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2K BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, active m43, $995
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  • @Oedipax I am not knowledgeable with the BMPCC but why is hard to get a good white balance with the camera? Does it give you the option to do any kind of white balance with the camera? Could adding an ok external monitor help? I am just trying to figure out why getting a good white balance in Prores seems too hard as if I buy it because of the great price, I will mostly be shooing in Prores.

  • BM has listened to my prayers! Finally they have decent encoding options that do not gobble memory for most of my uses.

    I'm considering getting one for shooting concerts to use it as a general wide shot cam. What always stopped me was the ~50min maximum capacity of a regular 64Gb card with Prores. Now they offer options. That's a game changer for me.

    But is it still a good idea in terms of sensor noise? I'm currently using one of my GH2s for that purpose and its m43 sensor is struggling hard sometimes in dark venues like clubs. BMPCC's sensor is 1.5 times smaller. Is it a viable option for such a low light task?

  • Makes me wounder how much it actually costs blackmagic to make a pocket cam , i guess very cheap

  • Had a chat with someone from proav today and he told me the price increase was because Blackmagic did not account for import taxes on the price they gave the retailers but that any bmpcc sold last night they would honor the price and blackmagic would take the lose. Proav sold over 35 bmpcc last night and every where in the uk is out of stock but they should get more stock next week sometime

  • Blackmagic did not account for import taxes on the price they gave the retailers

    I am not sure they must :-)

  • I really was waiting (since I lost my GH2 in Dec) to save up for the GH4. I really like higher FPS, but I couldn't pass up this deal and I'm intrigued by RAW. I still have a couple Panny lenses and the correct adapters for some old glass, so it's really a no brainer.

    Already shipped from Andorama, glad I jumped on it quick.

  • I was trying to sell mine in order to get GH4 because I'd prefer a more versatile cam for non narrative projects and daily stuff (stills and 60fps mostly, not that intrigued about 4k yet)... but now if I'd get that very little amount of money for it, I think I might go for the GX7 to compliment the BMPCC and wait until 4k becomes standard to upgrade. Would that make sense?

  • @HillTop1 You only have WB presets to pick from: 3200, 4500, 5000, 5600, 6500, 7500. There isn't a way to do a custom WB to something white in-shot (although you can approximate this now with Resolve 11's color chart matching).

    An external monitor with a proper Rec709 LUT (not the still-way-too-flat "video" mode in the BMPCC) would definitely help sort out white balance issues. It can be very difficult to judge off the LCD; you're better off simply asking yourself if your scene is tungsten, daylight, or something in-between. But you may still be disappointed sometimes in your starting point, at least I was. My idea of a good time is not to start the grading process from a standpoint of having to basically 'rescue' the WB of a shot before you do anything else.

  • ProAV are honouring the original cost for me, but I did enquire when it was still listed low.

    Next best UK I found is £366 inc: http://www.jigsaw24.com/blackmagic-design-pocket-cinema-camera/large-sensor/-/fcp-product/19416

    EDIT: argh, the price was still good yesterday, but I see they upped it today, sorry.

    re. low-light/noise, it has to be the Pocket-specific Speedbooster for me. Yep it's f'ing expensive, but I want the quality and nearly 2 stops of extra light, as I need low-light. I shoot mainly wide, so my first lens will be the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8, which on the Pocket-specific SB is around 19->28 F/1.5 (full-frame equiv.).

    Example (watch out for the moire):

  • OK these guys still have it at £354, but they want £7.50 shipping. I can't vouch for the site, it looks a bit thread-bare. I would Google to verify they're legit first: http://www.videogear.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=4789

  • -gl That site lists the camera as (BMPC) so maybe you'll get the production camera delivered ;) I agree the site looks a little iffy!

    I did see the footage above when it was put up some time ago, but somewhere in the mists of my memory I thought I'd heard there were some issues with the Tokina 11-16 + SB on the BMPCC?

  • @matthere, not come across any issues with the Tokina, anyone?

  • Those were issues with the first version of the EF mount Blackmagic Cinema Camera (the large one, not the Pocket) and the Tokina's back focus.

  • By 'back focus', do you mean infinity focus? Apparently SB's have an adjustment for that: http://www.metabones.com/article/of/infinity-adjustment-speed-booster-only

    Obviously doesn't help if you use multiple lenses that all require different settings : ).

  • That could be what I'm thinking of.. I will keep my eye out for some footage now for the tokina + sb combo on the bmpcc, The tokina had fallen off my radar because of my incorrect assumption, thanks for the info :)

  • @cansin thanks. I've just used auto-focus primes & I don't rack focus, so never had to worry about this before. Makes sense though.

  • After sleeping on it a few times, I'm going to pull the trigger and today buy a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. My only remaining question now, is from where? After looking around the likely places, it seems like B&H and Adorama are the only remaining options which make sense. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/964117-REG/blackmagic_design_blackmagic_pocket_cinema_camera.html http://www.adorama.com/BMCCP.html

    I guess buying it from B&H makes the most sense as they throw in a free hotshoe mount, which would be handy. Any other thoughts or suggestions where to buy a BMPCC instead that I might have overlooked? (is a kinda big purchase for me... want to double check everything! :-P )

    Edit: oops... just realised Adorama also offers the same "Wooden Camera 1/4-20 Hot Shoe", which I guess make both Adorama and B&H an equal choice for me once again! (which one is likely to ship it in the smallest sized packaging box? As this does matter to me! As no matter what, I'll need to use a reshipper to then get it to NZ)

    And yes, I know they are back ordered currently at both Adorama and B&H.

    Edit2: Hmmm.... is it true that if I want to record CinemaDNG RAW then I have no choice but to buy the "SanDisk - 64 GB SDXC Memory Card Extreme Pro Class 10 UHS-I" with it? (& whoa.. I'll only get 15 minutes of recording! Guess I'll need to stock up on a LOT of these $100 cards! lol, but I reckon just one will do for now)

    Because it appears nothing slower works, and I can't even save money on buying a smaller sized 32 GB one?

    Apparently there is some very minor difference between the "SanDisk - 64 GB SDXC Memory Card Extreme Pro Class 10 UHS-I" and the "SanDisk - 32 GB SDHC Memory Card Extreme Pro Class 10 UHS-I" such that the 32 GB version doesn't work for CinemaDNG RAW without dropping occasional frames. Correct?

  • Hmmm.... is it true that if I want to record CinemaDNG RAW then I have no choice but to buy the "SanDisk - 64 GB SDXC Memory Card Extreme Pro Class 10 UHS-I"

    No, check http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/8688/sdhc-uhs-speed-class-3-cards-for-4k#Item_49 Transcend latest cards seems equal.

  • @Vitaly unfortunately not true. Maybe the BM Pocket has some hard-wired SD card vendor check in firmware (and perhaps BM has a deal with Sandisk), but Sandisk Extreme Pros are the only cards on which raw recording works. Other cards may well be used for ProRes. Transcend is equal, but not in the Pocket...

  • @cantsin

    What is not true? You did personal tests? I linked you to the test results, if some Transcend card before did not worked it does not mean that all Transcend cards won't.

  • Pocket Camera Withdrawal ??

    Came across this statement on 3dbroadcast sales:

    According to Holdan UK the UK distributor for Blackmagic, BMD are going to withdraw the Blackmagic Pocket Camera within the next 24-48hrs. We currently have 6 Pocket cameras available at this price (Due back in stock end of this week). Once they are gone the price will have to rise back up to £558 ex vat so get yours now whilst we have stock at this price.

    How can the price go up if they are gone ? is there a new version on the way?

  • @andyharris

    I removed link due to obvious advertising message of this guys. Ignore them.

  • @vitaliy -- Fair play only included it for reference - I'll be tempted by a pocket when I get my gimbal on the Hex sorted.

    Withdrawn is a strong statement!