Blackmagic Camera App - General discussion and Releases

Connecting iPhone 12 to iPhone 16 Pro as a Monitor – Any Fix?

Hey everyone,

I’ve been troubleshooting for over a week now, trying to use my iPhone 12 as a monitor to control my iPhone 16 Pro. Both devices are updated to the latest software, and the app I’m using is also fully updated. I’ve enabled everything—Bluetooth, necessary permissions, and all that jazz—but I still can’t get them to connect.

Sometimes, the monitor pop-up doesn’t even appear to pair the devices. When I did manage to get both monitors open, it still said there was no device available to connect to.

Does anyone have any tips or solutions? I really need to be able to control my iPhone 16 Pro remotely while it’s mounted so I can see what I’m capturing.

Thanks in advance!

The Blackmagic Camera app v2.2 now mistakenly? displays the original low contrast LUT look on the display, only when you hit the record button (and returns to normal "Display LUT" after recordings stops) when you have the following settings enabled:

Apple Log - HDR enabled
Display LUT - enabled
LUT selection enabled (with custom LUT)
Record LUT to clip - enabled

This was never the case before and now means you cannot monitor exposure while recording a clip.
To be clear the "Display LUT" option works correctly when the BMC app is NOT recording, and only goes into "low contract" while recording!

[Peter Chamberlain]

The Blackmagic Camera app v2.2 now mistakenly? displays the original low contrast LUT look on the display, only when you hit the record button (and returns to normal "Display LUT" after recordings stops) when you have the following settings enabled:

Apple Log - HDR enabled
Display LUT - enabled
LUT selection enabled (with custom LUT)
Record LUT to clip - enabled

This was never the case before and now means you cannot monitor exposure while recording a clip.
To be clear the "Display LUT" option works correctly when the BMC app is NOT recording, and only goes into "low contract" while recording!

Are you using remote monitoring and control?
Which specific phone model?

It’s an iPhone 16 Pro Max and I’m not using the remote control option.
This was not how the app worked previously.
I need the LUT to be displayed so I can see what it will look like with the “burned-in” and not for it to show the Log low contrast display when recording.

[Rohit Singhal]

It’s an iPhone 16 Pro Max and I’m not using the remote control option.
This was not how the app worked previously.
I need the LUT to be displayed so I can see what it will look like with the “burned-in” and not for it to show the Log low contrast display when recording.

Hi Rob. Can you check if you are in 'standard' stabilization mode or others?
If you are on others, can you switch and see if it helps?

It’s an iPhone 16 Pro Max and I’m not using the remote control option.
This was not how the app worked previously.
I need the LUT to be displayed so I can see what it will look like with the “burned-in” and not for it to show the Log low contrast display when recording.

Hi Rob. Can you check if you are in 'standard' stabilization mode or others?
If you are on others, can you switch and see if it helps?

Thank you that solved the issue!
Standard stabilisation displays the LUT when recording!
I assume there is a reason this does not work in Cinematic Stabilisation?

I suppose ‘Cinematic’ is taking a lot of computing power, judging by those much higher VFR fluctuations in that mode.

Is this the right place for a bug report?

I noticed in working with version 2.3 today that saved presets do not affect Zebra monitoring settings. In googling I found a more than year old post from John Griffin mentioning this issue:

Been experimenting with 55 vs 1250 ISO by setting them as presets but irritatingly the zebras don't get saved in the preset file so you have to change them on the fly each time you adjust your ISO

Strangely, setting text for the Zebras are included in the .bmcpreset files but in my testing only "zebraEftOptionOn" has an effect when the preset is loaded.

}
},
"zebraEftMidGreyOption" : 0,
"zebraEftOptionOn" : true,
"zebraValue" : 95,
"zoomFactor" : 1
}

Also, in some of my presets the "zebraValue" is saved as a long integer, but still has not effect:
"zebraValue" : 94.62712771326002,

I'd be curious to know if anybody can reproduce this issue. Thanks!

Would like to submit some feedback for possibly the next update when filming on my iPhone 16 in full auto exposure the shutter will often drop below the recommended twice my frame rate so if filming in 24 frames a second it will drop below 1/48. Creating a little too much motion blur. And I can see that there’s clearly enough ISO that it could compensate for that. Wondering if there could be a setting in the future that in auto mode it won’t drop below a set shutter speed.

Hello all....

Hoping I'm in the right place to post a new post... Couldn't find any other way except "reply" to post...

I'm new to the camera app, running app version 2.3, IOS 18.4.1...I do long interviews, and the app crashes pretty consistently at around one hour and 15-20 minutes....

I've looked for resources for solutions, but have not found any so far... Could someone give some guidance???

[Peter Chamberlain]

Hello all....

Hoping I'm in the right place to post a new post... Couldn't find any other way except "reply" to post...

I'm new to the camera app, running app version 2.3, IOS 18.4.1...I do long interviews, and the app crashes pretty consistently at around one hour and 15-20 minutes....

I've looked for resources for solutions, but have not found any so far... Could someone give some guidance???

Are you recording to an external drive?
On which specific model phone?
Which specific codec, res and frame rate?
Are you using a LUT?

Have you tried lower frame rates? res?

Anyone else seeing this? On iPhone 15 Pro Max shooting Apple Log in ProRes 422HQ (though the format doesn’t seem to matter), exposure is locked—but if a bright light enters the frame during the first recording after launching the app, I see tone mapping and an exposure shift. If I stop recording and keep the app open, the issue doesn’t happen again. Only the first clip is affected. Restarting the app brings it back. My workaround: record a quick throwaway clip before the real shot to avoid it.

Hello all....

Hoping I'm in the right place to post a new post... Couldn't find any other way except "reply" to post...

I'm new to the camera app, running app version 2.3, IOS 18.4.1...I do long interviews, and the app crashes pretty consistently at around one hour and 15-20 minutes....

I've looked for resources for solutions, but have not found any so far... Could someone give some guidance???

Are you recording to an external drive?
On which specific model phone?
Which specific codec, res and frame rate?
Are you using a LUT?

Have you tried lower frame rates? res?

Hi Peter, thanks so much for responding, I'm a huge fan of Black Magic!!!

I'm using the app for multicam: 1 x iPad A16, 2 x iPhone 15pro's, 1 x iPhone 16pro max... The iPad is the controller, and is the one that crashes usually after 80-90 minutes, I do long interviews...

External drives: 2 x sdxc v60 - v90 cards, 1 x samsung ssd T7
Codec: HEVC
Res: 4K
FR: 30
LUT for display: Yes

I need 4k resolution for cutting if at all possible, so will start with a test on Thursday with 24fps and turning the display LUT off... Any other suggestions are welcome!

Also - I've seen some comments about "cache" - is that also an option?

[Peter Chamberlain]

Rodney. Besides frame rate, try with proxy recording off too.

Rodney. Besides frame rate, try with proxy recording off too.

Got it!

Rodney. Besides frame rate, try with proxy recording off too.

Got it!

Spent weekend testing.... Seems if I reduce everything I can I get reasonable stability:

Coidec - HEVC
Color - Rec709
FPS - 24
Res - 1080
log - off
proxies - off
LUT display - Off

Ran several 2hr+ tests with obj results... Disappointed I can't get 4K, which I need... but this setting seems to be
stable for long recordings...

Can you think of anything else - would love to get 4K back

RM

Rod, perfectly reasonable to expect to record 4K. But until that issue is solved, the Superscale 2x Enhanced option with light sharpening (in your DaVinci Resolve / Project Settings) is impressively good.

When I need to record 2K using the Fujinon Cine Zoom 20x B4 mount, I use the Superscale 2x Enhanced to also deliver 4K PQ 2020 to clients in addition to HD Rec.709. It matches well with my BMPCC4K 4K footage when both are set to Gen 4 Colour Science. No one has objected to the results.

Rod, perfectly reasonable to expect to record 4K. But until that issue is solved, the Superscale 2x Enhanced option with light sharpening (in your DaVinci Resolve / Project Settings) is impressively good.

When I need to record 2K using the Fujinon Cine Zoom 20x B4 mount, I use the Superscale 2x Enhanced to also deliver 4K PQ 2020 to clients in addition to HD Rec.709. It matches well with my BMPCC4K 4K footage when both are set to Gen 4 Colour Science. No one has objected to the results.

Wow! Very grateful for your response!!! As I know you understand I need the 4K to be able to push into interview shots - if it's like a fourth camera for me... In your opinion would I be able to push in as much as 50% and have enough apparent resolution to get away with it?

I would suggest you try it. If you’re limited to capturing in HD or 2K, you can use Superscale 2x Enhanced to create UHD or 4K respectively. You could leave your Image Scaling to Centre Crop and then set your deliverable resolution to HD or 2K which is essentially punching in 50% on selected cuts. Might take a little experimenting. When I do this it’s not on an individual cut but all the video from the 2K capture of the UM4.6K to match the 4K capture of the BMPCC4K. What I do is simple, but try doing this for an occasional punch-in of an interview.

One way that might work is using the Resolve / Edit / Transform function to zoom the X/Y axis on a cut 100%. That’s punching in for that cut from one camera. I just don’t know what happens internally but it might not be the same quality as using the Superscale 2x Enhanced function.

Give it a few tries and come back with the results you achieved.

I would suggest you try it. If you’re limited to capturing in HD or 2K, you can use Superscale 2x Enhanced to create UHD or 4K respectively. You could leave your Image Scaling to Centre Crop and then set your deliverable resolution to HD or 2K which is essentially punching in 50% on selected cuts. Might take a little experimenting. When I do this it’s not on an individual cut but all the video from the 2K capture of the UM4.6K to match the 4K capture of the BMPCC4K. What I do is simple, but try doing this for an occasional punch-in of an interview.

One way that might work is using the Resolve / Edit / Transform function to zoom the X/Y axis on a cut 100%. That’s punching in for that cut from one camera. I just don’t know what happens internally but it might not be the same quality as using the Superscale 2x Enhanced function.

Give it a few tries and come back with the results you achieved.

Thanks again Rick, I will do this although it will take a month or two to do and post. This is a part of a larger project I'm just starting to ramp up int - but when I get back to this part I will work with it and post - Thanks again...

Hi, all. I'm recording to an external drive on iPhone 16 Pro, Apple Log, in ProRes 422 HQ, 24 fps, and the battery life is only 1 hour and 40 minutes with a high level of overheating. I see some of you here have the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a 4,441 mAh battery, the iPhone 16 Pro has a 3,561 mAh battery.

I understood that after 5 hours of recording, an iPhone 15 Pro Max still had 10% battery left. Is this correct? Is it normal to only have 1 hour and 40 minutes with an iPhone 16 Pro? It could be a defective unit, so I'd like to hear your opinion. I still have time to change it for another iPhone or return it. I'm thinking about changing my iPhone 16 Pro for an iPhone Pro Max. I'm hoping someone can help me with this issue.

This new app Pearla claims to reccord "open gate" on iPhone. This would be nice in BM Camera App too.

Was interested in testing this out but....

What’s New in Blackmagic Camera for Android 2.2?
- Support for APV (Advanced Professional Video) codec on Android 16 and supported devices.

.. I'm not seeing the APV Option on a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Also could not find any list of the "supported devices" to double check the S25Ultra is included. Any suggestions?

I have a new Samsung S25+, was using the app just fine, however this latest update the app keeps crashing when trying to open. I cleared cache, uninstalled, reinstalled, tried a number of options to open the app properly, it simply keeps crashing with the latest update (v 2.2.0069).

the phone is properly and correctly updated on all software.

Anyone else experiencing the crash?

[/quote]

I have a new Samsung S25+, was using the app just fine, however this latest update the app keeps crashing when trying to open. I cleared cache, uninstalled, reinstalled, tried a number of options to open the app properly, it simply keeps crashing with the latest update (v 2.2.0069).

the phone is properly and correctly updated on all software.

Anyone else experiencing the crash?

The same thing happened to me. I had a Samsung S25+ and I returned it because I had the same problem as you when trying to open the app.

I bought an iPhone 16 Pro and now I can open the app but I can only record a maximum of 1h 40 minutes until the battery runs out. I don't think it's normal to have such a short battery life on an iPhone 16 Pro. I thought it was a faulty battery but seeing that the Blackmagic Camera app is giving more people problems I think it might be the app itself. I was talking about it a few posts above:

Hi, all. I'm recording to an external drive on iPhone 16 Pro, Apple Log, in ProRes 422 HQ, 24 fps, and the battery life is only 1 hour and 40 minutes with a high level of overheating. I see some of you here have the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with a 4,441 mAh battery, the iPhone 16 Pro has a 3,561 mAh battery.

I understood that after 5 hours of recording, an iPhone 15 Pro Max still had 10% battery left. Is this correct? Is it normal to only have 1 hour and 40 minutes with an iPhone 16 Pro? It could be a defective unit, so I'd like to hear your opinion. I still have time to change it for another iPhone or return it. I'm thinking about changing my iPhone 16 Pro for an iPhone Pro Max. I'm hoping someone can help me with this issue.

Does anyone know if it is possible to install an older version of the app? Aren't older versions archived somewhere? There is no better way to clear up any doubts.

[Peter Chamberlain]

Shannon, please update the the latest update