First Narrative Short Shot With Pocket Cinema Camera

Another sign that we may be about to get our cameras! They are starting to appear in the hands of consumers who don't seem to have special relationships with either Blackmagic or with dealers.

A talented amateur who goes by "Jsflimz" has posted a 1080p action short on YouTube.  As far as I can tell, this is the first Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera footage with the whole package - actors with dialogue, VFX, and post-production (cutting and grading). Check it out (please watch at 1080p):




This is clearly an amateur production with a couple of rough spots, but the dynamic range here is very exciting and, dare I say it, "filmic".

This is what I had hoped the camera could do - give amateurs access to the dynamic range and bitrate to allow them to get past the typical DSLR's horrid compression and 8 bit colorspace.

Reading Jsfimz' notes in the comments section is informative too - but not at all  like reading "American Cinematographer".  Here, the filmmaker describes his motivation:

"btw i dont have any experience at all. i just do this short films for fun. instead of getting drunk everynight. this and fishing is [sic] my outlet"

Nevertheless, he did a great job.

If you're as impressed by the image quality here as I am, and you've been waiting to see some narrative from this camera before ordering, you can go ahead and pre-order your Pocket Cinema Camera here or by clicking on the Adorama display ad below.

If you don't want to wait for the Pocket, you can order a Cinema Camera EF or MFT from Amazon. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep posts like this coming.

Sony RX100 Marked Down to $552

This is the camera that David Pogue at the New York Times called "the best pocket camera ever made".  Now that the RX100 II has been released, we're starting to see sale prices on the original model .  Right now, you can get an RX100 bundle - with a 16GB SDHC card, two batteries, an external charger and a carrying case for $552 with free shipping at 6th Ave via eBay.

This is a good deal for this camera, which still lists for $648 at Amazon and Adorama.

The RX100 is a great little 20MP still camera - and a very capable video camera too.  Here are a couple of examples from one of our sponsors, Vimeo:



This one was shot 80% with the RX100 and 20% with a Canon 5D and features Ellie Goulding's new track, Burn:



As of this post, 58 had been sold and "more than 10" were available.  If you want one at this price, you should jump on this eBay listing now.