BMPCC

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PlaygroundHero

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BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 7:51 am

Good day all i have a BMPCC and i don't know if this issue has been brought up before, i was away on a trip ice climbing and decided i would bring the BMPCC on the trip to film some stuff. I shot in RAW, and Pro Res HQ recording to a scan disk extreme pro 64 GB 280 MB/s card and the camera dropped frames like crazy. I am pissed as i have spent a tone of money on this camera/ lenses / SD cards and lost all footage that i tried to record as it is useless now due to the lost frames, the raw is jittery and fragmented, the pro res is **** and skips (lost frames) i am just wanting a fix for this as i spent a tone on this camera and want what BM toted it would be... i feel robbed.... the little exclamation mark icon appears in the upper left when recording RAW and Pro Res HQ, i haven't played with any other codecs, i'm just feeling so bad about even buying this thing... and I am now out so much cash due to this purchase.. i know the BMPCC 4k Is out but i really looked forward to this thing working like advertised... Any help would be appreciated as I am at a loss regarding what to do, other than throw this camera out and start with something else.......
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 5:23 pm

Are you referring to the original BM Pocket Cinema Camera? Sounds like you had an issue with the SD card. Did you test the setup before the trip? The SD card you tried using, the scan disk extreme pro 64 GB 280 MB/s is a UHS 2 card that only works in the VA 4K and the new BM Pocket Camera 4K, along with the Ursa Mini Pro. It is Not on the list of approved SD cards for the original Pocket Cinema Camera, which is a UHS1 Card, using the San Disk Extreme Pro 95NM/s cards. While a UHS2 card will work on a UHS 1 device, the UHS2 cards do not write at very fast speeds when used in a UHS1 camera, and in the Pocket, will not keep up, nor write at even 95MB/s, as you would think I t would.
Cheers
Last edited by Denny Smith on Mon Jan 07, 2019 5:49 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Chris Shivers

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 5:30 pm

if you're getting that exclamation mark that means the card is not fast enough, use a faster stronger card
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michaeldhead

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 5:31 pm

And are you sure it's not a counterfeit card? Apparently there are a lot of counterfeit Sandisk cards being sold.
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 5:52 pm

Michael, he used a UHS2 SD card, not a UHS1 SD card, and obviously did not check the camera manual nor the online media list (here and on BM Supoirt Page) before getting/using the wrong card. Had he tested this out before the trip, he would have discovered the issue right away. Bottom line, always test a new setup before using it in the field :!:

I put this down to poor planing and user error. :roll:
Cheers
Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Brad Hurley

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 6:16 pm

Worth adding that it's getting very hard to find the right UHS1 SD cards for the original Pocket camera, as noted in a few other threads in this section of the forum, although it sounds like a solution is available from Sony and one is coming from SanDisk (plus there are low-capacity 32-gig cards that do work in the Pocket and are readily available)...hope I got that all right.
Resolve 18 Studio, Mac Pro 3.0 GHz 8-core, 32 gigs RAM, dual AMD D700 GPU.
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 7:02 pm

Yes, and as I see it, the OP bought the wrong camera to start with, getting a EOL camera that has dwindling support and lack of working SD cards. He has two choices, sell the BMPCC and get the new Pocket 4K, and use his existing bits, SD UHS2 cards, lenses, etc, which will be very useable in that camera and move one.

Or, he returns the incorrect SD card, and gets few of the existing, useable 32 GB cards, and waits for a larger SD card solution to come, with either the new Sony or SanDisk cards, as the current V30 Extreme Pro 128 and 256 GB UHS1 cards are not working.
Cheers
Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Brad Hurley

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 7:14 pm

Not meaning to hijack, but I'm curious how long SD cards can be expected to last. I have a good collection of SD cards that work with my original Pocket, Micro Cinema Camera, and 5" Video Assist but am not really clear on expected lifetimes in terms of how many reformats and reuses before they start getting unreliable.

I have minidiscs that I've re-recorded hundreds of times (I have an old minidisc recorder from 1996 that still works so I still use it for some music and other audio recording) and I would think SD cards might last even longer since there are no moving parts...Denny do you have any info on that? I only bought my Pocket and Micro cameras last year so am hoping not to have to abandon them anytime soon. ;-)
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 8:16 pm

I have a couple of SD Extreme Pro cards that are several years old, still working fine, and some older ones that I used in my Nikon V1 a lot, and they still work. If you are shooting weddings every weekend, then a coup,e,of years AI-s about it from what I have heard wedding shooters suggest.

But, it all depends on the card quality (SanDisk is what I use, and they seem to hold up), how they are stored, and care used I n handling them. The more careful you are, then the cards should last the useable lifetime of a camera in occasional use. But with daily Pro use I would be replacing them every year, to to make sure I do not get a card failure.
Last edited by Denny Smith on Mon Jan 07, 2019 9:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Brad Hurley

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 9:16 pm

Thanks, Denny, all good to know.
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rick.lang

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BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 9:34 pm

Brad, my memory is hazy on this but my recollection is that you should be able to format/record about a thousand times. When I format my CFast 2 cards, I use a variety of letters for the prefix which a meaning for me, but I always increment the numeric part by 1. For example I might have card names P001, B002, P003, P004, W005. That way, I’ll know when I get to a thousand uses on each card regardless of the letters. I know that’s not Cinema conventional, but I’m the boss here.


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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 9:37 pm

Good idea Rick, thanks for adding the info about cycle duty, I couldn’t remember what cycle rate was, but know it was up there.
Cheers
Denny Smith
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rick.lang

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 9:48 pm

PlaygroundHero wrote:... Any help would be appreciated as I am at a loss regarding what to do, other than throw this camera out and start with something else.......


Sorry to hear things went horribly on your trip. Your camera can produce a beautiful image so I hope you give it another chance after you:

read the camera manual,

scan the appropriate sticky sections at the beginning of this section of the forum,

read the threads on the forum discussing the recent problems with some new versions of approved cards that are causing problems,

if you have questions about things that you want to do, you can post here and you’ll have answers within a few hours or so,

test whatever components you want to use well before a critical shoot, like your trip.




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John Paines

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Re: BMPCC

PostMon Jan 07, 2019 10:11 pm

The usual figure you see for erase cycles is 100,000 (not 1000), which means the card is likely to outlive the owner. How often that happens, nobody knows.
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rick.lang

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Re: BMPCC

PostTue Jan 08, 2019 1:09 am

Thanks, John. Maybe I was thinking of how many cycles I can use a current generation lithium ion battery?


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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC

PostTue Jan 08, 2019 1:26 am

Well, Sanadisk ( Western Digital) warranty is “lifetime” or 30-years... :roll:
Cherrs
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Chris Whitten

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Re: BMPCC

PostTue Jan 08, 2019 9:08 am

We live in a somewhat throwaway society. The BMPCC has many years life left in it.
I shot with mine a few weeks ago, and sold it a few days ago as I took delivery of the 4K.....and can't afford to own both.
The new owner of my pocket had a problem with the new Sandisk SD cards. I have three of the older variety which work absolutely fine.
Chris Whitten
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lee4ever

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Re: BMPCC

PostTue Jan 08, 2019 10:19 pm

Hello everyone, I wish you all a Happy New Year!

that's annoying :( I also had the problem and then got the SanDisk "Extreme Pro SDXC I V30" 128gb, these work fine with me.
You also made the good choice for the original BMPCC. With the old BMPCC you have beautiful, real cinematic look possibilities than with the new BMPCC4k (is just my view of things).

Let's hope the Blackmagic developers didn't give up the old BMPCC and deliver new firmware where other SD cards supported. Also 60fps! Surely this is possible, because the same sensor is also built into BMMCC and there it is possible. I think, the FPGA chip "Spartan 6" is not the problem.
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC

PostWed Jan 09, 2019 7:29 am

First off, the BMPCC is now a legacy camera, so I doubt yiu will see any additional updates. It already has been tweaked out to the max, with additional FW features not part of its original release. As for 60fps, see my reply to your question: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84451&p=468118#p468118.
Cheers
Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Chris Whitten

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Re: BMPCC

PostWed Jan 09, 2019 8:05 am

I'm sure there are other SD cards that work. And I think (?) Sandisk have said they will fix the issue.
I don't think people should give up on the BMPCC, especially not on account of an SD card issue. It's still a great and VERY usable camera.
Chris Whitten
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lee4ever

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Re: BMPCC

PostWed Jan 09, 2019 10:47 am

Denny Smith wrote:First off, the BMPCC is now a legacy camera, so I doubt yiu will see any additional updates. It already has been tweaked out to the max, with additional FW features not part of its original release.

The BMPCC still has technologies and features (e.g. ProRes 10bit, raw 12bit....) that are still up-to-date and desirable in the modern world! It is still bought and loved. I think it's a big mistake for BM to give this up.
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Chris Whitten

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Re: BMPCC

PostWed Jan 09, 2019 11:15 am

I don't think it has been given up. The last Pocket firmware update was years ago anyway.
It's just an issue with some newer SD cards, specifically the Extreme Pro Sandisk cards which previously worked well.
I'm sure it will be ironed out, or people will find an alternative brand.
Chris Whitten
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Iain Bason

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Re: BMPCC

PostWed Jan 09, 2019 1:27 pm

Australian Image wrote:This is sad, as I've often thought about getting a BMPCC for nature work, as the sensor size would increase the reach of my tele lenses considerably. But if new SD cards are now proving problematic, then that's not good news.


You could just use the windowed mode on the P4K to achieve much the same thing.
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC

PostThu Jan 10, 2019 5:45 pm

Sorry, but no, the IQ I. The widowed Pocket 4K is a lot different rhe the BMPCC image. The Micro Cinema camera is a good match. Both are using the same sensor, but the Micro has improved cooling and a better video processor, with improved sensor read out times, to get 60fps. The down side, is you need an external monitor (which I used anyway on the original Pocket) and a SBus remote (nice, adds functionality, but not required), like Phil’s One Little Goat, to get easy access to ca era settings, or add BM Ursa Mini SBus grip to get focus and iris control, the original Pocket has.
Cheers
Denny Smith
SHA Productions

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