Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

[Anaconda_]

What I don't understand is how they made that without AF and a flappy screen.

[Yannick Willox]

Luckily it is only 3min long, otherwise the 40min battery life could have been an issue.

[Emanuel]

 

[dslnc]

Just received my BMPCC4K today . yay  - (What a joy using a camera with an intuitive UI)

Finally I bought a Sandisk Extreme Portable Ssd instead of the Samsung T5. (or making my own) Better price for the same config and better performance. Amazon had an offer:
https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B078SWJ3CF/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 
To my surprise it performs quite a bit better than the announced  550MB/s read speed - In the BM speed test I got R:800+MB/s and W:700+MB/s !! (formatted in ExFat) even after a few minutes run.
Recording with the ssd it delivers too. No dropped frames in any settings (raw 4k dci @ 60 fps is no problem)

So solar very recommendable.

I tested a few 64GB v90 sd cards as well (Lexmark and Sandisk). 4K DCI 25fps in prores (all flavours) works fine no dropped frames (in LT get 23 min recording time - in HQ 11...). Even 1080p100 works (24 min in LT) So if slowmo in 4k isn't necessary no need to spend cash on the fastest  sd/cf cards (at least in PAL-land)
( in 1080p25 you get 45m in HQ and 97m in LT - pretty descent)

I have been reading quite some complaints regarding the battery door. It doesn't seem flawed to me. Though the door locking mechanism can probably trick/annoy some. One have to put the locking nod back in place after closing the door. Doing that it should be just fine (not the best design but no deal breaker) 

Since the camera got released there has been quite a few critical voices complaining just about anything it had to offer (or missing). 
Having had it in my hands for a few hours I find a lot of the comments quite a bit exaggerated. Sure an articulated screen could be great in some occasions and sure the battery life depletes quite fast. But those are things one can easily work around. I know I can. I am more than confident that I will enjoy the results filming with this camera ?

 

 

 

[Yannick Willox]

The joke about the battery was a joke ... No downvotes or a pointer to power solutions needed.

I either need 3h battery (=wall power) or 40 min handheld (albeit short) is enough for those occasions.

Anyway, the above example was shot in raw, how long can you go before you need to switch recording media ? Even on a 512 GB harddisk ?

I don't imagine being able to shoot a 2h concert in raw ? raw 4:1 should be about 700 GB ...

 

[matthere]

 

[Snuff]

2 hours ago, dslnc said:

Finally I bought a Sandisk Extreme Portable Ssd instead of the Samsung T5. (or making my own) Better price for the same config and better performance. 
To my surprise it performs quite a bit better than the announced  550MB/s read speed - In the BM speed test I got R:800+MB/s and W:700+MB/s !! (formatted in ExFat) even after a few minutes run.
Recording with the ssd it delivers too. No dropped frames in any settings (raw 4k dci @ 60 fps is no problem)

Could you post a screenshot with results of your test? Because other tests show that the write speed of Sandisk SSD is about 500MB/s. Thank you.

 

 

[dslnc]

1 hour ago, Snuff said:

Could you post a screenshot with results of your test? Because other tests show that the write speed of Sandisk SSD is about 500MB/s. Thank you.

 

 

I know - I saw those test before deciding to buy that ssd over the T5 - hence my supprise.

I will post screenshot tomorrow. 

My best bet is that they use a 10Gbit usb3c interface and a higher end ssd than Samsung 

And maybe are using faster SSDs in their latest batch - the review is from 6 month ago.

I am being an idiot... 

[dslnc]

Ok so I decided to test once more - and I a complete idiot overly happy after waiting almost 7 month finally having this bloody camera - I forgot to change the target disk mode of the test app...

aaaaegh - sorry for me misinformation about max speed. But It do works great with the BMPCC4K

2 hours ago, Yannick Willox said:

 

I don't imagine being able to shoot a 2h concert in raw ? raw 4:1 should be about 700 GB ...

 

with 500GB available DCI 4k in raw 3:1 gives me 66min @25fps , 4:1 82 min.

To get 2+ hours from 500gb I  have to 'downgrade' to prores 422 (not HQ)

 

[TILT]

4 hours ago, dslnc said:

Just received my BMPCC4K today . yay  - (What a joy using a camera with an intuitive UI)

Finally I bought a Sandisk Extreme Portable Ssd instead of the Samsung T5. (or making my own) Better price for the same config and better performance. Amazon had an offer:
https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B078SWJ3CF/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 
To my surprise it performs quite a bit better than the announced  550MB/s read speed - In the BM speed test I got R:800+MB/s and W:700+MB/s !! (formatted in ExFat) even after a few minutes run.
Recording with the ssd it delivers too. No dropped frames in any settings (raw 4k dci @ 60 fps is no problem)

So solar very recommendable.

I tested a few 64GB v90 sd cards as well (Lexmark and Sandisk). 4K DCI 25fps in prores (all flavours) works fine no dropped frames (in LT get 23 min recording time - in HQ 11...). Even 1080p100 works (24 min in LT) So if slowmo in 4k isn't necessary no need to spend cash on the fastest  sd/cf cards (at least in PAL-land)
( in 1080p25 you get 45m in HQ and 97m in LT - pretty descent)

I have been reading quite some complaints regarding the battery door. It doesn't seem flawed to me. Though the door locking mechanism can probably trick/annoy some. One have to put the locking nod back in place after closing the door. Doing that it should be just fine (not the best design but no deal breaker) 

Since the camera got released there has been quite a few critical voices complaining just about anything it had to offer (or missing). 
Having had it in my hands for a few hours I find a lot of the comments quite a bit exaggerated. Sure an articulated screen could be great in some occasions and sure the battery life depletes quite fast. But those are things one can easily work around. I know I can. I am more than confident that I will enjoy the results filming with this camera ?

 

 

 

My battery door is a complete mess. a slight bump, opening the sd card and cfast compartment for instance and it pops out. A bit annoying, but I've finally opted for a dummy battery, so I'll take it off anyway. I can see it becoming a problem when I'll switch to Blackmagic official power cables (66eur a pop) and will no longer need the dummy battery. I'll ask a door replacement to Blackmagic as I think mine is probably more flimsy than other people's BMPCC4K.

But no big deal, I'm happy for the upgrade. I was using the NX1 before and I love that camera too. But the iso range was just too limiting. Now I have a strong camera for stills and a strong one for video. In some situations, I'll try to match the NX1, NX500 and BMPCC4K to ensure me a multicam setup in well-controlled environments.

ND's are definitely a need though, sticking to iso 400 with the viltrox speedbooster and most shots are still overexposed at f/22 when sunny. Need a 3 stops ND I guess.

 

[webrunner5]

2 minutes ago, TILT said:

ND's are definitely a need though, sticking to iso 400 with the viltrox speedbooster and most shots are still overexposed at f/22 when sunny. Need a 3 stops ND I guess.

 

Try shooting with a Sony A7s in Slog 2. Even a 9 stop ND at times is not enough @ 3200 ISO LoL. Glad to see your PK4 is working out for you.

[Andrew Reid]

4 hours ago, TILT said:

I'll ask a door replacement to Blackmagic as I think mine is probably more flimsy than other people's BMPCC4K.

Yep ask for a replacement. It's not that flimsy on most cameras, just some of them.

Mine has not fallen off yet, and no battery has got stuck... Mainly because, it has to be said, it's been raining EVERY EFFING DAY since I got my camera and still cannot go out and shoot properly with it!! Time to move to Spain?!

[Kisaha]

6 hours ago, TILT said:

But no big deal, I'm happy for the upgrade. I was using the NX1 before and I love that camera too. But the iso range was just too limiting. Now I have a strong camera for stills and a strong one for video. In some situations, I'll try to match the NX1, NX500 and BMPCC4K to ensure me a multicam setup in well-controlled environments.

ND's are definitely a need though, sticking to iso 400 with the viltrox speedbooster and most shots are still overexposed at f/22 when sunny. Need a 3 stops ND I guess.

 

Great! I am going your way too!

I am staying NX at the moment (I have 4 cameras and 8 lenses plus unlimited accessories) using those as my hybrid cameras, and I will eventually buy a P4K as a dedicated video camera, until change hybrid system altogether sometime in the next couple of years. Photos are just a small portion of my pro life anyway, so doesn't make a lot of sense to invest a lot of coin that way.

I am waiting for your real world experiences and comments eagerly.

It will be difficult to match the cameras, I have filmconvert and maybe that helps a little.

[dslnc]

4 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Yep ask for a replacement. It's not that flimsy on most cameras, just some of them.

Mine has not fallen off yet, and no battery has got stuck... Mainly because, it has to be said, it's been raining EVERY EFFING DAY since I got my camera and still cannot go out and shoot properly with it!! Time to move to Spain?!

Here it rains every second day ?

[Matthew Campbell]

Some cinematic airsoft footage I shot at our local field. Trying out a new series for the channel. 

Still figuring out the Glidecam quirks but I'm going to be using the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 for most of this stuff from now on instead of the Rokinon Cine DS lenses. Cheaper, no need to switch lenses, and the OIS will help out with that jitter. Ran this mostly as a camera test, there are going to be some narrative changes in future videos.

 

 

[Grimor]

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Time to move to Spain?!

Come on, and no more Barcelona or Madrid!

Málaga, Granada or Sevilla, sun always shine on South Spain!!?

[BTM_Pix]

2 hours ago, Grimor said:

Sevilla, sun always shine on South Spain!!?

My camera bag is still drying out from my recent jaunt to Sevilla!

[Grimor]

7 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

My camera bag is still drying out from my recent jaunt to Sevilla!

well, almost always

[Andrew Reid]

Could be worse, it is not on fire like California is!!

What's going on with the climate... It's bonkers.

[Mark Romero 2]

35 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

Could be worse, it is not on fire like California is!!

What's going on with the climate... It's bonkers.

Yeah, I had a photo shoot of a condo for sale in Tiburon, which overlooks the north part of the San Francisco Bay. It would normally be a two-million-dollar view (literally), but there was so much smoke in the air, the view of the Bay was ruined.

Around here it literally looks like a scene from Blade Runner 2049. About three months back we had another large set of fires, and we just had the one-year anniversary of the Sonoma County fires that destroyed large parts of the city of Santa Rosa.