Cheapest Cinema Camera for Under $500
If you are wanting to get into videography or cinematography, you know that cinema cameras tend to go over $2000.
Why would you want a cinema camera over a DSLR or mirrorless camera you may ask?
Well, for one thing, cinema cameras have the capability of shooting in Prores or RAW.
And how do these shooting profiles help you?
They can get you about the same style of editing that your photos have.
Prores and RAW footage make it easier to get the colors versus the 8-bit & 10-bit in most traditional cameras.
If you are on a budget, you can definitely capture Prores and RAW for under $500.
This Camera is the Blackmagic Cinema Camera Original.
The first ever Blackmagic Camera.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera Original
When I first got my Blackmagic Cinema Camera Original, I was astonished by the size.
It is smaller than your average smartphone without a lens.
You can literally put it in your pocket for compactness, but you know you’ll at least need a shoulder bag for it.
The design is pretty self-explanatory if you have worked with cameras before.
The camera shoots only in 1080p but the resolution is perfect at RAW or Prores.
For the most part, this camera has definitely seen my views on Instagram Reels pop off.
It’s just something about that retro look that captures the viewer’s eyes.
The batteries are easily accessible and it uses the Nikon EN-EL20 battery.
Cons of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera Original
Being the Original Blackmagic Cinema Camera, it does have cons.
The first is battery life.
Battery life is about twenty minutes per battery so it’s best to buy a few to capture more content.
I managed to buy myself an external battery power source and two batteries to provide all-day shooting.
They can be easily found on Amazon for cheap, make sure to buy the cables necessary to connect the power source to the camera.
The second issue with this camera is the ability to find good memory cards for it.
I lucked out by the seller adding a memory card that is compatible with the camera and that is the Sandisk Extreme Pro 256GB at 95mb/s.
It is a very specific memory card but you’ll need it to capture all this beautiful footage.
The next topic would have to be lenses.
Not really a bad one, but the camera does use Micro-Four Thirds lenses for capturing video.
If you don’t have any laying around, I suggest getting the Panasonic Lumix 12-60 f/2.8-4.
This is the same lens I use for capturing my footage on my Instagram and Youtube videos.
The final con for the camera is spending over $500 to have an amazing camera.
Yes, the camera is stunning, but you’ll definitely need to buy extra accessories for it, which is the same way for any other cinema camera.
However, if you get past these cons, you’ll be getting some spectacular footage like the ones seen down below.
So, will you be getting your hands on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera Original? Let me know down below.
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