sets instead of buying it, especially now, did you see that raptor? 1 year after Komodo? Crazy times, it's goin so fast, and cameras needs time to be stable/reliable
Absolutely agree. I like your sensible approach. I would leave Red in a second if they added pre-record to the 12K. Agree re the reliability, but you can buy a few of them for the price of a Red kit (except for Komodo, but then you need two anyhow in case the SDI port blows :)
Yes at the price you're right you can buy multiple BMD cam's... I think if they offered an extended warranty (say 2 years) that you could buy, which RED does, that'd be my mind at ease big time. C'mon Blackmagic... bring on the extended warranties!!!
@@AlucinorProductions it's not the warranty that bothers me, it's the downtime. I'm often working far from civilization, so I need reliability or redundancy. I don't trust Blackmagic cams or Komodo very much.
Gotcha... Yep I'm up in the far north of Western Australia a lot and I always have the 6k (now 6kpro) with me just in case the Ursa dies. (Should always have a backup anyway but I really feel I need it with Blackmagic)
Agreed. We had RED and sold it for BlackMagic and personally, the BlackMagics are far superior for the work that we do and I like the image a lot better. Clean and close to Alexa. Red has a “look” that you have to fight in order to get a corporate natural look. Good cameras but not for us. Save money on gear and invest in better supportive gear. Or just make more from charging clients the same rates.
Hi, thanks for posting your honest opinion. Much appreciated. Would you consider trying Panasonic S1H (or even S5)? Compared to 6KPro, it seems to tick every box and is very reliable. Full frame stabilised sensor, weather sealed body and also the freedom to shoot on cheap media. It doesn't have built-in NDs, though.
I've heard nothing but good things about the S1h except for the relatively slow read speed of the sensor. (The BMPCC also has a slow read speed). However as we have a pretty good set of cameras right now for our needs, the thing we'd potentially be looking at is a small gimbal camera with great autofocus that's got higher framerate options (and more dynamic range) than the XT3 at 4k... So in short lol. I'd LOVE the S1h, need to try it and Shane and I were talking about it recently... but it doesn't full a current need for us... just a want (if that makes sense?). Thanks for sharing mate
The dragon X I use for run and gun quite a lot and most of my corporate work. A7S 3 for all real estate. I find the DSMC 2 is a bit heavy but with Zhiyun 3S gimbal carrying 6.5Kg it’s doable but nowhere near as quick as Sony. The A7S 3 I shoot in log 10 bit 4K and grade it with a colour transform LUT that I have made to make it look like Alexa. And it does look it. I’ve had people fooled. The one thing though, that RED produces, over anything out there including ARRI, it’s a distinct mojo, a look, a palette, a texture. I’ve had the BM cameras including the pockets, all of them from the original, micro, 4K and then the 6K, the Ursa Mini, the cinema camera 2.5K… and with BM I was always frustrated with the exception of maybe the 6K. However nothing has ever made me fall in love with the footage as much as RED has done. I put my camera up for sale twice and both times I changed my mind. It’s a lot of money tied to it but once you commit, enjoy the ride. It’s totally overpriced but also totally worth it.
I agree that the dragon image is excellent. I really like it, but think I prefer Alexa by a smidge... but really they're both great... dragon at least compared to Alexa classic is a way more usable single op camera that's for sure. We actually just picked up the c70 and r5c for corporate work. Will post a vid on that decision with some tests soon. We're spoilt for choice no doubt!!! Also nice work on the lut for the a7s3!!! That's so cool client couldn't tell
Well, I’ve lost my SDI port on my Komodo. They aren’t taking care of it even though we are within the warranty. So I’m considering selling my REDs and going back to BM for main camera…disappointing.
@@AlucinorProductions Yeah. They said “physical damage”. Uhhh…no. I plugged in the SDI cable into the SDI port, per their instructions. Not sure how that’s physical damage…extremely disappointed. I’ve been in production for over 20 years. Never once have a damaged an SDI port.
Good video with lots of thoughts. One of the questions I had while I was listening is...would you (are you) going to pick up a Blackmagic 12K camera now?
Thanks mate, appreciate it. I'm not ruling it out but not right now, simply because between the G2, the Arri Alexa and the BMPCC 6k (and 6k pro) we have our bases covered on the camera front (except perhaps a higher quality camera with great autofocus for particular shoots and shots)... I'm really interested to see if Blackmagic do a new body design with the 12k sensor... Something smaller/lighter
I could certainly understand you selling off your RED Kits for the URSA Mini Pro 12K, but not for the URSA G2 and the Pocket 6K. (???) 💁The G2 is a fine camera, but the URSA 12K with its RGB Super 35mm Sensor is the better investment IMHO. 👀 Some Hollywood features are now being shot with the URSA 12K. I am aware the 12K URSA is not on the Netflix approved production camera list, yet the G2 is, so go figure ? 🤔
Yeah at the time we got the g2 the 12k hadn’t even been announced. Had it been we likely would have bought it, particularly after the price drop. However the g2 proved superb for freelance shoots and even a rental out for an Amazon doco where ProResHQ was a client must. The 12k is Braw only. Which I love, but some clients just want prores
I also wanted to add about the autofocus. I have picked up a Sony A7sIII, FX3, and an A1 camera for my autofocus. It's not as foolproof as BRAW, but I am really liking the options compared to my BMPCC 6K cameras.
Thanks mate, yeah the A7s3 and FX3 look the goods for sure. I had the original A7s but the color was awful... Looks like they've improved in leaps and bounds since then... I'd probably look at something like the C70 (hard to give up ND's lol) although then I wouldn't have the IBIS... no perfect camera I guess ;-)
Well Sony seems to finally be getting their color on point so it's all good :-) Sony have generally always had better specs I think, Canon less DR. Having those two companies compete, pushing each other and both doing well is good for all of us
I agree that Blackmagic is probably losing sales based on the lack of autofocus. I am launching a bunch of video projects and have no experience. We are producing the content for the contents sake and I am learning the actual video knowledge just to be able to get what I want to say out there. In order to film what I want to film especially since there will be Gimble work and solo filming I am looking at Sony. I work in Resolve now and really like what Blackmagic is doing and their overall idea. But I need auto focus.
Red DSMC2 when it was new were so unreliably people were bringing 4-5 cams to a 2 cam shoot because you expected 1 to overheat, 1 to just randomly die. thats not getting to the fact that red mags are a joke of a recording media. 1 basement grade SSD over 1 nice drive or 2 good enough drives with a live backup. While I've still got an FS700R (mostly waiting it to sell) I've most to a pair X-S10 for most of my work, I still get 4k 10bit 422 out to an atomos recorder and with Tascams upcoming XLR unit I should gain back my XLR ins. SLOG sucks to grade over F-log or shooting a fuji film simulation Pocket 4/6k don't fit my needs as I'm a hybrid video photo shooter and to afford to spend 4k on bodys and glass I sold almost all my older canon stuff. I wish I could have gone URSA 12 but it doesn't make sense for my work.
Yeah Ive heard bad reliability stories about RED cameras, especially that RED on era (long time ago now)... but my personal experience was really solid... Yeah the redmag thing put me off a bit... I loved the FS700!! Used to hire it a lot... Yeah grading would be tough right? I'm just shooting my to camera bits in eterna on the Fuji Xt3 now. I don't do too much with it... image is really nice. Thanks for sharing your thoughts man, appreciate it... Yeah I reckon I'd get the 12k if I didn't already have a G2... No need for higher rez though really
@@AlucinorProductions there’s been enough issues when they are new I would never buy one or not have a spare ready for the first 1-2 years after a new body comes out. I still laugh to this day at all the BS around mags, cus buying the cheapest SSD you can and putting it in a metal box really deserves a 10x markup and claims it costs them millions in testing and development. data recovery was the solution not spend more on the drives in the first place. Grading if it’s not recording raw externally is a non starter. Sony’s 8bit falls apart. If it’s externally it’s just all the fun of SlOG The nice thing about the 12k is the frame rates and now with the price drop its super competitive.
I did this old clip with a 5D and the slowmo scene with the FS700 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-z__dn3G9vGU.html ... I had no idea how to grade it lol. Recorded internally. the 12k at the price is CRAZY COMPTETITIVE!!! Clients pull stills a lot from our 4.6k 100fps stuff. I think I'd be living at 8k most of the time on the 12k so I can always switch between standard and high speed. Who knows maybe we'll sell the G2 and get a 12k... Although and this is a big although. Freelance clients often love 1080p or 4k prores and the G2 does that internally which is very handy
@@AlucinorProductions probably just shot one of sonys mostly colored profiles 8k makes a lot of sense to record on it, 12k maybe for achieve stuff or VFX otherwise I don't see a need. Yeah pro res/dnxhr as long as the senor feeding it is decent does great
@@AlucinorProductions I do. I have the s6. Kind of the best of both worlds IMO. Only thing it’s lacking is the SDI. Hopefully with their next model they incorporate it. It’s a solid camera, highly kitable, great color science, fast boot times and durable as hell.
@@AlucinorProductions it rigs out much nicer than the bmd. I’ve owned the pocket and g1 ursa. Both great cameras! The zcam is a bit more versatile imo because of its cube form factor.
@@theanonymousfilmmaker Yep totally understand. I'm hoping BMD does something in that form soon. Ursa is great for off the shoulder ENG work... but to have that sensor in a smaller cube form for gimbals or different kinds of rigs would be great.
