Marco Arment

Yeah. So because I think this is I'd actually like to talk about this for a second. So basically, Blackmagic released a or announced rather a camera that's shipping in, I think, a couple of months. It's a dedicated hardware camera specifically for recording Apple immersive video video.

Yeah. So because I think this is I'd actually like to talk about this for a second. So basically, Blackmagic released a or announced rather a camera that's shipping in, I think, a couple of months. It's a dedicated hardware camera specifically for recording Apple immersive video video.

It looks basically like, you know, two giant lenses, like two eyes on the front of what otherwise looks like a fairly common black magic camera back. It's two, you know, 180 degree kind of fisheye style lenses, each one having an 8K image sensor behind it. So it records 8K per eye at, I think, 90 frames a second up to.

It looks basically like, you know, two giant lenses, like two eyes on the front of what otherwise looks like a fairly common black magic camera back. It's two, you know, 180 degree kind of fisheye style lenses, each one having an 8K image sensor behind it. So it records 8K per eye at, I think, 90 frames a second up to.

And then, of course, all the different video specs of color depth and everything else. Before this, I'm not sure what people have been using to record the immersive video to date. I know Canon has that. We talked about it when they announced it. Canon released a dual fisheye lens that you could attach to some of their more recent cameras. The Canon setup is about $5,000 all in.

And then, of course, all the different video specs of color depth and everything else. Before this, I'm not sure what people have been using to record the immersive video to date. I know Canon has that. We talked about it when they announced it. Canon released a dual fisheye lens that you could attach to some of their more recent cameras. The Canon setup is about $5,000 all in.

If you look at the reviews of people who actually try to use it, first of all, it is not as good as the Blackmagic thing in specs in that the Canon lens is using two eyepiece lenses to project an image onto one single 8K sensor. So it kind of just divides the sensor in half, projects the left eye onto half the sensor, right onto the other half of the sensor.

If you look at the reviews of people who actually try to use it, first of all, it is not as good as the Blackmagic thing in specs in that the Canon lens is using two eyepiece lenses to project an image onto one single 8K sensor. So it kind of just divides the sensor in half, projects the left eye onto half the sensor, right onto the other half of the sensor.

So the Canon one is lower resolution and I believe only up to 60 frames a second. So the Blackmagic camera is higher specced. It is dedicated for this purpose, designed right from the start for this purpose. And instead of costing $5,000, it costs $30,000. Oh, how cheap. A bit of a jump. Now, this sounds ridiculous, right? I know how this sounds. a $30,000 camera to shoot Apple immersive video.

So the Canon one is lower resolution and I believe only up to 60 frames a second. So the Blackmagic camera is higher specced. It is dedicated for this purpose, designed right from the start for this purpose. And instead of costing $5,000, it costs $30,000. Oh, how cheap. A bit of a jump. Now, this sounds ridiculous, right? I know how this sounds. a $30,000 camera to shoot Apple immersive video.

Um, but again, if you look at the Canon reviews, people trying to use the Canon double lens to do this, the main challenges seem to be on the software end. Like what do you, whatever data format the camera is generating, it's like a special format that you need their special software to transform into anything else.

Um, but again, if you look at the Canon reviews, people trying to use the Canon double lens to do this, the main challenges seem to be on the software end. Like what do you, whatever data format the camera is generating, it's like a special format that you need their special software to transform into anything else.

And apparently not only does that require a subscription that nobody wants to pay, but apparently it also is not easily compatible with Apple vision pro or Apple immersive video. Um, and is also not as good of quality because it's not having 8K per eye or more than 60 frames per second.

And apparently not only does that require a subscription that nobody wants to pay, but apparently it also is not easily compatible with Apple vision pro or Apple immersive video. Um, and is also not as good of quality because it's not having 8K per eye or more than 60 frames per second.

So I am actually excited to see this Blackmagic camera release, and I wonder... I don't think we know what Apple has used to shoot the existing Apple Immersive Video. Maybe they were just using a preview beta version of this camera. It's possible. That wouldn't surprise me at all. Maybe they worked with Blackmagic to develop it, and part of that process was

So I am actually excited to see this Blackmagic camera release, and I wonder... I don't think we know what Apple has used to shoot the existing Apple Immersive Video. Maybe they were just using a preview beta version of this camera. It's possible. That wouldn't surprise me at all. Maybe they worked with Blackmagic to develop it, and part of that process was

they were able to use pre-production versions to shoot all this other content.

they were able to use pre-production versions to shoot all this other content.

Yeah, right. What's the difference? But the reason I'm excited about a $30,000 camera is not because I'm going to buy it. Not only is that obviously $30,000, but also... It's like a Blackmagic professional camera. I have no idea what the process is to shoot with that camera and then whatever data format it makes to take that onto whatever computer, however it's edited, I have no clue.

Yeah, right. What's the difference? But the reason I'm excited about a $30,000 camera is not because I'm going to buy it. Not only is that obviously $30,000, but also... It's like a Blackmagic professional camera. I have no idea what the process is to shoot with that camera and then whatever data format it makes to take that onto whatever computer, however it's edited, I have no clue.