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2K BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, active m43, $995
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  • Or you shot it in Video mode. That doesn't look like anything filmed in FILM mode I've ever seen come out of the camera.

  • Sorry ...I don't speak English

    There is ''horrible noise'' in my video...on the leaf

    I use lightroom...convert in tiff 16...vegas export

  • @kurt10

    I warned. Move discussion to proper topic.

  • Firmware update 1.5.1 is out.

  • since two weeks

  • My $895 Black Friday Pocket Cam special just arrived. I did a quick test, in Prores with a full stock battery, a 64gb Sandisk Extreme Pro recorded 46min and the battery read around 35% left. Not too shabby considering what some have said. Though, I then charged it back up for about 20 min and the battery read full. I just left it on for 5 min with the charger unplugged and the battery dropped to 90%. Feels like it runs out of juice faster when it's just on vs on and recording. Weird.

  • The camera has an active cooling system. The longer it's on, the hotter it gets, the more power it has to use to maintain the sensor temperature.

    This is why battery consumption varies wildly. Hotter conditions, more stuff on the camera with rigs that affect heat dissipation and long continuous operating will all cause increased power consumption to keep the camera cool.

    jb

  • i find battery drains the same regardless of shooting or not. I also noticed battery indicator isnt all that accurate when charging. If you want a real indication after charge, unplug, turn off, turn back on again and check. Not sure if that has been fixed in the recent firmware updates

    The original batteries last long, its the cheap ebay stuff that only lasts 30min or so if you are lucky

  • @johnbrawley

    Active cooling system? What exactly does that mean? A fan? Something else?

  • My understanding is the cameras use a Peltier cooler.

  • Similar to what some use to keep overclocked CPUs cool it's a solid state refrigerator. Same as the Arri Alexa :-). There is no fan on the pocket.

    JB

  • Similar to what some use to keep overclocked CPUs cool it's a solid state refrigerator.

    It is not very accurate reference in such scale.

    In fact it is more similar to solid state heater (and refrigerator is also heater for outsider :-) ) :-)

    To be short - it cools one side, while heating other (adding their own heat :-) ). Most of the time because produced heat is more than original heat they are useless in overclocking.

    Reason to use such solution can be bad heat spreader or chip position, so overall temperature rise and you need additional cooling of specific area.

  • The point being that the sensor temperature is constant within the confines of how much heat can be radiated through the body if the camera. More power is used when the body is hotter due to either ambient temperature or the temperature of the "cooling" itself.

    JB.

  • The point being that the sensor temperature is constant within the confines of how much heat can be radiated through the body if the camera.

    Do they cool sensor only or also their main FPGA chip?

    I also think that the lower sensor temperature - the better for image.

  • Just the sensor.

    Consistent sensor temperature is a key part of the performance of the camera.

    JB.

  • Consistent sensor temperature is a key part of the performance of the camera.

    Interesting.

    Did they made sensor temperature measurements of other cameras? I mean ones with just passive cooling.

  • @CRFilms With new lith-ion batteries you should always charge them full up (even let sit for an extra short bit when 100% charged), then drain them to 0% ENTIRELY before recharging. Do that at least a handful of times, otherwise the battery may never operate at full capacity. Or so the tale goes.

  • The sensor temperature is essential for image quality. Red used to advise you to re-calibrate the camera under very hot or cold conditions (FPN calibration). Recently they introduced new fans and more refined firmware to keep the temperature as constant as possible.

  • Tnx @JuMo I'll do a search on proper battery maintenance, I hear such conflicting things.

    My cam also has the internal mic audio issue CheesyCam guy posted about. Sigh...not a deal breaker since it's time I took my external audio capture seriously, but it sucks that I can't get stealth in cam audio or when I'm to lazy to put a mic on.

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev >"Did they made sensor temperature measurements of other cameras? I mean ones with just passive cooling. "

    In 2008 I was at a hands on demo of the Arri D-21. This was basically the front half of an Arri film camera and the back half was a digital sensor and all the electronics. This was v2, v1 was the D-20, v3 is the original Alexa (I believe).

    The German Arri technician was telling us "an interesting fact: the camera must always keep the sensor at 34.9 degrees celcius". It might have been slightly higher, I am not sure anymore. He explained that the camera is always heating the sensor to maintain temperature. So I asked what happens when the camera has to shoot in the desert and the ambient temperature gets above the sensor temp. There was silence, then he said "I don't know". :-) I stumped him!

    Here: http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=48649 it's mentioned in post #2, the silence of the D-21's fan-less cooling. VK, is that what you mean by passive cooling?

  • A still from principal photography Day 2 of The Portal Film, starring Charlene Griffith of the hit group 2N'Trigue. Inset is Tony Hall who plays Victor. Written and Directed by Garland Holder.

    I'm using the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, with the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 on a SpeedBooster, and the Panasonic LA7200 without corrective diopter.

    This image is a screen shot taken directly from Da Vinci Resolve, without any grading applied (yet.) I'm considering what grading would be appropriate -- what do y'all think?

    1501559_664846830221632_893156419_o.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 138K
  • Last two years I get used articulated screen on GH2, then OMD and I very happy with that screens after two years with 5DmkII+7D, because my movies became more rich of variety angles with upper and lower camera angles. with But now with BMPCC that nightmare goes back, I lost my "point-of-view"... What is your favorite solutions for fast lower and upper foreshortenings?

  • @act Any sort of EVF or 5" monitor would be a good solution, especially if you use a cage. HOWEVER, beware that most low cost HDMI monitors won't work because they only do 1080i25/30, while the BMPCC outputs a true 24p, 25p or 30p.

  • @act Cheesycam has confirmed the Aperture 7 inch panel works with the bmpc.

    http://www.ebay.com/sch/Cameras-Photo-/625/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=aputure+vs-3

    Hopefully smaller versions will be on the horizon.

    I'm using a SMALLHD dp4 and its great. You can get the panel without the viewfinder for ~$400