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2K BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, active m43, $995
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  • Latest review from Mr A Reid suggests you can't turn auto-iris off on any active panasonic m4/3 lenses - true or false?

  • @apefos it works on gh3 with non elecronic lenses for all the time, even at non contrast scenes. But on panasonic lenses it works only at contrast scenes and only at aperture set higher than f2.0

  • @vicharris wow, that's very interesting to hear that you're having such hugely different results with the Tiffens than what that video shows. There is definitely a color shift with my T1, but not a really strong green, more of a slight yellow, which I haven't had any problems getting rid of (yet). I do have a soft spot for Hoya, always have, maybe I should look into them. You're having good success with them?

  • @mrbill doesn't seem that way with my active m43 lenses. I can control aperture manually no problem. I believe he says the camera defaults to auto at start up and then you push be up or down buttons (to change iris) and then you're in manual mode. Pressing the focus button puts the camera in auto again.

  • @JuMo Yep, Kholi and I did a side by side test but I think he deleted the files on accident. The filters look great on the GH2 for some reason though.

    @mrbill On the Pocket Camera? False. Either you misread or that person doesn't know how to operate this camera. Where's the review?

  • Yeah, I just checked all of my SSDs and the one that I taped off was the Mosaic AA filter vs Non Filtered test SSD. =T Sorry about that, Vic.

    I actually realized though that it should be a test done with a chart etc., because there were so many things moving in and out of frame it became kind of pointless. It did, however, confirm my move to the ProNDs, if my own testing wasn't enough and then shooting with the set this past weekend.

    Tiffen isn't bad, they did however render my SLR magic glass useless (SLR Magic's already green, stack the tiffen's on, things get really bad before the image gets recorded), and the inconsistencies between densities drove me bat.

    Hoyas are so close that I can't even tell which ND I'm using sometimes, outside of the stop.

    When the entire set is finally available to purchase, it'll be what I recommend... not just for this camera.

  • The tilta bmpc cage finally popped up on ebay. ~$370US shipped. Looks good. I like that the riser has a quick release on it. Ordered. I'll offer my thoughts when it arrives.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/261332902833

    Sorry if that's a link for mobile devices. On my phone.

  • @vapourtrail Wow, that's actually pretty nice looking and very functional. Very good design.

  • My first and probably last raw vid for now!

  • Hello, this is a test I did using the BMPCC with a Nokton 17.5 for a night shot, graded using Resolve and trying to apply a Premiere Workflow, thanks for watching and enjoy!

  • @vicharris - I misread. The complaint is the camera performs an auto iris function before you can adjust the iris manually

  • @vicharris @kholi Thanks guys, footage or no, I trust your opinions on this matter!

  • Here is a BMPCC video made from RAW that tests the internal audio capability of the camera - in-camera mics. All percussion instruments in the scenes, which are perfect for assessing synchronization. Lightroom was used to make tiffs, and the audio and tiffs were merged in Vegas Pro:

    The synchronization is perfect; the dynamic range of the audio is excellent.

  • @kholi Interesting point you made that image tends to look better when projected but many think that it looks worse when projected. I'm curious what you meant? (Is it because with a bigger screen, the image isn't as sharp and therefore looks more "filmic" and less like "harsh video", or some other reason?). Thanks.

  • I shot a test video to see how well the BMPCC does as a run and gun camera, shooting raw:

    The first-generation compressed MP4, 108030p H264, HP 35Mbps video can be downloaded.

    This video consists of many shots I would not take with the EOS M or GH3 (my current video cameras) or any other camera - shots that are strongly backlit or that have both bright sunlight and shade at the same time. It is a test video, for the kind of shooting I like to do.

    1. The OIS on the lens (Panasonic 14-140mm) does not do well at the telephoto end. There is more shakiness in this video than I would like, and that I normally experience with Canon IS lenses (on Canon cameras). But it is working.

    2. You can get color! I like color.

    3. The in-camera audio is at least as good as the EOS M or the GH3, which is very good. There is a real sound track that adds ambience and thus realism, and even some music.

    4. Auto focus is fine. No problems at all.

    5. No moire or aliasing in these shots.

    6. More resolution and no visible sharpening artifacts compared with the Canon EOS M, GH3 or any other camera I have used for video (not better than the TM900 camcorder). I used the default sharpening in Lightroom, which is light.

    7. One can shoot run and gun, with in fact little attention to wb and exposure that you normally would have to fuss over in the field, but you need a lot of leisure time and patience later.

  • @markr041, overheard at 1:38: "This guy's takin' a picture of your chicken." Made me laugh.

  • @Markr041, Mark, are you sure the OIS is working on the 14-140? I use this lens for 99% of all my videos at 100mm+ most of the time so I'm very familiar with this lens, and it's not displaying any characteristics of the OIS on that lens. There is no " locking-on" visible in any of the the clips and I've never seen micro shakes like that on any footage I've shot with this lens between 100 and 140mm.

    Have you done a test with OIS on and Off? ( switch on the Lens body)

  • @vicharris

    The thing with the Able test was that they were using strong tungsten lighting (I'm assuming for convenience) while you would normally use NDs with strong daylight. Mitch Gross, who conducted the test, is no longer with Able, so you may want to try to email him directly and see if he remembers.

    At this point, though, I think just switching to the Hoyas is a wise decision, although I do like my Schneider Vari-ND.

  • @Jochua_Cadmium

    I tested it in tungsten as well and it is still completely unusable. Tiffen even admits it. I have no idea how they were able to get those results without serious CC which in my eyes, defeats the purpose of the test. But it's a mute point now. On to the Hoyas.

  • @kholi The one thing I get from the Abel cinema test is that a particular filter will have a different effect depending on the sensor's brand. In your estimation is the Hoya IR filter the best for the bmpcc?

    I ask because I have the tiffen ND set and would like to buy a 4X4 IR cut.

  • @matt_gh2

    I can't say what it is, but outside of motion, everything else seems to level out really well in a theatrical setting. The first time I experienced this was at a film festival: our entries screened at the Kodak Theater (now called the Dolby Theater) which has a 60 foot screen... I'm not one hundred percent on this, but I think the Oscars were held here one year?

    This was in like 2007 or something, I DP'd a music video for Missy Higgins (you might know her if you're Australian) on the HVX200A + Redrock ADapter (it may have been Letus), Nikon lenses, shot "1080" and 720... and, if you owned an HVX200A then you know the 1080 was kind of pushing the line on what you could call 1080, then you add a Redrock adapter (crazy light loss and image softening) to the mix...

    It was crazy how great it looked so massive, even with the macro-blocky/noisey image of the HVX. Totally acceptable quality for a theatrical picture on a lower budget, or more than passable. Hell I think there's a DVXuser post floating around from the night I got home. Haha. So green.

    So I think it's the overall theatrical environment where you're focused on what's going on, the great lighting and sound, then the screen adding texture to the image that may not have been there originally. I've since seen various cameras on a large screen right down to GoPros and for the most part, as long as the motion of the camera's okay, it looks good.

    The FS100, for example.... I've run some of my footage to a 30 foot screen from a 2K Christie and the motion was just off. It kills the experience if there's any heavy movement, but other than it too looked pretty solid.

    Sorry for the essay.

  • @spacewig

    Abel's test is absolutely correct, different filters for different cameras... but, if you have the time google TrueNDs and check out how many cameras they've been tested on.

    Hoya's retailers are reporting that Hoya told THEM "ProNDs are comparable to TrueNDs".

    The ACCU-ND technology (Hoya)'s what pointed me to them in the first place, it sounded really similar. I've had them on the Pocket camera, but have only shot actual narrative footage with them on the 2.5K (I have a short amount of time with them).

    They're great on both cameras, and so far are what I would go with. The Tiffen's actually aren't terribad, just inconsistent (like most ND sets, the Schneiders 1.8's completely weird), and the green cast just irks me to no end now.

    This is the wrong topic, but here are some very quickly colored stills from the 2.5K Camera + ProRes + Sigma + Hoya ProND:

    https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8-f-XPnmOp6c0tzLXlibnNHdTQ&usp=sharing

  • @kholi Very interesting stuff. In terms of motion, do you mean that overly quick camera panning looks even worse on big screen? Thanks for sharing your experience. Very cool stuff.

  • Nah the actual motion of objects moving in frame. Doesn't have to be a quick pan or anything and it's not necessarily worse, but it does seem slightly more apparent. I supposed because the exaggerated blur of Sony cameras can be drastic sometimes.

    About the big screen and footage... It's almost like watching your material on a CRT versus an LCD, the difference in the look/feel of it's pretty obvious. A CRT makes everything look really good for various reasons.