Switched from RED to BMD...

[Mark K.]

Talk about in the middle of nowhere. Dampier is pretty much the end of the world.

Pretty much?! You've got another 1000 miles to go before you reach the actual end of the world (Perth)!

[Dean Butler]

With BM cameras it is worth buying from a dealer that sells aftermarket extended replacement warranties. They don't have a stellar reputation for reliability or service. The low price is only possible using economical manufacturing techniques that aren't easily serviced. This pretty much extends to about everything they make. If the guts plus the labor to replace them cost more than a new camera, you are out of luck when it fails.

Yep we bought from leederville cameras in Perth whichh offers an qdditional 12 months

[Dean Butler]

Pretty much?! You've got another 1000 miles to go before you reach the actual end of the world (Perth)!

Hahahahahahaha so true

[Dean Butler]

I like that we've come to this point where there really are options now for high end and long term use cameras, no more flavor of the month H.264 8-bit wonder cameras! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed filming with my Nikon D90, Canon 5D Mark II, and eventually my Sony A7S which I still use, but now having extensively used my RED One MX and seeing all the benefits of RAW and that high end 4K workflow, I've really come to appreciate the Blackmagic Pocket 4K which was a major lifesaver for some of our reshoot shots on my first feature. Now we're looking pretty hard at equipment for our next film and while I wouldn't doubt we'll be using the RED One MX again, the thought of the Blackmagic Pocket 6K along with an Ursa 6K or even 8K model is a pretty intriguing idea if Blackmagic follows through from now until next NAB. If we had full 6K from the Sony FX9, that would have been a nice option too since we do love the A7S and have a bunch of adapters ready to go. But in practical terms, it's really just the same game it always was, it's just now the cameras offer much better image quality and RAW codecs. It's wonderful that RED's movement brought us all to this point and they are still, in my opinion, the image quality standard for cameras going forward but there's really no practical point of being a "RED-only" shooter or business as the options out there provide for a lot more flexibility than we've ever had technologically speaking. Granted, if we could be all RED with 8K and beyond all the time, we would but at this point it's not in the budget so on that point, Blackmagic is really killing it and I wonder what the competition will do to respond.

100%

[John Brawley]

Also, how do you find battery life and boot-up time on the Ursa Mini G2? I was under the impression that it was similar to DSMC1 and 2? Like how much runtime do you get out of a 90wh?

Most BMD cameras boot up in seconds. Like 3 or 4 seconds. The G2 is the same.

From a 90wh running a Terradek 3000 and cinetape and focus motors I usually get about 90 mins +

JB

[Mike P.]

Most BMD cameras boot up in seconds. Like 3 or 4 seconds. The G2 is the same.

From a 90wh running a Terradek 3000 and cinetape and focus motors I usually get about 90 mins +

JB

Whew... that's hot!

Thanks John. I have a pocket and yeah, it's instant-on -- ~3 seconds to shooting. Didn't know if the G2 was the same. Also didn't realize it was a kitted ~60wh draw, so that's good to know as well.

[Dean Butler]

Most BMD cameras boot up in seconds. Like 3 or 4 seconds. The G2 is the same.

From a 90wh running a Terradek 3000 and cinetape and focus motors I usually get about 90 mins +

JB

Thanks for the info John! My 146's are gonna fly!!!

[Jason beaumont]

need a quick notes version. lost me in the first 20 seconds of that video.

[Frank Glencairn]

With BM cameras it is worth buying from a dealer that sells aftermarket extended replacement warranties. They don't have a stellar reputation for reliability or service. The low price is only possible using economical manufacturing techniques that aren't easily serviced. This pretty much extends to about everything they make. If the guts plus the labor to replace them cost more than a new camera, you are out of luck when it fails.

For the price (compared to other cameras) you can buy 2 spares and still save money.

[Robert Hart]

Spare cameras are not really an option when you are on the bare bones of your raggedy posterior. If you like me are after a camera to shoot infrequent pre-prod trailers for your scripts and it will see a long life of low to medium use, the BMs may not be for you although it should be conceded that their being affordable enables the possibility of owning a camera and not having to drive all over the place to rent stuff. Mine has quietly died in its sleep and it is not economical to repair it seems. In the interests of fairness, I should disclose that I bought the camera used. It had been cared for and bore no scars and in my turn I treated it gently. So it is back to the SI2K which still works just fine. A pity it is sub-2K in the resolution stakes.