Blackmagic Pocket cinema camera in the air

yeehaanow

yeehaanow

Member
I have been in love with the footage from original BM cinema camera ever since I got it, but it was just too much trouble to fly, with not enough in the positive category to warrant putting up with its shortcomings.

So, when the Pocket cam was announced I was all over that! It has a lot of shortcomings too, even on the ground. A major crop factor of 3x over full frame, and rolling shutter that was worse than I had hoped for.
But with the new brushless gimbals and conversions coming out, those things will matter less and less.
I slapped it on the gimbal and did a rough balance for the first test, which came out alright. I think it will be really good when I have a DD gimbal and a better, wider lens.

I'm confident this will replace my GH3 for everything except stills and 60P. I did a side-by-side ground test and it was no contest for me, although after compressing and getting garbled through vimeo/youtube the differences will be more subtle.

This is footage with smoothcam on everything, so the actual resolution is even better.

https://vimeo.com/73528151


I'm eager to see others get this cam in the air.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Benjamin Rowland

Benjamin Rowland

Member
Tim,

Thanks for sharing this. I can't wait to get my hands on this camera. We've got a couple on order. I assume you pre-ordered yours when it was announced? The footage is looking good.

All the best,
Ben
 

yeehaanow

yeehaanow

Member
Thanks, Ben. It's a fun ground camera too. Makes it easy to get some pretty HQ stolen/ guerrilla shots. I preordered from B&H on 4/8 at about 2pm. I have a second one coming from another retailer but it will probably be much later.
 

jcmonty

jcmonty

Member
Sorry to bring back an old thread, but what lenses are you using with the BMPCC? That seems to me to be the main "issue" because of the crop factor. Though with a metabones speedbooster, you are approaching the GH3 crop factor.

The footage out of this thing is gorgeous though
 

O

onlocation

Member
yeehaanow said:
I'm confident this will replace my GH3 for everything except stills and 60P.
Click to expand...

I was hoping this would be the camera to replace the GH3 but not having 60p is a deal breaker for us. It makes such a huge difference when shooting any action to have the ability to slow in post. Now even the $400 go-pro has 1440p48, 1080p60 and 720p120. I think 1080p60 at 50Mbps should be a standard for cameras like this. The 3x crop factor hurts too, what lens are you using? OIS?
 

yeehaanow

yeehaanow

Member
Yes, there are many drawbacks to the camera, but for normal speed shots I'm really loving it.
I use an olympus 9-18. It's ok. I first used the lumix 14-140 OIS.

Here's another shoot I did with a brushless gimbal.

https://vimeo.com/76178042
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Tuomas P.

Tuomas P.

Member
I´m using mine with the same Oly 9-18 lens. What I´ve now found is that I have jello problems ( never with the GH2) and overall I´m disappointed with image sharpness. I´ve tried with different shutter speeds and with / without a 4stop ND.
So it seems a lot more difficult camera to use for aerials that what I´ve used so far. But yes, it works and the files are beautiful in terms of colours and dynamics after some grading.

TP.
 

yeehaanow

yeehaanow

Member
I agree. It's not a great lens and a camera like this has a way of showing its flaws. I'm planning to switch back to the lumix 14-140, which is also not that sharp, but at least it has OIS to help with the jello. The problem is that it extends below the bottom of the camera, necessitating some kind of riser.
I tried the SLR magic 12mm and it is noticeably sharper than all the others I have, but it flares very easily and dramatically. It would be nice for those stylized shots, but certainly not good for every shot.
 

M

mbaptista

Member
Hi Tim,

I'm also considering the pocket camera with the Olympus 9-18mm for aerial work. You mention jello but I can't see it in the videos above. Can you post an example of that? Are you talking about that jello caused by vibrations on the copter?
 

yeehaanow

yeehaanow

Member
Sorry, can't post anything, but I think it was caused by vibrations on the gimbal due to wind.
It could also be coming from the copter, but I don't think so.
The Olympus is also not the most solid lens and maybe the barrel wiggles a little during flight.
Hard to know. I've settled on the 14-140 for now. I'll probably get the new 14-45 or ideally the 12-35.
 


FerdinandK

FerdinandK

Member
@anaka,

... and also got suitable lensen ...
... and also got a suitable SD-card?

my status -> waiting for the SD-card

best regards
Ferdinand
 

M

mbaptista

Member
IMO, 14mm or even 12mm is a little too narrow for aerial shots. Remember that the BMPCC has a 3x crop factor, so you're actually talking of a 36mm or 42mm lens coverage in a full frame camera
 

anaka

anaka

Member
FerdinandK said:
@anaka,

... and also got suitable lensen ...
... and also got a suitable SD-card?

my status -> waiting for the SD-card

best regards
Ferdinand
Click to expand...

i got all...

new Luimix G X 12-35
SD XC 64Gb 95Mb/sec

I also updated the firmware of the camera, it looks like that with my SD card i can only record ProRes videos...in the menu I can't select RAW data
maybee i'll need a faster SD
 


Q

Quinton

Active Member
One thing that was putting me off regarding the BMPCC is trying to get hold of sd cards that are capable of those sorts of speeds.
According to Black magic there is only 3 cards currently supported..

The following SD cards are recommended for CinemaDNG RAW recording:

  • Sandisk 64GB Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I
  • Sandisk 32GB Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I
  • PNY Elite Performance 32 GB 90MB/s SD card
Can anyone confirm what a single frame size is on this camera, is it 2.97 MB per frame or do they add a compression to that?
 

M

mbaptista

Member
It's compressed RAW so frame size depends of image complexity.
At the time of this writing, there are no cheaper cards that will work. If you buy any other model hoping it'll work you end up spending money and getting corrupted files or it simply won't work.

And watch out for the PNY card. There's 2 versions: une 90MB/s and one 100MB/s. Only the faster one works. The other drops frames. Read it here: http://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13989
 
Last edited by a moderator:

FerdinandK

FerdinandK

Member
May I ask you what HDMI-Konverter you are all using? Is there one witha micro HDIM kable on it?

best regards
Ferdinand
 

anaka

anaka

Member
Quinton said:
One thing that was putting me off regarding the BMPCC is trying to get hold of sd cards that are capable of those sorts of speeds.
According to Black magic there is only 3 cards currently supported..

The following SD cards are recommended for CinemaDNG RAW recording:

  • Sandisk 64GB Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I
  • Sandisk 32GB Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I
  • PNY Elite Performance 32 GB 90MB/s SD card
Can anyone confirm what a single frame size is on this camera, is it 2.97 MB per frame or do they add a compression to that?
Click to expand...

I have the Sandisk 64GB Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I 90Mb/sec..this should let me write RAW format...but apparently it doen't

any suggesgtion?

 

Q

Quinton

Active Member

You must log in or register to reply here.
Top