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2K BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, active m43, $995
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  • Thanks @balazer! Good analysis, and saved me a few bucks. I'm not sure what you mean by "reflex" in terms of lenses, but I guess that's what Google is for.

    Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catadioptric -- wow, this is interesting stuff. Reminds me a little of reflector telescopes, with which I have a passing familiarity. That's one of the reasons I love P.V. -- always something new to learn!

    Edit2: wrong reflex -- see below.

  • @balazer Once again, learning new things! I read the links... interesting stuff!

    It's a pity, the Som Berthiot looks like a sweet lens, especially with the 0.8 wide angle adaptor.

  • The line in the eBay listing that put me off that lens was "There is some internal haze in the lens."

    Apologies: I hope the one in the shop is in better condition than the one on eBay

  • has anyone considered Olympus Zuiko 12-50mm 1:3.5-6.3 EZ lens. I do not own the lens but I keep finding rather cheap prices for it; electronic zoom function might be handy for docu stuff.

  • @cjdincer I picked up the Olympus 12-50mm recently as a cheaper weatherproof lens for the GH3 I like its less sharp look (compared to 12-35) and I think it offers a good focal range for the BMPCC just got a short wait till I can test it out :)

  • @cjdincer and @matthere As I understand it, the electronic zoom feature will not be supported by blackmagic active mount, so 14-42 x lens, 45-175 x lens and 12-50 oly are out of the running here.

  • @Tron thanks for the info, that would be unfortunate.. I am also hoping the 14-140mm will give a reasonable image? Looks like the SLRmagic 12mm 1.6 will be my wide lens..

  • @Tron where did you get the information from that the electronic zoom feature will not be supported? The only thing really needed is power supply from the BMPCC body, the 14-42X namely also perfectly works on an old GF1 camera. I do not know the M4/3 mount standard but as on most lenses the focus is also electronically controlled and thus requires power, I would not know why the power for the zoom function would be disabled..... can you please explain the issue into more detail? Thanks in advance......

  • I remember hearing the power zooms weren't supported either. I beleive it was in an NAB video somewhere. He might have meant that the LANC port not controlling the zoom function tho.

  • @Brian202020 this is something I could well imagine, but for me this would not be any issue. As long as I can use the switches on the lens itself it would be perfectly OK to me.....

  • @tron electronic zoom feature is on the lens ring, you do not need camera support for it as far as I know. all you need is some power from the cam.

  • pocket cam is just a shell. they will eventually add what ever they want in software updates. No worries at all. we need to write down our wish list and send them.

  • I have to apologize guys, I just combed Brawley's blog again and can only find reference to the 14-42 x lens being SOL due to lacking manual focus capability (zoom rocker only, no manual focus ring or rocker). It's possible I confused this with disqualification due to power zoom feature. I could've sworn I read that somewhere official in my quest for info weeks ago, I'll post a source if it turns up (I hope it doesn't!).

    ETA: From bmcuser forum NOIRIST 04-12-2013 02:23 PM "One of the Black Magic reps said that power zoom for MFT lenses is NOT supported."

  • @tron they can say a lot but I think we must wait for them to clear us up in respect to what they exactly mean.... as I said before I can hardly imagine that the power supply to the lens will be an issue.....

  • @Nieuw I agree, better to wait for 'official word.' I just picked up an Oly 9-18mm on the cheap, I'm hoping it will be sharp and wide enough to do some decent landscape work in RAW. Anyone had experience with the adapted four-thirds version of this lens?

  • Longer Life Batteries:

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390550880940&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

    Those planning on purchasing the BMPCC might want to checkout this eBay listing, I have confirmed with the vendor that the batteries they are offering are rated at 1800mAh which is a big improvement on most other EN-EL20 batteries which appear to be only rated at 1080mAh.

    I would also recommend you send them a message requesting confirmation of the power rating to cover yourself just in case.

    I have no connection with the vendor other than having just ordered two sets of batteries from them.

  • @cjdincer I sent them a request for different aspect ratios. Their reply mentioned they do have a feature request list, and that they passed my request on to development. We'll see.

  • Wow, Panasonic lenses look great on this camera.

  • @kevin_kirchman @Cde WOW!!!! I am speechless, are you sure that's the pocket cinema camera, they should change it's name to production cinema camera. The sharpness and resolution is exactly the same as it's bigger brother BMC. Yeah your right the Panasonic lenses looks awesome good thing I have my 20mm Pany love that little lens.

  • So, does this beat the GH2 is my main question. I'm thinking about selling it for this... thoughts?

  • The sharpness and resolution is exactly the same as it's bigger brother BMC.

    Why it must be different?

  • @km1001

    Depends on what you're using it for. You can shoot flat Prores with a nice bit rate out of the box, and the dynamic range and color rendition is leaps and bounds better. The sensor is smaller though, and you can't shoot in small compressed codecs.

  • @Cde

    I just find that sometimes grading is a bit tricky on the GH2 with low light and other scenarios... Grading is certainly what I enjoy most and if I can get a better experience grading the footage this camera produces I'd no doubt switch. What cha think?