NAB 2019 predictions and major talking points - BMPCC 4K Pro anyone?!

[Emanuel]

Big enough to consume power but also for more than that. Focus assist is a breeze where AF can even be missed. I speak by myself. A bit obsessive with focus accuracy, AF included.

And also where a simple accessory designed for a kind of trouble effectively much wider than strictly to P4K can easily address the issue pointing a capable workaround as happens with the usage of many other 5" LCDs actually.

I'd rather have such one than tiny unusable much smaller screens improperly for cinematic evaluation in a good part of shooting circumstances.

Without fresh framing/composition and competent focus operation -- well beyond to have some auto mode operating that on our behalf for sure, no innovative photography nor wider gamut/DR will help you out there, count on it : -)

 

[Andrew Reid]

I like Wooden Camera's stuff and a sun hood is a good idea, working with what we've got.

Problem is we've got too little. Price is good. Now let's raise it by $1000 and see a Pro version.

[Emanuel]

5-axis IBIS there would be terrific indeed : ) A killer combo for the segment : -)

[Shirozina]

1 hour ago, Andrew Reid said:

What's the point of the big bad screen on the back of the Pocket then?

They may as well have left it off.

It sucks up power and doesn't point in the direction you need it to, and you can barely see it in sun light.

Of course, nobody in Blackmagic pointed this out to the design team!

Nevermind what's the point of the screen - what's the point of the camera? So many people seem to complain about it for what it can't do or why it's not the camera they want it should never have been released.

[Andrew Reid]

Aren't they entitled to do that?

[Shirozina]

7 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

I like Wooden Camera's stuff and a sun hood is a good idea, working with what we've got.

Problem is we've got too little. Price is good. Now let's raise it by $1000 and see a Pro version.

The features you and others want are not going to come in for such a small price premium.

 

[Mokara]

7 hours ago, MeanRevert said:

They should announce the Pocket 4K Pro with the exact same specs except that it ships on time and with adequate supply. 

They could announce the Pocket 4K Pro B, which is the same camera except that it has the letter "B" stamped on it and is actually available

[MeanRevert]

Plot twist. The sub team that put together the immovable Blackmagic pocket 4k screen also put together the front facing record button. I give thanks to that sub team, the Vlogging team. 

[Jonesy Jones]

I think many will relate to this, as they probably had to do the same. But I made an entire feature film with the 7D. In the desert. We did not have monitors in those days. No zebras. No focus peaking. No IBIS. No autofocus. The worlds worst codec. I knew the shortcomings. Accepted them. And just did it. I honestly didn't even know better. Many times my head would be down in the hot sand trying to frame a shot looking through the little screen. You know what? I was thrilled. Before that the biggest sensor I had was 1/3". We are spoiled.

Clearly the P4K has shortcomings, but it is pretty awesome. You can focus on what it doesn't have, or you can accept the shortcomings and go create content. Or you can choose a different camera altogether.

For me it's either the P4K or the GH5. I'm loving what I see from the S1. But it will be quite a while before/if I go to that system. For now my camera is the P4K. I look at it as an amazing camera with false color and focus peaking and an amazing codec that has horrible battery life and that also happens to have a screen that I can choose to utilize, or not. I'll probably work on a power solution at some point and get one of these upcoming evf's. 

It's good to point out shortcomings because it helps us make decisions. But there isn't that one camera. Never will be. You pick your horse. Accept the shortcomings. And go create content. 

[graphicnatured]

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

40 minutes at best and sometimes camera turns off at 50% so hardly reliable

This happens to you, Andrew? I've had mine for quite some time and have yet to experience this 50% shut off. Like someone else said, my new batteries last about an hour. I haven't timed it, but that seems about right.

[tweak]

9 hours ago, Shirozina said:

There is already a pro version of the P4k - it's called an Ursa.......

 

* Zcam E2.

3 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

What's the point of the big bad screen on the back of the Pocket then?

They may as well have left it off.

It sucks up power and doesn't point in the direction you need it to, and you can barely see it in sun light.

Of course, nobody in Blackmagic pointed this out to the design team!

I'd agree. They should have done a BMMCC style body with EVF on top. Makes a lot more sense to me, then you can also choose the screen you want without having to lug an obsolete one around with you.

[Cliff Totten]

Conspiracy theory on Panasonic not putting phase detect AF in their cameras.....

A couple of years ago I read an article that Sony made a cross patent agreement with Canon. Sony licensed to EXMOR's on-column A/D conversion sensor patent to Canon for a portion of Canon's phase detect AF patents to Sony. I'm starting to believe that there might be some key fundamental phase detection patents that Panasonic can't violate for legal reasons. Sony is able to sell phase detection with it's cell phone and camera sensors and that is possibly how Nikon gained access to it. (example: The Nikon Z6 uses an IMX410 that has phase detection pixels. This is likely in the Sony/Nikon sensor purchase and licensing agreement)

Could this be the reason why Panny has not been able to get PDAF?  Is it possible that they have been shut out by Sony as they refuse to license Panny any key Sony/Canon patent rights?

This is speculation but it could explain why Panny is so "stuck" in the contrast AF world....they literally have no other legally viable choice right now??

CT

[kye]

10 hours ago, Video Hummus said:

I'm actually quite excited about Resolve 16, it's a great editing suite that is absolutely packed full of features.

 

10 hours ago, KnightsFan said:

It'll be really interesting to see how Resolve 16 changes things up. What could they possibly revolutionize at this point? That wording implies it'll be more than bug fixes and incremental upgrades to performance/compatibility.

I've been following Resolves progress as an industry standard editor since v12.5 and my impression is that if you're a professional editor it has some ways to go still before it would fully replace FCPX or PP.  I'm not a professional editor so I don't really see the shortcomings myself, but I've gathered that impression from reading articles or comments from people who are working on films with large teams and huge budgets.  

I believe the sticking points were certain editing features / modes that it's either missing or hasn't fully implemented yet.  As I said, I didn't understand what they were or why you might want them, but I got the impression they were for people who use a whole keyboards worth of keyboard shortcuts without even looking, and the other theme I noticed is that Resolve isn't as great for projects with huge amounts of footage like feature-length docs or high shooting-ratio features.

To this end, the banner saying "The revolution in editing starts..." may indicate that they've done a gap-analysis of editing features between Resolve and PP/FCPX and just implemented everything they found.  I guess the other way it might be interpreted is that instead of 'editing' meaning the edit page, they actually mean the entire post-production process (which I think is more how smaller productions and studios might use the word) in which case it could refer to them leading the charge in having a one-stop-shop that does media management, editing, VFX, sound design / mixing / mastering, and delivery.  In this sense it would be more like an Apple marketing campaign where "everything is new....  yet again, again" means something that looks identical to the last one and people talking about tiny tweaks (OMG, the notch!!).

Certainly an interesting space and it will be existing to see what they are bringing us for very early birthday/xmas present this year

3 hours ago, Emanuel said:

5-axis IBIS there would be terrific indeed : ) A killer combo for the segment : -)

 

2 hours ago, Jonesy Jones said:

For me it's either the P4K or the GH5.

I think it's a very interesting comment from Andrew about a "pro" P4K having IBIS.  This is literally the opposite of what Panasonic did when they took the GH5, made it 'pro' and took IBIS out because the pros use external stabilisers and rigs.

I genuinely have no idea what BM would do, but in my head the choice between the GH5 and P4K wasn't a choice between cameras, it was a choice between fundamentally different types of cameras.  Of course, BM have a very solid cinema lineup between the P4K and UMP, especially with the UMP update, and perhaps a tiny screen-less Micro-styled version would complete that range.

Should they have done their market analysis and thought 'lets have a second line where we jump the hybrid/cine line boundary to compete with video-side of the GH5/A7III/XT3' then that would be fascinating.  It would be the same logic of Panasonic with the GH5 and GH5s and a P4K that was oriented around the hand-held single-operator segment would truly be a thing to behold, but I suspect it's unlikely as BM have started in the cine world and although they have come down in price, they haven't come anywhere near the mass-market as a GH5 competitor.

[SR]

7 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

What's the point of the big bad screen on the back of the Pocket then?

They may as well have left it off.

It sucks up power and doesn't point in the direction you need it to, and you can barely see it in sun light.

Of course, nobody in Blackmagic pointed this out to the design team!

Is your review of the Pocket 4K coming out soon, Andrew? Think you did an initial impression, if memories serves me correct.

[sanveer]

I don't know about NAB, but Blackmagic and Olympus could do with a Good Collaboration. Olympus could get superb video features abs  great codec, and Blackmagic could finally have weather-proofing and IBIS.

The next iteration of the Blackmagic Pocket should be 30% Smaller, with IBIS, fully articulating Smaller Screen (3.5inches), and weather sealing. The battery life will increase atleast 50% if not 100% automatically, when using a smaller screen.

[alexmarchi86]

For sure there will be something new in the BM Pocket 'world' at NAB 2019. A month ago I've asked BM about the time of delivery for the Pocket 4K - they told me they was doing their best, suppliers was slow, demanding was higher than expected, etc...

Last week I asked them if the Pocket 4K shipment could have been increased in April and the source answered me: 'but we can't comment on this for now'.

 

[BTM_Pix]

Yeah, about the monitor on the Pocket4K...

As far as I'm concerned, if you plug an external monitor/recorder into it then the usability is undeniably transformed not just from the point of view of visibility outdoors (though this is reason enough where I am) but also by virtue of the articulation making it far more effective for both handheld and low angle shooting. 

It was never going to have a superbright monitor like an Atomos so that's fair enough but there is no doubt that it could have had an articulating screen to take care of the latter aspect but also go some way to helping with the former one as well in many cases.

Does this issue make the Pocket4K a piece of shit that needs throwing into the bin? 

Of course it doesn't and there are ways around it if you personally need them but those workarounds cost far more in hassle and money than adding a $10 bracket to the integral screen would have done.

No one is saying the emperor is naked, and indeed his robes are clearly made of the finest silk, but at the same time its perfectly acceptable to point out that there are parts that are frayed through which you can clearly see his bare arse.

[Shirozina]

3 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

adding a $10 bracket to the integral screen would have done.

Have you dismantled your camera to see how the screen is integrated with the rest of the camera internals to confirm this ? 

 

[BTM_Pix]

4 minutes ago, Shirozina said:

Have you dismantled your camera to see how the screen is integrated with the rest of the camera internals to confirm this ? 

 

Yes.

[Shirozina]

7 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Yes.

Can you share some pictures as I'd like to make a DIY hinge mechanism.