2K BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, active m43, $995

lmackreath

Thats good to know...but then when you stop turning the focus ring does it then switch back to auto?

nomad

No, I have to press "Focus" on the camera to activate it again. No problem at all!

The only disadvantage with AF lenses: you can't get the green edge enhancement for manual focusing. I'll suggest that as a feature to BM (like a double-click on "Focus").

lmackreath

The manual says that is what it does?

"When using BMPCC with an auto focus lens press the FOCUS button for focus peaking or autofocus. press the FOCUS button once to auto focus. Press the FOCUS button twice for focus peaking."

sh1ggy

@lmackreath First day, just minutes after it went online.

nomad

@lmackreath Duh, my fault! Maybe I didn't press fast enough when trying. It works that way, thanks for making me check again.

I assumed that it is not working, since the manual also mentions RAW, which is definitely not yet active.

Edited: The reason for it not being functional was a lens change. It seems that the current firmware is not always recognizing the change from a manual lens to an AF one (which I must have done a dozen times now or more). Sometimes you have to power cycle the camera to make an AF lens work as expected.

P.S. Pressing the "OK" button twice for pixel zoom works as well with AF lenses.

driftwood

Has anyone done any aerial footage with the BMPCC? 80% of this was shot with Moon T5 setting, the rest on the Nebula Cluster 6.

LongJohnSilver

Still no photos but it's here...

http://www.nauticam.com.au/products/housings/pro-video/blackmagic-pocket-cinema-camera/index.html

lmackreath

more awful footage from the bmpcc

lmackreath

and now noise issues!!

mrbill

@lmackreath - looks badly white balanced and a nasty encode for the web - amateur hour, I would say. The footage that pros are posting makes the camera look very desirable, IMHO

jrd

@lmackreath

more awful footage from the bmpcc

This is a horse which probably isn't worth beating any longer -- how many times does it have to be said? -- but footage directly out of the BMPCC isn't supposed to look good, any more than the footage out of an Alexa is. That dull, washed-out look is the result of the camera retaining maximum dynamic. If you want something that pops out of the camera, there are plenty of consumer cameras which will do just that, including the GH2 with settings boosted.

flablo

@jrd +1

lmackreath

I don't blame the camera at all .. But I wished by now someone out there with the cam would be able to post something decent with good grading that can help those of us decide if the camera can produce good enough footage to warrant a purchase.

Why buy the camera and then just post ungraded hand held stuff like that which is no help to anyone and doesn't show anything!

Stylz

A lot of people actually like to have ungraded footage posted so they can grade it themselves to test it out. Actually it was done here in this thread a page back or two. I think you are overreacting. Not sure why.

lmackreath

That footage is not available to download in the original format so it's not the same as the other prores footage made available and also it's so shakey and badly shot who would want to touch it!

My opinion that is all

nomad

Let me add something to judge resolution and aliasing now. Left is the GH2, these images are JPEG for size, but very close to the PNGs out of DaVinci Resolve. Only contrast enhancement, no color correction. Used one of my best lenses, the Zeiss C/Y 35mm 2.8.

The BMPCC on the right seems to have some more resolution, but a lot of this can be false detail because of missing OLPF. Plus, it has far more chroma moiré, which is well controlled in the GH2, which shows mainly luma aliasing.

Later I'll send some color chart exposure series and make a short piece of them downloadable in original ProRes.

fatkid

@lmackreath my guess is that Taiwan test doesn't have fast enough of a card, looks like there is frames dropping.

Tron

A quick and dirty grade of the wooden camera splash footage with a small amount of sharpening applied. Aliasing seems to be essentially non-existent on wires and fencing. I'm very pleased with the detail that can be extracted from these files in post.

Gerondo

@Tron looks great! Nice balance between sharpness en 'soft' film look. Which lens did they use?

Tron

@Gerondo I was wondering the same thing, they didn't specify the lens in the notes... Looks great though!

Ralph_B

@nomad

Thanks for posting the charts. If you change the Pocket camera chart to grayscale (to elimate the color moire), you can clearly see the Pocket camera out-resolves ther GH2. It's perfect up to 1000 lines both vertical and horizontal. Impressive! Here it is blown up 300%.

nomad

Beyond 900 you can spot some aliasing, though. But, yes, it's impressive for the number of photocells.

Here are two color charts, the left is optimal exposure (just before whites are clipping), the right is 4 stops under. Both corrected in Resolve. I'll later post links to the files for your own experiments.

Cid

@nomad Great charts, man! Thanks for all these info!

Ralph_B

It doesn't stop at 1000 lines. The pocket camera can resolve 1100 lines vertically and horizontally! Here are 600% blow-ups. You can clearly see the 9 lines of the trumpet at the 1100 mark. I LOVE cameras without anti-aliasing filters!

jrd

@lmackreath

The shot on the left is from Brawley's ungraded footage. The shot on the right is a somewhat excessive grade for reference, without sharpening or noise reduction. Draw your own conclusions.

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