The free Blackmagic Camera app impressed Apple enough that they used it to film a video announcing products during last year’s WWDC.
A year later, a version for Android has been released, much to the delight of content creators.
The app is designed to support Samsung and Google Pixel smartphones and offers many of the same digital film features and controls as the iOS variant.
Image Credit – Blackmagic Design
Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO, said, “We are excited to be able to provide customers with Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel phones the same controls (through Blackmagic Camera) as our professional cameras.
It’s really exciting to be able to give even more customers the ability to get their footage to the newsroom or post-production studios in literally seconds.”
Image Credit: Blackmagic Design
Based on the same operating system as Blackmagic’s cinema cameras and providing a similar digital emulsion for easy camera matching during editing and color grading, the Android version of the Blackmagic Camera app includes the same variety of camera operator tools like a heads-up display (HUD), status and record parameters, histogram, focus peaking, levels, frame guides, and more at the user’s fingertips.
Autofocus can be adjusted by tapping the screen, allowing users to lock onto a specific area.
Image Credit: Blackmagic Design
Users can capture video in 16:9 widescreen as well as vertical video aspect ratios. Additionally, they can capture widescreen footage even when holding the device vertically, allowing for discreet image capture in public spaces.
The app can record in H.264 and H.265 formats with auto proxy generation, and professional audio codecs like VU or PPM. There doesn’t seem to be support for Blackmagic RAW or ProRes Raw just yet, but that should likely come in time as the Android platform aligns better with those options.
The HUD overlay displays camera data such as lens selection, frame rate, shutter angle, timecode, ISO, white balance, histogram, and dual-track audio levels. Despite the wealth of information on the screen, the layout is designed to be clear and user-friendly.
Image Credit – Blackmagic Design
Users can easily adjust settings with a simple swipe, eliminating the need to navigate through menus. There is also a slate tool to organize original camera takes for post-production, with options for labeling favorites as “good takes.”
Blackmagic Camera also supports camera-to-cloud functions connecting to Blackmagic Cloud, where shots can be synced, uploaded, and organized.
Users can also interact with team project members and customers, with note sharing, a chat workplace, and browsing and scrubbing through clips right in the app. The clips can then be easily imported into DaVinci Resolve, ready to edit.
With more content creators opting for alternatives to FiLMiC Pro’s subscription-based camera app, Blackmagic has emerged as the number two contender for mobile filmmaking. And as it continues to mature, it won’t be long before it takes the top spot.
Availability and Installation:
The Blackmagic Camera App for Android is available through the Google Play app store as a free download and supports Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel mobile devices.
[source: Blackmagic Design]
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