John Emery

I had it, and it's terrible compared to other options!! It is a smart design but poorly executed. Mine didn't flip properly (half of the time the image staid upside down) and they didn't answer to my emails. And it's really low res (I got a MustHD and the difference was huge). I would get a Aputure FineHD V2 if I was buying now, best bang for buck if you don't want a recorder and you like big monitors. This is my setup... Attaching the mini plate to the monitor makes the setup fast and easy and it all fits in a small cheap Amazon camera bag. The best thing is that when you block the tripod head (Mantona 18008) that holds the monitor (MustHD) it's feels like a handle, and it's quite comfy to hold with one hand and pull focus with the other. It's like holding an inverse Bolex D16... I really like it! All I need is a cage to protect the cameras HDMI input.

I already saw it.

All lenses work perfectly with the latest firmware! Thanks Inazuma & Zak! By the way... I'm digging the image quite a bit, it's nice and cinematic. But it does have some fpn when you underexpose.

I didn't know (I'm a newbie when it comes to SBs), so BIG thanks Zak... I'll give it a try!!

First thing I tried, but It looks like there's no firmware update for the "Bmpcc T Speedbooster"...

Hi! Just got my micro cinema camera and a Bmpcc T speedbooster. And I'm having problems with the latter (well, it could be the micro too)... it doesn't let me control the aperture of my EF lenses (Sigma 18-35, Canon 50 f1,4 and 24-105 f4). The 24-105 works sometimes (if I detach it a few times from the speedbooster). I'm a newbie when it comes to both pieces of gear... Has anyone else tried this combination? Any workarounds? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

For more DR I would consider the BMMCC...

That's what I've been hoping these last months... it's probably a DR showoff/ entirely new beast thing. But it's just feels discomforting not seeing at least one of those videos that you can just say "that's it", and I'm not talking about high end production stuff, just someone in their backyard getting some nice cinematic results. But all in all, I've still got an eye on it, so if you end up doing a "rough test", please let us know.

Thanks for sharing your impressions! Dunno, I've never tried to love a camera so hard... On paper it ticks all the boxes, even when it comes to screen shots it looks great (that's why I mainly blame the motion). But I still haven't seen any footage from the 4.6K that feels truly cinematic (for my standards that is). Some footage looks great, but it's just missing that BM cinematic mojo. And I've seen plenty of nice cinematic stuff coming from bm4k, bmcc, and bmpcc... Once it's available I'll rent it out and give it a try.

Thanks Zak, I really appreciate it! After some research I'm getting the Sandisk "extreme pros 95MB", any new discoveries worth knowing about when it comes to SDs?

Hi Aaron! I dig the DR, and color looks quite flexible (but I do still prefer the 4k colors). What do you think of the "motion" of the camera? I always get the impression it's a bit videoish, not as cinematic as the rest of BMD cameras. What do you think?

Hi Zak! I think I'm getting mine this week, and I just wanted to ask a quick question (I can't find any clear info lying around)... Which "flavors" of Raw recording do you have @ 24 and 60fps? Is there 3:1 and 4:1 Raw for both frame rates? Which one do you like to use? Thanks in advance!

I'm sort of enjoying the chat, but it doesn't really seem to be heading anywhere, and I prefer investing my time doing something more productive... You love your tungsten lights? Great! Give August McCue your recommendation for a "basic kit", but keep in mind he might want to shoot outdoors too (I personally shoot 60% indoors/ 40% outdoors), so include things like generators and so, and it would be great if you also let us know how you work around issues like recording audio with them. It looks like you know your stuff, so I honestly think something like that would be a lot more interesting for this blog. I'll just repeat my opinion... and this is coming from someone that's got way more experience with tungsten lights than LEDs: The days of... hiding cables/ endless sauna sessions/ wearing gloves all the time (I love my fingers)/ having someone at the fusebox (No Tupp, this was just a joke... some people will get it)/ using generators... are over. Yes, I'll still use tungsten lights when they're needed (the best lights for the job thing), but I'll slowly replace them all if I can, and after all the movement we've seen this NAB it looks like the industry will too.

So a light with 2 v-lock batteries for all day isn't practical? I think it's heaven... Have you ever used a generator? Ain't fun! Yep, if you use a light with a cable as a backlight (eg), you always have to make sure that cable doesn't appear in the shot. "Basic dressing" in my experience consumes way to much time. No cable, no problem. At all profesional sets I've ever been to, gloves are a must with tungsten lights (you know, the good old "safety always first" thing), but safety is optional I guess. Less control/ versatility? I think an Aputure 120T is as versatile as it gets... a small 1,5K dimmable hard light, on which you can mount soft boxes, barn doors, a beauty disc, you name it... Lower power-luminance density? I don't even know what that is, but I can tell you that a 120W LED is really bright, and very power efficient to boot. Yep, and we stack the snack table next to it, we call him the snacky-fuse guy. You don't use one? How unprofessional! You talking indoors, aren't you? Do you ever shoot outdoors? What do you do then?

Tungsten vs LED... umm, like always it depends on workflows... cableless mobility and low heat are the big ones for me (my tungsten lights are rotting in the cupboard). LED cri is up there now, and running something like an Aputure 120T on a V-lock battery makes a lot of sense to me. The days of... hiding cables/ endless sauna sessions/ wearing gloves all the time/ having someone at the fusebox/ using generators... are over, and I don't miss them at all. Higher price seems like the only true "Con" for the latest LEDs, but I think they worth every penny. That's my two cents.

I bought 2 of these for 199€ each... https://www.amazon.es/Excelvcan%C2%AE-Control-Remoto-Inal%C3%A1mbrico-1040PCS/dp/B011AYJ474/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1461453126&sr=8-4&keywords=excelvan+1040 Very well built, they mix perfectly with Aputure's HR672's, same cri +95 quality (I've done a side by side test and they look identical), but twice the power. They work 3 hours at max power or 6 outputting the same amount of light than the Aputure's (spot version) with a 220€ 177Wh "Kayo Maxtar" V-lock battery. I usually use 1 battery per light/day, I put it on and I forget about it (I hate changing NP's every hour). It's hard to think of any cons, maybe the only thing that I don't like is that the warm filters don't match the Aputure warm filters, but I don't like either of them anyway, I usually use CTO gels on both. I think they're a knock off (or rebranded version) of these, but a daylight version... http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1147568-REG/axrtec_axr_a_1040bv_bi_color_led_panel.html As you can see, for that price the Excelvcan (terrible name) is a steal... Other lights... Aputure's AL-H198C is great and cheap, and I also like the 672's, smaller and lighter than the Excelvcan's so you can easily put them up in smaller places with a magic arm. Talking of arms, the Tarion magic arms have been a great cheap discovery for my kit.

Great skin tones, DR, motion... I'm sold!

For your consideration...

Well, it looks like there's an important advantage when you shoot Raw (specially for those that think the motion of the 4.6K cam looks too videoish). Used to 5D ML Raw, there was something bugging me about the footage I was seeing from the Ursa 4.6K, I loved the latest stills, but in motion it always lost a big chunk of its cinematic mojo. Speaking to one of the cams testers over at BMCuser, he told me that it's got to do with the Prores compression, and that shooting Raw retains the cinematic motion... http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?15520-Brief-thoughts-and-a-bit-of-footage-from-the-URSA-Mini-4-6K/page297

All fears are starting to dissipate... colors, DR, decent low light/ noise. It all looks spot on... http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?15520-Brief-thoughts-and-a-bit-of-footage-from-the-URSA-Mini-4-6K/page208

From 4.6K by https://www.facebook.com/thedreamersnl/ I recommend going to their FB page... the compression from these copies looks quite bad.

Low light is looking good...

More skin tones... Still not 100% convinced about those colors, but they're little by little getting there, could be the grading... We need those raw files!

I got a similar black Friday offer, but not as good... 4900€ (VAT included). And it's normal price went up after that. I spoke to a salesman and he told me they do those type of offers to reach a certain level of sales with Blackmagic to get better conditions from them. I don't think it will last... I do hope it's a BM price drop... like that I can get a better deal.

WOWTF!