On October 20, Blackmagic Design raised prices on 36 products, effective immediately at resellers worldwide. The stated reason is memory: DRAM, flash and SSD costs have gone up several times over in the past year, according to the company, because chipmakers are shifting production to AI data centers. For people who shoot, though, the real headline is different: cameras and their accessories are not on the list.

What goes up, and by how much

The increases hit the memory-heavy products: the new SMPTE 2110 line, ATEM switchers, HyperDeck recorders and Cloud storage. A few figures from the official announcement, in US dollars:

  • ATEM Mini Pro: from $310 to $395 (+27%)
  • ATEM Mini Extreme ISO G2: from $1,995 to $3,090 (+55%)
  • ATEM 1 M/E Constellation 4K: from $1,895 to $2,840
  • ATEM 4 M/E Constellation IP Plus: from $12,995 to $19,960, the biggest jump of all
  • HyperDeck Studio HD Pro: from $1,020 to $1,090; HyperDeck Studio 4K Pro from $1,655 to $1,885
  • Cloud Store Mini 8TB: from $4,495 to $4,895; Cloud Store Max 48TB from $21,995 to $24,245
  • 2110 IP SDI to HDMI 12G: from $515 to $925, almost +80%
  • DeckLink IP HD: from $345 to $450

Existing backorders will ship at the original price. Euro pricing isn’t in the announcement and Italian resellers are still updating their lists, so get a written quote before you buy.

Who actually feels it

The way we see it, this splits in two. If you shoot drama, commercials or documentaries on Blackmagic cameras, nothing changes: the URSA Cine 12K and the PYXIS bodies stay where they were, and the PYXIS actually got cheaper in September. If you run multicam shows, live events, conferences, concerts or local sport, you now pay more for the basic building blocks. The ATEM Mini Pro lives in the bag of a great many small production companies, and $85 on top of a $310 box is not nothing.

It hurts even more on the new 2110 line, the one that moves video over IP networks instead of SDI cable. Plenty of mid-size outfits were pricing that move for 2027. With converters up 50 to 80 percent the maths changes, and anyone who can wait probably will.

Buy now or rent

On the ground the rule hasn’t changed: buy what you use every week, rent the rest. One live show a month doesn’t justify an ISO switcher north of $3,000, let alone $24,000 of network storage. For a one-off event it makes more sense to rent the whole control room and spend the budget where it shows, on cameras and glass.

For multicam and live work we send out recording and wireless video that we know inside out: an Atomos Ninja V as an external recorder on each camera, and a Teradek Bolt 6 750 to get the feed to the gallery without running cable across the set. Neither is affected by the increase, and both leave with media and batteries ready. The full list is on our equipment page.

One note on candour: CEO Grant Petty said that if they find cheaper memory on the open market they will pass the savings on through special deals, as they are already doing with DaVinci Resolve Studio at 20% off until November 20. We’ll take him at his word, but for now prices are going up.

Sources: official Blackmagic Design announcement and Newsshooter.