Blackmagic Camera App - Feature Requests

I'm just waiting for the rumored Android build to hit the streets. I've got an S23 Ultra and I assume that the developer won't just silo to the latest model S24 Ultra which is practically identical to the S23 Ultra anyway.

Given that we’re now 6 months from the app’s release, hopefully we’ll see a significant update at NAB.

And yet, weeks later...

Given that we’re now 6 months from the app’s release, hopefully we’ll see a significant update at NAB.

And yet, weeks later...

From a strategic perspective, I don’t think that an update gets bigger than expanding availability of the app to Samsung and Google phones.

With BeastCam app I record 10bit video with max bitrate 133 Mb/s. Is there any chance to have bigger bitrate with Blackmagic Camera App as it currently records in 37 Mb/s?

And one more question please. In the file info in the media tab I get Proxy values.
What exactly does this mean?

blackmagiccam.jpg (126.28 KiB) Viewed 10595 times

Please contact me privately about an app that can be set to up to 320 mbps for HEVC.
It's only for a very small, elite user group (no subscription).

I’d like to suggest a 10 second self timer. This already exists in the native app for still photos, so it may be easy to extend it to video. At least two iOS video apps - ProCam-8 and Procamera - already appear to offer it. In addition to being useful for videos in which the iPhone operator appears, it would be beneficial if one is operating alone and want to film a white balance and colour calibration target at arm’s length, such as Calibrite's ColorChecker Passport.

This is obviously not a major issue, but it may be very easy to implement. As another approach, I’m told that Samsung phone shutters can be voice activated.

A question... Does anyone know of a reason why one couldn’t or shouldn’t use a still photo, taken using Apple’s app and the 10 second timer, for white balance and colour calibration of a related video clip?

A question... Does anyone know of a reason why one couldn’t or shouldn’t use a still photo, taken using Apple’s app and the 10 second timer, for white balance and colour calibration of a related video clip?

Unfortunately, Apple is not treating them the same. Even the 'RAW Max' DNGs and Apple log in ProRes are not identical.
That said, Apple is hitting the targets on a DSC chart pretty well, out of the box, when just using standard settings. Even much more expensive cameras are not that well balanced. But this doesn't apply to gamma. Only skin tones are a tad too yellow and the whole a bit too warm (anybody reminded of Kodak?):

Vectorscope_iPhone_SE_II.png (819.27 KiB) Viewed 10341 times

P.S. You'll still need to do your own tests. After all, these are still consumer devices and sample variation should be expected.

Could there be
- Support for 1.66:1 frame guide overlay ?

This is a very popular aspect ratio with filmmakers.

I would like to see a way to lock the screen to prevent any accidental changes from an unintentional touch on the screen.

Especially if running on an iPad, the screen is such a large tempting target that is hard not to touch.

Could there be
- Support for 1.66:1 frame guide overlay ?

Today’s update (v. 1.4) adds 2.76:1: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=191338&start=450#p1049433

A question... Does anyone know of a reason why one couldn’t or shouldn’t use a still photo, taken using Apple’s app and the 10 second timer, for white balance and colour calibration of a related video clip?

Unfortunately, Apple is not treating them the same. Even the 'RAW Max' DNGs and Apple log in ProRes are not identical.
That said, Apple is hitting the targets on a DSC chart pretty well, out of the box, when just using standard settings. Even much more expensive cameras are not that well balanced. But this doesn't apply to gamma. Only skin tones are a tad too yellow and the whole a bit too warm (anybody reminded of Kodak?):

Vectorscope_iPhone_SE_II.png

P.S. You'll still need to do your own tests. After all, these are still consumer devices and sample variation should be expected.

Thanks, I’ll have to explore this. Extending the timer function for stills to video, or voice triggering of record, which Peter McLennan says Samsung phones have, would be welcome. The iPhone has voice triggering, but currently only awkwardly via Accessibility > Voice Control.

Re DSC Labs, I have its SMPTE target, but Calibrite’s compact, hard cover Passport format is much more convenient with a phone.

Yes, I got that one too (before they were called Calibrate). Unfortunately, the two don't always agree.
So, for testing and comparing cameras, I use the DSC. But the 'passport' should get us into the ballpark nevertheless.

Could there be
- Support for 1.66:1 frame guide overlay ?

Today’s update (v. 1.4) adds 2.76:1: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=191338&start=450#p1049433

It's greatly appreciated, but 1.66:1 is a much more common aspect ratio for narrative filmmaking.

- Also, adding a 2K resolution recording option in addition to 4K, HD and 720p would be very welcome.

Thanks so much for such an outstanding app!

Hi, I would love to be able to zoom smoothly but more slowly than the presets. An ideal feature would be similar to the focus racking feature, select the two zoom levels and select the time taken to zoom between them. Icing on the cake would be to ease in and ease out the zoom to make it super smooth. Thanks

I wonder if there's the possibility of adding recording separate videos from the individual cameras like Doubletake?

Thanks,

Steve

I don't think the hardware allows that.
But for the zoom, at least something like this would be nice:

Zoom.jpg (79.61 KiB) Viewed 9833 times

Please add SRT and RTMP streaming from inside of the app!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It would be nice however, to include the name of the audio source directly above the meter on the main camera screen so I can quickly glance to make sure the device is still connected before each take.

Great idea! Had the same problem in the past and would appreciate to see this feature added to this amazing app! Come on, Blackmagic team.

I would like some form of Smooth Skin / Beauty Mode effect (with settings for the intensity)

I'm using a Pixel 8 and running the Blackmagic Camera App Ver 1.1.0072
The App and phone are capable of Recording in BT20202 HLG10 color space.
When recording on this color space, it is a good habit (for me) to expose middle gray at 50%
Unfortunately the Zebra exposure detection threshold can only be set to 75% as the minimum value.
This request is to extend this setting down to 50%.
It would be of great value to me and, surely, to others.

Option for recording 4:3 aspect ratio would be nice.

I have a few requests that may enable even more multi-cam control, perhaps best explained by my shooting scenario:

I would like to capture a cooking show with a BMCC6KFF as A cam and an iPhone 11 and 2x 13minis running Blackmagic Camera on iOS as B and C cams capturing overhead and profile angles. Blackmagic Camera App 2.0 introduced the ability to monitor and control other BM Cameras running on phones. Multi-cam sync in Resolve works great with the iOS footage. Tying in the Cinema Cameras would make multi-cam Sync seamless when different BM devices are being used.

1 Timecode Jamming from Blackmagic Camera APP over audio out, over bluetooth or USB, to BMCC &
BMPCC Cameras.
2 Bluetooth camera control for the BMCC and BMPCC.
- Initiate REC across all cameras.
- Sync Date and Time (TOD) Timecode across all Hardware and Software Cameras
- Group (all cams) upload to Cloud (BMCC6KFF connected via USB to Monitor Tablet or Phone)
- Adding ability of monitoring the BMCC6kFF when connected via USB using UVC on the monitoring assigned app

I've just noticed the 1.2 update for the Android version of this app adding support for the Pixel 9, 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. Is there a reason for the omission of the 9 Pro Fold? That would be great if support for the Fold could be added.

[Peter Chamberlain]

I've just noticed the 1.2 update for the Android version of this app adding support for the Pixel 9, 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. Is there a reason for the omission of the 9 Pro Fold? That would be great if support for the Fold could be added.

We don't have a Fold as yet to use for dev and QA.

Request: an option to always use a specified audio source.

If I happen to have my airpods connected, the app will use the airpods as an audio source, resulting in poor audio. I want to always lock to the source the the built in mics on the phone.

I've just noticed the 1.2 update for the Android version of this app adding support for the Pixel 9, 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. Is there a reason for the omission of the 9 Pro Fold? That would be great if support for the Fold could be added.

We don't have a Fold as yet to use for dev and QA.

Thanks for the answer Peter. Hopefully you get your hands on one soon!

It would be great to be able to see audio levels when playing back captured video to see if there was any audio clipping, so we could retake the video straight away if clipped.

Also, is it possible to monitor audio from other apps so you could record video while listening to a backing track on the same device?

Many thanks.

These Three things are a must: Add Open Gate Support, add the ability to record in CinemaDNG (Like motioncam), and Allow users to completely disable processing if possible. I know for certain that MANY if not all oems allow you to capture videos in open gate.(meaning you can capture video at the same resolution as you'd get in photos. For example, instead of being limited to just 2160P, youd be able to record at a 4:3 aspect ratio with a resolution of 4000x3000. Giving you more flexibility.) other pro apps already support at minimum open gate recording. But if blackmagic were to add these features it would make for an EXTREMELY competitive app


FYI: I'm making this in reference to the android version of the app.

I've just noticed the 1.2 update for the Android version of this app adding support for the Pixel 9, 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. Is there a reason for the omission of the 9 Pro Fold? That would be great if support for the Fold could be added.

We don't have a Fold as yet to use for dev and QA.

Peter, can you reveal whether LOG color is an agenda item? (The fact that Apple officially created a profile, but Android did not, has no impact besides convenience upon the ability of a software developer to incorporate this baseline necessity for serious video acquisition, which in its absence, moots all other features of your app resulting in no improved image quality compared to stock cameras. See, e.g., https://www.filmicpro.com/products/cinekit/ ("On Android devices supporting Gamma Curve Remapping, we take advantage of this tool to provide a custom LOG curve at the sensor level. This allows us to greatly expand the dynamic range of the sensor during the first stages of the camera pipeline...For those Android handsets that do not support Gamma Curve Remapping, we apply the same technique as iOS.") & https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/commen ... cording_is ("We've also gotten a new log specifically made for MotionCam outputs, Mcrawlog! If you fancy other curves, there's also Cineon Log, or even better, ordinary BT.709 or even BT.2020 HLG for a more point and shoot experience!")

Throwing another vote in the hat for better bitrate control for HEVC. ProRes LT consumes too much space, but 35 megabits per second HEVC isn't enough. It's the one thing keeping me from switching away from Filmic (or Cinema P3, or ProTake, or ProMovie, all of which provide bitrate controls).

And while it's a niche request, having the ability to enter an arbitrary shutter speed would really help me when dealing with tricky flickering lights or CRT monitors. It's possible, as ProMovie can do this.

I did make a separate post about this back on 2024-02-19, but I didn't get a response (and I'm not sure if I should have posted it here instead):

BMC Feature Request: Haptic feedback for Start & Stop Video

For the Blackmagic Camera app, I was wondering if it would be possible to request an optional feature. The feature would be a haptic vibration for starting a video recording, and (hopefully a different kind of) haptic feedback for the stop of a recording.

Some times I am not always looking at my phone when I am recording and believe to have started a video, only to see that I hadn’t actually fully pressed the volume button, or accidentally pressed it twice, or didn’t press the red dot. Another issue is that if I didn’t properly stop the video then my iPhone’s storage will decrease rapidly due to my higher quality settings.

I have seen this feature implemented in some other apps where the start vibration will be one “bump” and the stop vibration will be two fast bumps (“bump-bump”). Think of like the haptics for video in the iPhone Camera app, but one haptic response for start, and a different haptic response for stop.

Thank you in advance for any feedback

I would love to see the ability to separate the exposure and focus into two monocles. Often I want the exposure monocle near the sky, but the focus monocle on my subject matter.

Yes, improving the continuous auto-focus and auto-exposure metering controls would be really helpful for run-and-gun or other kinds of shooting where I'd want to track something that isn't dead center in the frame. You can currently tap to set a focus and exposure point, but that appears to be only for locking or pre-setting. If you want to actively track meter or continuously AF anywhere other than the center of the frame, you're kind of out of luck in BMC app. You also can't separately tap to lock AF or AE—I wind up having to meter the exposure, tweak or lock, and then tap for AF. Having to pull out the exposure or focus menus to lock and unlock is also a bit tedious. Press-and-hold locks both parameters, and I might just want to quickly unlock one or the other.

Other apps (Filmic, Cinema P3, ProMovie) allow to choose between center-weighted and spot for focus and exposure. I'd like to have continuous AF and auto-exposure reticles that I can place anywhere in the frame.

Hey everyone - been loving the Blackmagic Camera App recently! I shoot so much with it, and there's a few great features that I feel would make the experience even better! I

- Ability to turn camera flash ON

- AUTO ISO with LOCKED shutter (pretty sure iOS API doesn't allow this though...)

- DOUBLE SWIPE to go home. Frequently when I am recording I accidentally swipe up to my Home Screen and the recording stops. In some iOS games, the UI requires you to first swipe up to 'show' the home bar, and a second swipe to actually go home. I've missed some awesome clips because of this before and would love that extra layer of safety so I get the shot every time!

Thank you!

For the Blackmagic Camera app, I was wondering if it would be possible to request an optional feature. The feature would be a haptic vibration for starting a video recording,

I have requested audio confirmation of roll/cut several times. The hardware permits it.

BMD implements a difficult to hear still camera shutter sound for roll confirmation, but nothing for cut.

An easily recognized single beep for cut and a double beep for roll would do it. Could be user disabled, of course.

Your problems with rolling/cutting confirmation are not yours alone. The operator should be relieved of this unnecessary, inconvenient and sometimes distracting viewfinder responsibility.

Best ios Camera app.
Thanks for your work
Suggestions:
-Small button to take photo: as we used to give 50 to 100 m of the film to the photographer
Ideally show option in setting and use the down volume button for photo and up volume for movie
-Replicate the control system of focus to the zoom
-Would be amazing to select 2 of the 3 microphones built in iPhone to write into stereo track
-Export video with the color of LUT selected to iphone Photo Library

Re: AUTO ISO with LOCKED shutter and frame rate

Adding this feature would make the BMCA as easy to use as the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 (OP3).

With the OP3 you can set and lock the frame rate and shutter speed and then select an ISO range e.g. 50 to 800. The exposure is automatic and you know that your ISO will not go beyond the limits that you set.

With these settings in place, you can rest easy that your exposure will be OK in most cases. Of course, you still need to use an ND filter in bright light.

My problem using an iPhone as a camera when shooting in bright sunlight, is that the screen is difficult to read if you need to adjust the ISO manually. It's difficult to dial in the setting and to judge the result accurately on the screen. I live in a tropical region.

If the Apple API does not allow that to happen, then I understand - maybe Apple would consider adding that option?

What do others think about this option?

Thank you for developing the mobile app! I have a feature suggestion that could be really useful: it would be great if the app could connect to other cameras in the studio, like the BMPCC 6K, and automatically sync settings such as light, shutter speed, and exposure. This would be especially helpful in multi-camera setups where the app is used as one camera and a BMPCC 6K as another. It would make post-production in DaVinci Resolve much easier, particularly when working with multi-camera editing, if the settings could automatically match between cameras. Thanks again!

Re: AUTO ISO with LOCKED shutter and frame rate

Adding this feature would make the BMCA as easy to use as the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 (OP3).

With the OP3 you can set and lock the frame rate and shutter speed and then select an ISO range e.g. 50 to 800. The exposure is automatic and you know that your ISO will not go beyond the limits that you set.

With these settings in place, you can rest easy that your exposure will be OK in most cases. Of course, you still need to use an ND filter in bright light.

My problem using an iPhone as a camera when shooting in bright sunlight, is that the screen is difficult to read if you need to adjust the ISO manually. It's difficult to dial in the setting and to judge the result accurately on the screen. I live in a tropical region.

If the Apple API does not allow that to happen, then I understand - maybe Apple would consider adding that option?

What do others think about this option?

AUTO ISO + LOCKED SHUTTER SPEED would be a great addition. Other iPhone camera apps already include this. Protake has it, and Cinema P3 also includes an option to limit your maximum auto ISO to 250, 500, 1000, and 2000. I'd love the BMCA to add this with complete control over the maximum auto ISO.

I was amazed with the remote control feature of the recent updated Blackmagic Camera app. It was thrilling to see one iPhone become the controller with a second linked controlled iPhone.

One iPhone can change settings(iso, fps, shutter speed) on both phones to start and stop recording.

The resulting clips from both phones are perfect in terms of exact length it seems (frame accurate? I think so)

Unfortunately, this only works with both phones being connected via Wifi? Is there anyway to incorporate remote control linking (without the Multicam video feed etc) with only bluetooth from both iPhones?

I want to take the dual iPhone setup outside using this setup.

I'm doing 3D Stereoscopic recording with two iPhone 12's and this would be a killer feature if both phones can be synced and I can just start and stop recording/change settings on only one phone. (instead of going back and forth).

It would accelerate "Spatial Video" production.. and folks adopting Resolve.

Thank you so much for your consideration!

[Peter Chamberlain]

At this point it’s wired network or wifi but I understand the request.

Ahhhh... Wired! I think I got this working with a Lightning to USB adapter and another lightning cable.
Brilliant! Thank you so much for this solution.

John, that’s your brilliance shining too!

Hello, when connecting USB-C devices like Rode Micro or SSD Auto Set this Device as default. Like in the Apple FinalCut Camera APP. This wood be very nice.

THX for the great APP
René

Option for recording 4:3 aspect ratio would be nice.

I wonder if Apple allows for an open gate readout, would be a gamechanger.
No problem on Android though, as seen with Motion Cam Pro. Full width 4K 4:3AR RAW or LOG video.

Apple allows it, and CinemaP3 can record it.

Apple allows it, and CinemaP3 can record it.

You need to quote, what you're commenting on. I assume, it is this:

Option for recording 4:3 aspect ratio would be nice.

I wonder if Apple allows for an open gate readout, would be a gamechanger.
No problem on Android though, as seen with Motion Cam Pro. Full width 4K 4:3AR RAW or LOG video.

Cinema P3 does NOT support open gate and not even the last version supports anything akin to RAW on my iPhone 15 Pro (not even mentioned in the App blurb), although not everything called CinemaDNG turns up as RAW content in reality (in some cases it's just plain TIFF after debayering

The App can do a lot of things, including a plain Photo section, but RAW is not even mentioned. I suspect - after seeing the term "Log" - your world was complete, and terms like RAW and open gate went out the window

I'm not sure, that Apple allows extraction of RAW video (ProRES RAW anyone? BRAW unlikely), and even ProRES 444, that would go a long way, is not available (without severe hiccups). Extracting a sequence of "plain DNG RAW" photo images, could be done, maybe not well controlled, but the result wouldn't contain all informations embedded in the ProRAW format either. For some a benefit, for others a minus.

Regards

Yeah, my answer was too short. So, 4:3 is possible, but I doubt that the iPhone has the processing power and throughput for RAW.

Yeah, my answer was too short. So, 4:3 is possible, but I doubt that the iPhone has the processing power and throughput for RAW.

Processing is clearly there since every cheap Android can do 4:3 Open Gate RAW video using Motion Cam easily or even shoot 4:3 Open Gate 10 bit Log video from the RAW stream provided by Camera API 2 easily. iPhones usually have much more processing power but Apple doesn't seem to provide the necessary API to capture such.

Well, the iPhone 15 does about 10 frames per second in photo burst mode. If that's uncompressed open gate, you generate huge amounts of data. Apple lost the case against Red, and the only way until now to get compressed RAW would be a cooperation with BM to make it BRAW.
I read that Androids get pretty hot soon with Motion Cam, so there are obvious limits.

Finally, I was wrong about CinemaP3, it does 4032 x 3024 only in Standard quality, which is 8 bit 4:2:0.

Well, the iPhone 15 does about 10 frames per second in photo burst mode. If that's uncompressed, you generate huge amounts of data. Apple lost the case against Red, and the only way until now to get compressed RAW would be a cooperation with BM to make it BRAW.
I read that Androids get pretty hot soon with Motion Cam, so there are obvious limits.

There are OBVIOUS limits. Anything has “obvious limits”. Let the user decide.

Ignoring settings just because they generate huge amounts of data is no solution. Especially not on the iPhone, which hardly gets into a sweat at REALLY high data rates (ProRES format, bps AND fps) when recording to an external drive over hours. If a similar approach is possible on Android, and on what models, I haven’t tested recently.

Anyway, let the user decide (the FiLMiC Pro version 6 was a true iPhone fryer at high bitrates, so…)

Apples burst mode is NOT “timed” in any meaningful way, so no replacement at all for “RAW” in Motion Cam.

Motion CAM is surprisingly “constant” in the cases I’ve tried, so usable.

Haven’t had the opportunity to select open gate on a smartphone, but… if I could, I would certainly use it - also for RAW - if possible, when required. To h*ck with “huge amount of data”! Why not use the 1, 2 or even extra 4TB drive, that can easily be connected via - for instance - Lexar’s Go hub, that can deliver external power at the same time (also to a smartphone rear mounted fan if required).

Not “practical” in my personal view, but - hey - if someone has a use case, why not? It’s an available tool!

My new and very tiny Fujifilm X-M5 APS-C camera has internal open gate (10-bit 4:2:2 6240x4160) and even additional external HDMI ProRES RAW and BRAW output options in a tiny box, delivering what my big Lumix S5 delivers too over the same cables with the same power options in the same rig (just switching cameras). The X-M5 even has a special fan mount (optional accessory), if push comes to shove. My Lumix S5 hasn’t

That does not mean, that these external options will be used frequently if at all during travel, but they are certainly nice to have, if my S5 decides to go haywire in a RAW session. Only need to switch my EF to L adapter to an EF to X Adapter, and mount the tiny Fuji critter, connect and continue. Narjs… what’s not to like?

It’s certainly not “huge amount of data” that will limit me. Only the actual purpose. And requirements in a given use case.

Regards