Blackmagic Camera App - Issues/Bugs

I just downloaded the Camera app on my iPhone 14 Pro and there seem to be some issues with the interface.

The most noticeable is overlapping of time recording indicator on other switches when phone is held horizontally. It also looks like not all icons are shown in the bottom right (at least I was expecting to see the cinematic clapper that could be seen when holding the phone upright).

Camera-app-horiz_small_2.jpg (66.39 KiB) Viewed 20500 times

When the phone is held in a vertical position, similar problems occur - some icons seem to extend beyond the screen.

Camera-app-vert_small.jpg (43.55 KiB) Viewed 20500 times

Is anyone else experiencing problems like this? Is it possible that some iPhone settings are affecting? I just tried to play with the text size but had no luck.

iPhone SE Gen 3 here, no problems, HUD looks like intended.

iPhone SE Gen 3 here, no problems, HUD looks like intended.

Thank you for reply. Have you any idea of what could be a problem?

Mine doesn't have the dynamic island zone and it has a different screen ratio.
Maybe it's a screen layout issue.

I'm seeing something similar on my iPhone 13 mini (screen resolution 2340 x 1080).

The user interface is slightly off-center in either portrait or landscape orientation.

I tried adjusting a few things in iPhone General settings that in my experience have messed up the UI of other apps (e.g. larger text size). But haven't found anything.

I think BMD just needs to update the app to deal with the plethora of slightly different aspect ratios that exist in the iPhone world.

BMD iPhone app on 13 mini screen3.jpg (98.45 KiB) Viewed 20394 times

Steve

I changed iso settings to manual , and now I can’t go back to auto iso… any idea how?

I couldn’t get my ISO to operate automatically in response to changes in illumination. I even Reset everything and then the ISO defaults to 1600 but doesn’t change regardless of illumination.

I took the BMCAMAP outside on a sunny day to compare it to Apple’s Camera app. The normal phone camera is f/1.8 and without using IRND filters on the phone, you really have to crank the ISO down and the shutter speed to very fast exposures to get an image without zebras (set to 95%} showing up for the BMCAMAP. The Apple Camera can use a shutter speed of 1/8000 sec! But that would make for a very uncomfortable video.

Indoors the BMCAMAP can function without IRND.

I seem to have worked it out.
If you go to Display & brightness then uncheck display Zoom.
That should fix it

That's what I found here in a very sunny Adelaide today. A small IRND to clip over the lenses would be a great accessory.

Steve

My iPhone 14 Pro still suffers somewhat from the Achilles heel of a lower dynamic range. Selecting an appropriate ND strength needs to choose between shadows too dark or highlights too bright. At least BMCAMAP has the false colour we are already familiar with to judge that.

And you can record in Rec.2020 rather than Rec.709 which I should try to see if it helps.

Edit
I can confirm Rec.2020 saves the day! Zebras went away that were strong in Rec.709 and P3 D65. So you can adjust the Rec.2020 video in post to save the highlights. I also tried recording in ProRes 4444 which might be a better codec if you’re planning to use Resolve. Long live ProRes, eh?

Interesting that Apple’s phone can’t do ProRes raw.

Hmmm... Looks like I found the reason...

My vision is no longer good, so initially I turned on enlarged text on my iPhone (Settings -> Display and Brightness -> Display Zoom -> Larger Text). This setting completely ruins the Camera App interface.

If you switch to Default, the interface works as it should.

Correct-Interface.jpg (76.32 KiB) Viewed 20207 times

It's such a pity that Blackmagic released a product that was not fully tested, even on the most popular iPhones among content makers today...

Thanks, Alexander! That's the fix for me, too, on the 13 mini.

I had tried changing Display & Brightness > Text Size but neglected to try Display Zoom, which I had set to "Larger Text" because, well, it's a 13 mini.

For those with the same issue, Display Zoom is at the bottom of the Display & Brightness page.

Steve

My iPhone 14 Pro still suffers somewhat from the Achilles heel of a lower dynamic range. Selecting an appropriate ND strength needs to choose between shadows too dark or highlights too bright. At least BMCAMAP has the false colour we are already familiar with to judge that.

And you can record in Rec.2020 rather than Rec.709 which I should try to see if it helps.

Edit
I can confirm Rec.2020 saves the day! Zebras went away that were strong in Rec.709 and P3 D65. So you can adjust the Rec.2020 video in post to save the highlights. I also tried recording in ProRes 4444 which might be a better codec if you’re planning to use Resolve. Long live ProRes, eh?

Interesting that Apple’s phone can’t do ProRes raw.

Unfortunately Apple lost the sue again Red about internal video raw recording.


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

New update today, v1.1.00029. The problem still not solved…

Thanks for this great little app! Considering it's new app, it’s pretty solid and I love it.

Two things I would love to see changed: Firstly when the phone is connected to the Mac, there is no way to offload the footage via lightning cable. I can see a folder named Media, but I can’t open it to offload the footage. So to be clear: If Media is set to "In-App Only" the App records to a folder that is visible in the finder, when the iPhone is connected to a Mac via cable, but I can't go into the folder and "see" the recordings. It would be great to be able to pull files off the iPhone without using iCloud or the iOS system Photo Library.

Secondly, the info superimposed on the image ( lens, shutter, fps etc.) are quite hard to read. Maybe an Outline or stronger shadow could help readability.

Florian, I am using the app PhotoSync to offload footage over WiFi.
You install their companion software onto your computer.

Then you can go into media of the BMD Camera app select all your footage and send those fikes directly over to PhotoSync to your computer. With the current Wifi technology this is super fast even for large files, like a few 100MB/s - many times faster than via lightning.

Robert, thanks for the tip. I’m confused by the apps I see as they all seem to have different developers. Are you using the Photosync Pro app dedicated to by BerliTec GmbH?

Robert, thanks for the tip. I’m confused by the apps I see as they all seem to have different developers. Are you using the Photosync Pro app dedicated to by BerliTec GmbH?

No, it is this one Rick:

https://www.photosync-app.com/de/index

Thanks Robert; by touchbyte GmbH.

Florian, I am using the app PhotoSync to offload footage over WiFi.
You install their companion software onto your computer.

Then you can go into media of the BMD Camera app select all your footage and send those fikes directly over to PhotoSync to your computer. With the current Wifi technology this is super fast even for large files, like a few 100MB/s - many times faster than via lightning.

Thanks for the tip, will check tat out!

Florian, I am using the app PhotoSync to offload footage over WiFi.
You install their companion software onto your computer.

Then you can go into media of the BMD Camera app select all your footage and send those fikes directly over to PhotoSync to your computer. With the current Wifi technology this is super fast even for large files, like a few 100MB/s - many times faster than via lightning.

Unfortunately this app does not solve my problem. For it to "see" the footage from the BMCApp I need to record into the iOS "photos" database, which is exactly what I don't want, because I got all my private stuff there in Photos, and I don't want to mix private with business. There is nothing stopping BM to open up that "Media" folder for users to pull out stuff. VLC does exactly the same, just for loading stuff onto the iPhone.

For the time being I need to export footage from BMCApp to the files app (let it synch the files to my desktop machine) and pull them out there.

Florian, there are two apps with almost the identical name. See this thread, post #4 and #5, to confirm you have the version that works properly.

Florian, I am using the app PhotoSync to offload footage over WiFi.
You install their companion software onto your computer.

Then you can go into media of the BMD Camera app select all your footage and send those fikes directly over to PhotoSync to your computer. With the current Wifi technology this is super fast even for large files, like a few 100MB/s - many times faster than via lightning.

Unfortunately this app does not solve my problem. For it to "see" the footage from the BMCApp I need to record into the iOS "photos" database, which is exactly what I don't want,

No, that is not necessary. Apps can send files to other apps. For syncing with PhotoSync you DO NOT go into PhotoSync. You do that from the BMD Camera app.
-> Camera App -> Media
-> tap the "Select Clips" icon (the one with the check mark)
-> select all the clips you want to sync
-> tap the "send to" icon (the one with the up arrow)
-> slide the app bar until you see the PhotoSync icon
-> select your sync destination

I just tried it with Save Clips to In-App only and with the above steps it works through PhotoSync

I feel really stupid right now, because the solution to my problem was staring me in the face and I did not see it: I record to "In-App Only" and then Airdrop the footage right onto my desktop-mac. Voilaá – no cloud services involved and I keep my iOS Photos database clean and tidy.

I feel really stupid right now, because the solution to my problem was staring me in the face and I did not see it: I record to "In-App Only" and then Airdrop the footage right onto my desktop-mac. Voilaá – no cloud services involved and I keep my iOS Photos database clean and tidy.

Yes, that is another possible way if you are on MacOS.
For PC users the PhotoSync way does the same. What I like is its ability to auto-sort the files into a time/date structure and by device.

Congratulations for this update!

Main old issue persist:

- false color is not working propperly with Log

New issues:

- Portuguese translation has some problems. How can I chose the language for UI? I’d prefer remain with English.

- Grids are always at 100%


Enviado do meu iPhone usando Tapatalk

Praise

A biiig step forward. Love it.
A few quirks remain, though, as described below.

Bugs
Version: 1.2.00076
iPhone 15 Pro with iOS 17.1

Flicker Free set to 50Hz
When flicker free shots is set to 50Hz:

1/50 sec without possible and always kosher in 50Hz environment (and usual 180 degree shutter).

33 correct.jpg (185.82 KiB) Viewed 19426 times

Should shutter speed be allowed to 1/33 sec in 25fps mode when 50Hz flicker free is selected (and 1/50s is obviously possible). Worse examples happen, but not catched as screendump. This example was fairly consistent, almost as if 1/33 sec was some kind of pre-programmed default state.

Mixed light scenario (LED and daylight).

ISO locked
When setting 1/50s speed and locking the speed, ISO stays locked

When shutter is locked ISO is also locked

ISO locked.jpg (179.19 KiB) Viewed 19426 times

Speed unlocked ISO stays locked
When 1/50s is unlocked (due to locked ISO), 1/33s is selected again, but the ISO periodically stays locked.

ISO periodically stays locked after unlocking speed

Speed not locked - ISO stays locked.jpg (184.87 KiB) Viewed 19426 times

Requests:

Stabilisation
Allow setting stabilization in Settings. It gets stored in presets, but...

Cinema P3 has an excellent option to show at least key preset data. Not usable here, but a way to quickly scan settings and quickly view stabilization state scrolling in settings, before saving a preset, would be most appreciated.

Presets
Add option for replacing an existing preset. It happens, when you spell correctly, but this is not always the case, when you test new settings on the move.

Regards, and remember to have a bit of fun every day.

Finally this problem is solved in version 1.2! Thank you Blackmagic for listening to your customers!

Yes need the false color fix when using it with apple log

[CaptainHook]

Hi, merged/moved a few posts to try make the various discussions a bit easier to track.

Please if possible use the following topics where it makes sense:

Blackmagic Camera App - General discussion and Releases
Blackmagic Camera App - Feature Requests
Blackmagic Camera App - Issues/Bugs

I have been experimenting with this app on iPhone 14 Pro and it holds a lot of promise. It is missing the ability to monitor your audio inputs via AirPods (both while recording and in standby)

I have considered a Lightning to 3.5mm cable adapter, but read in another post testing a few different adapters there's still no live audio out while recording (viewtopic.php?f=18&t=191576).

Additionally, in my setup (and I assume this would be pretty common for most iPhone creators) the lightning port is occupied by the bluetooth lav receiver and/or power cable, making a dedicated audio-out tricky.

I understand that Blackmagic isn't responsible for the iPhone only having a single dedicated I/O port, and also that the latency hurdles that would probably be involved with making wireless audio monitoring a possibility, however I'd even be willing to settle for delayed, low-quality wireless audio output to AirPods or similar wireless earbuds – something – versus having to wait until a clip is finished recording before I can assess the audio recorded on a take.

Hope this can make it into a future update! I remember on the OG BMPCC there was a time when you couldn't even format the cards in the camera, which was solved in a later firmware update, so I have hope!

Yo! Just connected my Nucleus Nano to the Blackmagic Camera app...am I supposed to be able to have access to Digital Zoom controls, too? Or am I only limited to Focus controls?

Are others experiencing "System Pressure Too High" messages because of overheating when recording 60 fps in 4K with ProRes, or is it my protective case? No problems in 24 or 30 fps.

[CaptainHook]

Not saying this will solve it, but having on overlays like focus peaking/histogram/etc while recording will push the performance of the phone. If there's any overlays/LUTs etc you think you can do without while recording you can try turning them off.

Aye, Captain, that advice was golden!
It works without overheating now at a room temperature of 27 degrees (scientific nomenclature), and even the battery use is a bit less.

BTW, I still had my protective case on it. My focus on use of the iPhone would be "the always with you and always ready" camera, so I'd rather like to keep it. Sure, you can rig it to the rim, but we have other cameras around for that. The only thing I'd like to carry with me is a clip-on ND.

Now I got to check how many overlays it tolerates, I'll report.

Edit:
Well, I didn't bother fine-tuning them. Without my protective case, I can run all the overlays at 60 fps ProRes 422 HQ and get no overheating. Who said that Titanium doesn't cool that thing? Of course, running iOS 17.1.1.
BTW, you'll fit only one hour 15 minutes on 1 TB, even a bit short of that. So, if you really need 60 fps, HEVC in log may be the better choice.

Not saying this will solve it, but having on overlays like focus peaking/histogram/etc while recording will push the performance of the phone. If there's any overlays/LUTs etc you think you can do without while recording you can try turning them off.

If you swipe up to remove all UI elements while recording, does this have the same effect? ie, reducing performance load?

Yes, swiping up does the same. And they’ll come back automatically when you stop recording.
A lot of thought went into that app!

Hi, ive searched the internet and i cant to find a solution.

I constantly get drop frame every time i record 4K60, Apple ProRes422LT 4k HDR onto SSD vis USBC
Tried multiple cables and multiple SSDs, specifically with SanDisk Extreme V2 (1050MB/s), SanDisk Extreme Pro V2 (2000MB/s), and even older ones SanDisk Extreme (500MB/s)
with different cables: Thunderbolt3, Thunderbolt4, USB C 3.2, USBC cable that the SSD came with. all no luck. it will record maybe for a minute or 2 but i get dropframe after 3 mins or longer. and the app became very slow and freeze.
Its very strange as i feel like im the only one encounter this issue.
ran speedtest on a mac and all were fast enough than apple's 4k spec https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212832

delete the app and re-download. restart phone all yield the same results.
using the native apple app to record ProRes60 seems to be fine on all the drives.
thanks for the help in advance.

Hardware info, Iphone 15 ProMax 512GB
current firmware ios 17.1.1 and latest Blackmagic Cam app 1.2.00076

Already in love with the app but I have no audio gain control while using Röde wireless go II mics. Is it bug or feature or am I doing something wrong?
Is there a way to monitor audio recording with Apple airpods? Couldnt get any audio to airpods while using Röde mics.

HWinfo: iPhone 15 pro, Röde wireless go II, Apple AirPods pro 2
iOS 17.0.3, BMD cam version 1.2.00076

@Will
I’ve seen dropped frames only once, and that was on an SSD which was nearly full and had seen a lot of use. Actually, after fresh formatting of it in the computer, even a T7 worked fine. No special cables here, just the ones Samsung is including with their SSDs.
My overheating issue at 60 fps went away when temporarily deactivating overlays (as per Captain Hook‘s advice) or taking the phone out of its protective case. But that’s quite a different thing.
So, you get dropped frames even on an empty and formatted SSD? Only at 60 fps? What format do you use? Mine is APFS.

I've tried to use the BM Camera App with my Tentacles and it never matches timecode correctly. I've tested by switching between various timecode options to make sure it's pulling off the Tentacle... and it is, but it's more than 15 frames off, both visually when I just look at the tentacle app timecode and the timecode being displayed in the Camera App. This has been consistent over multiple iPhones and connecting to multiple Sync-E and Record-E devices. Anyone having any success with this actually working?

On my system, VLC will only play h.265 iPhone log footage at about 15 fps.
Anyone successfully viewing at 30fps with VLC?
Or other software?

Playing even 60 fps in QT player. I’ll try VLC later, but it’s all a question of having the right hardware decoders.
Try H.264, I’d expect it to run smoothly.

Thanks, Uli. QT Player appears to be Mac-only software.

My iPhone 15 footage (so far) is all h.265. I really like both the image quality and the file sizes.

I'll keep looking for a player. It's nice to review footage, even off speed, without importing it into Resolve.

I'm afraid it's your hardware. I can play a 60 fps HEVC clip in UHD out of the iPhone 15 in VLC just fine, just like in all my other players, e. g. IINA, MPV and so on.

Can’t move the audio Gain slider below peak meters
(iphone 15promax, app v. 1.200076)

On my system, VLC will only play h.265 iPhone log footage at about 15 fps.
Anyone successfully viewing at 30fps with VLC?
Or other software?

You might consider raising this on the VLC forum: https://forum.videolan.org

Are others experiencing "System Pressure Too High" messages because of overheating when recording 60 fps in 4K with ProRes, or is it my protective case? No problems in 24 or 30 fps.

Tyler Stalman podcast discussed iPhone 15 accessories ...

Razer cooler ... a magsafe iPhone cooler ....

https://amzn.to/46S5Rh0

Maybe available in the future with the success of the BM Camera App

I tried the App for the 1st time but out of 5 clips 3 of them are unusable due to strange video recording. All looked perfect on the screen but when I get into the media tab within the App I get this view. Strange is that if I close the App for 0.1sec I can see the preview properly but then I get the wired and unusable output. Please help & fix !
I am on latest iOS and latest App version.

IMG_0473DC7F146A-1.jpeg (935.85 KiB) Viewed 17870 times