A Professional Alternative to GoPro
- by Rick Wilson
- Apr 17, 2015
- 2 min read
Blackmagic Design, a company known for A/V hardware and software, made its foray into camera systems at NAB in 2012 with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. At NAB in 2013 the company announced the Blackmagic pocket camera, a pocketable camera that can record RAW or ProRes internally to sd cards with 13 stops of dynamic range at a $999 price point. At NAB in 2015 Blackmagic has gone even further. They announced the Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera. The camera looks a bit like the Canon Powershot N, it’s square, with a Micro Four Thirds lens mount. The camera has no display, much like a studio camera or the GoPro Hero 4 Black. The body is made from magnesium, whereas the GoPro is made of plastic. Because of this the camera weighs over three times the weight of the GoPro.
Below is a graphic by Drone 55 that shows the sizes of the two cameras to scale.
This graphic by Blackmagic details the expansion possibilities of the Blackmagic Micro Cinema Camera.
The key features to this camera is the ability to record internally to CinemaDNG RAW at 65 MB/s and Apple ProRes 422 HQ. Additionally the camera has a micro four thirds lens mount that allows the camera to accomplish shots that the GoPro will never be able to do. The camera can record at 1080p 60fps, not quite as fast as the GoPro, but understandable due to the recording formats. The camera is powered by Canon LP-E6 batteries. At this size and weight, this camera is in the sweet spot to capture incredible images at a cheap price and small payload.
SOURCE: Blackmagic Designs