Blackmagic Forum

Hi guys
We are having a strange issue with our Pocket 6K. Since some weeks the camera produces error-frames within single frames of certain videos. Please see the attached images. We are shooting BRAW 5:1, 8:1 or 12:1 usually with 6K 50fps directly onto the Samsung T5 SSD (1TB or sometimes 2TB).

Some weeks ago we never had that problem but suddenly it appears to occur more and more! In the last shoot, every second or third recorded clip has minimum one of those "glitches" present. Theses glitches are always just for one frame and never have the same size, shape or color.

The error frame appears in the BM Raw Player as well as in Premiere or Davinci. So it has to be a camera-problem. Maybe from overheating?

There is no warranty on the camera anymore and I fear we have to send it to a repair-center (does that even exist in europe, switzerland?)..

Thanks for sharing your opinions on that matter.

What firmware are you running?

Mike Potton wrote:What firmware are you running?

The Pocket shows "Software: 7.3" in the menu. Do you think updating the firmware to 7.9 could help? Even though the camera worked fine with 7.3 until recently...

Is the environment very hot! I never had CFast2 HFR problems until a recent heatwave although the Wise Portable 1TB SSD worked fine. Try testing on a cool day or early in the morning.

module+ wrote:

Mike Potton wrote:What firmware are you running?

The Pocket shows "Software: 7.3" in the menu. Do you think updating the firmware to 7.9 could help? Even though the camera worked fine with 7.3 until recently...

Heh, the opposite, 7.9 seemed to introduce new usb-c based errors...

Troubleshooting your situation will be a little bit of a mission, a new cable and a new drive would be a good place to start, it's more likely they have failed vs the camera. However if you want reliable recording please throw away the drive and buy CFast cards.

Despite BMD's best efforts to democratise storage via usbc It's far more reliable to use certified CFast and SD media.

These errors are very typical with media or writing problems.

The cable for your drive for example.

Are you playing back directly from the drive that recorded these files or from copies of those files?

If it's the original drive then try changing out the cable you're using.

I'm going to bet though that these errors are from using files that are COPIES of the original files. You take the drive you recorded onto and then copy files from that drive to another drive and then start editing?

These kinds of errors are common when you're not using a checksum copying process, where you're not simply dragging and dropping to copy files....

JB

Second that. First change the cable and then use the Clone tool in DR as a minimum. There are more professional tools, but this should help to narrow down the issue.

Thanks guys for all the tipps!

I changed the USB-C cable to connect the T5 SSD and so far I didn't get this frame error anymore! =) So I guess, a defective cable was really the problem!! Wow, I'm happy it's just the cable and not something camera internal!!

Quick question about the transferring method with checksum: Is this really essential and what software is best for that on a mac? I usually just copy my recorded video-files to an other external SSD and compare the size of the original footage folder to the copied folder side by side. If the filesize is exactly the same down to the last byte I always thought that I could make sure there was no copying problem... am I wrong here? Never had any problems since years with that method. (Of course after transferring to one SSD I am also copying everything from that SSD to a NAS with a 2-disk fail tolerance.)

Thanks again for any help, much appreciated.

Glad it worked, but what's wrong with the Clone tool in DR? Personally, I wouldn't want to check the size of all my clips.
A professional one is Shotput Pro, but it ain't free.

My experience cables can be ‘funny’ and not in a good sense; they can be fine, until they are not for no apparent reason.

The problem with USB-C cables: they are not simply good or bad, they can be either one depending on the devices to connect – and the position of the moon

Reminds me of the old days of SCSI.

I have to say the astronaut shot is really nice.

Some USB cables are made for data, and some are made for charging devices.

Look for USB 3.2 Type C Gen2 20Gbps Data Transfer Cable

https://amzn.to/3dnWpuZ