BMPCC H/W and S/W advice please

I have been asked to do a few small videos - an interview and some cooking demonstrations - not quite sure where this will lead to. I am new to video and in my search for suitable equipment etc I spotted the soon to be released BMPCC. Not sure if this was a good thing because now nothing else will do.

HARDWARE

I am looking at the 15” retina MacBook pro 2.4 or 2.7GHz with 16GB ram and 256, 512 or 768GB flash drive

With the BMPCC I thought of either 2 x 64GB or 2 x 128GB class 10 cards from SanDisk or Lexar

I will also add a Mic, some continuos lighting and a fluid head for my large tripod to complete the basic setup.

Do you think that this H/W setup will be OK to start with or have I missed something important?

SOFTWARE

Will I be able to use DaVinci Resolve Lite to do process all my video and audio files or do I need some extra S/W

Will I need FCPX or Premier Pro or any other S/W for my current basic needs

Thanks Walter

Hi Walter: Since we don't know yet how scarce the new BMPCC pocket camera will be once it starts shipping (supposedly by the end of July 2013), and especially if you haven't placed a pre-order for one yet:

Don't buy expensive accessories, hardware, and software for use with a camera you don't yet have in-hand. Get the camera first, then see if the manufacturer and early users recommend specific accessories, hardware, and software for use with it.

These days, you can buy accessories, hardware, and software from dealers in most major cities, or order it through the internet, and have it shipped to you overnight or in a few days relatively inexpensively.

That way, if you don't like an item, or determine it's incompatible with the camera, you can return the items for a full refund. <--- Another reason to only buy camera & computer gear from reputable dealers who allow for full refunds.

Note: The free "lite" version of Davinci Resolve is included with the BMPCC. It has many advanced features, especially for grading (color correcting) your footage, but for editing footage you'll want to use a video editing program. There are many good ones available. And, the next full (~$1K) version of Davinci Resolve will include many basic editing features, too.

Lots to think about, after you get your camera.

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Hi Peter

Thank you for your sound advice.
My research was partly to find out what I needed, knowledge and costing wise.
I didn't want to pre-order the camera and then find out that I couldn't afford the rest of the equipment to make it work.
W

Hi Peter

Thank you for your sound advice.
My research was partly to find out what I needed, knowledge and costing wise.
I didn't want to pre-order the camera and then find out that I couldn't afford the rest of the equipment to make it work.
W

You didn't mention anything about lenses. If you already have removable micro four-thirds lenses from Panasonic and Olympus, remember that the wide zooms they make rely on in-camera correction of lens distortion (barrel and pin cushion) which you won't have on the BMPCC. There are lenses of course that you can use that will be fine.

Lots of reading for you to do here as likely most of your questions will have been discussed.

Rick Lang
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Hi Rick

Good point! especially about losing the lens correction feature. I have a couple of Zeiss lenses for the long end but on the wide - normal end I'm still looking. W

Hi Rick

Good point! especially about losing the lens correction feature. I have a couple of Zeiss lenses for the long end but on the wide - normal end I'm still looking. W

It depends how wide you want to go but there is footage from John Brawley for which I believe he used the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 zoom. I wouldn't use it where there is an emphasis on architecture or building interiors with lots of building lines as the distortion can be significant, but it could work for your needs. Expressed in terms of the field of view of a full-frame 135 camera like the Canon 5D, that lens is like a 35mm to 101mm lens which might be perfect for your framing needs.

Rick Lang
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

It looks like a good lens and a good range for video except for the distortion at the wide end.
Sigma make a 10 - 20mm EX DC with wide distortion only seen in the very corners which would possibly be missed with the 9:16 video crop, but it is slow at f4 - 5.6
W

I have been asked to do a few small videos - an interview and some cooking demonstrations - not quite sure where this will lead to. I am new to video and in my search for suitable equipment etc I spotted the soon to be released BMPCC. Not sure if this was a good thing because now nothing else will do.

HARDWARE

I am looking at the 15” retina MacBook pro 2.4 or 2.7GHz with 16GB ram and 256, 512 or 768GB flash drive

With the BMPCC I thought of either 2 x 64GB or 2 x 128GB class 10 cards from SanDisk or Lexar

I will also add a Mic, some continuos lighting and a fluid head for my large tripod to complete the basic setup.

Do you think that this H/W setup will be OK to start with or have I missed something important?

SOFTWARE

Will I be able to use DaVinci Resolve Lite to do process all my video and audio files or do I need some extra S/W

Will I need FCPX or Premier Pro or any other S/W for my current basic needs

Thanks Walter

That computer and editing setup should be fine Walter.

As Peter said dont buy any SD cards yet. We have an idea of what might work, but no confirmation. Depends on whether you want to shoot ProRes or RAW.

In terms of mic remember you only have a 3.5mm socket. I've got a Rode VideoMic Pro I'll use with a hot shoe adaptor, or my Sennheiser wireless kit with a lapel.

Don't go overboard with the fluid head until you know the weight of your rig otherwise it'll be unusable.

You will probably want to look at some external storage or RAID storage. These will be big files that will add up fast.

Get Adobe Creative Cloud for editing, I've just switched and it is fantastic.

Hi Ryan

Thanks for the all the info.

The Rode mic and the BMPCC both have 3.5mm size connectors - could you give me more info on the hot shoe.

I imagine my rig will be minimalist with lenses ranging from ± 300g to 800g and have earmarked the Manfrotto 502HD video head for this. Do you think this be OK size wise.

Walter

Hi Ryan

Thanks for the all the info.

The Rode mic and the BMPCC both have 3.5mm size connectors - could you give me more info on the hot shoe.

I imagine my rig will be minimalist with lenses ranging from ± 300g to 800g and have earmarked the Manfrotto 502HD video head for this. Do you think this be OK size wise.

Walter

Took me ages to find something as simple as a hot shoe!

I've ordered:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/390516201200 ... 1497.l2649
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/390516200537 ... 1497.l2649

So 1/4" to 1/4" to hot shoe. Hopefully it works ok, and if it doesn't, I've lost $2.61.

Don't ask me about Manfrotto video heads - I've never used one I've liked. My Vinten is superb - easy to balance, beautiful fluid pans. I've used a Miller DS10 recently and didn't feel as smooth, and wasn't as easy to balance. There are a few Manfrotto video fans around though that can help.

Hi Ryan

Thanks for the added info. I had a look at Vinten - WOW! and I now understand what you mean about matching head to rig.

Hope your 'hot shoe' works out. If it faces the wrong way when you tighten it. try shimming it. W

Ryan:

I tried that for my hot shoe setup and could not get the mic pointing in the correct position. I ended up with a bracket similar to:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Camera-Flash-Br ... 2c7050ffe3

I was able to flip the screw around to the other side (mine actually has rubber on both sides for protection). I also like that I can mount the Rode Video Mic a little away from the fan. Hopefully more products will surface to better support mounting on a BMCC.

Took me ages to find something as simple as a hot shoe! ...

See also this "cold shoe":
http://woodencamera.corecommerce.com/1- ... -Shoe.html

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Thanks guys. That bracket looks good Mark.

Peter, I think you've just lost me for the day, going through all the Wooden website... Not sure if I should thank you or curse you!

... Peter, I think you've just lost me for the day, going through all the Wooden website... Not sure if I should thank you or curse you!

I've purchased the Wooden Camera BMCC Mini Baseplate, plus an extra one of their rod clamps, for my BMPC-4K when it eventually arrives (in the meantime, I've adapted it for use with other cams such as GH2 & FS100):
http://woodencamera.corecommerce.com/Bl ... e-BMC.html

I discuss this item and others on my blog:
http://herefortheweather.wordpress.com/ ... -thinking/

Worse come to worse, if the BMPC-4K sample videos (whenever they appear) look awful -- however unlikely -- I'll get a BMCC-MFT instead (oh, the horror!) ... both models of the BMCC are now available locally here off-the-shelf.

Cheers.

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