Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

[MeanRevert]

Speaking of IR and the Pocket 4k... talk about perfect timing!

Test starts about 4:30 in.

 

 

[Shirozina]

10 hours ago, mercer said:

Re-read my comment you quoted... I didn’t say to use Rec709... Rec709 is the default in the Raw Panel... or maybe it’s SRGB... either way, I was trying to explain how Highlight Recovery can give you a little more dynamic range in Raw than you would have in ProRes. This function is particularly useful if you have a light in your frame... especially the sun.

and I'm saying ( from the experience of actually owning a P4k) that there is no more DR in RAW than ProRes.

[Papiskokuji]

Here's a little slow mo test I recently shot with the camera for those interested. Also a good test on how to get a vintage look for the ones who miss the old bmpcc feel. The blacks are crushed on purpose obviously ! The original files are clean as a whistle !

 

[anonim]

4 hours ago, MeanRevert said:

Speaking of IR and the Pocket 4k... talk about perfect timing!

In taming IR effects maybe could be useful to check Captain Hook's  solving efforts via usage of his lut

http://www.captainhook.co.nz/blackmagic-cinema-camera-lut/

[tonysss]

35 minutes ago, Papiskokuji said:

Also a good test on how to get a vintage look for the ones who miss the old bmpcc feel.

 

So you didn't understand....

We (old BMPCC user) don't miss this nasty look you created  ?  If you own a old pocket (Fairchild sensor) , you'll understand. 

[webrunner5]

Yeah if you think just crushing the blacks and adding noise mimics a OG BMPCC, and think clean as a whistle is a Cine look to strive for, well... Better off with a C100 if you want a clean look. You don't have to buy any add on extra stuff for them. Just Grab and Go. Shoot for hours with one battery, and one cheap ass SD card. Really don't even need to grade it if you get the exposure right in camera.

But I guess everyone has a different idea what good or bad is, so maybe you really like that look. And yeah I guess at times even a Arri crushes the blacks, especially night shots. But no camera for as cheap as a OG is, can produce a better looking output If you want a Cine look. Now it is not going to produce a clean look like the PK4, C100 can, and probably most of the time you want that clean look, especially in this day and age. So the OG is not going to be a good choice for that.

So I guess the PK4 is a good compromise for both a modern look, and the ability to sort of look like the older one with skill. But that is the key, skill for any of the cameras. But some are just a lot easier to Look like you have skill lol. The new Fuji XT-3 comes to mind, the old C100, etc. The OG was not a point and shoot by a long shot. There is a lot more bad looking footage from them on the web than great looking footage.

[webrunner5]

This is what a OG BMPCC Can, and does look like. Now granted it is wasn't done by just Bob down the street. But you can see what it is capable of. And it isn't all crushed Blacks and noise. Bottom picture was their rig. Mercer sent me the link to the film.

From their Facebook page.

"Our main camera throughout the shoot has been a BMPCC, with a range of C-Mount and M43 lenses (and one enormous M42 - the Pentacon 300).

That camera has been powered by an Anker Pro 2 (with a modified cable, to fit the tiny input on the BMPCC). The Anker is mounted to the rig via a 90 degree metal plate from B&Q, some 15mm plumbers clamps, and some velcro tape.

We've had a bog-standard manfrotto tripod throughout, a cheap rails/plate set from India (Cine City on Ebay I think..?) and a cheap camtree cage.

On the front we've got a Fotga mattebox (with barn doors and a swing-out front - invaluable), a set of Tiffen NDs (kindly donated), and a Hoya 82mm Polariser screwed in to a filter tray and left in one of the slots for the duration of the shoot."

 

 

 

[Emanuel]

Absolutely astonishing.

[webrunner5]

21 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

Absolutely astonishing.

Yeah for a cheap ass camera and rig it is pretty amazing. It took them years to do according to their Facebook page, but I don't think much of it was due to the camera. Just stuff when you are trying to do a zero budget film with friends, and limited gear, and not much time more than anything.

Kind of a Mercer type film LoL. I have a bad feeling I will be dead before he finishes it. And I doubt they have cable, or internet in Hell. ?

 

[Emanuel]

Glenn's club standard ; ) Seems he's not alone on that one, well, I fully understand his call anyways : -) At least, you'll be sure then he won't let you down from the other side when St. Peter : P will ask you about that bald dude with the cat in in his back : D Better a pretty rare one than just another pet you can find in any store of the neighborhood ; -)

6 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

Yeah for a cheap ass camera and rig it is pretty amazing. It took them years to do according to their Facebook page, but I don't think much of it was due to the camera. Just stuff when you are trying to do a zero budget film with friends, and limited gear, and not much time more than anything.

Kind of a Mercer type film LoL. I have a bad feeling I will be dead before he finishes it. And I doubt they have cable, or internet in Hell. ?

 

@mercer

[kye]

6 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

And I doubt they have cable, or internet in Hell. ?

Nah, but they have all the musicians, artists, free thinkers, and interesting people, so you can just hang with them instead of watching them on TV

[webrunner5]

22 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

Yeah for a cheap ass camera and rig it is pretty amazing. It took them years to do according to their Facebook page, but I don't think much of it was due to the camera. Just stuff when you are trying to do a zero budget film with friends, and limited gear, and not much time more than anything.

Kind of a Mercer type film LoL. I have a bad feeling I will be dead before he finishes it. And I doubt they have cable, or internet in Hell. ?

 

90% of the film was shot on the SLR Magic 12mm and Voigtlander Nokton 42.5mm, with a Kowa 8mm, Angenieux 12-120, Pentacon 300, and a Nokton 17.5mm accounting for the rest.

[tekeela]

Can I get some feedback on my planned P4K purchase list? This is my first camera, first lens, etc. I've tried to do as much research as I can, now I just need some learned eyes to double check I haven't made any real dumb decisions. Planned use will be no-budget narrative fiction and a bit of casual street filming.

Lenses: Meike 25mm T2.2 + Meike 16mm T2.2
Filters: Tiffen 77mm Indie Pro Infrared/ND Filter Kit
Monopod: Sirui P-326S with VH-10X head
Storage: Samsung T5 2TB

I would be planning to buy more of the Meikes as they came out, and I don't have to worry about sound for now. The other alternative would be to go for the Metabones + Sigma route. I already have the camera, a smallrig cage and a couple of batteries. Not sure if I'll need a bigger battery or not.

[JordanWright]

@tekeelaI haven't tried the Meike lenses but they look great! It looks like they are cheaper Veydras! If you end up picking them up please share some footage! 

You could probably save quite a bit of $$ on the filters & Storage. IR isn't a problem you'll probably ever notice. Ive used the Tiffen Vari-ND  at max and only ever noticed it once. I would also go with the 1TB over the 2TB. Im using the 500GB and get 73mins In BMRaw 3:1. DCI 4k 25p.

 

[webrunner5]

Yeah 2TB is sort of a dangerous amount of data to put in one basket as they say unless you are doing Documentary's all day, and even then I would not risk all that data on one storage device. Just get 2 or 3 smaller ones. Better way to go. That way you can forget and leave 2 of them at home and really be unhappy lol. That is the first thing you will find out is how much you forget to bring, or Gee I NEED to buy a Heck of a lot more stuff.

Not too fond of using a Monopod with a camera with a touchscreen. And the PK4 is an odd shaped body to start with. Especially a camera you are leaning on. Might get interesting lol. It is damn hard to get a lot of minutes of video unless you just turn it on and sort of walk away. I have been out for hours, and shot 15 minutes of footage, and felt good about getting that. ?

[billdoubleu]

2 hours ago, tekeela said:

Can I get some feedback on my planned P4K purchase list? This is my first camera, first lens, etc. I've tried to do as much research as I can, now I just need some learned eyes to double check I haven't made any real dumb decisions. Planned use will be no-budget narrative fiction and a bit of casual street filming.

Lenses: Meike 25mm T2.2 + Meike 16mm T2.2
Filters: Tiffen 77mm Indie Pro Infrared/ND Filter Kit
Monopod: Sirui P-326S with VH-10X head
Storage: Samsung T5 2TB

I would be planning to buy more of the Meikes as they came out, and I don't have to worry about sound for now. The other alternative would be to go for the Metabones + Sigma route. I already have the camera, a smallrig cage and a couple of batteries. Not sure if I'll need a bigger battery or not.

I own the 25mm Meike and enjoy it very much. It's a good, sharp lens, and I plan on buying the 16mm soon. You'll need a follow focus though. The throw is very long and you won't be able to pull focus very well without one.

[kye]

2 hours ago, tekeela said:

Can I get some feedback on my planned P4K purchase list? This is my first camera, first lens, etc. I've tried to do as much research as I can, now I just need some learned eyes to double check I haven't made any real dumb decisions. Planned use will be no-budget narrative fiction and a bit of casual street filming.

Lenses: Meike 25mm T2.2 + Meike 16mm T2.2
Filters: Tiffen 77mm Indie Pro Infrared/ND Filter Kit
Monopod: Sirui P-326S with VH-10X head
Storage: Samsung T5 2TB

I would be planning to buy more of the Meikes as they came out, and I don't have to worry about sound for now. The other alternative would be to go for the Metabones + Sigma route. I already have the camera, a smallrig cage and a couple of batteries. Not sure if I'll need a bigger battery or not.

Looks fine but I'll just say that the two focal lengths you're looking to buy are very similar to each other and I wonder if having a bit more variation might be more useful initially?

I do understand that the 16 and 25 are probably the most common focal lengths that get used, so depending on how you shoot it might be fine.  I'd suggest thinking about what camera angles / framing you're going to have (two-person, one-person-wide, one-person mid, tight, over the shoulder, and b-roll closeups, establishing shots, etc) and how close your camera will be from them (are you shooting on sets, temporary locations in larger rooms, in people's houses in open-plan areas, houses in smaller rooms, open plan offices, individual offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms, etc ) as this combination of shot+distance will dictate the focal length you will need.  

For close-ups consider the minimum focus distances of your lenses too.

Also consider that if you're shooting 4K you only have to crop into the 16 about 150% to get 25 (which will be a 2.5K image) and if this is acceptable for you to do so, if you're delivering in 1080 for example, then maybe you get a 35 or 40 instead of the 25.  Or, you get a 12 and the 25, and you can crop in to emulate a 16, and also emulate a 35 or 40 with your 25.

As I said, this is personal, so the only person who can answer it is you, but make sure you've considered that before spending your budget  

[tekeela]

7 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

Not too fond of using a Monopod with a camera with a touchscreen. And the PK4 is an odd shaped body to start with. Especially a camera you are leaning on. Might get interesting lol. 

Thanks to everyone who replied. I'm taking all the advice in and reconsidering my options from there.

 

Webrunner, in regards to what you said about the monopod: this is something I hadn't thought about, and to be honest I'm only half confident I understand what you're getting at. Could you recommend any alternatives?

[anonim]

11 hours ago, tekeela said:

Can I get some feedback on my planned P4K purchase list? This is my first camera, first lens, etc. I've tried to do as much research as I can, now I just need some learned eyes to double check I haven't made any real dumb decisions. Planned use will be no-budget narrative fiction and a bit of casual street filming.

Lenses: Meike 25mm T2.2 + Meike 16mm T2.2
Filters: Tiffen 77mm Indie Pro Infrared/ND Filter Kit
Monopod: Sirui P-326S with VH-10X head
Storage: Samsung T5 2TB

I would be planning to buy more of the Meikes as they came out, and I don't have to worry about sound for now. The other alternative would be to go for the Metabones + Sigma route. I already have the camera, a smallrig cage and a couple of batteries. Not sure if I'll need a bigger battery or not.

Let's me to try to be useful 

Lenses: T2.2 might not be enough flexible (as exclusive in arsenal); 25mm and 16mm are too close

Filters: That one is pretty expensive and slowing shooting process solution

Monopod: Maybe to try first with some UW lens and see how you manage handheld shooting with it regarding style and possibility

[AlexTrinder96]

This prototype image was posted on the fb group...

Not much info but hopefully we see a few more third party options!