Vazen 28mm Demo Video

Unlike the 40mm, the new Vazen 28mm features a super compact and lightweight design. Weighing merely 1.59 pounds (0.72kg), it is currently the world’s lightest 1.8x anamorphic lens. Its compactness allows the lens to be used on gimbals or even handheld shooting without a rig. The lens is designed with a 77mm front filter thread for installing ND filters or diopters easily. The entire lens is built up of aluminum and the independent aperture and focus rings are incorporated with 0.8 mod cine gears.

All the Vazen 1.8x anamorphic lenses feature a front anamorphic design. It delivers a buttery smooth oval bokeh, signature blue, but not over saturated, horizontal flare, and the widescreen cinematic look. The lens delivered outstanding sharpness, even wide open, which is unmatched by other anamorphic lenses with the similar squeeze ratio. Similar to other wide anamorphic lenses, the 28mm delivers a relatively cleaner image than its 40mm counterpart and the coming 65mm is expected to have the strongest anamorphic ‘character’.

Vazen chose to adopt a much more complicated 1.8x squeeze design instead of the 1.33x as it creates a much more cinematic look. The 1.8x also produces a cinematic widescreen 2.39:1 aspect ratio to your image when capturing with 4:3 ratio sensors like Panasonic GH5 and Z-cam E2.

It also works with the new 2.8k anamorphic mode on Blackmagic Pocket4k or capture open gate via an external monitor. The lens features a ultra-wide 72° horizontal field of view. The closest focusing distance is 2.7” from sensor.

Technical Specifications

• Focal Length: 28mm
• Min. Focus: 2.7’ (0.82m)
• T-stop range: T/2.2 – T/16
• Filter Thread: 77mm
• Front Diameter: 80mm
• Dimensions: 3.2”x4.2” (80 x 107mm)
• Weight: 1.59 lbs (0.72kg)
• Mount: Micro Four Thirds M43

Pricing & Availability

The lens is currently available from authorized resellers and it’s available to ship immediately with a retail price of $3,250. You can get a $400 discount from Vazen if you buy the 40mm with the 28mm lens as a combo!

B&H | Vazen

Watch the video below to learn more about the contest:

Important Details:

The DEADLINE for submitting your film is October 31, 2019 at 6:00pm (EST). All submissions to the Horror Film Contest should be sent to horror@artlist.io. See here for full terms and conditions.

Artlist Horror Film Contest Rules:

• Your film must be no longer than 3 minutes.
• Your film must feature music from Artlist’s new Halloween collection.
• All applicants must submit the film to horror@artlist.io and upload the film to their YouTube channel with the phrase “Artlist Horror Film Contest” in the video description (main title).

Awards and Prizes:

• 1st Place wins a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, a lifetime subscription to Artlist and a 1-year free subscription to the Artgrid Pro plan. On top of that, the film will be featured on the site’s featured videos section, on all of Artlist’s social media platforms and in their newsletter.
• 2nd Place wins a lifetime subscription to Artlist and a 1-year free subscription to the Artgrid Pro plan plus merch.
• 3rd Place wins a lifetime subscription to Artlist.

[Related Reading: Artlist Announces ArtGrid, A New Stock Footage Licensing Platform]

The Music:

To help kickstart your inspiration, check out some of our favorite selections from the Halloween Collection of songs on Artlist and let these tracks help guide your project.

1. Vic Sage – Grind

• Genre: Hip Hop, Electronic
• Mood: Angry, Serious, Dramatic, Tense, Scary, Dark
• Video Theme: Travel, Building & city, Aerials, Landscape, Slow motion, Time-lapse, Nightlife & More
• Album: Here

2. Yehezkel Raz – Charon

• Genre: Electronic, Ambient
• Mood: Serious, Dramatic, Tense, Sad, Scary, Dark
• Video Theme: Time-lapse, Documentary, Road Trip, Travel, Aerials, Landscape, Slow motion & More
• Album: Here

3. Steve Poloni – At Your Door

• Genre: Ambient, Cinematic
• Mood: Serious, Dramatic, Tense, Scary, Dark
• Video Theme: Time-lapse, Fashion, Slow motion, Building & city, Science, Travel, Industry & More
• Album: Here

4. Ian Post – K.I.T.T. Vs. K.A.R.R.

• Genre: Ambient, Electronic, Cinematic
• Mood: Hopeful, Serious, Dramatic, Tense, Peaceful, Scary, Dark
• Video Theme: Technology, Time-lapse, Building & city, Science, Industry, Slow motion & More
• Album: Here

5. Michael Vignola – Through the Looking Glass

• Genre: Ambient, Cinematic
• Mood: Serious, Dramatic, Tense, Scary, Angry, Dark
• Video Theme: Time-lapse, Documentary, Science, Aerials, Slow motion, Technology, Industry & More
• Album: Here

Thank you to Artlist for sponsoring this article and making this content possible. 

External GPUs are nothing new with Razer, Alienware, and Sonnet already bringing their own models to the market, but recently Blackmagic Design has decided to throw their proverbial hat in the ring with their Apple Store exclusive Blackmagic eGPU.

Announced alongside the new MacBook Pros, Blackmagic’s eGPU offers users desktop-class graphics performance on your MacBook Pro with a built-in, non-upgradable Radeon Pro 580 graphics processor with 8GB of video memory.

[REWIND: Apple MacBook Pro Refresh | True Tone Display, Intel Core i9, & Finally 32 GB RAM]

The Blackmagic eGPU features an HDMI 2.0 port, four USB 3 ports, and two Thunderbolt 3 ports, capable of running Thunderbolt 3 displays like the 5K LG monitor, which is embossed all over the marketing material.

Blackmagic eGPU Features

• All-in-one design
• Ultra-quiet
• Built-in Radeon Pro 580 with 8GB of GDDR5 memory
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Four USB 3 ports
• One HDMI 2.0 port
• 85W of Power Delivery for full speed MacBook Pro charging
• Built-in PSU
• Official support for LG UltraFine 5K Display

Unlike other eGPU chassis, Blackmagic’s offering doesn’t require you to bring your own card and unlike others still, it is meant to be displayed like some sort of editing monolith on your desk.  The all-in-one, uni-body-like design of the Blackmagic eGPU grants the user quieter and cooler hardware at the tradeoff of a higher cost of $699.

While mostly geared for video editing, Mac-wielding photographers will see a benefit in applications like Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One and Affinity. The overall increase of system performance depends on the model of MacBook – the 13-inch MacBook Pro 8x boost and 15-inch model a 2.8x increase.

The Blackmagic eGPU leads with a controversial design and an even more controversial price. It is not meant for everyone, only those creatives who demand form and function in their products. The Blackmagic eGPU can be ordered directly from Apple here.

]]> https://www.slrlounge.com/blackmagic-announces-egpu-for-new-macbook-pros-an-apple-store-exclusive/feed/ 4 https://www.slrlounge.com/blackmagic-design-announces-pocket-cinema-camera-4k-small-mighty-and-unusual/ https://www.slrlounge.com/blackmagic-design-announces-pocket-cinema-camera-4k-small-mighty-and-unusual/#respond Tue, 10 Apr 2018 17:47:54 +0000 https://slrlounge.com/?p=648733 When the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera first appeared on the market the Panosonic GH5 was a long way in the distant future and the GH4 would not be released for another year. What Blackmagic’s pint-sized camera did offer over its competitors was lossless 12-bit CinemaDNG files as well as Apple ProRes 422 (HQ), albeit at 1080p. The Pocket Cinema Camera was a titan in its day but has been usurped by more capable cameras from Sony and Panasonic. At this year’s NAB trade show Blackmagic Design looks to regain the throne with the much-awaited follow up to this little giant, with the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

The predominant feature of this new handheld unit is its ability to record in 4K. Unlike its predecessor, which was limited to 1080p, the new Pocket Cinema Camera 4K records 4096 x 2160 at 60 fps in 10-bit ProRes or 12-bit RAW. A cropped 1080 120 fps mode will be available as well.

Unfortunately, it won’t be able to shoot in Apple’s new ProRes RAW as of yet, but there is talk of more codecs to come in the future. The newPocket Cinema Camera 4K also features dual native ISO with a maximum ISO of up to 25,600 for incredible low light performance, 13 stops of dynamic range, and LUT support.

[REWIND: Apple Launches New ProRes RAW Video Codec | DJI Drone Users Set To Benefit Greatly]

a plethora of ports

The Pocket Cinema Camera is only small in name. This new model has a 5-inch display which dominates the back (upgraded from a 3.5-inch display) and it features a full-size Micro Four Thirds sensor (upgraded from Super 16).

A plethora of ports grace the sides including a mini XLR connector with phantom power, full-sized HDMI, two slots for SD/UHS-II and CFast cards, and a unique new USB-C Expansion Port it also eliminates the need for expensive external recorders.

Tech Specs:

• MFT mount
• HDR sensor
• 12-bit RAW cinema 4K 60fps and full HD at up to 120fps
• 13 stops Dynamic Range
• dual native ISO up to 25,600
• external RAW recording
• 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW and 10-bit Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)
• 5-inch touchscreen
• USB-C and standard sized HDMI
• Canon LP-E6N or locking DC12 volt power connection
• SD/UHS-II and CFast
• Bluetooth wireless camera control
• 3.5mm audio jack+mini XLR and headphone jack

Availablity

Blackmagic has made name for itself creating a line of pro video tools, broadcast equipment and a brilliant non-linear editor with industry-leading color grading capabilities. Black magic provides pro-grade tools that are centrally focused on filmmaking. Its sub-$1000 pocket cinema camera has become a cult classic among filmmakers. The new The new Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is $300 more than original, at $1295, but includes a full copy of DaVinci Resolve Studio. It is expected to ship in early September. Pre-orders are available from B&H here.

[REWIND: TOP ALTERNATIVES FOR ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE]

Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve has been a very popular alternative nonlinear editor to the popular cloud-based Adobe Premiere Pro, and with the final release of Resolve 14, it has become an even stronger competitor.

Earlier this year we reported on the highly anticipated follow up of Resolve 12.5. First announced back in NAB,  the public beta of Resolve 14 has been available since late April and has been maturing all summer. Black magic has dubbed it as “the biggest release in the history of the product.”

“The public beta of DaVinci Resolve 14 has been downloaded more than any other version of the software in its history,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “This new version is a major leap forward because it now gives every customer, from individual users to large studios, a way to seamlessly move between editing, grading, and audio. That means they can spend more time being creative and less time translating projects and switching between multiple applications!”

The new release of Resolve is more of a suite of applications (professional editing, color correction, and new audio tools) rolled into one. First, the new video playback engine promises up to 10 times performance improvement over previous versions. Resolve has offered editing tools since version 11 and made huge advancements in versions 12 and 12.5, but some editors complained of playback lag when compared to other systems.

DaVinci Resolve 14 has had extensive CPU and GPU optimizations including better threading and GPU pipelining, lower latency, much faster UI refresh rates, along with support for Apple Metal. Scrubbing is also improved and playback is instantaneous thanks to the powerful new acceleration for processor intensive formats, like H.264, making it possible to edit 4K images on a Macbook Pro or other laptop.

[RElATED: IS 16 GB OF RAM IN THE NEW MACBOOK PRO ENOUGH?]

Next, there is a whole new audio post production audio suite built-in, thanks to the acquisition of Fairlight Audio. Fairlight is famous for being used in the world’s highest-end studios for audio in film and television, as well as known for both its superior sound quality and its speed. Resolve users get a massive set of professional audio tools for recording, editing and sweetening, professional bussing, mixing and routing, and multi-format mastering to 3D audio formats such as 5.1, 7.1, Dolby and even 22.2.

For colorists, there are over 20 new Resolve FX filters that make it easy to remove dust, fix dead pixels, new stabilization, warp images along with the new face enhancement tool. This new tool automatically recognizes and tracks facial features so colorists can quickly smooth skin, brighten eyes, and adjust skin tone, all without having to rotoscope any part of the image.

Resolve 14 is available, for free, right now at Blackmagic’s site, here, which will be fine for most users. The upgrade to the full studio suite is $299, which bringing with it noise correction, shared networked projects, HDR support, DCI-4K export, multi-GPU support, and along with other plugins.

The update I referenced above, Firmware update v1.9.3, adds a histogram and audio meters, as well as an indicator telling you how much recording time is left on your media. These may seem like basic features for video capable cameras these days, and that is because they are (Another reason why it was a huge annoyance using these cameras). But now that these features have been added, it should make using both the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera much more enjoyable.

Blackmagic Camera Utility Update 1.9.3

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

• Add histogram, time remaining and audio level indicators. Use Up and Down to reveal and hide the meters while Left and Right will adjust the aperture of your active MFT lens.
• Fixed bug where in-camera playback may sometimes drop frames.

Blackmagic Cinema Camera

• Add histogram, time remaining and audio level indicators.

If you currently own the BMPCC or BCC you can find out more about this update and download it directly from the Blackmagic website. If you are interested in purchasing either camera, the Pocket Cinema Camera is $995 over on B&H, while the cinema camera will run you $1,995. Both are incredibly powerful cameras, and thanks to this update, both will be much more enjoyable to use.

____

What are your thoughts on this update from Blackmagic? Does this make either camera more appealing to you? Leave a comment below!

The list is extensive, as it covers all of the Blackmagic cameras from the $999 BMPCC all the way up to the very expensive Blackmagic Production 4K camera. One of the cool new features is on the 4K camera, which adds the option to shoot 4K RAW video – a VERY nice upgrade.

The camera with the longest list of updates might surprise you, but if you have used the camera, you know that it needs them. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera has 9 updates, the next closest on the list is that Cinema Camera with 7 updates. You can see the listing of full updates below…

Blackmagic Production Camera 4K

1. Updated user interface
2. Losslessly compressed RAW DNG recording support
3. Addresses an issue where pixel artefacts are seen in edges with strong highlights while shooting in 1080 mode
4. Adds autofocus support for compatible EF lenses

Blackmagic Cinema Camera

1. Updated user interface
2. Adds autofocus support for compatible EF lenses
3. Improved debayering when shooting to ProRes or DNxHD
4. Improved focus peaking display
5. Improved ISO handling when shooting at ISO 1600
6. Improved general audio performance
7. Iris setting is retained when switching between camera recording and clip playback

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

1. Updated user interface
2. Improved performance when recording using internal microphones
3. Improved instances where a grid-like pattern may occur in some flare highlights
4. General improvements in autofocus with active MFT lenses
5. Adds supports for stabilization in MFT lenses without physical O.I.S switches
6. Improved support for Sigma MFT lenses
7. Improved support for Lumix 12-42mm PZ lens
8. Improved support for Olympus 60mm f/2.8 MFT lens
9. Iris setting is retained when switching between camera recording and clip playback

Blackmagic Studio Camera

1. Improved phantom power compatibility
2. Addresses an issue with interlace video being output as progressive video

Overall, a nice set of updates for each of the cameras, though I notice that some of the most requested features (in-camera card formatting, for example) were not addressed. Still, users of these cameras should be happy with the update.

You can find out more about the new updates from Blackmagic over on their website.

We knew that it was coming, we just did not know when. But the moment has finally arrived, Blackmagic has just announced/released its Camera Software version 1.5 update which among other things adds RAW video support to the Pocket Cinema Camera.

“Adding CinemaDNG RAW recording to the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is incredible,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “It’s amazing that we are now able to record the highest quality RAW images on such small SD cards! We think customers are really going to enjoy the extended creative flexibility that color grading wide dynamic range RAW files will bring to their productions!”

[Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera Reviewed and Compared with DSLR and Red Epic]

This is huge news for anyone who has purchased this camera or who has been waiting for this to happen before buying one. I fully expect a slough of new or updated reviews on this camera to hit the web soon as people start to download and test out the new RAW video recording.

Here are some things to note though if you are going to be trying this out:

• It is recommended that you use SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB for recording
• Since this is RAW video it is supported by Davinci Resolve, as well as Adobe’s Creative Suite programs such as Photoshop, Lightroom, and Speedgrade (I would assume).
• RAW video from the BMPCC is 12-bit Log CinemaDNG RAW

If you already own a BMPCC you can download this new update from Blackmagic from their website here. It is a free update, so no worries there. Stay tuned and be on the lookout for the first RAW video samples to start hitting the web soon!