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

vicharris

I've always loved that video. First time I watched it, kids were running around and I didn't have a warning :)

Trumpetman

@thecomformist of course you can get a more cinematic look with the right settings, lighting, and grading using this lens as with other lenses, and I have seen some gorgeous looking footage with this lens on both cameras, but it wouldn't be my choice for a film project. Take a GH3 out in a natural daylight setting with the 12-35mm on it and then pop on a Nikon or Helios and you immediately notice the difference and that difference still holds with the pocket cam. That difference provides the foundation that I prefer to build upon in post. Now, I do like the look of my 20mm Lumix prime on the pocket cam as Kholi mentions and I will use the 14mm until I settle in on what I really want for a wide angle, but if I was going to lay out the money for a zoom today then I would hands down go with the Sigma 18-35mm/speedbooster and go with a rig/steadicam and just forget about handheld for a while.

Ian_T

@kholi...thanks for the warning lol

kholi

In a creative field, it's all subjective.

For me, the major separator's camera first, then glass. When you get into using Cinema Glass the actual qualitative differences extend beyond "technically better".

I think Nikon lenses accidentally get close because of color, particularly the separation of blues and greens, and then the overall "warmth" that Nikon glass seems to have. I believe Nikon helped Panavision develop a set of anamorphics a long time ago.

When it comes to this camera, the sharper glass is better, BUT, my exceptions are Nikon primes and Zeiss C/Ys (this camera) when stopped down. The Nikon 50/1.8 is particularly interesting, its' got a vintage look. Zeiss MKII Superspeeds also look great (S35s).

And top choices are Sigmas because they come close to the Cooke feel/look to me (Well, not exact, but they seem to be "on the way to" modern Cooke Primes) re: falloff, resolved detail, highlight rendition, and micro-contrast. Not exactly color, but those things when paired with the Pocket and 2.5K cameras... really shines.

They should, though, because these are modern cameras. Just my thoughts, though!

Swiss_Boy

Is it possible to lock the aperture on the BMPCC when zooming in/out with Panasonic lenses like the 14-45mm or 14-140mm?

stanlymanly2

I finally got to test the BMPCC RAW with more colours and different lighting conditions. I coloured it to make it look retro. So far, I love the RAW image this camera produces. I hope you guy's are having as much fun as I am with this camera!

This was mostly shot with the Lumix 14mm 2.5 and in the darker scenes and market I used the Lumix 20mm 1.7. This 20mm mk 1 somehow has a problem. Overtime it will hunt focus and expose by itself. So fighting with that when you have your shot is a hassle! hopefully there will be a fix for that because I love this lens to bits!

Vesku

This lens conversation reminds me of same kind of debate in audio world when they are arguing about CD vs vinyl records. I think that Pana lenses are like steril and neutral CD and the other "vintage" lenses are like scrathced vinyl disks which has more "musical" sound. If one likes that what can we say. This is entertainment world and it is all matters of taste. I am still a fan of realistic sound and picture over "artistic" ones.

BurnetRhoades

That's a decent naive way to look at it.

Trumpetman

@Vesku yes in a way but using the term "scratched" is like someone else's description of the cinema look as "soft" or "fuzzy". From the audio perspective it is the warmth and richness of analog recordings vs. the cold sterility of digital recordings. Although, I think those comparisons were more relevant at the beginning of digital technology, whereas today's digital is getting much better at reproducing the same feel. The point is however, when someone uses the terms "soft" or "fuzzy" in reference to the cinematic look either they are attacking someone's interpretation of that look or they themselves have no understanding of the concept. The look isn't about being "soft" or "fuzzy". Quite the opposite, it usually possesses plenty of detail, just not the overly sharpened look of DSLR's especially the GH series (calm down I love my GH's). At times it has a warmer look at other times colder, however compared to video it always seems to be warmer and achieving that look with digital cameras is very dependent on lens choice. But as Kholi says it is very personal in interpretation and for me possesses this intangible ingredient that is almost impossible to put into words and either someone gets it and sees it or they don't.

jrd

It also depends a great deal on "content". If your preferred music comes out of electric instruments and never had an acoustic reality to begin with, vinyl (or analog tape, for that matter) probably won't be a compelling choice. But you won't find many classical musicians in love with CDs, no matter how "superior" CD players are to turntables in performance.

You could also describe any number of 1970s films as "soft" or "fuzzy", compared to modern digital acquisition. But which is better suited to a work of fiction meant to engage the imagination? Ever see a a period or historical drama shot with an Alexa? For this viewer, it just doesn't fly -- the illusion isn't maintained.

BurnetRhoades

CDs are a format of convenience not really better. With only 44.1 you don't capture all of the lower register where analog recording, LPs included, have usable signal and interesting sound below the noise floor. Not a big deal with rock or pop or electronic music but, yeah, you get a real orchestra and CD misses a lot of subtlety that it doesn't take an audiophile to detect.

That said, the right lenses paired with an Alexa or RED can do a period piece justice. It's mostly about the glass.

jrd

That said, the right lenses paired with an Alexa or RED can do a period piece justice. It's mostly about the glass.

I have yet to see a convincing period piece on either format, but I don't think it matters much whether the suggestive or fabulist quality of imagery comes from the format or the lenses -- or postproduction processing, for that matter. A lot of digital filmmaking is operating with an aesthetic more closely associated with documentary and TV, and it remains to be seen whether these characteristics will make for enduring fictions.

lunalobo75

I believe Downton Abbey is shot with Arri Alexa, Cooke S4 and Angenieux Optimo Lenses...

nomad

IMHO Anna Foerster did quite a decent job with the Alexa on Roland Emmerich's "Anonymous"…

She studied lots of paintings from the period and books on how theaters were lit then to get things right, and it shows. It's as much about lighting as about lenses.

jrd

"Anonymous" certainly had the painterly production values you'd expect, but the conceit of the period was still difficult to accept, at least for me. It didn't help that Ben Jonson employed the inflexions of American TV actors and appeared as likely to write "The Alchemist" as a dissertation on debayering, but those grainless images didn't do much for the period either.

Maybe we need to bring back sepia :)

vicharris

Every thread I've looked at is completely derailed. Come on guys.

BurnetRhoades

Harris Savides + David Fincher painted a very period appropriate looking '70s picture with a 2/3" Thompson Viper with Zodiac and a good chunk of Benjamin Button used the same camera and an even earlier period. That's a far lesser camera in every way and they could have crushed away half the image for the nighttime scenes if going for a period appropriate 50 ASA look was desired.

Bukowski did a pretty nice job as well, similar period, on the Alexa for The Iceman. I liked the look of it a lot better than something like Goodfellas, which isn't one of Scorcese's more interesting looking films but it's got the same period on film and you see a marked difference between how even a decade or so in film stock technology had radically influenced the result to be more modern (comparing it to Scorcese's own films from the '70s, or other films from the '70s). So film is no guarantee of either period accuracy or aesthetic superiority.

Though it's not an actual period film it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see that Darius Khondji could make the Alexa work quite well with period after seeing Amour.

theconformist

@vicharris wow... yeah...

So I have a Blackmagic Pocket Camera question.... I am doing a shoot today with the BMPCC + 12-35 & GH3 with 14-45. The editor is not a good colorist so I am expecting to shoot rec 709 on the BMPCC, what profile/settings should I put on the GH3 to be able to match?

crisvpl

I had done a research here and there for a good ND fader (circular one), but I can t decide. It seems that Tieffen is good enough for the money... Also, what about the IR polution? It is necesary to use it all the time? Is there a good one (circular mount)? It has to be in front of the ND filter? I would apreciate any advice. Thank You!

jrd

@vicharris

There are only so many times you can explain that BMPCC grading and color is a product of post-processing, that both RAW and BMD film files have to be processed, that failure to do so will give you people with the skin tones of the undead, among other outrages, and that different lenses produce different kinds of images on the BMPCC, just like any other camera.

So we're back to the usual generalities about what it takes to make footage look good or appropriate to the subject matter, and how to shoot it -- regardless of camera.

Maybe what's needed is a narrower focus, in a subset of threads.

act

act

I looking for explanation of timelapse mode in BMPCC. Did anyone tried it yet?

ahbleza

@act I have used the timelapse several times with the BMPCC. It's very simple to use. Just switch to the mode, select how often you want a frame, and press record. I'll try to upload a sample.

markr041

GH2_fan

Heeey guys, abit of a silly question, but does anyone know what is the true image sensor resolution of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera??? :)

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