Black Magic PocketHD and 4K production camera

As until a few months ago I found two serious limitations on the Pocket, limited battery time and not highest quality possible for HD, I had almost given up on it and considered the middle Blackmagic camera again, in the 2.5K version.

But BM having added RAW option on their latest firmware and the release of some accessories that allow external battery powering, things seem to be getting interesting for me again.

Internal recording capacity continues to be a limiting factor, particularly for RAW file sizes, so an external recorder seems a must now. Question is of the HDMI interface can output RAW files, can it?

The HDMI is far from ideal, physically speaking, as I prefer locking types. But it's what seems to be the standard nowadays.
 
carlmart said:
As until a few months ago I found two serious limitations on the Pocket, limited battery time and not highest quality possible for HD, I had almost given up on it and considered the middle Blackmagic camera again, in the 2.5K version.

But BM having added RAW option on their latest firmware and the release of some accessories that allow external battery powering, things seem to be getting interesting for me again.

Internal recording capacity continues to be a limiting factor, particularly for RAW file sizes, so an external recorder seems a must now. Question is of the HDMI interface can output RAW files, can it?

The HDMI is far from ideal, physically speaking, as I prefer locking types. But it's what seems to be the standard nowadays.
Click to expand...

If they used the HDMI socket as a data transfer system, sure, but they didn't. They used it as an actual HDMI device, so no, it won't be able to output RAW.
 
atarijedi said:
If they used the HDMI socket as a data transfer system, sure, but they didn't. They used it as an actual HDMI device, so no, it won't be able to output RAW.
Click to expand...

I've seen a comparison test (unfortunately on YouTube :( ) comparing the internal recording (ProRes?) with an external Atomos Ninja-2 in supposedly 10-bit 4:2:2. Differences seemed very very small, but they would have to be seen on a large screen, projection if possible.

How much data can be handled by an HDMI output such as the Pocket's? Would the BMCC 2.5K pass through RAW data on its HDMI output?
 
I had a pocket for a few weeks. We were using it as a Bcam on a BMCC shoot.
The quality was OK - not as good as the BMCC.
I sold the pocket because in the end - I just did not like it.
 
carlmart said:
Unfortunately it should be just a few minutes on an SD card, me thinks.
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No. I am a user. Here is what is true: 1. The Sandisk Pro Extreme sd cards (32GB and 64GB tried) work fine - no dropped frames at all. 2. The Pocket Camera, unlike the other BM cameras, produces losslessly compressed RAW files - yes, the files are smaller, but no loss (1.5:1). 3. You get 20 minutes of RAW video on a 64GB sd card from the BMPC. The results are stunning - much easier to get good results than from the Pro Res, as it is not log. I work with Lightroom, and it is just like (as easy and flexible) editing RAW from stills.
 
I'm sorry, but aren't RAW files uncompressed to start with? How can they be "losslessly compressed" then?

What is the difference between RAW files from the Pocket and the BMCC?
 
carlmart said:
I'm sorry, but aren't RAW files uncompressed to start with? How can they be "losslessly compressed" then?

What is the difference between RAW files from the Pocket and the BMCC?
Click to expand...

Very different.

BMCC = uncompressed Cinema DNG
BMPCC = Compressed DNG

The software you are using to read those files will have to understand Compressed DNG, and currently it is not very common.
 
carlmart said:
So the RAW from the Pocket is compressed?
Click to expand...
It is losslessly compressed, so when you uncompress it you have lost no information. It's like putting your uncompressed RAW files in a zip archive. Which is very different than lossy compression.
 
Yes, and just like with ZIPs, you have to have a software that understands how to read them - vs just opening the uncompressed file.

Currently not too many vendors provide software that reads Compressed DNGs, as it is fairly new at the moment.
 
noirist said:
It is losslessly compressed, so when you uncompress it you have lost no information. It's like putting your uncompressed RAW files in a zip archive. Which is very different than lossy compression.
Click to expand...
This is pretty much how Magic Lantern RAW works on the Canon DSLRs. They're stored in .RAW files and can be uncompressed to the native 14bit DNGs.
 
I'm not aware of either BMCC or BMPCC streaming RAW on their outputs... looks like the only way is to record it internally (SSD/SDXC accordingly.)
 
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