Blackmagic Design Studio Camera. Images by Blackmagic.
Over the past few years Blackmagic Design (BMD) has helped to change the face of church production. They can get a bad rap from time to time, but frankly they are meeting a need and bringing capabilities to churches that they could never dream of achieving with other manufacturers. Up to this point, BMD has had its entire focus centered on capture and processing of live video. But as it continued to grow its line of products, the next step was to produce a camera.
In 2012 the company released the Cinema Camera, a high-resolution, feature-packed and, most importantly, affordable camera. Now that they had the technology figured out, all they had left to do was pair it with their already popular line of Atem switchers to create a complete video production package. I believe this package will be a game changer for a lot of churches.
Zooming in on Features
One of the latest Blackmagic Design cameras to hit the market is the Studio Camera (list price: $1,995), touted as the world's smallest studio camera with the world's largest viewfinder. I am not sure about the world rankings on camera size, but I can guarantee that the 10-inch viewfinder is huge. It's basically like having an iPad on the back of the camera. It's quite impressive.
The HD 1080p version of the camera, which I was able to demo, uses a Super 16-mm sensor—the same sensor as in the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. It has a micro four-thirds (MFT) lens mount, but through third party adapters it can use an assortment of lenses. There is also a 4K version available that costs only $1,000 more. Now I realize that for many churches $1,000 is a lot of money, but in the real world, a 4K camera for less than $3,000 is amazing.
So what makes this camera different? Why do you need a studio camera at your church? I'll dive into the nitty-gritty here and try to explain all that this camera has to offer. In the studio, as opposed to field recording, you run all your cameras back to a central location and connect them to a switcher. The Blackmagic Studio Camera has no onboard recording capabilities for this very reason. Instead, it features both optical fiber and HD-SDI connections. Both options function simultaneously, which is nice and allows for some flexibility in use. With this you could also connect a recording drive, like a Blackmagic Hyperdeck Shuttle via SDI, and capture an isolated feed from the camera while transmitting to the switcher via fiber.
The Atem software paired with these cameras is incredibly powerful— a built in audio mixer, camera control, and the ability to pull in Photoshop graphics for lower thirds all for less money than one of the cameras in our main auditorium.
The Studio Camera also features built-in talkback that is transmitted over the fiber or SDI along with the camera audio, tally, and control commands. A “Program” button below the camera's viewfinder allows for the operator to quickly check and see what is coming out of the switcher's program feed, as well. The talkback connections take a standard aviation-style ¼-inch plug, which is nice because you can use a variety of headsets, depending on your budget. With the analog XLR audio connections, each camera can embed audio from an external microphone and transmit it with the video signal to the switcher. It even offers 48v phantom power for condenser mics. Because there are two XLR connections, one camera, if located near the soundboard, could carry the house mix to the switcher to be used as the main feed. If a professional mic or other input isn't needed, there are also two built-in microphones on the camera so that the control room can still hear what is happening out in the room.
I was surprised to find out the camera comes with a four-hour battery built in. I assume this is what takes up most of the space and gives the camera its distinctive shape. (Companies typically frown upon dismantling their demo gear.... I learned this the hard way.) While I wouldn't recommend capturing your event via battery, the option is nice. There is also a four-pin XLR-style power adaptor for people like me who aren't brave enough to trust the lithium ions. There are also a slew of third-party batteries that can tie in to keep the camera rolling.
As I mentioned briefly earlier, the Studio Camera comes with an active micro four-thirds (MFT) lens mount. Of course I didn't have any of these lenses lying around when the demo arrived. So I used an adaptor ring that converted my Canon lenses to the MFT mount. When using an active lens, the camera operator can use tripod-mounted controls for zoom and focus connected through the camera's LANC port. The other really cool feature is that the camera can also be controlled through the Blackmagic Atem switcher software.
With the latest updates to the Atem software full camera control can now be accomplished remotely. Since it is software-based, an additional laptop can connect to the switcher and provide shading, color correction, even full lens control. The Studio Camera has a DaVinci Resolve primary color corrector built in, allowing for live changes. I am not sure how much I'd use that live, but I'd definitely use it during rehearsal to make sure all the cameras looked similar.
While this camera looks amazing on paper and in all the drool-inducing pictures on Blackmagic's website, I am sure you want to know how it actually held up in a real-life situation.
Focus on Performance
I personally like, and use a lot BMD equipment. I am not endorsed by them or paid to say that. I use it and it works for me. I use their equipment at my church because it is cost-effective and we've had good luck with the gear we've purchased. I do know to tread lightly into firmware updates and probably not apply them moments before an event or weekend service. But that should be common practice with any piece of equipment.
While I did set up the demo in my office to do some initial testing, I wanted a real-life scenario for this camera. I try to be the cautious technical director that moves slowly into new technology, but I threw caution to the wind with this demo. A few days after receiving it all, we hosted a large two-day leadership conference that spanned two venues at our church and was simulcast across the United States and Mexico. Of course, I thought this the perfect time to use the cameras—and we did.
In our main auditorium we are running 720p59. We quickly learned that these cameras do not have a 720p setting, so we were forced to connect them to our system via a BMD up/down/cross converter. This didn't work out so well. So we used the Studio Cameras on stage as stationary cameras focused on the band. While they are overkill for that application, the image quality was very impressive. After the little 720p issue, we took the cameras over to our youth facility, where there is an Atem switcher. This was where I saw the true potential of this equipment brought to life. Blackmagic has really given churches the ability to have cutting-edge video production. The Atem software paired with these Blackmagic Studio Cameras is incredibly powerful—a built in audio mixer, camera control, and the ability to pull in Photoshop graphics for lower thirds—all for less money than one of the cameras in our main auditorium.
There were some quirks with the system; I won't deny that. Not having a proper lens [may have contributed to] the biggest hiccup in our demo, but all in all I liked this camera enough to immediately buy one for a project we had. With that camera we also bought an active MFT lens and were able to take full advantage of the Atem camera control. As a gadget nerd, it was amazing to use the mouse on my laptop and have it cause the lens on the camera to move. The little things in life, right? I love technology, and Blackmagic definitely knows how to keep us on the front of our seats.
