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2K BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, active m43, $995
  • 4493 Replies sorted by
  • nomadnomad

    The only thing you can do is going in with enough pre-amplification do get decent audio.

    For perfect audio you'll need separate recording, but that kills the advantages of being small and unobtrusive.

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    @nomad For small and unobtrusive, perhaps go with a Roland R-05 recorder. I use it and quality is great. It's a very small recorder the size of an iphone and light as a feather. Runs forever on 2 AA batteries. Has meters.. You could attach it to Pocket camera somehow and still be light and small. Hope this helps someone looking for lightweight/small audio option.

  • nomadnomad

    I was more thinking about a sound person. Going on your own you'd need a really good limiter or even a compressor. Plus, the camera doesn't start or stop the recorder in your pocket…

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    Absolutely agree -best quality with dedicated sound guy.

  • brianlbrianl

    I misundertood what was meant by "reference". I've always assumed everyone would go with double system sound. Roland sounds good but no xlr's..

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    1/8" to XLR adapter maybe...but I don't know if sound quality gets diminished with adapters. (I use 1/8" Lav, so no experience with this recorder and adapter.)

  • nikiniki

    what's this bm pocket = red mx (even though red mx is 4k raw..high speed..etc.)????

  • kholikholi

    For the most part, I'd probably choose a 2.5K Blackmagic or Pocket Camera over MX. HIgh-speed and lack of MOire/aliasing are really the only reasons to think about it, for me.

    Your mileage may vary.

  • TrackZillasTrackZillas

    About to make my first Blackmagic Design product purchase (BMPCC) Babe... Yeah!!! :) Gonna make this little Beast of a camera sing.. 10bit 422HQ / RAW here I come.

  • pinger007pinger007

    This is the first footage I shot with the BMPCC. It was an interview lit with two softboxes and shot with a pair of Pocket cameras. One was shooting Raw and the other was shooting Prores so that I could see how they cut together. I used some old Nikkor AIS lenses and a Nikkor 80-200 f2.8 with a Metabones Speedbooster. I love how the camera renders color and skintones. My first time using Resolve, and I love the workflow. Please give me any suggestions related to the look of the footage and any advice you might have for future shoots.

    Thanks.

    http://vimeo.com/fcstl/byron

  • _OZ_OZ

    @pinger007

    footage looks great, but major sync issues. I'm guessing that you repeated the same text with multiple camera angle takes, but used audio that doesn't quite match up? Or is the audio just overall not synced? Either case, skin looks great, but the sync ruins it for me.

    O

  • pinger007pinger007

    @_OZ

    I see what you mean. The audio does seem to be off, but I just double-checked the original file and it's perfectly synced. Any idea what would cause that on Vimeo?

  • MRfannyMRfanny

    Vimeo causes that on vimeo, i have noticed out of sync audio on some of my vimeo uploads.

  • _OZ_OZ

    ^ what he said! I've never had that problem with Vimeo, but it has been reported numerous times. Try contacting support to see if they can offer a solution, and of course, try uploading again.

    O

  • TrackZillasTrackZillas

    @pinger007 Wow.. man great job footage is flawless, can't tell the difference between ProRes and Raw that how close they are. Got a question what shutter angle did you shoot on 180 or 172.8 looks like it's 172.8 to me but I might be wrong, was the ProRes shot on Film Mode, or Rec709? Did you do any sharpening in post? Keep up the great work should be getting my BMPCC tomorrow excited.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    It's probably Vimeo. I've been having problems with sync on and off. Just think it's what time of day and how taxed your network is when it's uploaded. Try again and I'd even throw it up on Youtube just as a test. I upload everything I do to both sites just to compare.

  • astrabanastraban

    Use chrome on vimeo. No prob. Firefox : desync fest.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @astraban Tried that too. Problem was still there and using Chrome scares the shit out of me :)

  • BurnetRhoadesBurnetRhoades

    Vimeo playback is very dependent on your browser or, more specifically, the decoding libraries used by your browser. I've never seen a sync issue with Vimeo using Chrome. I've read others complain about it. Never seen it. Not on my Windows box or my Mac, because I use Chrome on both.

    I can't think of the last time I did anything in Firefox but I know Vimeo screws up with Safari, because of the decoder it's compiled against. I saw it first in my own streams, loading other browsers to QC and ended up going round-n-round with the Vimeo support staff only to determine it was Safari and Quicktime that was causing the poor playback, once their compression server had re-compressed my upload.

    I was able to confirm this by downloading their file and dropping it directly into the Safari browser, which played back consistently bad like the stream and the same file played back poorly in the Quicktime player. The same file played back just fine in several alternate players that used something other than the Quicktime libraries for playback.

    Unfortunately there is no recourse other than roll the dice on slightly tweaked compression settings for your "master" file and re-upload. It seemed like the settings on their end, that you can't touch, don't always play nice with some of the more esoteric MP4 settings for detecting scene breaks, among others I'm guessing.

  • GMCGMC

    I am always using Firefox and never had any issues with sync (I am a plus user).

  • astrabanastraban

    Yeah that prove @Burnet point. I'm plus too, never had issue until recently with firefox, and issue are yet to come with chrome : decoding libraries prob. But solving the issue on our computer is shitty anyway (we're not the target viewer of or own compressed clips) if vimeo don't find a global solution.

    Vic : I understand but sadly i'm sure they re skilled enough to spy anything they want even on your linux. Chrome or not. Don't plan your next crime online ;)

  • AZScottAZScott

    @pinger007

    There's not a thing to complain about in the quality of the footage, in fact it's some of the best-graded skin tones I've seen yet out of the pocket. Your eye for shooting is fantastic, in my opinion. I have to comment on the editing, however. To me, it seems way too frenetic for the subject matter. I understand what you were going for, the two gentlemen having an intimate conversation in Over-The-Shoulder, but then allowing them to connect with the audience by looking straight towards the cameras front. And, making it look like you had more than two cameras with multiple takes. If you had shot live in one take, it would have been minimum 5 cams: OTS L and R, Master Wide (front), and Singles L and R. That's too many angles for a simple 2-person conversation (even one designed for persuasion), and it can lead to being cut like an extreme sporting event. Many of your cuts were great, with artful pacing, and it looks like some of your choices were based on making good continuity where there was none.

    I would challenge you to try a cut with only the OTS and the wide master, and save punching in to the front singles for the prime moment. Try that, just as an exercise, and see if you don't like the pacing better. Also, the OTS on L when he turns away to the audience camera at 1:35 disconnected me. Better to cut to the front early, and let him turn into the new shot.

    Sorry if I've veered completely off topic, but I also had sync issues on Chrome on iOS, but none on Chrome on MacOS. And no offense meant - I really do appreciate what you've done, and I look forward to seeing more of your work.

  • TrackZillasTrackZillas

    Just got my Pocket Camera in the mail ;) excited... any tips would be appreciated.

  • TronTron

    @TrackZillas I prefer to ETTR with 85% zebras recording Raw and 90% zebras recording ProRes (not as easy to lift clean shadows in ProRes). Very good results thus far... the camera is more susceptible to moire/debayering artifacts in Raw mode shooting water (waves), clothing and sharp edges but it still seems very well controlled overall. Have fun!

  • pinger007pinger007

    @trackzillas

    thanks for the kind words. I tried following Kholi's advice and expose the skin tones between the 40-60% range since I find ETTR yields slightly less pleasing skin tones. I did, however, didn't take into consideration the extra 2/3 stop of light I gained from the speed booster on one of the cameras. Luckily it was the raw-enabled camera and getting it to match the other was easy.

    I shot at 180 shutter. I read that in the early firmware 172.8 was more pleasing, but since updating to v1.5 I've been at 180. Anyone have any advice? Should I shoot at 216 instead?

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