Blackmagic Forum

I would like to suggest two feature which would help our video work.

I now the BMPCC4K is a cinema camera, but as it already have a Still button, that would be great
to have

-Longer Shutter speeds (for long exp timelapse work)
- Ability to view photos after taken in camera.

I am really hopeful Blackmagic reads this. Thank you!

May I request that when I press the stills button on the BMPCC4K that the camera takes a picture? I am not kidding it takes me at least three presses for every picture on average. Needless to say I’m missing a lot of shots on this client shoot!

So I’d like to see a mode you can put the camera in so that the only expected function is a press of that button. It’s obvious a lot of other things are happening interfering with the ability to deliver a picture.

Next time I’ll bring a stills camera. Feel like I brought a knife to a gunfight. Wrong choice. In the long run I think I’ll end up with enough stills as I’m taking hundred of shots. But I think 90% may prove unsatisfactory for the clients photo archive of the theatrical production.

Stills extracted from the video look fine!

Rick, use a fingernail to ensure the button is fully depressed, then release it immediately when you hit bottom. Don't hold the button down. The shot will be triggered after the button is released.

The sony a7s lll is coming out soon. It will be basically a video camera with still capability but photowise not quite on par with the other a7 cameras, sigma has the fp. Maybe bmd could make the 4-6k more photo-friendly. At least a beep and in camera review. the rest is already there/

Ricardo Marty

John, thanks for pointing out the shot is triggered when the button is released. Sure that’s normal when I select an icon on my computer. I had expected the press down to trigger the shot. Next time I’ll keep the button depressed until the instant I want to capture is there. I hope this isn’t detailed in a camera manual!

No, the manual is unhelpful on this one, and function can still be a bit unpredictable. What's definitely not reliable is using the cushion of the finger. Nail only, and hope for the best.

John Paines wrote:Rick, use a fingernail to ensure the button is fully depressed, then release it immediately when you hit bottom. Don't hold the button down. The shot will be triggered after the button is released.

very important information, John. Thank you.

John Paines wrote:Rick, use a fingernail to ensure the button is fully depressed, then release it immediately when you hit bottom. Don't hold the button down. The shot will be triggered after the button is released.

The problem is because you have to use too much force, the camera moves as a result and picture blurs.

I absolutely love the P4k but the photo button implementation is just absurd and makes the function unuseable.

Shaoyan wrote:The problem is because you have to use too much force, the camera moves as a result and picture blurs.

I shot over 800 stills of a live theatrical performance. For the first set of shots I kept the frame rate at 23.976 fps and the shutter angle at 180 degrees to match what I was using a few days earlier when I did the video. Those stills do have movement in them as I was shooting a dance routine, but they’re not too bad when you see one actor not moving. The movement gives a pleasing impression, but may not be the best choice for all purposes.

For most of the stills shoot, I lowered the shutter angle to 45 degrees so that’s roughly 1/200” and that does seem to take care of the unintended camera movement. Those shots may be ‘better’ but they don’t have the same impact as the dance shots with blurring due to the motion.

With more experience I think I’ll be better at controlling camera movement. I shot all stills on a tripod. My problem with handheld is keeping my attention on holding the camera level while concentrating on the subjects. So I’m happier letting the tripod take care of the level camera issue.

Of course I could use the BMPCC4K built-in level but in the moment I just want to concentrate on composing the shot and watching the changing scene.

Jim Giberti wrote:I absolutely love the P4k but the photo button implementation is just absurd and makes the function unuseable.

If BMD thinks it can pull it off and increase its market share, they could care less what we think about this. I personally think it would be a great idea that would not harm the camera's capability.

I'd rather have a video camera that can take photos than a photo camera that can shoot video. The less I carry the better. But this is me and probably many thousands more.


Ricardo Marty