NAB 2018: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

[Alex.Mitchell]

Alex I know your experience is different but on an Alexa
Mini series recently we were getting about 30-40 mins out of our on board batteries. Once you add in on board monitors, video transmitters, cinetapes etc that’s a pretty normal battery changeover time. Of course we also hot swap them as well so you don’t notice the change as much.

I guess it’s just a regional thing. Some places like V-Lock; some places like AB Gold; some places run off blocks whenever they can; some places just do on-boards. Different strokes and all.

 

[Savannah Miller]

Thinking more about this camera, for VFX, it's probably one of the best driving plate cameras ever made. Cheap enough that you can buy several of them. 4k, USB-C recording, fast sensor readout for minimal rolling shutter, and 13 stops of dynamic range. Fusefx posted photos of their Blackmagic Micro setup but I'm inclined to believe this is a better solution due to the larger resolution and need for less cameras.

Only advantage the micro might have is you can use a LANC remote to sync and change the settings of all cams at once.

 

[Frank Glencairn]

Only advantage the micro might have is you can use a LANC remote to sync and change the settings of all cams at once.

Since the new Pocket is controlled by Bluetooth, that might be possible too.

 

[C. Burkhart]

After seeing all these small cameras, other than cooling, what makes other cinema cameras so large? If you look at the Kinefinity Terra and Mavo/LF models, they have the processing power for 5 and 6K prores which even the RED cameras struggle with. The Mavo LF with the Kineback W has dual XLR, and built-in wireless monitoring. If you look at specs and features, the power contained within a Kinefinity cam is quite impressive, so what makes other cameras that much larger?

The pocket 4K is quite small and handles 4K prores, internal 3D luts, etc. things that supposedly things that the Red Raven is not "powerful enough" to do, yet it's a tiny camera. Is it because RED's asics are dedicated to performing other functions?

The difference is that the pocket is designed to do a very specific set of tasks. Within the context of what it can do, it is quite a nice evolution for BM endusers. However, the larger cameras are really made for production intensive work schedules over an extended period of time with a multitude de variables possible, including additional sound, monitor capabilities, challenging exterior environments and changing teams on a regular basis. The cameras need to be particularly robust. For example, one of the first things I look at for my occasional feature projects are knobs, dials, connecting pieces, etc. Plastic just isn't going to cut it over the long term. The durability of the Pocket is not so important because it is a kind of throw away product and that's fine. I just wouldn't have the same expectations for it compared to a serious production cam though.

 

[Misha Engel]

The difference is that the pocket is designed to do a very specific set of tasks. Within the context of what it can do, it is quite a nice evolution for BM endusers. However, the larger cameras are really made for production intensive work schedules over an extended period of time with a multitude de variables possible, including additional sound, monitor capabilities, challenging exterior environments and changing teams on a regular basis. The cameras need to be particularly robust. For example, one of the first things I look at for my occasional feature projects are knobs, dials, connecting pieces, etc. Plastic just isn't going to cut it over the long term. The durability of the Pocket is not so important because it is a kind of throw away product and that's fine. I just wouldn't have the same expectations for it compared to a serious production cam though.

The larger cameras are mainly large and heavy and are quite hard to operate by a one man band (hence the succes of the ARRI ALEXA MINI made from carbon fiber reinforced plastic). A well made carbon fiber polycarbonate composite body is pretty robust(RED, Alexa Mini,...). With the BMPCC4k (programmable) knobs, excellent touchscreen, bluetooth controll, clean 10 bit HDR HDMI-output, multiple power options and multiple recording options you will have a hard time to find a situation where a shoot with a large and heavy camera is more convenient.
The BMPCC4k won't be the perfect camera, but it looks to be very versatile and complete and the Starvis sensor is ready for future firmware upgrades (14 bit color, 120 fps 4k, Anamorphic).

 

[C. Burkhart]

The larger cameras are mainly large and heavy and are quite hard to operate by a one man band (hence the succes of the ARRI ALEXA MINI made from carbon fiber reinforced plastic). A well made carbon fiber polycarbonate composite body is pretty robust(RED, Alexa Mini,...). With the BMPCC4k (programmable) knobs, excellent touchscreen, bluetooth controll, clean 10 bit HDR HDMI-output, multiple power options and multiple recording options you will have a hard time to find a situation where a shoot with a large and heavy camera is more convenient.
.

Yeah well, I am going to shoot a feature for 6 weeks in the jungles, mountains, villages and cities of Cameroon. If you think the Pocket 4K is going to stand up to the kind of production environment I am talking about compared to an Alexa in terms of durability and reliability, well...good luck with that kind of decision making.

 

[jordan levy]

The difference is that the pocket is designed to do a very specific set of tasks. Within the context of what it can do, it is quite a nice evolution for BM endusers. However, the larger cameras are really made for production intensive work schedules over an extended period of time with a multitude de variables possible, including additional sound, monitor capabilities, challenging exterior environments and changing teams on a regular basis. The cameras need to be particularly robust. For example, one of the first things I look at for my occasional feature projects are knobs, dials, connecting pieces, etc. Plastic just isn't going to cut it over the long term. The durability of the Pocket is not so important because it is a kind of throw away product and that's fine. I just wouldn't have the same expectations for it compared to a serious production cam though.

apparently there wont be any plastic on it, i think they said carbon fiber and its going to be super durable. i bet it is able to even be dropped, unlike a red or arri...but not that it would take over any profession productions, but its going to be made to for people to use it as crash cam, pov cams, etc

 

[C. Burkhart]

apparently there wont be any plastic on it, i think they said carbon fiber and its going to be super durable. i bet it is able to even be dropped, unlike a red or arri...but not that it would take over any profession productions, but its going to be made to for people to use it as crash cam, pov cams, etc

I think that would be good news, but I truly hope that they QC the hell out of it. There is absolutely nothing that would help BM's image more than a sense of reliability and that one can count on their camera as a workhorse from production model #1. People can criticize Canon for being conservative, but one of the reasons they sell so well is their tremendous reliability. Arri is the same. Red however has had great difficulties breaking into the top level of productions and I think once again that the perception that their cameras are too complicated and not always so reliable as one would hope is part of the issue.

 

[Misha Engel]

I think that would be good news, but I truly hope that they QC the hell out of it. There is absolutely nothing that would help BM's image more than a sense of reliability and that one can count on their camera as a workhorse from production model #1. People can criticize Canon for being conservative, but one of the reasons they sell so well is their tremendous reliability. Arri is the same. Red however has had great difficulties breaking into the top level of productions and I think once again that the perception that their cameras are too complicated and not always so reliable as one would hope is part of the issue.

Since the Ursa Mini Pro 4,6k, BM has no bigger quality issues with their camera's than any other major camera manufacture. When they would have that, they would have been gone by now. The new BMPCC4k will be the best selling digital movie camera ever and when QC is not good they will be bankrupt by the end of 2018 (look at GoPro). The only company in the world that gets away with bad expensive products is Apple.

 

[C. Burkhart]

Since the Ursa Mini Pro 4,6k, BM has no bigger quality issues with their camera's than any other major camera manufacture. When they would have that, they would have been gone by now. The new BMPCC4k will be the best selling digital movie camera ever and when QC is not good they will be bankrupt by the end of 2018 (look at GoPro). The only company in the world that gets away with bad expensive products is Apple.

With the UMPro, they had the benefit of two previous models to get the DNA properly hammered out. This pocket camera, is pocket in name only. Let's hope that they really make it rock solid before releasing it. Also, the question of the lack of OLPF is still troublesome. If there is moire or aliasing, I don't see that as a good thing.

 

[Savannah Miller]

I don't know why people still bring up moire and aliasing. You can buy your own third-party OLPF if it bothers you enough. There are at least 2 companies that make OLPF's for Blackmagic cameras and they are easy to install. OLPF's are only effective if they're properly made, else they cause other artifacts on the images as well. Plus, doing windowed 120fps slow motion, your images are soft enough that OLPF will make it too soft. So there's tradeoffs to not having one, but I don't see it as a problem.

 

[Misha Engel]

With the UMPro, they had the benefit of two previous models to get the DNA properly hammered out.

Yes, they know how to do it right now.

This pocket camera, is pocket in name only. Let's hope that they really make it rock solid before releasing it.

Same as the ALEXA MINI is a mini camera in name only. It has more or less the same user interface as the UMP (which is rock solid), it uses the same sensor as the GH5s (Sony starvis) which is also pretty good, they use carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate for the body, which is a very strong material, it has 3 options to store data (SD, CFast and SSD via USB-C) and proven I/O that was used on other camera's. So to me it looks that BMD knows what they are doing these days with camera's

Also, the question of the lack of OLPF is still troublesome. If there is moire or aliasing, I don't see that as a good thing.

As Savannah pointed out that there are third-parties who make OLPF's and they still have time to copy the OLPF from the GH5s when people feel the need for an OLPF.

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

I think it's time to move to the next level with cameras. We reached the point where image quality, frame rates are at professional levels across the board from $1200 to $80000. IMO it's about time to take care of
1. modularity
in close relation to
2. ergonomics
that does not conflict with

3. cable- less integration
and last but not least
4. stream lined design that does not poke your eye, ear with some slapped on "feature" or "accessory"
That can be sat on the ground and won't tip over
that can be well built and stored in the case that way
that , when needed can be stripped down and put on a gimbal or drone without sacrificing controls or i/o availability.
The reliability and stability have been neglected due to the unfinished product releases. Cameras need to work every time they are turned on . It seem only ARRI has got that one covered, unfortunately since it is such a basic necessity...
Oh yes, power draw, please make them sleep when not in use and wake up quickly. It's been done so it is not impossible....
These do not need to be implemented all at the same time but I would love to see them creep in one by one...
BMPCC4K seems like a step back in this regard unfortunately....

 

[Savannah Miller]

I think it's time to move to the next level with cameras. We reached the point where image quality, frame rates are at professional levels across the board from $1200 to $80000. IMO it's about time to take care of
1. modularity
in close relation to
2. ergonomics
that does not conflict with

3. cable- less integration
and last but not least
4. stream lined design that does not poke your eye, ear with some slapped on "feature" or "accessory"
That can be sat on the ground and won't tip over
that can be well built and stored in the case that way
that , when needed can be stripped down and put on a gimbal or drone without sacrificing controls or i/o availability.
The reliability and stability have been neglected due to the unfinished product releases. Cameras need to work every time they are turned on . It seem only ARRI has got that one covered, unfortunately since it is such a basic necessity...
Oh yes, power draw, please make them sleep when not in use and wake up quickly. It's been done so it is not impossible....
These do not need to be implemented all at the same time but I would love to see them creep in one by one...
BMPCC4K seems like a step back in this regard unfortunately....

Pocket 4K is an all-in-one walk around camera, and one you can put on a small gimbal/steadicam. Not a streamlined, modular design. For what it is, it's perfectly designed to do what it does best. I feel modularity is not always a good thing and once you add all the "features" you need it becomes bigger than a self-contained unit. If anything, there's a clear reason John Brawley and others enjoy using the Ursa Mini Pro on big productions when the principle camera is usually Alexa. I feel like when cameras are as affordable as Blackmagic cameras generally are, just make multiple cameras around the same sensor and give people an option of what they want to use it for.

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

Not sure about "all in one walk around camera" thing:
The screen will be useless in the daylight- LCD screens are not good for that we should know that by now. There is no real (lens) focus control either. So you can't control focus and can't see what you are doing- not much of a perfect walk around camera is it? Not to mention the battery life. On the other hand it has the powered XLRs and solid external power port- which points at stationary camera more than anything. The form factor however does not land itself well to that. Plus BMD has a stationary camera that costs 4 times that and I'm sure they want to sell it. So not much of a walk around camera or a studio camera. It is however going to have a stellar image, good sensitivity, dynamic range , FPS and a good way to record it. It's astounding to me that BMD solved the most difficult problem that caused the collapse of AJA , Digital Bolex, Dalsa, Panavision, other countless small camera startups -the image- and failed to deliver on a simple usability human interface features. Or maybe they just ran out of money. But what were they thinking?
I'm sure they will sell a boat load of these and Zacuto and Tilta will sell a boat load of franken rigs for it. The question is: do we really need it , AGAIN, in 2018?

 

[Savannah Miller]

It's the same screen as the Ursa Mini 4.6k and the VA 5 inch model. You can judge how useless in daylight if you have access to either, but it's not too bad. You can see generally without issue. 1 hour for walk-around quick shots is not terrible and the batteries aren't massive so you can easily put 1 or 2 in your pocket.

I think modularity is not a simple issue because it's a cheap prosumer and higher-end consumer product. As a result that market doesn't want to spend a lot of money and get as much as they can from one unit. There are compromises with form-factor and modularity when you build something like this and franken-rigging the camera is the way to go. It's light and small enough that I don't see huge problems doing so since the camera is small and fairly affordable.

The Micro Cinema camera is Blackmagic's most modular camera and alot of people find it too modular for what they like and difficult to control. The ENG form factor of the Ursa Mini Pro seems more like something that people shopping in this price tier want.

Not ideal but you can buy a Micro4/3 adapter to EF with lens control and focal reduction built-in. So many people buying this camera seem interested in EF lenses anyway so it's not that bad.

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

I have seen hundreds of screens even 1200 nit that get hot as hell. Never one with decent daylight viewability. Dusk, maybe, but not broad daylight. BTW I agree with you- multiple cameras around the same sensor- that is exactly what a properly executed modular system is .
Franken rigs are the answer to this one- kids get fooled again. Oh well....

 

[John Brawley]

I'm not such a fan of modular.

RED is arguably very modular in approach and I think it's a horrible camera to use from any kind of ergonomic point of view.

Modular inevitably means bolting on things ad hoc and you end up with a bit of a mess.

Sony went this way with the F55 as well but did it a little better, and again, you end up with a very long camera once all the parts are added.

The 5" screen on the pocket 2 is the same that's currently used in the 5" Video Assist and on the first Ursa Mini / Ursa Mini 4.6K.

I've used this monitor in daylight before many times. It's not as bright as some of the very highest nit monitors, but I still find it useable in most situations.

I absolutely will use this camera as a walk around and that's what it will be great at.

I have even used the previous model pocket operating off the built in screen. It can be done. Example here in a car.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbrawley/10620359195/in/album-72157594566402764/

And this for a mobile phone facetime simulation.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbrawley/11281163744/in/album-72157594566402764/

Focus pulling handled by manual focus and the very good peaking on the monitor. Operated like this it's very small and lightweight and self contained. If you want it to be.

Here's some shots of the Video Assist in use in daylight scenarios.

Here in studio mode outdoors.
https://flic.kr/p/NrwVB1

On a rig for a sniper POV
https://flic.kr/p/Wm6JhC

Here's how I like to operate an Ursa Mini using only the on board. I have operated like this in daylight many times. In very bright conditions it's harder but when there is that much glare, any monitor struggles. Being able to tilt it on the Ursa also helps a lot.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/johnbrawley/5m4078

Shooting french overs in a car from the rear. One side Alexa mini with external on board, my side with the Ursa Mini and the built in screen ( smaller and lighter too )
https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbrawley/36459242426/in/album-72157688582773225/

Here's my local camera operator using it in daylight in Bogota when I was shooting an episode of Queen of the South that was set in Colombia.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbrawley/36191919804/in/album-72157688582773225/

As to longevity. Who knows really as this is a new camera from new materials so we don't know.

I often hear that Blackmagic cameras aren't made for heavy use on a real set.

Here's the bottom of one of my cameras after 2 years of near daily use. (this is nearly a year ago now) This is the worst that's happened.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnbrawley/37174906352/in/album-72157686386735980/

Someone said they wouldn't go to a jungle with this camera. That's a fair call for any new camera isn't it ? But as to Blackmagic cameras generally...

Here's a shot of me on an 8 week shoot much of which was in Warmun.
https://flic.kr/p/UwjZgW
https://flic.kr/p/VdALWQ

This is a small town in the middle of outback Western Australia that is a mere 31 hour drive from it's state capital of Perth. It doesn't really get much more remote. Or hot. The average daily temperature was in excess of 105 fahrenheit

https://goo.gl/maps/RusQFKbrmJM2

I get pretty tired of hearing Blackmagic cameras aren't reliable and overheat and aren't as well made. Most times it's not from people who have first hand experience. We used these cameras every day for weeks without overheating in these conditions and without breakage. I had backups but we never needed them. These same bodies I have travelled with me to the US and have since done 12 months of daily work on TV episodic drama on two series and a pilot. So far, the only things that's needed fixing was a hinge on one of the monitors that got a bit loose and one of the cooling fans failed (had been dead for a few days and we hadn't really worked out why it was getting so warm). Both repairs were ones I was able to do in the field.

By the way the camera turns on and is ready to record in about 3-4 seconds. Pretty good sleep mode I think.

JB

 

[Frank Glencairn]

What John said.

I did ALL of the things, that Jacek think is impossible, since 2012 with different BM cameras, and make a living of it.

Looks like he is ether

1. - totally wrong
2. - has no hands on experience with those cameras
3. - or John and I have superpowers

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

What John said.

I did ALL of the things, that Jacek think is impossible, since 2012 with different BM cameras, and make a living of it.

Looks like he is ether

1. - totally wrong
2. - has no hands on experience with those cameras
3. - or John and I have superpowers

Of course you can make it work- that's not what I'm saying. Of course there are work arounds. You can cross a desert on a camel back- people have done it for thousands of years. But I would rather do it in a jet.... in 2018