Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera: Yes there will be housings!

Informally, at least 2 major manufacturers have said the BMPCC will be covered. This is great news.

This topic was originally covered here:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=50046

Which manufacturers? Can you tell us?

Here are some sample images and discusion about the BMDPCC

http://nofilmschool.com/2013/04/first-blackmagic-pocket-camera-footage-released/#more-50893

And link to some video

http://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/footage-in-your-pocket/

The "pocket rocket"BMDCC camera I am sure will outsell the other 4K camera. At under 1K USD its a no brainer for lots of people. It is a movie specific camera and useful as B or C camera in tight situations or as a crash cam. Or a multicopter cam. It will definitely eat into Go Pro 3 territory unless Go Pro comes out with a changeable lens POV cam.

 

If test will confirm its specs, for video it could eat into gh3 and 5DMkIII territory, not only gopro.

- full manual control

- interch. lens

- m43 mount that it's becoming the most versatile format.

- friendly codec

From UW POV its only downside is 3x crop factor. A problem for WA shots.

PS

I dream of a BMPCC Nauticam housing....

http://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/footage-in-your-pocket/ Oops someone beat me to it.. Just a run and gun footage. I think it is bye bye 5DMIII and GH2 or 3. Well not really if you want to shoot digital stills too. A bit of rolling shutter but manageable. This will so eat into Go Pro on Multicopers and flying stuff. The sensor is a 2.88 crop to be precise. For UW use a FE lens. Should be okay. I can't wait for it.

 

I dream of a BMPCC Nauticam housing....

Dream noted.

Cheers,

Cp

Which manufacturers? Can you tell us?

Well I was told not to say anything because they won't be doing anything for a few months at least. But I was talking to the chiefs and if they said they are making one, then expect 2 major manufacturers to cover this camera at least. I can tell you that Seacam will not be making one!

Seems the lossy DNG codec isn't fixed yet since they haven't shown any of the clips. Still the ProRes clips look very gradable. I hope it can do LUT!

I hope manufacturers do think along professional lines and consider the Arri Ultra Primes like the 6mm. Would be sad to have a cinema camera limited to MFT lenses with all the quality issues.

Would be sad to have a cinema camera limited to MFT lenses with all the quality issues.

What quality issues are you inferring, and are they perceptible on a 2mp image?

Topside indie guys are excited to use megapixel resolution C mount glass with this camera, so I expect mFT will prove to be quite acceptable.

Ryan, focus breathing, distortion etc all very perceptible at any working resolution. S16 lenses like the Arri are designed for cinema so they don't the same issues as lenses designed for both stills and video.

I realize that C mount and MFT lenses are cheaper and would work well enough for static shots on a tripod in an Indie film. In all likelihood, that'll be the biggest slice of the market. I'm just saying that it'd be a waste to make a housing and not be able to use the best lenses for professional work, even for a $1k camera.

I agree that it would be nice to be able to use lenses like the Arris but I don't think many of us will even rent one very often so what can we use for WA? It has been suggested above to use FE but is it possible to de-fish video? There will be a m43 Speedbooster before long I think which might help. It would be interesting to know what others think.

So if the Pani 7-14mm gives 114-75 deg on the diagonal on a MFT sensor what kind of coverage would we get from the 1" sensor of this camera

The crop factor is approximately x3 so it'll be more like a 21mm, which is just about right for video.

Sure a 21 - 42mm zoom (35mm equiv.) is good but what about for example for establishing shots of wrecks? I think something a bit wider would be good to have.

I've been interested in this one since it was announced but not sure what lens they actually be compatible with. All brands? Guess this means also having to buy multiple ports to fit the different lens options. Would be great if Gates made a housing for it or Amphibico, Nauticam any of the better quality manufacturers.

To change direction a bit lets look at frame rates they have said up to 30p but could this camera do more

PRORES 422HQ 1080 @ 30p for 1sec = 27.53MB

PRORES 422HQ 1080 @ 50p for 1sec = 45.88MB

PRORES 422HQ 1080 @ 60p for 1sec = 55.06MB

But if they included PRORES and PRORES LT the data rates come down to

PRORES 422 1080 @ 50p for 1sec = 30.66MB

PRORES 422 1080 @ 60p for 1sec = 36.79MB

PRORES 422LT 1080 @ 50p for 1sec = 21.27MB

PRORES 422LT 1080 @ 60p for 1sec = 25.53MB

The current class 10 SDHC running at 600x claim a write speed of 45MB per sec. So the card could handle it easily in in its lower version. It would be interesting to know wether the rest of the hardware could handle it like the sensor read out. I know the likely hood of them actually implementing this even if all the hardware could handle it is very low. But maybe the action cam or run and gun market will push them into it.

Just thinking out loud sorry

You get read speed of 90 MB/s and write speed of up to 95MB/s with SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC and SDXCUHS-I (these letters just gets longer the faster they go )

Prores 422 60p for these cards should not be a problem. Hardware inside a camera is another story. It will be interesting to find out what BMD Pocket Cam has got built in in terms of hardware.

Heat dissipation would be the main problem with a lot of these cameras. In particular compact ones. I would not be surprised if after 20 minutes of continuous shoot some part of the camera will get very hot. This is all speculation of course, We will know soon enough.

Cheers

D

Ryan, focus breathing, distortion etc all very perceptible at any working resolution. S16 lenses like the Arri are designed for cinema so they don't the same issues as lenses designed for both stills and video.

I guess I'm just not so indoctrinated. Panasonic 7-14 /4 has some distortion, but much of it is outside the area covered by this sensor. That lens is almost free from breathing when thrown from its close focus mark to infinite focus. Taking that a step further, the in water usable range behind an 8" dome is something like "just in front" of the 12" mark, and "just behind" the 12" mark. I don't expect breathing can be demonstrated with this lens in water behind a dome port.

Maybe a big S16 zoom on your camera makes whoever hired you feel like they got their money's worth?

Arri Ultra 16 6mm might be worth sacrificing form factor over, though. It is a pretty modern design, but I can't find and distortion info available on the web.

Ryan, all I'm saying is there's a reason why S16 cine lenses are still used on Red Epics/Scarlets in 2k mode. You should go out and rent one to try. Stuff like gearing on the lenses for precise focus, since as you say the VI window is pretty small. On the Nauticam Rossa, the focus throw made it very difficult on non-cine lenses like the EF to control close in focus. Stuff like that matters in big or small productions. Obviously the BMPCC isn't going to be used as a A cam by most productions, but as a B or C cam, but that doesn't mean any old lense will do.

With respects to the 7-14mm by Pana, the CA on the lens is pretty bad @ 7mm, if I remember correctly. Of course, CA and distortion can both be corrected in post.

Be that as it may, since no one can see the camera in RAW mode with a S16 or MFT lens, it's purely conjecture at the moment. However, a old cine lenses like the Century 6mm with a double hemisphere adapter that makes it into a 4.5mm would be a great addition. Gates and Amphibico could easily make an adapter to fit their cine domes, IF they make a housing for this camera.

A nice vimeo channel with several video:

http://vimeo.com/channels/blackmagicpocketcamera

http://vimeo.com/channels/blackmagicpocketcamera

Regarding the MFT diatribe, IMHO you guys are in another world. You are complaining to not be able to use a 15.000$ lenses on a 900$ camera?

Arry lenses on a pocket camera... like starting a movie on a hoestring budget. LOL

I do not mean that it couldn't be possible or it might not be nice but actually camera manufacturers like to keep theyr feet on the ground. Which lenses are going to use 99% of my customers?

UW Housing choice are even more restrictive... so what we are speaking about?

My son is complaining he can't use my m43 lenses on his camera too:

Byeeee

Hi Davide,

I've just been watching your video of Henry Desprez and wondered what lens you would use on the Pocket Camera to shoot that.