First ProRes files from the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera released

[Andrew Reid]

Download from Dropbox

John Brawley has released a few ungraded ProRes files from his card, shot with the Pocket Cinema Camera and SLR Magic 35mm F1.4.

[url=http://www.eoshd.com/content/10971/first-prores-files-from-the-blackmagic-pocket-cinema-camera-released]Read the full article here[/url]

[xenogears]

I own the Oly 14-54mm and the 50-200mm to use on the OM-D and GH3, and i really like it, many can argue that the Olys 4/3 are too big for the Pocket Cinema, is true, but mainly on handheld work is where this can be a issue. I usually work with tripod or Monopod and live in a country where a more expensive technology could leave you to a personal risk, is there where the Pocket Cinema shines for me, good quality and a very affordable price, no need of expensive batteries or recording media, here in Venezuela the 1080p still using diapers. I do work for others countries too and 2.5k wasn't necessary yet, for when this became the norm, the Cinema Pocket will be 4k ;)

[MatthewP]

Any mirrors?

[riccardocovino]

yeah dropbox overload!

[Andrew Reid]

I'll create a mirror at Copy. Uploading...

[tosvus]

Looks promising for sure! I may have to overload my creditcard once more, but will wait until they are in stock, so maybe I have some time!

[ebo]

Hi, I am Ebo Fraterman ( photographer ) and new @ EOS HD, I am learning to film/edit since 1,5 years now. I also downloaded the files from the BM pocket camera and worked on it a little in FCPX, I was not blown away by the quality ( after reading many blogs about how good this camera will be ) especially sharpness was a bit disappointing, I am used to shoot on the canon 1DX in flat mode, curious to see work from others and hopefully they can handle it better then me.

[Andrew Reid]

Surely it can't be softer than the 1D X? Hmm.

[tosvus]

Hi, I am Ebo Fraterman ( photographer ) and new @ EOS HD, I am learning to film/edit since 1,5 years now. I also downloaded the files from the BM pocket camera and worked on it a little in FCPX, I was not blown away by the quality ( after reading many blogs about how good this camera will be ) especially sharpness was a bit disappointing, I am used to shoot on the canon 1DX in flat mode, curious to see work from others and hopefully they can handle it better then me.

 

Please remind me, what is the price for a 1DX these days?

[Andrew Reid]

Some people have literally no concept of price. Are they hedge fund managers?!

[ebo]

the 1DX is an important piece of tool for me to make my business running, as every professional has good tools, it's not a hobby! the good thing is I can photograph and film with the 1DX, and yes it very good in video. 

[Andrew Reid]

Zzz.

 

Anyway - Pocket Camera mirror is up. URL is - https://copy.com/a3Ye8xLctRNy

[Axel]

I downloaded from here (last three files).

Graded it, sharpened it, watched it critically.

My verdict:

> How on earth can you NOT use a tripod, when you know the whole world waits for your shots ???
> The sharpness is quite, er, okay, but not with these lenses (because 90 % of the image is slightly and annoyingly out of focus!)
EDIT: Maybe this is the downside of the sensor size. It had better been so small that it allowed absolute focus. Must probably be used with smaller apertures.
> Definitely needs some sharpening.
> What appear to be clipped walls are out-of-focus walls.
> The distortion in the two wideangle shots is absolutely terrible! We really need to find decent lenses that also must have good focus controls.


EDIT2: Dammit, doesn't this thing up til now look poorer than GH2 stuff? Do you actually see any better DR? What's going on?

[Andrew Reid]

> How on earth can you NOT use a tripod, when you know the whole world waits for your shots ???

EDIT2: Dammit, doesn't this thing up til now look poorer than GH2 stuff? Do you actually see any better DR? What's going on?

 

There's two ways of looking at it. Would you prefer to see a more marketing orientated eye-candy shoot, or just honest snaps on the street? If you look at the recent Dragon test, that had a hell of a lot of effort put into it and looks incredible but to be honest it was just TOO good. Too good for Vimeo, too good for 1080p, and no frame of reference to compare it to. So I don't mind that John has put these very basically shot real world clips out at all.

 

The screen grab you posted above is badly compressed, badly graded (too much magenta, steep roll off in the blacks and highlights). It doesn't do it justice. Sorry!

[HurtinMinorKey]

As soon as I get home from work, I'm all over this. As i said before, given the sensor size and flange stabilization is going to be essential. Kinda kills the whole pocketishness in my opinion.

[Roberto_M]

I love that footage, the colour quality, the way it looks... a bit grainy but I think once compressed for web publishing that grain will disappear.. fantastic little camera. The sharpness is ok, I tried to play the files on my 48" samsung led television and the default sharpening filter of the tv makes the footage looks sharp in a natural way, for the web it just need a bit of digital sharpening and it's ok. And this is just the prores.. not the raw..

 

Can't wait to mount it on my drone and shoot fantastic landscapes or mount it on my rig to make it a bit heavier and do some great footage !

[galenb]

Hmmm. So, I've seen footage that looks really great coming out of this camera so I have a feeling the softness has more to do with the lens or just plane being out of focus.

 

The thing I'm most concerned with is that with the small size and low weight comes potentially nasty shaky footage and wobble vision rolling shutter. How is he able to shoot this stuff handheld?

 

Hmmm. Now that I've looked at the footage in Resolve... Ugh... I really don't understand. Are these actually the files from the camera or are they files that came out of an intermediate step? They don't seem to have any dynamic range at all. The highlights are clipped right at the top and there is no latitude at all. What's up? Anyone?

[Andrew Reid]

Is a tripod that inconvenient for stabilisation? The pocket form factor saves you a ton of weight over the BMCC.

 

The only time I'm 100% happy shooting handheld with no rig is when there's a very good stabilisation system on the camera or if I can slow the footage down from 60p to 24p - that reduces the jitter.

 

You could put a Z-finder on the back of the Pocket. Then you have a steadier rig but it's still tiny.

[/p/]

I couldn't grade it for sh*t. Would love to see what other people do with some basic steps listed.

[Dr. John R. Brinkley]

Perhaps a monopod would be a good compromise to allow stabilization without sullying the pocket cam's innocence.