Black Magic PocketHD and 4K production camera

Wesley Byram said:
Regarding perceived softness in the video, bear in mind that it's all handheld footage. The motion blur is going to soften up some of the finer details. I'm sure the Pocket will be decently sharp enough. Not as high-res as its bigger brothers, but certainly fine and likely better than most DSLRs.
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To me it looks a lot better than most DSLR's. This is also early stage firmware too.
 
I had the initial impression that it was soft as well, BUT then I had a second look and paused during several segments. I think what I was seeing the first time was what one of the earlier posters said: Lots of video looks hyper sharp and this looks more like film - not a lack of detail, but not as "punchy" as many video cameras are.

On 2nd and 3rd watches it's quite impressive.
 
Like the "flavour" of the ungraded material a lot. Looks like this can become the perfect "other" camera - and for documentary work this may be a dream. Think I will go out hunting for a nice set of 16 mm lenses soon.....
 
I just said this on BMC. I'm sorry if this is useless, but I can't really keep it in.

I love this thing. I don't see (at ALL) what the problem could be. :) The ungraded batch o' clips looks luvly.
 
greymog said:
I don't see (at ALL) what the problem could be. :) The ungraded batch o' clips looks luvly.
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Part of the problem seems to be that - still - a lot of people expect a bit too much from one camera: All in one a formula 1 racer, a SUV and a truck for the price of a Fiat Panda. It's just my taste but the ungraded material looked rather impressive. Enhance colour or contrast? No big problem, I'd think. I will go for that thing.
 
What I expect is very simple: an affordable camera, very much in the Panasonic GH3 price range, that I can use as main camera in high quality doc work.

The Pocket seems to fill all that. I would like to see another test, if possible on an HD format I can download and watch on my 50" plasma.

That should give me some idea on how it might look on theater screen, which would be one output for my docs.
 
I'm looking forward to trying this cam with my 600mm AIS f/5.6 ED. A 1750mm equivalent with this kind of color and resolution might just be the ultimate wildlife cam ever made. I have been using a Canon T3i and it's 3x crop zoom with this lens for an equivalent focal length of 2880mm !!! It's unbelievable for capturing critters in their natural state. Totally unaware that you are anywhere in the vicinity. It's just a bit soft for my taste.

Until this BMD Pocket cam was announced, the T3i, GH2 and GH3 were the only options. It will be very interesting to do a comparison between the 4 different long range cams now available.

Cheers,
Pete
 
Not sure why the choices are always limited to: "super expensive huge camera with tons of I/O options mere mortals don't need" or "camera so small I can't press the buttons, and forget about stabilizing it" :/
 
One thing I was looking a bit more carefully into today, were the available lenses for Micro Four Thirds lens mount.

There are not that many, and I'm not sure about the quality they deliver. The majority are Panasonic lenses, some made by Leica, others not. Second are Olympus lenses, which I don't know who makes them. There are some Voigtlander primes, the most expensive of the bunch.

What I wonder is if there are some tests or reviews around comparing lenses for this mount and for the others, like Canons or Nikons, that might be used with adapters. The problem with the latter is that they will double their focal length, at least, for the Pocket, so they won't be much useful below 25mm, which is already stretching our quest for image quality.

So I wonder what to pick.
 
Well, there are PL and B mount Super 16mm primes and zooms available that are adaptable to the Micro 4/3 mount. However, if you want to buy most of them you better have a decent check book.
 
I'm having a really hard time trying to come up with a reason to NOT buy this thing. A high-DR, high resolution camera that shoots raw and fits in my pocket? Umm, yes please. I think the footage looks spectacular too, considering the circumstances.
 
Well, I have seen some ridiculous arrangements, with a gigantic zoom or primes lens locked to the Pocket, looking like a small battery on the back.

Lenses that can cost 15 times the price of the Pocket, or even more, and I guess that's because they have to make it look "serious", "professional", and all that jazz.

The most I'm considering for mine would be an Ikam external screen, a matte box (not too fancy) to hold the filters, a cage to hold the combo from and maybe a focusing rig, small too. Nothing to cost more than $ 1,500-2,000 total.
 
I love the specs/footage and really no one could ask for more at $995. I've been on the preorder list since day 1...the ONLY thing that concerns me at all is the fact the M 4/3 BMCC has still not been delivered at all, and the response from Black Magic about that issue (on their user forum) does not inspire confidence.
 
carlmart said:
One thing I was looking a bit more carefully into today, were the available lenses for Micro Four Thirds lens mount.

There are not that many, and I'm not sure about the quality they deliver. The majority are Panasonic lenses, some made by Leica, others not. Second are Olympus lenses, which I don't know who makes them. There are some Voigtlander primes, the most expensive of the bunch.

What I wonder is if there are some tests or reviews around comparing lenses for this mount and for the others, like Canons or Nikons, that might be used with adapters. The problem with the latter is that they will double their focal length, at least, for the Pocket, so they won't be much useful below 25mm, which is already stretching our quest for image quality.

So I wonder what to pick.
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I believe Olympus makes their own lenses. The M.Zuiko series are supposedly pretty awesome, they are the Canon L series equivalent. There is also the Zuiko, which I believe is for 4/3 standard, and you can get active adapters pretty cheap, less than $200.

Expensive lenses though, the 4/3 Oly Zuiko 14-35mm f2.0 is $2300. But if you want high end lenses, that aren't strictly manual, that work well on m4/3, they exist.
 
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