2K BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, active m43, $995

Nieuw

@vicharris If the quality would be good, the price can be quite high because it could be used very universally and not only for one lens type series (its use would dominantly be for manual 35mm lenses connected via a M4/3 adapter of course, but how nice would it be to have Leica, Canon FD, Nikon AI all using the same speedbooster). I am just curious whether it would be possible from a theoretical point of view, commercially it would be near to impossible anyway. Can you please give me a link what to search for, I really have no clue here.... As I understand the speedbooster it is a reversed teleconverter so I would not be suprised if technically it would be possible to construct such an adapter....

lmackreath

How/what is the best way to get the profiles viewable on a tv?.. None of my media players support prores so I am downgrading everything to h.264 so I can watch it on the big screen. I want to watch my beautiful bmpcc footage on the big screen as nature intended.. How can I do this?

mrbill

Hdmi out of the camera?

ahbleza

I shot some footage (interviews) with my BMCC and BMPCC with exactly the same settings, and the same lighting. The only other difference was the lens -- the BMPCC used the Voigtlander f0.95 25mm, while the BMCC used my Sigma 18-35 f1.8 with Speedbooster.

I found significant differences in the look of the same image, with both the camera display and the results significantly different. The BMCC looked much more yellow. Yet I double and triple checked the white balance, and they were identical. Has anyone else noticed this behaviour? I wouldn't expect such a huge difference even with different optics.

vicharris

@ahbleza Shian and I shot a pilot a week or two ago and they only difference he saw was a density difference and a little bit of a DR difference on the scopes.

I would expect a difference somewhere as the sensors are not the same.

As @kholi says below, yes, so far no real problem matching them.

kholi

You can match the two cameras, but ... don't shoot me, I don't think they have the exact same image. Especially RAW for RAW.

I prefer the Pocket Cam image over the 2.5K, but the 2.5K looks much better with the AA/OLPF from Mosaic (likely putting one in each of my cameras), the Pocket just has something going on that I like more than the 2.5K.

Oedipax

Any word on a possible AA/OLPF for the BMPCC? I'm running into moiré a lot with people's clothing, kinda makes relying on it for talking head type jobs a real risk. I switched back to my GH2 on a shoot last week because someone's shirt was giving the BMPCC a fit.

kholi

I'm not sure if there will ever be one for the Pocket. The cost would be a third of the camera's cost likely, and the 2.5K is just now nearing the market.

Along with that, the AA for the 2.5K definitely softened the image. It's not offensively soft, but you trade some of the high frequency detail for the peace of mind, and the Pocket doesn't have a ton of it to trade out.

If there were enough inquiries maybe they would look into it, though. I can relay the interest to Mosaic if so.

Ralph_B

@balazer

You're somebody I respect, so I read your report with great interest. I'm wondering, have you done much testing in the rec 709 mode? Are the colors any better or more consistant in that mode?

balazer

I haven't touched rec.709 recording mode. I suppose it's worth a try, but I'm more eager to see what I can do with raw.

kurt10

Hello my bmpcc has audio noise...

Does this mini Stereo Microphone work? http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-145037-ME-51S-Stereo-Microphone/dp/B000BTAH62

vicharris

@kurt10 The audio on the pocket is horrible. Search through this thread to find out the work arounds to get decent audio out of it. And no, I wouldn't plug that little mic into anything, especially the pocket cam.

spacewig

@kurt10 The mic would work but the capsules are omni-directional and have a restricted frequency response. It's not really designed for the purpose you want to use it for (unless you want to include the sound of your camera-man scratching his balls during takes). However, Olympus generally make very good recording products.

kurt10

Thanks vicharris spacewig :)

stanlymanly2

Hey everyone! happy halloween!! :D heres a lil short thriller I made. We shot it in an hour, edited the next day. All the foley was done around my house too. The camera is a beast in lowlight surprisingly! All shot at iso800. Used the regular rec709 LUT then retouched it. Sadly, it showed that my camera has sensor issues on it. There are a lot of hot/dead pixels and there seems to be a grid pattern all over the image. If anyone else can confirm this happens to me, lemme know. Anyone also know how to get BMD to fix this?

_gl

Maybe I'm missing something, but why do people keep asking how to get a fault taken care of 'by BMD'? Why not just get it exchanged by your seller?

vapourtrail

@_gl A lot of dealers still don't have stock so returning the camera to them is a no go. @stanlymanly2 go to their website and fill out the form on their support page. I had the same problem with stuck pixels. It took about a week from the first email I received from them to getting the replacement sent out. You'll have to send them pics showing the stuck/hot pixels. Mine were showing in broad daylight so it made approval of the RMA easy. I suggest carefully checking some daylight footage.

vicharris

@_gl +1! I see the same thing on other forums. Kind of baffles mt mind.

lmackreath

People's thoughts on shooting in low light at 2.8 at 1600 Asa? I am torn between sigma 18-35 1.8 with SB or lumix 12-35 2.8. Both round the same price.. Both have pros and cons. My main concern is using the lumix in low light at 2.8 and max Asa compared to the sigma which with the speedbooster can shoot at 1.2. I leaning towards the lumix for ois and form Factor but still am interested in the sigma for the quality and the speed.

RRRR

@lmackreath

Go with the preferred look is my advice. Haven´t used the Sigma, but I imagine I´d want to stop it down at least a tad. The lumix is sharp wide open, no need to stop down really. With that said, there is a bit more leverage with the sigma. almost two stops can make a difference. OIS is no replacement for stabilization IMO. I doubt there will be much of a difference with the weight of the Sigma in terms of stability.

With a complete lack of light you are screwed, either way. For cityscapes, both should be ok.

Alfaerik

@vapourtrail I received a bmpcc with a hot pixel. I went to the store that I bought it from and two days later they got a couple of new cameras and replaced mine. It was way much better than doing it myself.

theconformist

@lmackreath Depends on how low-light you're talking about. I've shot at night (city) at 800ASA with the 12-35 with no problems. I must say I love the 12-35 on the BMPCC, the OIS is extremely helpful, it's very sharp and versatile. I would suggest getting it even if you have to get a fast prime for extreme low-light situations.

MikeLinn

Camera comparison of 5D Mark III (H.264 & RAW), FS700 (Blackmagic Hyperdeck 2), Blackmagic Cinema Camera (ProRes & 2.5K RAW) and the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera.

http://www.airos-records.com/camera_comparison.mp4

dbp

Is it just me or are there a lot of bad footage samples out there for the BMPCC? I've seen some gems that give me hope, and the reviews seem to be favorable... but there's a fair bit of junky looking tests on vimeo.

vapourtrail

@dbp I think a lot the footage you are seeing isn't graded properly. It took me a day to get a handle on grading. You can't simply take the footage straight from the camera and upload it.

My guess is the footage that looks good is coming from people who understand how to handle the footage.

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