Blackmagic Cinema Camera (photos)

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera promises superwide dynamic range for feature-film-quality images without the "video" look.

Joshua Goldman

April 17, 2012 2:34 p.m. PT

1 of 6

Blackmagic Design

Design

The Blackmagic Cinema Camera's chassis is machined from solid aluminum with a smooth rubber coating on the front and rear for easy grip. For $2,995, you get the camera, a sun shield, power supply, carry strap, UltraScope waveform monitoring software, and a full version of DaVinci Resolve Software for Mac OS X and Windows.

2 of 6

Blackmagic Design

Touch screen

The 5-inch capacitive touch screen lets you enter shot data and update the camera's settings. You can double-tap to zoom the image for fast and accurate focus; the data strip displays information including record status, shutter angle, ISO, battery level, record time, and more.

3 of 6

Blackmagic Design

Lenses

The Cinema Camera is compatible with Canon EF and Zeiss ZF lenses.

4 of 6

Blackmagic Design

Standard ports

Blackmagic used no proprietary ports. What you get is a standard mic/line audio-in jack, BNC 3Gbps SDI out, headphone, Thunderbolt, LANC remote control, and standard DC 12-30V power connection.

5 of 6

Blackmagic Design

Removable SSD

The camera records to a solid-state drive meeting the high-bandwidth demands of raw video capture and long-duration compressed video. It supports open file formats compatible with NLE software such as CinemaDNG 12-bit raw, Apple ProRes, and Avid DNxHD.