Speedbooster Pocket also for Pocket 4k?

Hello,

I own the original Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera (1080), together with a Metabones Speed Booster "special edition" for this model, which protrudes further into the housing than a usual MFT adapter.

My old BMPCC is now defective, and so I'd like to replace it with the current Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. Yes, there's a newer speed booster for the 4K BMPCC, but I would like to avoid buying another one if possible.

Can I use my old BMPCC Speed Booster with the new camera?

Thank you,
Andreas

I'm talking from memory so take it with a pinch of salt.

I think it fits but I also vaguely remember it vignettes a lot.

I'm currently using a Viltrox EF-M1 (the one without optics) to run EF glass on the Pocket 4K. Not the greatest adapter (wished there were some non expensive locked ones) but it does the job.

The original SpeedBooster is designed to produce an image circle to cover the smaller sensor of the BMPCC that has a crop of 2.88x. The newer BMPCC4K camera has a larger sensor with a crop of about 1.9x. So it will ‘porthole’ your image.

Thank you, that clears up a lot.

You can use the 0.58x BMPCC Speed Booster on the BMPCC 4K. It mentions N/A**, can be mounted, but does not cover the full sensor, on the Metabones website's grid.

https://www.metabones.com/a/compatibility

Generally, it won't vignette on the 2.6K S16 and HD sensor area options. Old reviews of the camera may not mention these options. This includes the Metabones grid on their website, since they only list 1.43x and 1.29x, not the 1.75x crop factors. This is because the 2.6K sensor option was introduced in a late 2019 firmware update, and not available in the 2018 introduction of the BMPCC 4K.

A used Metabones BMPCC 0.58x Speed Booster can be a real bargain compared to an XL or an Ultra, if you don't mind avoiding the full 4K sensor. It may be sharper than a Viltrox, or other MFT focal reducer at infinity, since it is not designed for an OLPF filter, and mounts closer to the sensor.

However, it will work in the S16 crop mode on the current “Pocket Cinema” 4K camera version, and it will cover the sensor in the S16 crop mode nicely. But as previously stated, it will not cover the sensor in full frame mode.
I used the original 0.58 SB on my camera and had no issues.
Cheers

Good point, folks. I was only thinking about the open gate recording, but I agree of course, the smaller windows work. The ‘crop’ of the Super 16 window, 2688x1512, is 2.89x so it can work with a possibility of some vignetting, but manageable. Since you already have the SpeedBooster, let us know your experience with it on the BMPCC4K.

I tried using the original BMPCC SB with the Pocket 4K camera, after the S16 crop window became available Rick, and it works, no vignetting.
Cheers

Thanks for the confirmation, Denny. I often shoot Super 16 2688x1513 when delivering 1920x1080 as that can give improved detail and colour in DaVinci Resolve compared to recording 1920x1080 in camera. Or gives me lots of room for reframing to get a better composition.

Thank you all for this really helpful information.

The main problem with the Non-PCC4k-Speedbooster models is that the PCC4k has a different sensor glass thickness and you will get quite some blurry edges with wide angle lenses or depending on the lens no sharp infinity focus at all.