Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera: Yes there will be housings!

 

Is Metabone still coming out with a lens booster? Would be ace if there is one for MTF from EF lenses

 

 

I read somewhere it would be available late 2013/early 2014, so it should be in the shops just in time for when the Pocket Camera actually starts shipping to real people!

Then again there may be a delay on the horizon with the 'sensor bloom' the first beta testers (erm I mean customers) have been seeing. Looks nasty and very similar to the way the FS100 handles highlights!! Oh no not again!!!

A certain someone has got notice of shipment of a BMPCC. I say... is that a bulge in your pants a blackmagic pocket camera or are you just happy to shoot RAW DNG.... oh wait you can't yet until the firmware upgrade!

Thats a very good line ................

'sensor bloom'

Intentional or unintentional pun? LOL

it should be in the shops just in time for when the Pocket Camera actually starts shipping to real people!

Mmmmm..................................

Well, mine has arrived

Great camera. Suspect my love affair will be enduring, but there is one very major issue for uw use

On land, using a non IS lens, the standard battery lasts about 12-15 minutes. Yes, you read it right

In UW, with an IS lens, with the viewer left on and a few pushes of the autofocus button it will be even worse

This unit is enormously power hungry

To make his work uw will require either a quantum leap in battery technology or a power source sitting in the housing

If you think I am exaggerating, then have a look at Phillip Bloom's review

Not sure how this one will be solved

Well, mine has arrived

Great camera. Suspect my love affair will be enduring, but there is one very major issue for uw use

 

On land, using a non IS lens, the standard battery lasts about 12-15 minutes. Yes, you read it right

 

In UW, with an IS lens, with the viewer left on and a few pushes of the autofocus button it will be even worse

 

This unit is enormously power hungry

To make his work uw will require either a quantum leap in battery technology or a power source sitting in the housing

If you think I am exaggerating, then have a look at Phillip Bloom's review

 

Not sure how this one will be solved

Many thanks PaulMCMurrick

For letting us know. Was your version the first batch or later batch with the firmware fix for highlight bloom/black holes? Would love to see some actual UW footage......

I reckon something like a USB powerbank for mobiles could do the job. Housing will have to be bigger which defeats the purpose of a compact camera.

thanks again. Useful to know.

Cheers

"If you think I am exaggerating, then have a look at Phillip Bloom's review"

Could you post the url for Philip Bloom's review?

Thanks

http://philipbloom.net/2013/09/03/pocketvideos/

On land, using a non IS lens, the standard battery lasts about 12-15 minutes. Yes, you read it right

 

In UW, with an IS lens, with the viewer left on and a few pushes of the autofocus button it will be even worse

 

 

On Bloom's review there's no mention of these runtime.

A lot of reviews states that the unit it's power hungry but reported times are double (at least).

One of the latest report:

http://www.eoshd.com/content/11252/blackmagic-pocket-cinema-camera-review-part-1-worth-hype

 

Run times were -

• Live-view standby with active lens and OIS (14-140mm) – 1 hour 8 minutes with genuine Nikon EN-EL20 (1020mAh).
• Live-view standby with passive lens (Bolex 16mm F2.0 c-mount) - 1 hour 12 minutes with same battery
• As above (passive lens) but with supplied 800mAh Blackmagic Mini Battery – 1 hour 5 minutes
• Continuously recording (passive lens,genuine Nikon EN-EL20 and ProRes to SanDisk Extreme 95MB/s SDHC) – 1 hour 4 minutes

 

 

 

Bloom does mention in the text on this page http://philipbloom.net/2013/08/27/pocketcamera/ that he went through 5 batteries to get only 50 minutes of footage, but admits that this was because he had the camera on standby with live-view on a lot of the time. I guess he would have got a lot more more out of the batteries if he had switched it off. Even so, it seems those little batteries don't last long. Should do you for one dive, though!

You are right but IMHO at the moment there are other most important drawbacks for underwater use:

I saw some really incredible land footage. It's a tool that in the proper hands can deliver amazing results but I think that at the moment it's better suited in a controlled environment (studio set) than as a run&gun tool.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/camcorders/black_magic_pocket_camera.shtml

 

 

The screen is at least two generations behind the mainstream manufacturers in terms of contrast and brightness. It is also physically extremely soft. In fifteen years of using, testing and working with digital cameras on all six continents and in extreme conditions I have never scratched a rear LCD. Yet somehow I managed to scratch a big hole in the BMPCC's LCD screen on the first day or field use. I have no idea how, but I now have a group of about a dozen bright yellow pixels engraved permanently at the top left of my screen

Camera arrived with one visible hot pixel, and also a large dust booger on the sensor. The dust was easily removed with a blower, but the hot pixel is there forever unless Black Magic comes up with a sensor refresh mode, which many camera makers offer.

There is no in-camera card formatting, no file erase, no thumbnail review. More importantly, there is no indication of the amount of time left on the card. Camera can not remember the last aperture used when the lens is changed or the camera restarted.

Autofocus is, to put it politely, a work in progress. It doesn't work with all lenses. Indeed it seems to only work with a few lenses, and when it does work with these lenses it does so in a slow and inconsistent manner. Pressing the Focus button puts a white square on the center of the screen and the lens then starts to slowly autofocus. Maybe.

I'll be gentle. The audio in the BMPCC sucks. Problem is not just the tiny in-camera mic, but the audio pre-amps as well.

 

 

 

Well RAW has arrived for this little camera. Record times approximately 20 mins at 24fps on a 64gb card.

Has anyone tried this camera underwater yet.

Chris Parsons and Christian Dimitrius are at Tiger Beach today testing the Nauticam NA-BMPCC prototype housing.

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/press/pressdetails?releaseID=48061

Love it or hate it the digital imaging arms race is bludgeoning ahead.... Now the little pocket rocket could record CinemaDNG and works natively with Black Magic Resolve 10. I can't wait to see some test footage. UW Housing manufacturers really need to take heed the demand for power this little dynamo needs unless we have batteries made of Dilithium Crystals we need space for a wodger of a battery.

here is a link to some top side tests: http://vimeo.com/79231766

looks promising except for the moire on the car grille!

Hi,

I am new to BMPCC and so as the CinemaDNG raw file.

Can anyone help me to draw a workflow after filming the raw file ? My main purpose is for personal use.

Which software is capable to edit the raw file?

Is it better to run the editing on a Mac ? What minimal specification of Mac can do the job well ?

Sorry for so many questions, thank you very much for all your help in advance !!

Regards

Edmond

Da Vinc Resolve 10 will read it natively. You could colour grade and debayer the footage and then transcode to Prores. Then you could edit in PremPro or Final Cut X

As for hardware the new Mac pro or even high spec PC with GTX Titan GPU. All this is not necessary if you just want good enough for personal or for the web. The BMPCC does record Prores as well that could be edited in FCX in a Mac book Pro.

CinemaDNA+G raw will need lots of storage back up. Unless you are doing this seriously and get some form of income from the footage then it is a big expenditure for just a hobby. Then again this has not deterred many enthusiasts...

Others super experts should chime in soon....

cheers

Thanks for the advice !!! Great !!!

Edmond

http://fisheye-jp.com/products/pro/na_bmpcc/index.html

Wow, thanks for this. It looks like a black gem.

Three challenges with BMPCC:

1) fast wide angle lens,

2) Low light performance,

3) battery life (can be solved by Nauticam)

If size & money isn't an issue & If one to choose between BMCC 2.5k vs BMPCC, which one will win?