Film Jams
What's up Film Jammers?
Today we've got the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k in the house
and we're gonna be doing some side-by-side comparisons with our ARRI Alexa Mini.
What's that? You're comparing a $1,300 camera to a $50,000 camera?
What are these guys smoking? Some funky CBD up in here?
Well the results actually might surprise you. So stick around as we compare them both in 24p, 60p, 120p, 4k, 1080p, Raw, Pro Res, Reeses Pieces, Snickers!
*Music*
Today, we have Michael Green here. He's brought out his Blackmagic Cinema 4k Camera.
We're gonna put it up against the ARRI Alexa Mini.
Let's see how it compares when you do some Pro Res footage on both of these cameras.
And also we'll shoot Raw on the Blackmagic and then we'll shoot Pro Res 4444XQ on the ARRI.
Michael: This might win but this might hold up.
Christian: We've got the Canon 50mm EF L lens on here.
And on the ARRI, we've got the 50 Canon CNE lens. So they're very comparable lenses optically.
We didn't have two of the exact same lenses but this is pretty much as close as you're gonna get.
Now the Blackmagic 4k, we've got a speed booster on there.
So that's gonna allow us to attach EF mount lenses
It also converts that native Micro 4/3 of the sensor to a Super35.
Which is also the same as the Super35 size that the ARRI Alexa Mini has.
So we're trying to make our comparison as close as we can. Now, we are filming this episode in 4k.
So make sure to turn those monitors up to 11 to get all that 4k goodness. You ready to get started?
*Music*
So at 2398 4k both cameras are looking pretty similar.
The Blackmagic held up really well in sharpness and the colors are also looking pretty good.
Now there may be a slight green cast when you're looking at the Blackmagic compared to the ARRI
but overall when I'm thinking about the price of these two cameras... the Blackmagic? Mmmm I don't know..
*Music*
Okay, Noah, let's have you go. Our camera guy is now going to be on screen.
Alright, so what is your walk on track here, Noah? Is it ACDC?
Noah (Off Camera): Ah, Led Zeppelin.
Christian: We're gonna try and find a royalty-free version of a Led Zeppelin sound-alike song for you. Led Blimp, this is Led Blimp folks.
*"Led Blimp" Music*
Both cameras look pretty solid at 4k 60p, I thought. The footage on the Blackmagic. It was really smooth
It looked very natural. The colors again on the ARRI were a little bit better to me.
But they're pretty close and if you're talking about a camera that's almost 50 times more.
I mean, it's pretty amazing with the little Blackmagic can do.
Now both of these cameras do not shoot above 60 frames when you're in 4k.
So, to get to 120 frames a second, we had to down res to 1080p.
So, one of the big benefits of the Alexa is you get that nice sharp slo-mo.
You can go all the way up to 200 frames per second in 2k on the Alexa.
So yeah, you're paying a lot more, but you getting some nice stuff there. Hmm?
When we go to 120 frames per second on the Blackmagic, it does crop in on the sensor.
It's noticeably grainier and softer than the Alexa image here.
So personally, I'd probably steer clear of using 120 frames on the Blackmagic unless I really needed something slowed down
because I prefer that crisper 60p on the Blackmagic
*Music*
Skin tones!
Now the biggest difference so far that I'm noticing is that the ARRI is holding up a bit better on those skin tones.
Just overall the color seemed a bit more natural on the ARRI
but with just a slight color correction tweak we made a custom LUT for the Blackmagic and it's pretty darn close.
Rolling shutter test. Let's try it out with both of the cameras!
*Music*
The Alexa and the Blackmagic both looked pretty good to me.
So I don't think it's an area of concern for either of these cameras.
All right guys, so that's a wrap on our park scene.
We're gonna take this footage bring it back to the post-production suite
and we're gonna go back to the studio and do a low-light comparison of both these cameras.
It's getting dark! Too dark to breathe! It's a song...
For the low-light test here,
we've got both cameras at the ProRes again, 422HQ, and we've also got them at 4k.
We still have the 50 millimeter lenses on. We're shooting at an F 2.8 right now.
All right, so we're gonna do a low light and then ultra low light test
Michael: I'm ready let's do this - Christian: Let's do it!
*Music*
Christian: So the Blackmagic pocket Cinema 4k is your camera. Thanks for bringing it by.
Michael: Yeah, of course.
Christian: What are your thoughts when you saw this compared to the last mini?
Michael: I thought it was kind of amazing. Once we put the speed booster on there. The actual focal sensor size, I guess.
It matched so well when we did a side-by-side that was kind of cool. Just seeing how close it could actually get.
Man, it's amazing how much a $50,000 vs this $1000 camera basically.
Christian: I think for the price the Blackmagic pocket Cinema Camera 4k is probably the best starter camera out there if you're getting into cinema production.
You'll also get a license for resolve too. So you can start editing your footage right away. It's a really nice entry-level set up.
Things to keep in mind, are you gonna have to use some ND filters when you're shooting outside?
And I wish it had on the Blackmagic but we did use external NDs on that camera so that we were able to shoot outside and broad daylight
And you're also gonna need a lot of batteries. This camera goes through the batteries pretty quickly.
But the menu system, the interface, it's very intuitive and I love that about the camera.
So what do you think about this Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4k camera versus the ARRI?
Let us know down in the comments and we'll see you next week!
*Music*
Michael: Raw
Noah: Pro Res
Christian: Carmelos, Whatchamacallits, wait a minute, that's my grocery list!
