David Esp Video Technical Blog

 Some accessories, lenses and grip, from reviews and adverts I came across (or that came across me):

Having a mid-sized sensor, people tend to be concerned over its wide-angle and depth-of-field aspects.  Hence a lot of focus on lenses.

• http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera
  • The camera itself – official site.
• http://www.fstopacademy.com/blog/new-gear-at-ibc-2012/
  • Lenses recommended for the Micro 4/3rds Mount variant of the Black Magic Cinema Camera :
    • Can take a $50 vintage lens up to a $30K Cine Lens
  • For wide-angle:
    • £600 Sigma 8 to 16 lens (Den bought one of these)
    • Tokina 11 to 16 lens, is faster (f2.8)
    • Canon 10 to 22, is slower but very low-cost
  • Micro- 4/3rds lenses:
    • 12mm HyperPrime, is f1.6, ie very fast.
    • 8mm Sigma lenses
• My links:
  • http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/
    • Lenses and more…
  • http://nofilmschool.com/2012/09/wide-angle-lenses-compared-blackmagic-cinema-camera/
    • Mentions in text:
      <<<
      The one lens that has been talked about the most as a possible fast wide for the Cinema Camera is the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, which is almost two stops faster at its minimum. For those worried about shooting in lower light, RAW is going to give you a lot of range to work with, and a lens like the Tokina is going to be plenty fast enough for a lot of situations.After image quality and design quirks, the most discussed topic regarding the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera is lenses. Specifically, the issue regarding wide lenses. Since the BMCC‘s sensor is slightly smaller than Micro Four-Thirds, but uses a Canon mount, one of the complaints has been that it won’t be possible to get a sufficiently wide image with the available lenses in that mount. The team over at OneRiver Media set out to prove exactly what was possible with current wide lenses, and they’ve also created one of the first short projects shot completely on the Cinema Camera (besides everything that John Brawley has done so far, of course).

      Personally, I really like the Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 HSM lens so far. It doesn’t have any barrel distortion at all and the edges stay straight throughout. Sharpness isn’t bad either, even wide open. The Canon 8-15mm f/4L is clearly the widest, but has obvious barrel distortion. Zoom in to 15mm and the distortion goes away for the most part. It’s a sharp lens throughout. And the solid build-quality is typical of all Canon L lenses; very nice. The Rokinon 8mm T3.8 cinema prime lens is just a shy less wide than the Canon 8-15mm lens, and has its own share of barrel distortion, albeit less than the Canon. Fully wide open, this lens is soft. To get decent sharpness, you need to stop down to about T5.6.
      >>>

  • Cam etc. Mounting Systems for it:
    • http://www.fstopacademy.com/blog/new-gear-at-ibc-2012/
      • OConnor Black Magic Cinema camera solution
        • More info at www.ocon.com
      • Wooden Camera BM Cinema Camera Cage
        • http://www.videogear.co.uk/Wooden-Camera/Blackmagic-Design/Camera-Support/Wooden-Camera-BM-Cinema-Camera-Cage/prod_4297.html
          • The kit is made up of a mini baseplate, NATO handle kit and the BMC camera cage.
          • Being a cheeseplate design, items can be attached via a Noga arm etc…
          • Strong sturdy design. Rail adapter for use with 15mm rails.
          • Weight 1.080 kgs