Blackmagic Production Camera 4K available now for $3000

Posted by Chris Roubis on 11th, Feb, 2014

Blackmagic Design has announced it is shipping its 4K, global-shutter camera for $1000 less than originally suggested. The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is built around a Super 35mm (roughly APS-C-sized) sensor and can shoot 4K and 1080p footage in Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) or Adobe CinemaDNG Raw formats, direct to SSD. The camera offers 4K at 30p, 25p, 24p and NTSC equivalents. It has a Canon EF-compatible lens mount, offering electronic aperture control with Canon and Zeiss lenses. It is available for $2,995.

The camera features a 6G-SDI connector that allows single-cable 4K transfer. It also includes a Thunderbolt connector and a LANC connector for controlling record, stop, focus and iris settings, remotely.

The global shutter means it captures the entire frame at the same moment, rather than reading the sensor one line at a time – avoiding the distorted verticals that can occur with fast moving subjects or whip pans.

Press Release:

Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is now Shipping with a New Low Price!

Fremont, CA – February 10, 2014 – Blackmagic Design today announced the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is now shipping and with a new low price of US$2,995. This new low price will be available for all customers, including existing pre-orders. Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for only US$2,995.

“The support from the creative community for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and Production Camera 4K has been amazing,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “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!”

About Blackmagic Production Camera 4K

Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is a super high resolution 4K digital production camera for Ultra HD television production. Featuring a large Super 35 sensor, professional global shutter as well as EF and ZE compatible lens mount, the Blackmagic Production Camera 4K captures high quality ProRes™ files, giving customers a complete solution to shoot amazing high resolution music videos, episodic television productions, television commercials, sport and documentaries.

The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K has everything customers need right out of the box including a built in SSD recorder, rechargeable battery and a large 5” LCD touchscreen. In addition to focusing and monitoring shots, the touchscreen also lets customers enter metadata and change camera settings all on a single easy to use interface. Customers also get a full copy of DaVinci Resolve for amazing quality color grading and finishing for Mac OS X and Windows computers.

Key Features

Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 resolution
ProRes 422 (HQ)™ recording
Super 35 sensor
Global shutter
EF and ZE compatible lens mount
Built-in SSD recorder
5” LCD touchscreen
Metadata entry
6G-SDI output for 10-bit HD and Ultra HD

Availability and Price

The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K is available now for US$2,995 from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.

Comments

Remember last year in NAB they claimed they were going to “ship it” in July of 2013?

7 months delay.

Black Magic has been turned into a joke of company.

Yeah, because delays are unheard of in the industry. It’s a shame!

Can’t imagine buying BM – but PLEASE can we have MORE GLOBAL SHUTTERS in general? Imagine a GoPro without the Jello effect. That needs a global shutter. Or weirdly curved helicopter blades on most any digital camera: get a global shutter.

Brian

History does not repeat itself, but, as Mark Twain remarked, it does occasionally rhyme.

Remember how Black Magic has delayed their first 2.4K RAW camera, and started to ship it just before the announcement the Production 4K Camera while discounting 2.4K on $1,000? I remember the urgent activity of people converting their orders from 2.4K to 4K while listening promises from the BM that this would never happen again. May be it’s worth to wait till NAB (April 2014) when a new BM model is announced?

When you add on the cost of the DMW-YAGH and an external recorder needed to get the equivalent quality file out of the GH4 then the Blackmagic looks something of a bargain. On top of that you get a global shutter and better DR it’s no contest for anyone who ‘needs’ 4k

Pretty amazing how much money Blackmagic has… Because this is an agressive marketing strategy and it seems either they have a lot of capital to sell thse things at a low price or they really know how to produce great stuff at a lower price

There’s really not all that much *in* a mirrorless camera. Sensor + IO board + LCD screen + battery in a box with a hole in the front.

The way the thing is built (simple chassis, absolute minimum of physical buttons) means they can keep the cost right down.

They should make mounts for Nikon and other lenses. Filmmakers like myself who have plenty of Nikon lenses, can use them on Blackmagic, and their marketshare also increases!

You can adapt Nikon lenses for the EF mount, but not vice versa, hence the EF mount make more sense, saving the cost of offering two options.

If this had an E mount like the Sony FS700, A7r, VG900 etc that work with any DSLR lens it would have much more demand. The GH4 works with even more lenses since it also works with m4/3rd lenses along with any DSLR lens.

I love Black Magic! I love their quality product, their style, their marketing! Shame on Canon, Nikon, Sony…

you love their style? like carrying a box in your hands, idd nice ergonomic design.

I think he’s being facetious.

This is hardly the pinnacle of style. More a low production cost box-design done well. Kind of like one of those generic boxes that you get with electronics kits at school – just much better made.

However, fair play to Blackmagic! I love to see a manufacturer come out and do things better, cheaper and with more imagination.

RED did it with video/movies. We just need someone to do it for photography. At the moment Sony are making strides in that direction and others are showing signs of trying something similar.

Innovation is great for all of us, regardless of the shape or brand.

“in your hands” ? This isn’t for handheld shots, it goes on a big camera rig! 🙂

You can tell from the design this is meant to be used in a rig, and not held by itself.

Apart from bring able to record 4k, why are people comparing this and the GH4? Obviously the concepts are different. The blackmagic is a dedicated video camera and the GH4 is a still photo camera transformer with the ability to snap high res video. Body’s look very different, sensors are differently sized. For video I’d obviously take the blackmagic, if I also want to take still the GH4. It’s that easy for me.

GH4 is approaching BlackMail from lower end.

Wasn’t their HD model only $999?

Ah, apparently not. They’ve never been that cheap.

The 4/3 sensor “pocket” is $999.

it’s not 4/3 sensor, it’s micro 4/3 mount and the sensor is super 16

don’t think anyone is stupid enough to have a m4/3″ mount, if not paid good by the m4/3″ gang. Sony E should be a much better one, and Canon EF-M.

EF-M? There are only 3 lenses!

So the idea was to sell it for 4000$, then they saw the g4, ups lets make it 3000$, this is why competition is great for the consumers.

Under-promise and over-deliver. A time-honored marketing strategy. My guess is they planned it that way all along.

they should see the market expanding well, at a rate higher than price cut.

@Nukunukoo

Considering only the base gear to make them as equal as possible (and also considering the full GH4 + breakbow box price hasn’t been announced) – yes, they are similar budgets. Both are in the $3K range.

No they are not really. GH4 is priced 1500€ i euroland camera only.

Sure but if you check how may DR stops BM has over the GH4, which is critical for pro video, is there any relevance in comparison? Especially with a global shutter?

I think the difference between a good BM video and a GH4 video really depends on a high fiber diet….

🙂

Global shutter is nice. But, to be operative, a Blackmagic system requires considerably more scratch than the $3,000 price of the body.

Outstanding pre-orders now stand wat what multiple of inventory?

From the press release:

“The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K has everything customers need right out of the box including a built in SSD recorder, rechargeable battery and a large 5” LCD touchscreen”

So it can do 4K RAW out of the box. Which is more that you can say for the GH4. To be really useful you need a rig, but it offers more out of the box than the GH4.

Awesome, not even considering the price. The price tag enable any amateur videographer to do quality 4K video, and also enable very high quality Full HD movie, even if you need to crop some scenes.

For weddings, it will be probably the 2014 must-have tool to produce awesome videos!

There you go! Now we are talking.
A video tool done the professional way.
Would be nice if it also can take still pictures.
Also,a choice of non standard resolutions and frame rates. Not everybody in making 16:9 broadcast complaint video…

The GH4 looks like a toy next to this one.

GH4 may be better than Gopro if can be mounted on helmet.

You make that ridiculous comment about the GH4? If anything, the Blackmagic looks like a toy. And while we are at it, you even said yourself that the Blackmagic can’t do stills – but the GH4 can. So, which one is the toy? And, one more thing. The Black magic costs twice as much as the GH4, since the GH4 price is rumored to hover around $1500.

caver3d, GH4 is rumored to be around $2000-$3000. Maybe after they see this, they’ll lower it.

The toy analogy was in regards to video quality.
The 4k capability of the GH4 is a joke when it can’t even do 1080P right. Hell, is not even capable of doing 10bit 4:2:2 at the lowest resolution. But the same goes to most of the still cameras. Except some Canon that can do quality video with a firmware hack.

The photo above looks like a lens sticking out of a toaster,

However good the technical performance of these boxes, the ergonomics are just tragic. Unless of course you turn them into a Xmas tree of add on bits and pieces. In which case the ergonomics become just a bad parody of a real TV / film camera.

fanboy much

How does the GH3 not “do 1080 right”?

And not sure either, about “not capable at doing 10-bit 422 at the lowest resolution”. What resolution does it not do 1080 at? It’s either 1080 or it’s not…

Misinformed. It can do 422, read again.

Canon 5d Mk4K possibly in the near future????

expect eos 1dc/c300 prices. Canon is robbing bank accounts for such feats. i dont think canon will drop those prices and make 4k only possible for rich people.

ok perhaps a 50% drop making it a 5.5k dollar/euro camera
still nowhere near BM or Panasonic 4k camera’s

The only thing Canon will do with the next 5D is lock down the hardware so Magic Lantern can’t offer RAW video – got to protect the more profitable Cinema EOS line!

Whoever does the first GH4 vs. BM 4K camera shootout is going to get a lot of attention.

I am pretty sure the Blackmagic Design marketing department would prefer you didn’t abbreviate their name to “BM”.

is that blackmail?

The GH4 works with any lens made including Canon FD mount and the BMC 4K works only with Canon EF mount. So unless you already have Canon EF lenses the GH4 looks like the winner in my book.

…that is if you don’t care about the jello shutter aka rolling shutter of consumer cameras and even dSLRs. The blackmagic has a global shutter. Look into it.

EF mount is quite versatile. It doesn’t support FD, Konica or Minolta, but pretty much any other SLR or Medium format lens can be adapted. You won’t be lacking for lens options. There are really no lenses in those too-short mounts that you can’t find in compatible mounts.

@RedFox88 The GH4’s faster readout can be tested as well vs a global shutter. They said it minimizes the jello effect. I can’t wait for real world tests.

The Black Magic records 10-bit 4:2:2 ProRes internally at launch, and will get RAW recording later in a firmware update. The GH4 records 8-bit 4:2:0 internally, requires an external recorder to get 10-bit 4:2:2, and has no way to record RAW. So there really won’t be any question which will offer the better image quality in good light. Now, as a run-and-gun or low-light solution, the GH4 will almost certainly be better.

Both of these 4K cameras are better options than anyone else offers. I would take either one of them.

Much much better option than the Pana GH4 where you need an ext recorder to get prores. The only thing missing is 12V power and XLR input, but, the GH4 doesnt have that either.

shocking for a camera costing probably twice as much as the GH4 to be much better.

No cinema 4K 4096×2160 or OLED EVF like the GH4.

The thing is that the BM is a full on cine option.. whereas the GH4 is trying to be a still image camera as well.. which is holding it back. Its good at both, but, not ideal for either. GH4 may be DOA.

The global shutter on the BM alone trumps the GH4… not to mention the s35 sensor.

The BMPC 4K has 12-volt input power, in fact 12-30V.

4K is a transient standard anyway,
a landing between 2K and 8K.
8K is the real thing.

yabokkie: like saying that 575mph jetliners are a transient standard between 280mph prop craft and the 1750mbph Concorde.

no, 32k is the real thing. No 128k is the real thing….

8K is the standard highway, rail, and jet transport. there are good reasons for it like that’s about the highest resolution that a person with 20/20 vision (1.0 decimal) can see at 100 degrees (8K). the perceived quality won’t change for such a person when the resolution go 16K or 32K.

some African tribe men can see three times higher frequencies or 10 times more pixels will be needed but 8K should be still good enough for mass media and the majority of applications for long time.

“some African tribe men can see three times higher frequencies or 10 times more pixels will be needed but 8K should be still good enough for mass media and the majority of applications for long time.” you have finally gone over the deep end yabokkie- I have not a single clue what you’re babbling about this time, and am even wondering why I’m pointing that out, as you pretty much live in your own weird world.

@Jogger It’s not DOA as long as people want both stills and video on a single device.

who needs stills when u can grab hi-res image from the video…

Great. But I’m eagerly waiting for a more improved Pocket Cinema.

Thanks to competition from the Panasonic GH4, no doubt.

The IQ and HS recovery of the Production Camera is light years ahead of the GH4. The competition is not even close. BlackMagic is in the same territory as Red…

Whether or not you find them comparable, they are still competing for similar video customers and budgets.

Do not compare different animal. Two very different product. No such thing as one is better than another overall.

Since neither of these cameras are available yet I am surprised to hear you make such definitive statements.

@tkbslc- Similar budgets? You serious?

And the GH4 and Production Camera also have VERY little overlap between the type of users.

If you say so.

Source Article from http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/02/10/blackmagic-production-camera-4k-with-global-shutter-available-now-for-3000