Friends, I’ve been making videos for Solid Signal for over ten years. In that time, my equipment’s changed a lot. I started out with a point-and-shoot camera that recorded overcompressed video at 720p resolution. Over the years, I’ve gone through several generations of DSLRs, microphones, and cell phones in search of the perfect video recording solution. Some of my idols out there in the video making community have told of similar struggles. The general consensus is that today’s iPhones and Galaxies are good enough for video production, but I don’t agree. I’m an Apple guy, as you’ll note from my other articles. I don’t find the low light performance of the iPhone to be good enough to let me take backgrounds out of videos. I don’t like the audio performance at all. And, it’s far too difficult to get large video files off the phone. Sometimes I spend more time transferring files than I do recording them.
There’s something better out there, finally.
One of the folks in the office turned me on to Blackmagic Design. They’re a maker of video equipment that we’ve featured before, and they’re one of the big sellers both at SolidSignal.com and on our Amazon store. And, I have to say, I understand why.
Blackmagic makes studio-quality video production equipment. Their products do pretty much everything that a typical production crew would need. Their cameras are similar in quality to studio cameras, and they shoot up to 6K video. There’s a whole list of parts from Blackmagic that are all extremely crave-worthy if you’re a video pro. And, let’s not forget that Blackmagic is the maker of DaVinci Resolve, which is the hot new production software that everyone is either using or wants to use. If you’re looking to trick out a small production studio, you’re going to find everything you need from this one company.
The price is right… trust me
When you look at Blackmagic products, you’ll see a lot of zeroes in the prices. A lot of large numbers, in other words. And you might think to yourself, you can get a pretty darn decent phone with a 4K video camera for under $500. That’s a lot less than Blackmagic charges for something like the Studio camera you see at the top of this article. And consider if you will, that Blackmagic camera doesn’t even come with a lens. Depending on which one you choose, you can pay as much for a lens as you pay for the camera!
But honestly, you have to look at it from the point of view of a video producer. Until recently, you would have to pay $15,000 – $30,000 to get the same video quality that you get from this camera. Go back much further in time and you wouldn’t be able to get anything of this quality at any price. This is better video quality than the cameras that were used to shoot the top-grossing films of all time. And best of all, it’s small enough to hold in one (fairly large) hand.
Quality from top to bottom
You can say the same thing of all of Blackmagic’s products. The quality is as good or better than products costing ten times as much, and the size is a lot smaller. This opens up high-quality video production to guys like me, guys who make YouTube videos rather than making Hollywood productions. It also means that Hollywood producers can capture high-quality videos from anywhere, just by packing a small kit. If the camera is placed in the line of fire and it’s broken, well that’s a shame. But consider that the camera, even with a lens, costs less than 20 minutes of the kind of film Hollywood used to use. That puts it all in perspective, right?
High quality for everyone
Blackmagic products have become popular with places like schools and churches that want top-notch video gear but can’t afford a six-figure production suite. It means that if, for whatever reason, we need to go back to doing everything in life remotely, it will be possible to get really high-quality video instead of the improvised stuff we got in 2020.
I’ll tell you, I know one guy who really would have loved Blackmagic equipment. He would have marveled at the size and quality, chuckling as he recalled video recorders the size of dishwashers and black-and-white production studios for students. I know I’ll be thinking of him whenever I use my Blackmagic gear.
When you’re ready to upgrade your video production, no matter who you are, shop for Blackmagic Design products at SolidSignal.com and on our Amazon store. If you’re not sure what you need, call the experts! We’re here for you during East Coast business hours. Call 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below.
