Blackmagic NAB 2025 Preview - 4th April 2025 4pm BST

[BTM_Pix]

On 4/2/2025 at 12:21 PM, BTM_Pix said:

I’m hopeful that they have a firmware upgrade for the Micro Studio 4K G2 that allows the use of the USB-C monitor they make for the PYXIS.

Well I did ask !

That is great news that they’ve done that.

 

[BTM_Pix]

1 minute ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Party time for you!

Being a diva, I’m still annoyed about the Bluetooth not being switched on !

I’m going to get that monitor ASAP.

[eatstoomuchjam]

Let's see if they make a 7" version - if so, I might be interested!  The 5" is a great value.

The just-announced Pyxis handle, on the other hand, is not a great value at like $900.

[eatstoomuchjam]

And hot damn, the Pyxis 12K is small for a 12K camera.

Hot being the operative word.  How are they cooling that thing?

[BTM_Pix]

If it doesn’t burst into flames or require a portable power station, that PYXIS 12K is going to be a huge winner for them.

The fact that they will finally have AF is the icing on the cake.

 

[eatstoomuchjam]

Pyxis 12K looks really nice.  Better than expected.  I thought it'd have the same 60p limitations of the UC12K when not powered by 26v, but I think he said 8K open gate was available at up to like 75fps.

Also, has the S35 9K mode that I feel doesn't get enough attention.  I don't think Petty even mentioned it.

Priced at $5k which is a bit painful.  Still has a stupid fixed 4" screen on the left side of the body.  Once they hit the used market, I will probably trade in my E2-S2G for one.

[mercer]

34 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Being a diva, I’m still annoyed about the Bluetooth not being switched on !

I’m going to get that monitor ASAP.

I assume you'll be able to navigate the menus through the monitor?

[BTM_Pix]

2 minutes ago, mercer said:

I assume you'll be able to navigate the menus through the monitor?

Yes, it’s full control.

I mean it’s not uber cheap but it’s a very convenient non flappy HDMI connected monitor.

For anything outside the studio the Micro 4K is a bit of a bust to be honest but now it’s not.

For people mad enough to also buy that PYXIS 12K it does double duty.

Not that I’m mad enough to buy the new PYXIS 12K of course….

[mercer]

38 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Yes, it’s full control.

I mean it’s not uber cheap but it’s a very convenient non flappy HDMI connected monitor.

For anything outside the studio the Micro 4K is a bit of a bust to be honest but now it’s not.

For people mad enough to also buy that PYXIS 12K it does double duty.

Not that I’m mad enough to buy the new PYXIS 12K of course….

It has the same sensor as the P4K, right?

How do you like it compared to the original?

Did you order a Komodo yet?

[KnightsFan]

Fantastic announcement! I'm not a fan of the side screen, and I don't need 12k or even 8k, but a $5k FF camera with <10ms rolling shutter in high quality codecs and (subjectively) amazing color is sweet! Although I suppose we don't know for sure whether the readout speed is the same as the UC12k.

The two additions that I would like are NDs and 32 bit dual gain audio. Ideally, NDs could be handled with an L mount version of this. https://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB_NDEF-E-BM7. 32 bit audio is of course very easy with the minor annoyance of syncing in post. Another recent announcement was the H5studio, which has a builtin wireless receiver module, which I find extremely interesting.

So all things considered, this basically hits everything I'd want from a cinema camera, with a few accessories.

 

While probably not something I would get, I'm quite impressed with the camcorder handle and grip. What a great idea (this is me patting myself on the back--I 3D printed something similar for my Z Cam. Of course mine was shit execution, but it was the same idea).

[eatstoomuchjam]

8 minutes ago, KnightsFan said:

Although I suppose we don't know for sure whether the readout speed is the same as the UC12k.

I guess we don't know for really really sure, but they said it's the same sensor so if it isn't, that'd be weird.

8 minutes ago, KnightsFan said:

The two additions that I would like are NDs and 32 bit dual gain audio. Ideally, NDs could be handled with an L mount version of this. https://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB_NDEF-E-BM7. 32 bit audio is of course very easy with the minor annoyance of syncing in post. Another recent announcement was the H5studio, which has a builtin wireless receiver module, which I find extremely interesting.

I think BMD would say that if you want internal ND, you should just get the somewhat more expensive camera that has them.  You're on the right track with just looking for a lens adapter with internal ND.  Otherwise, somebody like Kase might come out with some clip-in filters.

As for the audio, it does not seem to be BMD's strong suit.  The UC 12K doesn't even seem to support 4 tracks (unless I'm missing something).  To use my XLR shotgun, I need to either lose one of the internal mic tracks or set the internal mics to get mixed onto a single track (like assign XLR to right channel and mix the internal mics onto the left channel).

 

[BTM_Pix]

25 minutes ago, mercer said:

It has the same sensor as the P4K, right?

Yes.

25 minutes ago, mercer said:

How do you like it compared to the original?

I’ve only used it as a studio camera with an ATEM so all I can say is that with a P4K on another ATEM channel they look the same !

I find comparisons between the OG and new Pockets a bit moot as you can get them close enough for jazz visually so at that point it’s all about the rest of the deal.

The new Pocket trounces the OG in every metric bar form factor.

Depending on what you’re doing with a camera on any given day, the form factor of the OG can make all of the rest of the Pocket goodies irrelevant.

25 minutes ago, mercer said:

Did you order a Komodo yet?

The Komodo gave pause for thought over the PYXIS and the new PYXIS has given pause over the Komodo.

You know how that goes.

The bank balance has given pause over all of them though 😂

It remains to be seen what Nikon do as well with a new Cine line too.

The Z mount is a great leveller for me because I can put anything on it.

L mount is OK but the Z mount smokes it really when you’ve hoarded as many lenses in different mounts as I have.

[KnightsFan]

5 minutes ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

I think BMD would say that if you want internal ND, you should just get the somewhat more expensive camera that has them.  You're on the right track with just looking for a lens adapter with internal ND.  Otherwise, somebody like Kase might come out with some clip-in filters.

I'm sure that is true. Personally, cost isn't an issue between the Pyxis and UC12k. If they were equal price, I'd still pick the smaller Pyxis with smaller batteries, sacrificing ND. Conversely, I'd be stoked to pay a little more for a Pyxis with NDs that isn't as massive as the UC12k. Nothing is perfect, but the Pyxis 12k looks really close and, if I can manage to get my projects off the ground, is very likely to be the one we use anyway.

10 minutes ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

As for the audio, it does not seem to be BMD's strong suit.

Which is honestly surprising to me, considering they own Fairlight and own the braw format. They could do some pretty cool things with metadata, like keeping a raw 32 bit audio stream but applying EQ and other settings as metadata. Hopefully it's on their roadmap! I mentioned the H5studio in my last post, and the wireless receiver module. I'd love to see a similar 1st party solution on a camera. Cut out an audio recorder entirely, go straight from wireless transmitters to the camera.

[eatstoomuchjam]

10 minutes ago, KnightsFan said:

I'm sure that is true. Personally, cost isn't an issue between the Pyxis and UC12k. If they were equal price, I'd still pick the smaller Pyxis with smaller batteries, sacrificing ND. Conversely, I'd be stoked to pay a little more for a Pyxis with NDs that isn't as massive as the UC12k. Nothing is perfect, but the Pyxis 12k looks really close and, if I can manage to get my projects off the ground, is very likely to be the one we use anyway.

If I'd known that Pyxis 12K was coming, I would have been less sure to buy the UC12K.  There are a lot of things I like about it, but it really is heavy...  and I'm sad about all of the lenses that I own and can't use with it - Leica M, Canon FD, etc.

13 minutes ago, KnightsFan said:

Which is honestly surprising to me, considering they own Fairlight and own the braw format. They could do some pretty cool things with metadata, like keeping a raw 32 bit audio stream but applying EQ and other settings as metadata. Hopefully it's on their roadmap! I mentioned the H5studio in my last post, and the wireless receiver module. I'd love to see a similar 1st party solution on a camera. Cut out an audio recorder entirely, go straight from wireless transmitters to the camera.

Even more surprising to me, given that the VA 12G can handle 4 audio tracks - the two from the camera and the two from its mini-XLR's.  Maybe I'll play with that again this evening to see if I missed something.

Anyway, owning Fairlight also doesn't seem to be that much of a flex. I'm sure that the audio engineers who use it exist, but I've never met one.  In fact, when they hear that I'm editing in Resolve, they groan.  At least in recent versions of Resolve, it seems to manage to produce an AAF that they can use on the first try.  That wasn't always the case.

Anyway.  Even though a first-party solution in-camera could be really convenient, unless the transmitter were pretty cheap/included, I'd be unlikely to use it.  There's already enough proprietary stuff!  Are the latest versions of Bluetooth audio better than the old ones?  Maybe that'd be a way to do in-camera wireless mic connection without having to buy a special Blackmagic transmitter?

Anyway - the DJI pocket 3 does that when paired with DJI mics...  but they never bothered to import that to Ronin 4D.  Maybe if they announce the mirrorless that everybody is hoping for, it would be there too.

[majoraxis]

23 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

The Z mount is a great leveller for me because I can put anything on it.

Agreed! The Z-mount has a very short flange distance of 16 mm which is idea for adapting all sorts of lens.  I wonder if the Pyxis can use a third party non-electronic mount so that you could have a custom mount machined (if you don't need auto focus and iris contro)l? Looks like all of the Pyxis mounts have electronic contacts.

[mercer]

1 hour ago, KnightsFan said:

I'm sure that is true. Personally, cost isn't an issue between the Pyxis and UC12k. If they were equal price, I'd still pick the smaller Pyxis with smaller batteries, sacrificing ND. Conversely, I'd be stoked to pay a little more for a Pyxis with NDs that isn't as massive as the UC12k. Nothing is perfect, but the Pyxis 12k looks really close and, if I can manage to get my projects off the ground, is very likely to be the one we use anyway.

Which is honestly surprising to me, considering they own Fairlight and own the braw format. They could do some pretty cool things with metadata, like keeping a raw 32 bit audio stream but applying EQ and other settings as metadata. Hopefully it's on their roadmap! I mentioned the H5studio in my last post, and the wireless receiver module. I'd love to see a similar 1st party solution on a camera. Cut out an audio recorder entirely, go straight from wireless transmitters to the camera.

If cost isn't an issue and your intent is narrative filmmaking, then why not get an Alexa Classic?

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, majoraxis said:

I wonder if the Pyxis can use a third party non-electronic mount so that you could have a custom mount machined (if you don't need auto focus and iris contro)l? Looks like all of the Pyxis mounts have electronic contacts.

There’s dumb L mount adapters for most legacy mounts so just use electrical tape over the PYXIS end contacts to be on the safe side.

[mercer]

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Depending on what you’re doing with a camera on any given day, the form factor of the OG can make all of the rest of the Pocket goodies irrelevant.

Exactly, the worst part of the P4K is the body, one of the best parts of the OG is the body. With a different comparison, I saw a video today of the BMMCC6K held up next to the Pyxis and I couldn't believe how big the FF 6K is... it looks bigger than a 1DX and other than form factor, not much smaller than the Pyxis. The Pyxis seems like the obvious choice between the two.

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

The Komodo gave pause for thought over the PYXIS and the new PYXIS has given pause over the Komodo.

You know how that goes.

I sure do, that's one thing I do know.

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

The bank balance has given pause over all of them though 😂

Ha, I know that even more.

2 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

remains to be seen what Nikon do as well with a new Cine line too.

The Z mount is a great leveller for me because I can put anything on it.

L mount is OK but the Z mount smokes it really when you’ve hoarded as many lenses in different mounts as I have.

I feel like there are so many good cameras out now that you almost can't go wrong, but like always, the best camera is right around the corner and we're just in a betweener stage.

Maybe you just need the Z mount Komodo X... problem solved.

Canon should just buy BM, and then I can hate them both together. 

[BTM_Pix]

4 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

The fact that they will finally have AF is the icing on the cake.

 

Mmm…In terms of AF, it was only actually stated to be coming for the Cine 6K and then by extension, when that firmware is out of beta, for the PYXIS 6K.

I’m wondering if a misguided conclusion has been leapt to here by me that it will come to the PYXIS 12K.

The other two share the same Sony sensor and it’s one we know to have PDAF capabilities because it’s used in a number of other cameras.

The 12K sensor though is all their own work so I don’t know if it actually does?

 

[KnightsFan]

1 hour ago, mercer said:

If cost isn't an issue and your intent is narrative filmmaking, then why not get an Alexa Classic?

Same as I said about the UC12k, its big and heavy, and eats batteries. Used Alexa classics are so cheap, I'd rephrase and say that I'd get a Pyxis over an Alexa because cost isn't an issue.