ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

8 years, 5 months ago - Mark Wiggins

All the Blackmagics are very easy to use. Probably a good upgrade.

8 years, 5 months ago - Rakesh Malik

Yes.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/20727489/Freak-a-48-Hour-Film-Horror-Project

8 years, 5 months ago - Will Davies

I have used one for a film shoot a few years ago. They're very beneficial in terms of recording ProRes and RAW internally, which means you'll have a lot more information to do grading with.

A couple of things to keep in mind though:

-once you record something in camera, you cannot erase it unless you choose to format the entire memory card. I assume this is to prevent metadata being scrambled if individual clips are erased.

-be prepared to get loads of batteries, as they drain quite quickly compared to DSLRs.

-the lens mount is Micro 4/3, so you will need to get an adapter or speedbooster like Metabones if you want to use your Canon lenses. I'd do some research to see if they are compatible with the adapters, otherwise you'll need to get dedicated lenses.

8 years, 5 months ago - Ella Rowberry

Used to own one and I think it outputs absolutely beautiful footage, however -

It munches through batteries, 40 minutes at best per battery, 20 if in constant use. The battery low indicator isn't very accurate, anywhere from 20% to 9% and it would cut out without warning.

Will only accept exFat formatted cards, and because ProRes and Raw files are so huge, you need at least class 10's (risk of dropped frames otherwise) and with 64GB holding 20 mins of RAW footage or 50 mins of ProRes, for a wedding or documentary, buying the cards alone can get pricey.

Poor audio inputs, not a huge problem if you record separately and sync it with a clapper, but if you're a solo shooter, they're pretty poor. The size of it becomes redundant with all the necessary extras - external battery, stabilizing cage, rails - making Black Magic's advertising of 'small enough to take anywhere' a bit of a lie. Also pricey when everything adds up - the camera is so small and light that camera shake becomes so noticeable, more so than with a DSLR, it does need some kind of frame or extra effort to stabilise.

It would be great to use the quality of this for documentary, but with the poor battery life, it's just not yet a realistic option. I found it's limitations to be too annoying after a while and though I love what it produces, the fact that you can't grab another SD card from the local camera shop if you're desperate because it won't be formatted right, that you can't delete the footage in camera if you've got a quiet moment sitting down doing a review, that it's ISO settings are quite limited when you find yourself in trouble - too much stress overall for what it's worth.

I do love the LOG-C colour space option and the options for zebra and peaking, and the interface is very simple to navigate, a bit like using an iPhone compared to an Android. In terms of what the camera can do it would be an upgrade from the 70D. In my opinion however, just from experience, if you're looking to upgrade i'd look at an a7s or GH3/GH4 - now that the newer models have come out they can be picked up for a reasonable price, and they offer you so much more creatively, like slow motion, timelapses, better audio inputs and a wider range of accessories.

8 years, 5 months ago - Mohammed Tahir

I believe the BMPCC will allow you to format to exFAT and HFS+ in camera. This is an interesting article on why BM along with RED and ARRI don't allow clips to be deleted in camera: https://guerillafilmsoldier.wordpress.com/2016/12/14/a-dangerous-method-against-deleting-footage-in-camera/. I think the key thing to understand is the "cinema" in the name that requires a different approach which might explain, for example, why the audio capability is very limited.

8 years, 5 months ago - Rakesh Malik

No professional camera allows in-camera deletion. It's a bad idea, get over it, and stop complaining about it.

Re: finding cards with the right format... just format them in camera like you're supposed to anyway.

Battery life on the Pocket is terrible, but at least it uses batteries that are small and easy to carry a bunch of. The generic version is pretty inexpensive.

The on board audio is crap. BMD didn't get that right until the Ursa and Ursa Mini.

Image quality wise, the Pocket is still well ahead of both the GH4 and the A7S unless you record externally on the latter two, which means adding either an Odyssey, Shogun/Ninja, or BMD Video Assist. Their internal codecs are crippling, and the A7S is still limited to 8-bit output, also rather limiting.

Working with BMDFilm gamma and BMD's wide dynamic range does spoil you.

8 years, 5 months ago - Ella Rowberry

100% agree, it's like going back to the days of film shooting and having that mentality to not overshoot...but I think the purpose of use should be considered here too though. For a wedding videographer that maybe doesn't have the budget of someone looking to shoot broadcast or drama spec, overall it seems more efficient to explore a different route than this camera.

8 years, 5 months ago - Rakesh Malik

Given the price of SD cards, manual focus SLR lenses as well as some truly amazing autofocus zooms like the Sigma Art series, and the fact that you can some pretty inexpensive V-mount batteries and adapters to power a BMPCC or just a bunch of generic Sony-style batteries, it's actually surprisingly economical nowadays.