By site editor Dan Chung:
Blackmagic Design (BMD) has taken the unusual step of reducing the price of their 4K Production camera before it has even to reach stores in numbers. BMD CEO Grant Petty announced that the new price for the camera is now $2995 US and available for all customers, including pre-orders.
Already easily the cheapest 4K Super35 sensor camera by some margin, this price drop is certainly a very aggressive move that is seemingly designed to see off potential rivals such as Panasonic’s newly announced GH4.
Key features apart from 4K are the built-in SSD recording to ProRes 422, a global shutter, EF lens mount and 6G-SDI output with the potential for recording of 10-bit HD and Ultra HD.
Ergonomics for the camera are the same as the existing Blackmagic Cinema Camera and so continue to be a challenge for run-and-gun shooters. Plenty of rigs exist but none are as convenient as a well set up Canon C300 or Sony FS700 rig. Audio is also an area where Blackmagic Design cameras have not traditionally fared well – it remains to be seen if the 4K Production camera is any improvement over its siblings.
BMD is clearly pitching the camera at Ultra HD TV production as opposed to cinema use. The word cinema is not to be found in recent press releases and the camera’s resolution is the Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 variant of 4K as opposed to the DCP complaint 4096×2160.
This is what Petty had to say in a press release “As with all of our products, we work hard in production to reduce costs so we can pass along the savings, even to our first Blackmagic Production Camera 4K customers. The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is a perfect companion for ATEM Production 4K switchers and we hope the new low price will help more customers to expand their Ultra HD live production set ups with even more camera angles!”
Shipping of the 4K has commenced but it seems that numbers are strictly limited with many dealers only receiving a few cameras. Hopefully shipments of larger volumes won’t be too far off.
