NAB 2018: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

[Raymond Zananiri]

From what I saw yesterday at NAB:
The image and low light performance were outstanding. Image is quite clean at iso 3200 and very clean at 1600. Usable at 6400. The big back screen is a very, very nice feature.
This camera will be a game changer because of the price. It costs less than some accessories of other major brand cameras, has an amazing image quality and records raw internally. For $1300???
The only two concerns would be power and potential quality control problems. I don't think an lpe6 battery would last that long. So external power will most likely be needed, like the BMPCC. Better power connector this time though.

 

[C. Burkhart]

From what I saw yesterday at NAB:
The image and low light performance were outstanding. Image is quite clean at iso 3200 and very clean at 1600. Usable at 6400. The big back screen is a very, very nice feature.
It costs less than some accessories of other major brand cameras, has an amazing image quality and records raw internally.

This is the only thing that matters. Clean solid output that is reliable in a body that one doesn't have to be too precious about.
If BM can really pull this off, then I think they will have really taken themselves to a newer better place. Let's hope so.

 

[Savannah Miller]

As oppose to... ?



"Protect higher cameras" = business ethics & market segmentation.

As opposed to the market segmentation of other camera brands. And then certain camera manufacturers won't add certain features because it's above the price bracket of the cameras they sell. Even Blackmagic is the same.

 

[Savannah Miller]

Some DNG frames have apparently leaked because they haven't locked down their card slots in the cameras. They do look clean at 6400. It's simple stuff from one of the studio setup shots, but it does look nice. There will supposedly be 3 color profiles in camera. BMD Film (which is their log profile), Wide DR Video (maybe either flatter or jut a more pleasing highlight roloff), and Video mode which is their low dynamic range crunchy broadcast color.

 

[Björn Benckert]

For what I paid for my monstro I get about 100 of these. Makes my head spin. Imagine the hassle of carrying them all.

 

[Savannah Miller]

What I have to say is this is a great camera to go out and steal a shot if you need to. When you bring a RED or ARRI there's no hiding what it is and what it looks like. At 750g this thing is pretty light so it's easy to just walk around and get what you need. Only thing is it's probably the widest camera I've ever seen.

 

[John Brawley]

As opposed to the market segmentation of other camera brands. And then certain camera manufacturers won't add certain features because it's above the price bracket of the cameras they sell. Even Blackmagic is the same.

I’d love to hear a specific example of this ?

JB

 

[Misha Engel]

For what I paid for my monstro I get about 100 of these. Makes my head spin. Imagine the hassle of carrying them all.

Put them on a rack use some stitching software and you can shoot 40k

 

[Savannah Miller]

I’d love to hear a specific example of this ?

JB

I wasnt referring to Blackmagic not adding features so much as not making cameras that do 8K, 300fps, etc. It's not important to them as that's not the market they are in. I don't feel blackmagic will ever make a $20K+ camera because that's not what they do even though it could bring maybe extra features and development.

 

[Joshua Meade]

Youtube kids asked for it i'm guessing.

Give us a sequel to the ursa mini 4.6k for the same price point and take my money.

 

[Joshua Meade]

Do you have a link to these leaked DNGs?

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Just want to revisit JB's notes about usability, ergonomics, size, weight... Professional cameras and lenses should be designed with operators first and foremost, not spec wars.

A lot of folks did not have great early experiences with REDs and still don't like them. Most RedUsers have learned how to get great results with them and watched the core tech improve dramatically.

I had a terrible first experience with BlackMagic cameras and have avoided them since. I need to be fair and see for myself how far they have come, or I'm just as close minded. If BMD can ship a reliable, operator friendly camera with decent images for under $1,500 - it doesn't have to outperform the big dogs to have a valued place in the quiver.

Cheers - #19

 

[Emanuel A.]

Do you have a link to these leaked DNGs?

ProRes so far... : ) But here it is:

https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topi...nema-camera-4k/?do=findComment&comment=232657
https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topi...nema-camera-4k/?do=findComment&comment=232673

 

[Alex.Mitchell]

I had a terrible first experience with BlackMagic cameras and have avoided them since. I need to be fair and see for myself how far they have come, or I'm just as close minded.

This post makes me feel like there's hope for humanity. Stay hungry man; the industry needs people with open minds like you.

 

[C. Burkhart]

ProRes so far... : ) But here it is:

https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topi...nema-camera-4k/?do=findComment&comment=232657
https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topi...nema-camera-4k/?do=findComment&comment=232673

If those are indeed from the Pocket, then I would say that is some very good looking material. Looks better to me than some stuff I have seen even from the UMP.

 

[Thai Christen]

If those are indeed from the Pocket, then I would say that is some very good looking material. Looks better to me than some stuff I have seen even from the UMP.

Not bad for such a cheap camera

 

[Misha Engel]

Not bad for such a cheap camera

We have 2 poor man's AMIRA's (UMP), but this looks like a poor man's GEMINI.

With speedbooster on it, it is a nice replacement for a S35 camera that performs good in low-light and has strong codecs.

Speedbooster 0.64 (18.96x10 becomes 29.625x15.625 image circle 33.95 mm)
Speedbooster 0.71 (18.96x10 becomes 26.813x14.142 image circle 30.31 mm)

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Just want to revisit JB's notes about usability, ergonomics, size, weight... Professional cameras and lenses should be designed with operators first and foremost, not spec wars.

Professional motion imaging cameras, yes.

This one has a fixed screen, stills camera body design and additional record button on the front for easier selfies in 4K raw. So that says about the target market. And its promo material.

And the company doesn't harp on wishful thinking and glue "Pro" label on everything like Cupertino 2.0 does.
"Cinema" branding is fair and tells something about the level of image quality and part of the feature set, differentiating the product from h.264 recording cameras.

If BMD can ship a reliable, operator friendly camera with decent images for under $1,500 - it doesn't have to outperform the big dogs to have a valued place in the quiver.

That would depend on operators and specific operability requirements. Some folks don't mind holding the camera in front of them with 2 point camera wobble and muscle strain. And standing behind the camera and the tripod.
Some do and need a proper motion imaging camera body for shoulder and tripod usage. So the latter are obviously not the target market.

$1200 doesn't leave much room for implementing specific technical solutions which allow different/wider range of operability and to be fair this camera already offers a significant feature set and potential.

 

[Mike P.]

Gonna need lots of ND for native ISO3200 plus a 1.33 stop increase FF35 focal reducer... which, to recap, is ~FF35 4k/60 raw where all f1.4 glass acting like f0.9 in a sub-$2k ($1300 + $700) combo, that also comes with a full version of resolve!!?? I'm not exactly sure what there is to complain about (other than the need for more ND ). Just having it in your (cargo) pocket as a night vision camera would be worth it.

And if it can get internal Prores Raw for directly out of the camera editing that'd be amazing... Record direct to a USB3 drive, plug it into computer, edit 4k/60p raw that render faster than realtime... pffffftttt.

I don't think of this so much as a Raven competitor; I'm thinking of it more as a 5Dmagic-lantern/GH5/A7 alternative (which all sell for way more than $1k used and none of which are raw), and in that respect it's gonna crush it... plus with a speedbooster doesn't the FullHD/120fps become ~s35!!?? Nothing is touching this camera except maybe Hydrogen, but who knows how that's gonna go out of the gate (especially if it uses expensive proprietary modularity which is kinda RED's MO).

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

Zcam E2 crushes this camera off the gate. 1.7 Gb/s(!!??) h265 HEVC? 120FPS @4K? NVidia object tracking included? That's what I'm reading into it- admittedly- they have absolutely horrible communication skills and nobody talks about this camera since nobody understands how advanced it is- and people are afraid of embarrassing themselves -not me ;-) ... That camera is on the next level IMO...