The word “Blackmagic” instantly implies that there might be something of a mystique surrounding either the company, their products or even both, so we probably shouldn’t be offended or even surprised to learn that despite constantly badgering Blackmagic for more and clearer information on behalf of our customers we are currently completely in the dark with respect to the true date on which the new Pocket Cinema Camera and 4K Cinema Camera will actually ship, let alone the volume of stock we are likely to receive when that day arrives.
What we can do is tell you what we do know, and that is that for their first camera (The EF mount version of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera) customer deliveries started approximately 6 months after the pre-declared shipping date, and it has taken a year to fulfil back-orders…
Even today there is a lead time for the mFT (micro four thirds) mount version, and the EF version is in limited supply.
We are told that the issues that caused delivery delays for the first models have been solved with the introduction of a new image sensor supplier that can apparently cope with higher component volumes combined with improved quality control. This should be good news.
Of course it’s now mid-July and we haven’t even seen our own demo unit of either camera yet.
Therefore, to err on the side of caution we think that it’s highly unlikely we’ll receive significant numbers of cameras this month, even if shipping does start. We do live in hope that past lessons have encouraged Blackmagic to stock-pile cameras to rapidly satisfy pent-up demand rather than dribbling product into the marketplace, however we live in the real world and believe that based on past experience that’s probably not the case and we suspect that it’s likely to take many months for back-orders to be fulfilled once deliveries commence. In a nutshell no-one actually knows when you’ll get your new Blackmagic Cinema Camera!
What you can be assured of is that when we do have any further information it will be relayed to you immediately and as stock does start to flow we will without exception deal with our back-orders in strict chronological order.
We therefore share and apologise for your frustration, and of course we thank you for your custom and patience.