2015 NAB News: Blackmagic Micro Cinema Cam, Tiny, Drone-Specific Super16 RAW Camera

Motopreserve

Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
I think the other version, without the MR specific features, that was announced at the same time has been available.

It definitely shows some promise - but the delay has been quite long. While I agree it's better to release when they're confident in its performance - one wonders what's up with such a long delay.
 

jfro

jfro

Aerial Fun
Rumors are global shutter issues.... Good news is beta camera(s) are out in the wild and some footage showed up last week that looked good for web viewing anyway..... Patience is a virtue, good things come to those who wait, or I'm just bat sh*t crazy waiting this long....

but..............Everyday I keep hoping I'll get an email saying my camera is in transit....
 


F

Filthy

Member
jwoike said:
You're right, assumed it was 4/3. Still not a bad option from the money if you're trying to get a way from a GoPro.

More options too come? What you hearing?
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Nothing more really. Just really hoping this micro lives up to all hype from NAB last year. The ability to control / program is one of the main selling points for me. The mount is another since I already shoot a lot with GH4 so have glass that bolts right on. And finally, the Black Magic IQ and DR is supposed to be pretty good. Like what I'm seeing so far.
 



jfro

jfro

Aerial Fun
NAB is about 4-5 weeks out. Might be the first time in history I ordered something announced at NAB and hadn't received it by the following NAB. Man, it's very quiet at BM about this camera. Wonder how many firmware updates Nicholas has had and if this is the same camera from his early test.
 


John Doecliff

John Doecliff

Member
Well at least they manned up and admitted they couldn't do it rather than make excuses. Plus it puts the whole matter to bed so we don't have to wonder anymore. I guess my question is should I get the micro or the BMPCC? One has a screen but the other can be controlled remotely. If I want it for a MR exclusively then I guess the answer is obvious. I have been thinking about getting a BMPCC a lot lately, now my decision just got a little harder.
 

econfly

econfly

Member
As of now, the only reason to get the pocket is the screen, and that really only helps if you plan on shooting hand held. If you plan to rig the camera at all or fly it I would get the new micro. The pocket has terrible battery life and the batteries don't hold charge well at all in storage. I sometimes use the pocket on the ground, but then it's rigged with external monitor, external sound, etc., in which case the new micro would be just as good and would offer the additional control features. Having said all of this, I can't see buying the new micro right now because I already have the pocket. I'm fine with setting speed/aperture and just flying it. The power issue is solved using the power jack and an external lipo for power in flight.

Short answer is I would get the micro if I were buying today, but given that I have the pocket already the micro is less compelling without the added global shutter feature. The only reason to buy the pocket is the screen, which is only relevant if you plan on hand held shooting.
 

John Doecliff

John Doecliff

Member
My thoughts exactly. I search craigslist daily for bmpcc's and I usually see them in good condition for decent prices but am a little leery although I have had good luck with CL. There aren't different versions as far as I know, the only difference would be the firmware version right?
 



Av8Chuck

Av8Chuck

Member
SleepyC said:
The BMPCC is still the best cam for the money on the market PERIOD.
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There's so much that goes into which camera to choose. I really like shooting 30fps 4K with the GH4 and finishing in 1080P 24fps. I find the GH4 has better dynamic range, battery lasts much longer, with a Speed booster I get an additional stop with less crop, I can use my L-series lenses, focus peaking works well, its an all around great camera. The downside is that for aerial its heavy, especially if you use the metabones speed booster, mid tone color correction is a bit tricky - doesn't do a great job with skin tones, it doesn't have a global shutter and its not good in low light.

If you use the BMCC you'd better be good at color correction. Its amazing how flat you can shoot with it but you have to do a lot of color grading if you want it to look great. I don't have a great deal of experience with this camera but on the couple of shoots I used it on I found it to be a but temperamental and it took quite a bit of fidgeting to get look we wanted.

The GH4 is a good camera for aerial, it will be interesting to see aerial footage from the BM Micro Cinema Camera as more people start flying them. Too bad you have to have an external recorder for the 4K version.
 

jfro

jfro

Aerial Fun
My BMMC is in the states and they will be shipping it today or tomorrow. I'm hoping Wed or Thursday. Batteries, lens, etc are ready to go.

With any luck, slap that bad boy on the gimbal, auto tune, fine tune, and and figure how to get 4 channels into it. I hope I don't have to make a cable, but if so, that would be the only thing besides rain and wind that would stop a quick flight or two. I'm going to be using a 5d/ gh4 size gimbal for now, so hope there aren't any big issues because it's much lighter and I've never run a light camera on this gimbal. If it's a problem, I'll just throw a heavy lens on it.

AV8Chuck and Sleepy. I agree with both your last postings. I don't use or fly my BMPC much as the battery is so lame, but when I want a top notch video image I do. The gh4 and gh3 are my go to flying cameras, but hopefully, the BMMC will be the new camera for filming. I tend not to shoot alot in 4k just cause I have 8 TB filled up (I'm a hobbyist) and 4k files are just so friggin big and the 2k files properly exposed and edited look fine on 46 & 65" led tv's.
 


jfro

jfro

Aerial Fun
Nothing to share yet as just back yard testing so far. 1st couple days were in high winds and got some micro jitters. Was using my larger (very heavy) DYS Eagle Eye 5d gimbal with Phobotic.

Couple observations I'm willing to make with just short testing so far.
1. Tech support at Black Magic in U.S. doesn't have a camera yet to test with this week.
2. You will want to make your own 15pin cable as there's is stupid big and heavy.
3. I couldn't get PWM signals to work so had to go to S-Bus. Which is easier and less cabling. IN PWM mode camera just cycled through the ISO's and recorded 11 sec clips over and over. I think my aperture settings cycled too.
4. I made cable using 2 grounds, composite out and sbus. Composite out signal is excellent. HDMI out worked as it should
5. Not having an LCD screen was more painful than I thought.
6. Battery life isn't great, but swapping batteries is a quick and easy. Has a release lever you have to use to take battery out.
7. Menu's are simple to move around in but buttons on front for power and menu's are not great for big fingers.
8. Mapping channels in menu is straightforward.
9. Once in the air, the sbus controlled features worked as expected. Changing f-stop and start stop on recording was what I wanted and didn't fail.
10. Video quality as far as dynamic range was what I expected and am very excited and satisfied, Although I haven't done enough to state that with absolute certainty.
11. Rolling shutter. Not sure yet.
12. I need some flying time (we are having 20-50mph winds lately... ) Not sure how soon will get out, but will make time when weather co-operates.
13. Need to turn camera off before I disconnect power to the radio receiver on my gimbal or it starts recording again when it loses signal.
14. All in all, I'm excited. It's not the quickest setup and if you want to make changes through the menu, not having an LCD on camera is a PITA, but it's workable and worth it for the controls over some basic camera functions while in the air.
15. For now, I'm just using 3 channels. Start / Stop, iris control (f-stop), and focus. I have the iris control on a dial and the other two on toggle switch.
16. File sizes can be huge and you will need a powerful computer to play back footage.
17. Wish they would have given us a full size photo mode.
18. Control over camera in air and quality of images look very promising. But until I get some more time in the air and a gimbal tuned up properly (and hopefully a smaller lighter unit), I'll just say, so far I am stoked!
 

Av8Chuck

Av8Chuck

Member
Thanks for such a detailed report. I'm not looking for definitive answers to things yet, just more curious the process your going through and your first impressions.

Its interesting that it goes into record with loss of signal. That's a good thing, better to have too much footage than not have the footage you expected. Curious does it stop recording when the connection is re-established?

Enjoy.
 

violetwolf

violetwolf

Member
I hear you about the no LCD screen. My daughter has a cheaper gopro with no screen and its truly a pain.

As timing would have it I just got my Sony a6300 this week. Early impressions - I'm blown away with image and functionality. Image is sharper than the a7sii . I still need to find a usable HDMI converter and a suitable lens... Only have large zooms right now. I'll start a thread when I'm close to flying it
 

vulcan2go

vulcan2go

Member
Jfro - nice write up! Quick question re the sbus input, are you able to assign any of the sbus channels on your radio receiver or are you limited to the first 4 or the second 4 or the first 8 or last 8 etc? I'm curious and want to confirm that any of the sbus channels can be assigned.

Cheers
 

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