The first cinema camera from Blackmagic Design allowed filmmakers to shoot spectacular films and videos for cinema, TV, and the Internet at an affordable price. Here is a look back at the Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera 2.5K.
Even before Blackmagic Design launched its first camera, the company was well-known for high-quality video editing and conversion equipment.
When it announced its first digital film camera in 2012, camera manufacturers like Canon, Sony, and RED had to prepare for a new kid on the block. The Cinema Camera 2.5K cost only a fraction of the usual prices other companies demanded.
Until then, camera manufacturers were charging five- or even six-digit amounts for professional film equipment: The Canon EOS C300 camera cost CHF 15,000 in 2012 and the C500 even CHF 30,000. Sony charged CHF 19,400 for the PMW-F55, CHF 34,900 for the PMW-F5, or even CHF 65,000 for the F65. The price for the classic ARRI ALEXA was even higher.
The weaknesses of old video cameras
Those who did not have the necessary change for these digital film cameras had to switch to weaker video cameras, which were primarily unsuitable for the production of feature films and high-end projects: A small sensor, low dynamic range, maximum resolution in HD, poor lenses, video formats with strong compression or poor integration with editing programs and metadata management. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera was designed to eliminate these problems.
Powerful and compact digital film camera, affordable price
The Blackmagic Cinema Camera 2.5K (EF) gave filmmakers access to a professional digital film camera at an affordable price. At around CHF 3,000, the compact camera with its incredible image quality was a real bargain.
Higher resolution and wide dynamic range
With the camera's 2.5K sensor, filmmakers could shoot high-quality TV commercials, TV series, and feature films in cinema quality. The resolution of 2432 x 1366 pixels captured much more details and film productions could be created in HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) for television and the Internet or even 2K-DCI (2048 x 1080 pixels) for cinema.
The impressive dynamic range of 13 f-stops allowed a professional cinema look with impressive colors. In film mode, the camera recorded far more colors and details with the full resolution with CinemaDNG RAW and Apple ProRes, so that the recordings could later be processed to the desired look (color grading).
One EF connection, countless lenses
The Canon EF mount enabled the use of professional photo lenses from Canon (such as the L-series) or Zeiss Distagon or Planar lenses with a much larger and more precise focus radius. The correct exposure was set with the electronically controlled lens aperture.
The focus and the aperture could be adjusted very precisely by hand with cinema lenses. Canon offered large zoom lenses and Zeiss scored points with the CP.2 lenses.
Connections and operation
The camera came with professional connections and a simple operation. On the front was the record button for recording on SSD hard drives.
In addition to the on/off button, the large touchscreen LCD on the back was used to view and monitor recordings and set the menus and other functions. Other buttons activated automatic exposure, focus peaking, or autofocus. The transport buttons controlled recordings or played them back and set the aperture electronically.
There were several professional connections for LANC remote, headphones, audio, Thunderbolt, and power on the left.
The USB connection for firmware updates and the SSD recorder for capturing footage on 2.5" SSD hard drives were on the right side.
Record open formats on SSD
The footage was captured in 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW at full 2.5K resolution (2432 x 1366 pixels) or 10-bit Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD in HD (1920 x 1080 pixels). The camera used fast SSD hard drives, as the video formats required higher data transfer rates.
The open formats were compatible with Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer, and DaVinci Resolve and did not have to be converted to another format. The 2.5K and HD resolution footage was captured at 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, and 30 frames per second.
DaVinci Resolve, UltraScope, and Media Express included
Each purchase came with a USB dongle for DaVinci Resolve software for professional color correction and color grading.
The CinemaDNG RAW format was particularly suitable here. The users could determine the uninterpreted data from the camera sensor themselves in post-production instead of during the filming. With the complete sensor output, filmmakers were able to adjust all image aspects such as brightness, medium levels, black levels, sensitivity, color temperature, color space, etc.
As soon as the camera was connected to a computer with a Thunderbolt cable, the included programs Blackmagic UltraScope and Media Express could be used.
Blackmagic UltraScope allowed the user to check various scopes such as parade, waveform, vectorscope, histogram, audio level meter, and the live image.
With Media Express, the footage was recorded and stored directly on the computer.
Touchscreen LCD with many functions
Camera operators determined the image composition and focus, monitored the audio levels, checked the remaining recording time and other functions with the large built-in LCD display.
You could change all camera settings such as frame rate, shutter angle, color temperature, dynamic range, focus assist settings, and more via the LCD display. Recorded clips with audio were also played back via the display.
The built-in LCD featured a fast touchscreen similar to a smartphone for easy metadata input (project name, takes, etc.). This metadata was compatible with editing programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer, and DaVinci Resolve.
Accessories
In addition to the camera, DaVinci Resolve, UltraScope, and Media Express software came with a removable sun protection, a carrying strap, a cap, and a limited warranty of 1 year. Mountable side handles were available as an option.
Disadvantages of the camera
The camera came with many advantages but also brought some disadvantages. Although it had an internal battery, it only lasted 60-90 minutes before recharging.
If you wanted to film with an open aperture, you could buy external ND or IRND filters. There were no internal filters installed. A matte box was also required for inserting filters when working with large filters.
The LCD display had two disadvantages: First, the display acted as a mirror in strong sunlight, so that the menus and the image could only be adjusted or assessed poorly. Second, after frequent use, fingerprints remained on the LCD display.
There were no slow-motion options available as the camera could only shoot with a maximum of 30 frames per second.
The rolling shutter caused enormous problems with fast camera movements or fast-moving objects. This problem was visible as a so-called jello effect.
The camera also had a significant crop factor. The crop factor is the sensor size ratio to a 35mm film or full format. Either an enlargement or a reduction took place. With this camera, the factor was 2.39. Example: A 50mm lens worked like a 120mm telephoto lens (2.39 x 50mm = 119.5mm) when filming.
The weak ISO had to be compensated by using a lot of light, as the camera was not sensitive enough. On the other hand, if you were filming in strong light such as the sun, you noticed black spots (black holes) in the light source.
Strong camera with minor weaknesses
The first camera from Blackmagic Design was like a great earthquake in the camera industry. Filmmakers could buy a compact digital film camera with excellent image quality at an affordable price.
The camera was ready to shoot with a lens, an SSD hard drive, and a charged internal battery. For professional filming, the camera needed an external monitor, external batteries, ND or IRND filters, including a matte box.
Those who could deal with the weaknesses described above were rewarded with great cinematic images.