Blackmagic Forum

I have a few times putting my bmcc inside a lowepro x100, when I take the unit out to use, the camera is on by accident, battery was drain to 50% and camera is super hot

Does anyone have any idea how to prevent that?

I always bag my camera with the sun visor attached as a way to keep the back away from surfaces, to prevent the buttons being pressed. It means it takes up more room but so far it has worked very well. You really do want to prevent it turning on inside a confined space as it might cause the fan to fail from the strain.

I'm surprised that no accessory manufacturer has made a screen cover that clips into the holes that the sun shade clips into. This would protect the screen and buttons in transit. Easy to make and I'm sure would sell as wall as any of the cages.

Was one of the first things I thought of after attaching the shade for the first time as pulled it off and tossed it back in the box I was thinking "I wonder if I could make a screen cover out of that shade I'm never gonna use??"

Tom's suggestion is a good one, especially if the case or bag is big enough to fit a BMCC/BMPC-4K with the standard sun visor attached.

As an alternative, I wonder if anyone has tried attaching small, thick felt/rubber pads above, below, and on the right side of the power button? (The kind of pads you stick on the bottom of furniture so it doesn't scratch the floor?) If the pads are thick enough they might prevent accidental power-on inside a case.

I wish BMD had implemented a locking-type slide switch instead of a momentary-type push button for the power button, especially given the cam's built-in, non-removeable battery. Ah well ...

Maybe BMD could implement 2-button power-on using the existing buttons, perhaps as a user pref in the menu? For example, require that you press the record button on the front of the camera and the power button on the back to turn the cam on? But that would require a firmware update ...

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adamroberts wrote:I'm surprised that no accessory manufacturer has made a screen cover that clips into the holes that the sun shade clips into. This would protect the screen and buttons in transit. Easy to make and I'm sure would sell as wall as any of the cages.

Was one of the first things I thought of after attaching the shade for the first time as pulled it off and tossed it back in the box I was thinking "I wonder if I could make a screen cover out of that shade I'm never gonna use??"

Me too. I may make a cover for the back of my future BMPC-4K out of a stiff sheet of plastic or metal, to be attached via Velcro. To protect the screen & prevent accidental power-ups.

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I did this in Dallas, TX during the middle of summer. VERY bad. The camera was so hot that I couldn't touch it. Tom, great idea. Maybe I should start doing that...

PaulDelVecchio wrote:I did this in Dallas, TX during the middle of summer. VERY bad. The camera was so hot that I couldn't touch it. Tom, great idea. Maybe I should start doing that...

If it helps to recover the lost space in your bag/case - I use the gap between the edge of the shade and camera screen for storing soft or light weight items such as circular filters, cloths, rubber air blowers etc

If you have all of your gear neatly organized in a bag or case with dividers, how can it ever turn on?

NorBro wrote:If you have all of your gear neatly organized in a bag or case with dividers, how can it ever turn on?

Sometimes: Gravity.

Since the BMCC's power-on button is a sensitive momentary contact push button (a design fail), the weight of the camera pressing against almost anything (even something soft like foam) can be sufficient to turn the camera on.

As noted above, there are ways you can pack the cam to avoid this, but because of this unfortunate design defect/oversight/neglect, it's far, far easier to accidentally power-on a BMCC than it is with most other cams. And, because the universe she has a wicked sense of humor, the BMCC's non-removeable battery compounds the idiocy.

Don't misunderstand me: The BMCC's built-in batt is one of my favorite features, but putting the cam on a "hair trigger" is right up there with the worst of BMD's mistakes.

If the BMPC-4K "works" the same way it won't prevent me from buying one, but it won't be a reason to love it, either.

NorBro wrote:If you have all of your gear neatly organized in a bag or case with dividers, how can it ever turn on?

Because the buttons can be easily pushed by the snug nature of a camera compartment, the on button needs very little pressure to be activated and it sticks out slightly from the rear face of the camera.