Blackmagic Camera App - General discussion and Releases

Don't Be Confused - Adjusting Exposure in the Blackmagic Camera App

We use iPhone 15 pro for alot of work that's in vertical orientation. On the external monitor the image is then letterboxed to make the orientation "correct". But we use a wireless monitor that's 7" and the image gets very small. We want to have our external monitor in portrait to utilize the whole screen, is this possible in any way, or does BM need to make a feature for this?

Hey all. Is this the best place to post a minor bug in the iOS app?

I'll post it anyway and if someone tells me to put it elsewhere I'd be happy to do that. (I'm new here; forgive me.)

Bug: when the focus overlay is open, such that the app is showing me the current focus setting which is a number from 0.00 through 1.00, tapping a subject to focus does indeed do that, but it does not update the focus display.

So if I deliberately throw a subject ~1m away out of focus (setting = 0.5) then tap on that person to bring them in to focus, the setting does not change to ~0.7.

Of course it would be helpful if it did, because I want to use the tap-to-focus to do that, but I don't want to leave autofocus turned on.

Don't Be Confused - Adjusting Exposure in the Blackmagic Camera App

Note that if your shutter speed is locked – and in what situation is it not? – the +/- button turns in to pure ISO control.

A bit of a weird button to be sure.

[Peter Chamberlain]

V1.3 released today.

Don't Be Confused - Adjusting Exposure in the Blackmagic Camera App

Note that if your shutter speed is locked – and in what situation is it not? – the +/- button turns in to pure ISO control.

A bit of a weird button to be sure.

What else can it do? There's no aperture to adjust.

When is blackmagic going to fix fasle color when using apple log

Don't Be Confused - Adjusting Exposure in the Blackmagic Camera App

Note that if your shutter speed is locked – and in what situation is it not? – the +/- button turns in to pure ISO control.

A bit of a weird button to be sure.

The real problem is, that when shutter speed is locked,ISO also seems to be locked (completely unnecessary unless specifically required). Display does NOT show ISO locked, but the value does stay at the value used, when speed is locked (in order to - for example - set 25fps and 1/50 shutter or 180 degrees).

This rather severe “side effect” still exists in version 1.3.00111 (also found in 1.2.10033).

This effect does NOT exist in Cinema P3 Pro.

Example: Point x1 lens towards light. Set 25fps and 1/50 sec (or your personal preference). Lock shutter speed. ISO will (most probable) show 55 ISO (or some other low value). Now cover all lenses (ISO should shoot to maximum).

On BlackMagic camera ISO stays at 55 (or your initial low value, instead of reaching maximum).

On Cinema P3 Pro camera ISO reaches maximum in the same situation (Shutter Priority).

In real life, it’s rather nice, that ISO reflects conditions during use - not only condition, when shutter speed was locked. On walkabouts, where conditions cannot be controlled, this may actually have some importance for the outcome.

Let’s say, you lock the shutter speed at 1/50s inside a café, after paying the bill, preparing to leave and enter pulsating outside life. ISO defaults to somewhere between 1000 and 2000 if you do it in a dark(ish) corner. Now you go outside, start recording. ALL highlights are completely blown in the noon sun.

Doesn’t happen with Cinema P3 Pro (Shutter Priority).

Personally I find the “auto ISO” valuable in a lot of reportage (and some Travel) like situations.

Regards

If you were going from indoors to outdoors in one clip, can you simply remove the lock as you walk outside or not set the lock in the first place if that works for the shot? Seems strange to me to consider it a problem when it’s just maintaining the lock you set.

V1.3 released today.

Looks like it broke LUT implementation for me, saturation of all tested LUTs is up in the sky.

If you were going from indoors to outdoors in one clip, can you simply remove the lock as you walk outside or not set the lock in the first place if that works for the shot? Seems strange to me to consider it a problem when it’s just maintaining the lock you set.

As I wrote: For example!

I did NOT set the ISO lock. It is not even indicated as locked. I locked the shutter speed. These two parameters can and should be handled independently in my view.

There are numerous situations in reportage (and Travel), where the “ISO lock” may be detrimental to good results. The approach is not even required by Apple, as demonstrated by Cinema P3 Pro.

I found my solution to the problem; it does not even involve repeated/perpetual manual interventions at all in many use cases

Regards

The approach is not even required by Apple, as demonstrated by Cinema P3 Pro.

...

I found my solution to the problem ...

Cool. When you join the Cinema P3 User Group the membership will go up to 128.

… I did NOT set the ISO lock. It is not even indicated as locked. I locked the shutter speed. These two parameters can and should be handled independently in my view…

Sorry, I had a brain malfunction due to fatigue!

… I did NOT set the ISO lock. It is not even indicated as locked. I locked the shutter speed. These two parameters can and should be handled independently in my view…

Sorry, I had a brain malfunction due to fatigue!

No problem at all. I'm not perfect either, as everyone reading this forum over time can testify

It seems, that periodic "OFF moments" are part of human nature (welcome to humanity

Regards

AI keeps learning and will soon adapt that too

The approach is not even required by Apple, as demonstrated by Cinema P3 Pro.

...

I found my solution to the problem ...

Cool. When you join the Cinema P3 User Group the membership will go up to 128.

Shhh, let’s stop mentioning it here, Kurt, so it stays a hidden gem.

If it’s all about numbers, MS Office must be the best ever over any other office solution
OTOH, if a user forum is very small, it may say something about the number of bugs…

iPhoneographers has just posted a first look at V1.3

Hi Blackmagic App Developers,

I have been trying to get in touch through support channels for the last 2 days (phone, email, Twitter, App Store review) without success. The latest v1.3 update breaks the core functionality of handheld photography on an iPhone 15 Pro Max. I responded to your release Tweet with a video demonstrating the delayed preview problem here:

twitter.com /chriseagleston/status/1778080747540435054

At this point I had to cancel the last two shoot days because v1.3 was pushed to my iPhone 15 Pro Max. I understand that NAB is on, but could you please provide an ETA on when this serious regression will be fixed?

Thank you,
Chris

P.S. I have rented your Cinema Camera line in Vancouver. While the app itself is free, please do not think that I am expecting something for nothing.

I was able to resolve the delayed video in 1.3 by reinstalling the app from scratch. I would guess that some existing users of 1.3 will be impacted so please be careful out there.

Is there an area to submit bug reports? Mine is:

Video preview is delayed after upgrade to 1.3
--------------------------------------

Device: iPhone 15 Pro Max
Operating System: iOS 17.4.1
App Version: 1.3

Cinematic stabilization was enabled before applying the update. After updating from the previous version capture preview is now stabilized with delay. The stabilization delay makes handheld photography impossible using the 5x lens.

Deleting and re-installing the app resolves the delay issue. Don't forget to backup any shoot data!

Thanks,
Chris

I was able to resolve the delayed video in 1.3 by reinstalling the app from scratch. I would guess that some existing users of 1.3 will be impacted so please be careful out there.

Is there an area to submit bug reports? Mine is:

Video preview is delayed after upgrade to 1.3
--------------------------------------

Device: iPhone 15 Pro Max
Operating System: iOS 17.4.1
App Version: 1.3

Cinematic stabilization was enabled before applying the update. After updating from the previous version capture preview is now stabilized with delay. The stabilization delay makes handheld photography impossible using the 5x lens.

Deleting and re-installing the app resolves the delay issue. Don't forget to backup any shoot data!

Thanks,
Chris

iPhone 15 pro Max, 50 fps angle 180 4K H.256, standard stabilization, apple log, with and without LUT enabled - the latest update added image jerks during monitoring with medium, fast movements, and in the video review you can see jerks and something like a strobe. This has never happened before...
In the standard iPhone application - at 30 and 60 fps everything is smooth
I tried in Blackmagic cam changing it to 60 fps, there are fewer jerks, but they are still there.

Maybe I missed something or some setting has a problem, who came across? Or an update bug?

Updated app in iPhone 11 pro Max - same problem..!

Yes, this can be regarded as a delay in the form of interruptions and this is visible at an average speed of camera movement left and right or vertically up and down

This can also be seen when watching the video recording!

I uninstalled the app and installed it again with default settings - the problem is still there!
Bring back the happiness of using the app without this terrible problem!!!

Clarified - with stabilization disabled, the problem is still there

LUT presets are not working. Looks all the same.

Urgent attention!!! An error and a global problem has appeared!!!
When an external monitor is connected via USB-C to HDMI cable, bluetooth does not work!!! Audio monitoring does not work and the trigger for starting recording via bluetooth does not work!!! This is just extremely sad and impossible to believe!!!
Urgently, please, please, please fix this annoying bug!
And we kindly ask you to add a macro lens as in the standard iPhone.

Thanks for the heads-up.
But regarding macro, there’s none. It’s just the 0.5 EWA zoomed in.

Thanks for the heads-up.
But regarding macro, there’s none. It’s just the 0.5 EWA zoomed in.

I often need to make videos like this:
https://www.instagram.com/indigophotoclub/

And the quality of standard macro with the iPhone 15 pro Max is more than enough
But we would like to receive these files in the Log
Increase EWA 0.5. in Blackmagic Camera app - does not provide the same macro quality as with the standard iPhone application
For this reason, we would like to have a macro lens as in the standard application, of the same quality.

Hi Evgenij,

You might also try Beastgrip’s macro lens, which it released about ten months ago. Vadym Chalenko, Beastgrip’s owner and designer, is the presenter in this video:

Website link: https://beastgrip.com/products/pro-series-macro-lens

Hi Evgenij,

You might also try Beastgrip’s macro lens, which it released about ten months ago. Vadym Chalenko, Beastgrip’s owner and designer, is the presenter in this video:

Website link: https://beastgrip.com/products/pro-series-macro-lens

Yes, thanks,
it's a great macro lens, I really like the Beastgrip equipment and lenses and we use many.
But the reason why I would like exactly the same option as in the standard iPhone 15 pro Max camera application is the different depth of field.
The macro from the iPhone 15 pro Max camera gives full depth of field (everything is sharp from start to finish) and this is very good for jewelry and gemstones and anything similar in size.
Beastgrip macro lens - works like a standard macro lens for full frame cameras. And this does not give full depth of field. This is very good for artistic photography, but not very good for catalog photography or shooting commercials.

And I mean specifically objects in the area up to 5 cm

Evgenij,

Thanks for your latest post and the distinction you raised. Very interesting.

We're still missing sensible roll/cut audio notifications.

Perversely, the "rolling" notification appears to be the sound of a 70s Nikon motor drive. There is no "cut" notification at all. Both are valuable to the operator.

Obviously the hardware to achieve this is functional and the software hooks are available for both operations. Please, BMD, implement this valuable addition to the software's usability. Of course, to satisfy everyone, make it optional. (although I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't appreciate this function)

Meanwhile, thanks for the new 48mm "lens". It fills the gap nicely.

I would add that it is necessary to already implement 32-bit recording. The standard iPhone 15 pro Max app has this by default. This is also invaluable for quick filming, where many people want to use the standard stereo microphones from the iPhone 15 pro Max, which are good enough for many cases. Please - macro lens and 32 bit!

And I want to note that when recording on the picture sometimes does not keep up and does not go smoothly, but in jerks from iPhone display 24 to 60 fps.
In on a standard iPhone app 24, 25, 30 and 60, everything is smooth when monitored on the iPhone display
It would be nice to fix the performance when monitoring on the iPhone display

I would add that it is necessary to already implement 32-bit recording. The standard iPhone 15 pro Max app has this by default. This is also invaluable for quick filming, where many people want to use the standard stereo microphones from the iPhone 15 pro Max, which are good enough for many cases. Please - macro lens and 32 bit!

What do you mean by “32-bit recording”?

To the best of my knowledge, neither Apple’s app nor the Blackmagic Camera app offer that as a way to record audio that would otherwise clip. I also think that implementing that is something that Apple, not Blackmagic, would have to do. As far as I know, it requires hardware, not just firmware.

Apple takes a proactive approach to audio processing in its phones. I think that it makes the sensible assumption that most users don’t know anything about audio recording, and that its phones automatically process audio accordingly. Some time ago, I used an iPhone 11 Pro Max and a MixPre to simultaneously record NY subway trains. When I played back the iPhone audio, it not only had narrower dynamic range, there was no clipping at all. Surprised at that, I loaded the audio from both devices into iZotope RX. I concluded that my iPhone 11 was actively applying processing during recording, including both limiting and compression. The phone produced a tamed down version of what I heard and the MixPre recorded. That isn’t a criticism.

I think that Apple would have to change its whole approach to iPhone audio if it implemented 32-bit as I’ve used the term above, and that over 99% of users would have no idea how to deal with it.

But maybe you’re talking about something else.

I would add that it is necessary to already implement 32-bit recording. The standard iPhone 15 pro Max app has this by default. This is also invaluable for quick filming, where many people want to use the standard stereo microphones from the iPhone 15 pro Max, which are good enough for many cases. Please - macro lens and 32 bit!

What do you mean by “32-bit recording”?

To the best of my knowledge, neither Apple’s app nor the Blackmagic Camera app offer that as a way to record audio that would otherwise clip. I also think that implementing that is something that Apple, not Blackmagic, would have to do. As far as I know, it requires hardware, not just firmware.

Apple takes a proactive approach to audio processing in its phones. I think that it makes the sensible assumption that most users don’t know anything about audio recording, and that its phones automatically process audio accordingly. Some time ago, I used an iPhone 11 Pro Max and a MixPre to simultaneously record NY subway trains. When I played back the iPhone audio, it not only had narrower dynamic range, there was no clipping at all. Surprised at that, I loaded the audio from both devices into iZotope RX. I concluded that my iPhone 11 was actively applying processing during recording, including both limiting and compression. The phone produced a tamed down version of what I heard and the MixPre recorded. That isn’t a criticism.

I think that Apple would have to change its whole approach to iPhone audio if it implemented 32-bit as I’ve used the term above, and that over 99% of users would have no idea how to deal with it.

But maybe you’re talking about something else.

I mean is when I record 4K video with sound in the standard camera application in the iPhone 15 pro Max, then in Davinci the stereo audio from the iPhone opens as 32 bit. That is, Davinci defines it as 32 bits
To my surprise, this stereo audio is very well recorded.

In other words, the iPhone 15 pro Max supports 32-bit recording in hardware. So Blackmagic must do it, no, it must do it as quickly as possible!

In my daily work I constantly work with MixPre 32 bit

I really like that for quick and easy shooting I can have very good quality stereo
I haven't compared the stereo from the Blackmagic Camera App to the iPhone camera app. But I would like to have such audio quality along with Log:)

In other words, the iPhone 15 pro Max supports 32-bit recording in hardware.

In my daily work I constantly work with MixPre 32 bit

I really like that for quick and easy shooting I can have very good quality stereo
I haven't compared the stereo from the Blackmagic Camera App to the iPhone camera app. But I would like to have such audio quality along with Log:)

There is no difference in sound quality between MixPre 24-bit and 32-bit float. The difference only affects the need to set levels. I have used MixPre 32-bit only rarely, but I’m not recording inferior stereo sound as a result. I just know how to set levels and I’m saving time.

I don’t believe that the iPhone 15 supports that functionality. If it did, you could easily create an iPhone audio recording whose waveform breaks 0dB but is recoverable. If you’ve seen that, or can create it, I and I’m sure others would be very interested in seeing a screen capture showing the clipped waveform and a screen capture showing the correction.

On your MixPe, 32-bit is an option. It’s necessary to take positive action to record in 32-bit rather than 24-bit. It doesn’t happen by default. There is no such option on an iPhone.

In other words, the iPhone 15 pro Max supports 32-bit recording in hardware.

In my daily work I constantly work with MixPre 32 bit

I really like that for quick and easy shooting I can have very good quality stereo
I haven't compared the stereo from the Blackmagic Camera App to the iPhone camera app. But I would like to have such audio quality along with Log:)

There is no difference in sound quality between MixPre 24-bit and 32-bit float. The difference only affects the need to set levels. I have used MixPre 32-bit only rarely, but I’m not recording inferior stereo sound as a result. I just know how to set levels and I’m saving time.

I don’t believe that the iPhone 15 supports that functionality. If it did, you could easily create an iPhone audio recording whose waveform breaks 0dB but is recoverable. If you’ve seen that, or can create it, I and I’m sure others would be very interested in seeing a screen capture showing the clipped waveform and a screen capture showing the correction.

On your MixPe, 32-bit is an option. It’s necessary to take positive action to record in 32-bit rather than 24-bit. It doesn’t happen by default. There is no such option on an iPhone.

What do you mean there is no such possibility? I uploaded a video from iPhone 15 pro Max to davinci and the audio track is listed as 32 bit
Check it out for yourself on your iPhone 15

In addition to setting the correct levels, there are many other important reasons why it makes sense to use 32 bits all the time.
And of course, most filming goes very quickly and no one wants to waste precious time worrying about 24-bit levels given that during recording there are many unexpected sound increases or jumps that need to be recorded correctly
This is especially true if you are both an operator and a sounds:)

What do you mean there is no such possibility? I uploaded a video from iPhone 15 pro Max to davinci and the audio track is listed as 32 bit
Check it out for yourself on your iPhone 15

I use Logic Pro and iZotope RX for audio. I don’t use DaVinci Resolve for audio and I have no idea what you’re seeing.

An iPhone does not record in 32-bit float, and 32-bit float stereo is not higher quality than 24-bit stereo.

From my perspective, it’s bad enough that people are routinely using 32-bit float to record audio without them also claiming that they are getting superior sound

Your belief that the Apple app stereo sound sounds better than the Blackmagic app stereo sound is not based on reality. It’s just something that you’ve convinced yourself of based on whatever you read in DaVinci Resolve and a misunderstanding of what 32-bit float is.

Evgenij,

This is 52 seconds of an hours long stereo recording that I made of a storm. It was made with a MixPre and is an example of what 32-bit float is for. I rarely use 32-bit float, but this is a good use case for it. This is the raw recording. It has not been altered in any way.

The waveform at the beginning represents a very loud thunderclap. Had I recorded the storm at 24-bit in anticipation of this kind of event, I would have set the recording level very low, resulting in low levels for the rest of the recording. Increasing those levels later would have resulted in the rest of the recording being somewhat noisy. I probably would have deleted all of it, and just kept this section and maybe a couple of others that also recorded thunder.

Instead, I decided to use 32-bit float and record at a higher level. As a consequence, and as you can see in the chart in the upper right, the sound recorded by the left mike clipped by almost 15dB, and by the right mike by over 8dB.

Because I used 32-bit float, the levels of the rest of the recording are fine, and the thunderclap can be brought down so that it doesn’t clip.

This can’t be done with iPhone 15 audio, regardless of what app one is using, and my decision to set up my MixPre to record at 32-bit float had nothing to do with the recording quality of the sound. I explain how I think iPhone audio works five posts up. I don’t know if it’s even possible to clip iPhone audio, not because it uses 32-bit float, but because I think that there’s an active limiter at work.

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