BUYINGUSED MOVIE MATTERS
If you want the cheapest camera that can record Raw, the Blackmagic Cinema Camera is it. With 2.5K video in Apple ProRes, lossless CinemaDNG and Avid DNxHD formats from its Micro Four Thirds- sized sensor, it fits the bill. It has a huge five-inch touchscreen, but no XLR inputs or ND filters, the screen can be hard to see in bright light and battery life is not great. And there’s no slowmotion. But for such a small and uniquely designed camera, the image quality is great in good light and for around £600/ $800, it’s very affordable. BLACKMAGIC CINEMA CAMERA
CANON C100
Canon’s C100 was its first entry-level Super35 cinema camera and is an ideal first camcorder for DSLR users moving up. And, as there are cameras around for well under a grand, they cost less than a prosumer DSLR anyway. The C100 takes EF lenses, shoots Log, records to SD cards and the ISO goes up to 80,000. There is no slowmotion in full HD though, and the internal codec is 4:2:0 AVCHD, which is not the most robust. But an external recorder means you can up the quality to ProRes 422, which is far better. Soon after launch, Canon did an upgrade to change the one-shot autofocus to the best system on the market: Dual Pixel CMOS AF. So make sure you buy one that has been upgraded to that spec.
BLACKMAGIC URSA MINI PRO 4.6K
The launch of the Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro G2 means the Ursa Mini Pro is now a fantastic used buy. Based on the original Ursa Mini, which was praised for its performance but rubbished for its too-minimalist design, the Ursa Mini Pro has more external control buttons and knobs rather than the large touchscreen. With the recent launch of the more capable G2 version, the Mini Pro is still a strong performer as, for around £3000/$3400, you get a camera that records 60fps in 4.6K Raw internally, 120fps slowmotion in Full HD and has 15 stops of dynamic range. It’s available in EF or PLmount versions, and can be used as an ENG camera or full cinema camera. “You get a camera that records 60fps in 4.6K Raw internally, 120fps slowmotion in Full HD and has 15 stops of dynamic range”
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PRO MOVIEMAKER AUTUMN 2019
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