Black Magic PocketHD and 4K production camera

The way I see it, if all the main players in the camera market: Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Red etc. do not create micro-budget cinema cameras in the next year - not still cameras with video - to compete with the Black magic products, but actual digial cinema cameras - then they simply don't want part of this market.

Then it will become the province of players like Black Magic, maybe GoPro, and some new upstart companies who will leverage existing technology to create products for people want digital cinema cameras in the $1000 - $5000 range.
 
As Black Magic announces these new cams, most dealers are still showing the original m4/3 version as back ordered. So while the other makers aren't delivering such great specs/price ratio, in a way neither are Black Magic. They really really need to fix their production issues.
 
mcbob said:
Heck, I've only been in the business 5 years and am already suffering new product fatigue :D How the heck can I reasonably justify buying any camera?

With the Pocket CC, BMCC arguably just obsolesced their MFT BMCC which itself arguably obsolesced their EF BMCC, and did all that within the space of a year while barely producing any of them!
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It's like a pyramid scam. Order the EF BMC, then cancel and order the MTF BMC, then cancel and order the PCBMC, then cancel and order the 4kBMC and wait until next years NAB to cancel the orders again. Remember, shipping in July but you will get it delivered when we can.
 
I don't see why Red, Sony & the big boys need to concern themselves with the lowest tier market segment, I doubt they care to compete with the Black Magic products.
Their targets are well north of $10,000 & so be it, you can make good images for much less but if you want the best stuff you've got to pony up the cash, that's just how it goes.
 
Lets keep in mind that without a doubt the BMPC is going to have a rather soft picture. There is no way to get 1080p raw detail out of a single 1080p chip. Technology has pushed bayer sensors to great new levels but you cannot bend the rules of physics. Without a doubt this will be a softer camera. The whole 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 advantage may be a bit hit or miss as well. Bayer sensors already have a massive loss of color information and most of the chroma pixels are interpolated from the bayer pattern. Using properly chroma up sampled 4:2:0 from a GH camera may have fairly equal results when trying to pull a key. Of course it is a totally different type of math involved in the interpolation process but still the end results are going to be much closer than they are different. There may be a slight advantage to 4:2:2 from the BMPC but it will be nowhere near mind blowing.

Not saying I might not get one just that I doubt it will have the level of detail of the GH2 or GH3.
 
ethan cooper said:
I don't see why Red, Sony & the big boys need to concern themselves with the lowest tier market segment, I doubt they care to compete with the Black Magic products.
Their targets are well north of $10,000 & so be it, you can make good images for much less but if you want the best stuff you've got to pony up the cash, that's just how it goes.
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Is it the best stuff though, really?

The C500 lacks global shutter.
It lacks internal 4K recording.
It doesn't pony up when it comes to compressed raw internally does it?
It has a rather loud fan.

Ergonomics are better... But stuff like global shutter is very important on a high end shoot. Why do you think F55 is getting so much love?
 
http://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/20...the-bmcc-and-does-a-4k-upsize-of-the-orginal/

* S16 is same tech as the current BMC, so, same DR, rolling shutter, etc; just smaller, with removable battery, active M43 mount

* 4K is not ready yet, but close; it is initially prores only, RAW will come later on, if it does; it has clearly less DR than the current BMC; the sensor sounds a lot like the CMV12000, but the active area measure doesn't match, so it may be a different one

* compressed DNG RAW is lossless Huffman-coding, between 1.5:1 and 1.2:1, so:
- S16 RAW: 420 Mbps, 53 MB/s, 20 minutes on a very, very, very fast 64GB SD card
- 4K RAW, when/if it comes: 1800 Mbps, 225 MB/s, under 18 minutes on a 240 GB SSD
 
Andrew Reid said:
Is it the best stuff though, really?

The C500 lacks global shutter.
It lacks internal 4K recording.
It doesn't pony up when it comes to compressed raw internally does it?
It has a rather loud fan.

Ergonomics are better... But stuff like global shutter is very important on a high end shoot. Why do you think F55 is getting so much love?
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Yes, but knowing you'll get a camera is also very important. There are people who ordered in April of 2012 still waiting on their cameras...
that is the #1 issue with Black Magic, not the specs, not the price...not even the QC problems- it's that they can't deliver...literally.
 
Is it the best stuff though, really?...
Why do you think F55 is getting so much love?
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I specifically mentioned Red and Sony & yeah, they are the best unless you wanna toss in Alexa.

My point is that they have bigger fish to fry and may not compete with BM on this one. I don't think BMPC sales will cut into Epics/Dragons and F55's.
 
pulpfiction007 said:
Yes, but knowing you'll get a camera is also very important. There are people who ordered in April of 2012 still waiting on their cameras...
that is the #1 issue with Black Magic, not the specs, not the price...not even the QC problems- it's that they can't deliver...literally.
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Red announced the 3K Scarlet five years ago. And how long did it take them to deliver it? That's right. They never did and never will. Even the Epic was more than two years late.
 
I think it will be different this time around. I seem to recall the issue they had with their original BMCC production was not their fault. It came from their contractor that produced protective glass over sensor. It is very possible to think they have switched to more reliable manufacturers for their parts for the new cameras and that could ultimately prove they can deliver cameras on time. We'll see what happens.
 
dustylense said:
It's like a pyramid scam. Order the EF BMC, then cancel and order the MTF BMC, then cancel and order the PCBMC, then cancel and order the 4kBMC and wait until next years NAB to cancel the orders again. Remember, shipping in July but you will get it delivered when we can.
Click to expand...

You can order a BMCC from Adorama right now:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blackmagic-...rofessional_Video_Cameras&hash=item4d0b65ef43

The people complaining about backorders now don't really want one because it's right there if you want to order it.
 
This thing looks hilarious with a giant lens attached to it. The BMPC is so tiny you could actually misplace the darn thing. Such a cute little camera only a bit larger than an iPhone. If any are concerned about client impressions with DSLRs your client may give you ever more bizarre looks with the BMPC. Still very impressive looking and if any have ever found themselves wanting to shoot quick video with their iPhone and wishing it had just a bit better functionality well this is it. Yeah it may be softer but I think it could be a solid camera albeit expensive to shoot with. Even though it uses SD cards my understanding is you can only use the insane speed cards and a 64gb card is lucky to get 50 minutes. Still much more affordable compared to raw on a SSD drive but nowhere near shooting great looking 50mbit on the GH3.
 
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