All about: Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2 (BMMSC 4K)

Edit: can I safely assume that camera control with uni-directional HDMI cables will not work?

They work fine, the camera control swims upstream through the CEC channel, not the fibre.

Good Luck

Edit: can I safely assume that camera control with uni-directional HDMI cables will not work?

of course not.... and further, be sure that you dont have a display/monitor or eg. hollyland mars transmitter in between... regardless if you try via wireless hdmi transmission, or just use the "hdmi out" of such devices will disconnect the return channel...

greets

Mike

By essence for the camera control, hdmi cables work as bidirectional, just be careful to use hdmi fiber if you need cable longer than 10 meters and in this case, hdmi fiber must be used in the right direction, look at the plugs they are identified as source or display.

FYI: I just received my portkeys LH5P-II for bluetooth control, but I have all issues in the world with two BMPCC 4Ks... so even _IF_ the new micro4K has bluetooth, this monitor will not make you happy controlling it... unless there is a fix...
see here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=193853

yes, I have the original Portkeys LH5P and similarily had no joy getting it to connect consistently via bluetooth to my pocket 4ks... very frustrating. I use it only as a wired monitor now but must admit i also hate the UI of the thing...

yes, the UI sucks totally... BUT: the 2200 nits are great... I didnt find a brighter 5" monitor so far...any suggestions?

yes, the UI sucks totally... BUT: the 2200 nits are great... I didnt find a brighter 5" monitor so far...any suggestions?

I have been using for a while the Feelworld LUT6 6 inch monitor which is 2600 nits. Very usable outdoors and I like its colors.

I see the Feelworld LUT 5 is 3000 nits (and cheap). I haven't used any of their products before but surely their UI can't be worse than the Portkeys? I am going to buy the Blackmagic Video Assist 5 inch as it is 2500 nits and enables me to record BRAW on the Lumix s5iiX which I purchased recently... so hopefully it should kill 2 birds with the one stone for me...

Looks like the micro studio 4k G2 is about to hit - my supplier says they expect it today - and I have a shipping notification from them. Can’t wait.

I'm so keen on the info about bluetooth... that's a dealbreaker...or a winner!

Thanks to some help from BMD, I can confirm 100% that the new cage is fully compatible with the G2. It’s available on my website (https://www.willvontagen.com/category/bmmcc), and a batch just went to Amazon’s warehouse as well and should be listed soon. Also—working now to get them on B&H. Feel free to ask me any questions


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I'm so keen on the info about bluetooth... that's a dealbreaker...or a winner!

The camera arrived with software version 8.4 - no sign of wifi or bluetooth ( I have not tried connecting a dongle via the usb ).
So far looks good - even at 24db gain the noise isn’t objectionable.
Will report any issues as I find them.

It's good to hear that they're finally shipping, just finished this prototype today. 30w of power via POE, ethernet to USBC, and BNC to micro BNC. Once I get the cam, I'll cut the cables to suit and make some final tweaks to the geometry.

I'd have preferred they made the body bigger, use full size BNC, and a dedicated RJ45 port. This thing really has a terrible design. With all the cables sticking out every which way it loses it's "micro" volume pretty quick.

Good Luck

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Good video showing an overview of the menu system:

I've got to say I'm feeling exceptionally disappointed in this camera. In so many of the IBC announcement interviews Blackmagic kept talking about this as if it weren't just a replacement for the BMMSC, but a hybrid replacement for both the BMMSC and the BMMCC. As an owner and huge fan of the original BMMCC this had me super excited. Initially when I read that this didn't have Bluetooth almost all my interest in the camera was lost, but then rumors in this forum post suggested that Blackmagic was going to include Bluetooth on the camera, which opened up the opportunity for a phone app to mimic the awesome interface of other Blackmagic cameras while maintaining a minimal box style body for all the flexibility of this type of form factor. Now it's been revealed that this micro wonder DOESN'T support Bluetooth and doesn't have the equivalent of the old expansion port. So instead of this being a hybrid camera like the URSA broadcast this truly is limited to studio purposes only unless one wanted to fidget with the front buttons. Frankly I'm disappointed in the missed opportunity of this camera. Even if SDI control is given so that a user could operate it using a Video Assist there is no LANC equivalent port so a hand-grip like the the one for the URSA, which I use on my existing BMMCC, can't be used. Bluetooth would have solved this problem as one could have simply added a bluetooth button to start and stop, but no. Now we're going to need a wired solution of some form. So what are our options? USB, well given most people will likely be using that for and external drive for BRAW recording, finding a wired solution is going to be far less optimal than LANC or the expansion port was. SDI seems like a limited option except when using it with an ATEM or potential a Video Assist, if that capability is ever added this time around. HDMI? All the information about using it has implied it would require SDI cross conversion using a Blackmagic HDMI to SDI converter box if that is even possible at all, and then we're back at the issue of how to control it in a field situation VIA SDI. So the one camera that had me super excited seems like a major let down. It's such a missed opportunity, and, in my opinion, would have expanded the user base of this camera significantly, as if we just look at the posts in this one thread it seems like the majority of us were after this very thing.

Is there a LP-E6 to np-f plate available for this camera?
Or better yet, an LP-E6 to micro v-mount adapter plater?

I recalled seeing a post a while back of such an adapter for lp-e6 to np-f but I doubt it was ever mass produced.

There was a guy, starvingartist101, that made an lp to np adapter. I don’t believe anyone is still making one.

viewtopic.php?t=56687

Good Luck

Mr CheesyCam made the original NPF mod for adapting NPF to LP-E6 on the micros, which is what the starvingartist101 adapter was based off of. While I can verify that the starvingartist101 adapter is no longer available, had to cancel my order after waiting over 6 months for one and multiple attempts to contact them, the original mode does function:

[Gary Adams]

To help clarify camera control over SDI and/or HDMI. The HDMI works like our newer Studio cameras where you can connect HDMI directly to an ATEM Mini or using the Bidirectional Micro Converters 3/12G for SDI ATEMs. The HDMI cable must support CEC (most do) in order for camera control and tally to work. For longer runs the fiber based cables will work. I hope this helps.

Gary

To help clarify camera control over SDI and/or HDMI. The HDMI works like our newer Studio cameras where you can connect HDMI directly to an ATEM Mini or using the Bidirectional Micro Converters 3/12G for SDI ATEMs. The HDMI cable must support CEC (most do) in order for camera control and tally to work. For longer runs the fiber based cables will work. I hope this helps.

Gary

Personally I was not interested in this camera from a pure studio perspective. While I understand there is a market for that use, I think the majority of people here were looking forward to a replacement to what the original Micros were. This new micro is far more limited in scope as it stands, and that's unfortunate when it has almost everything many people have been looking for in a new Blackmagic camera. My new focus is on when the true replacement for the Micro cinema camera comes out, or should I give it the name micro broadcast camera so that we don't get lost in trying to limit it's scope there by reducing it's audience. Having a camera equivalent to this, but with the ability to use it as either a studio camera or a camera that can be customized to a field rig is far more important to me than any of the current offerings from Blackmagic. I use my Micro Cinema camera in all kinds of situations because it is so small, flexible, and honestly it offered better performance than the original pocket with 60fps compressed slow motion, and fits far better on most gimbals. I very much wanted this micro studio to be a hybrid successor to both the old cameras, but it seems far to limited in scope as it currently stands. Could it be fixed, yes, but Bluetooth would have solved 99% of the cameras current limitations and would have been a far more acceptable replacement to the majority of what most people did with the old expansion port. I want control of the camera the way I need it. If you can produce a interface that does that then perhaps this camera has a place for me, but currently this camera is a disappointment due to this limitation, and sadly I think the lack of user control is going to drastically reduce the sales of this. Why? For $300 more I could get either the pocket 4k or the studio camera 4k plus, which, as far as I can tell, can do just about everything this can do, with the exception of SDI and form factor, and in most cases more. The previous micros could do things the pocket couldn't including their form factor, and that's why I just don't see this hitting the market that craves this form factor as well as it could have. Again I want something like this, but what this is is not what I want.

For longer runs the fiber based cables will work. I hope this helps.

Thanks Gary, and Howard, Michael and Jerome for confirming this. My question indeed was about HDMI over fiber. I thought it had some limitations, but don't remember which. Happily not the camera control over the CEC channel. Really looking forward to delivery.

@Bill Young: I think this camera is not for you. For our needs (studio), it seems to be perfect.

Hi everybody!
finally, I've received the micro, and it's nice and small.... I'm verrrry unhappy about the missing Bluetooth, since its a little fiddely to use the buttons...

The Samsung T5 works perfectly, but for compactness' sake, I've also bought a Samsung USB-Stick, USB-C, 256 GB, 400 MB/s read, 110 MB/s write, which allowed me now BRAW 1:5 for over an hour with 25fps!

FYI, SDI gets realy (!!) hot

I hope that some Blackmagic Guys are reading this:

* when entering the menu with SET, it always starts with the upper left (Zebra), then I click over to GAIN and hit SET again, to see my changes... I exit with MENU button. When I enter the menu again, it starts with Zebra again... PLEASE make it remember the last position, eg. the GAIN menu position
* when using MENU for the deep menu, please make the menu items wrap around... currently, it stops at Slate or Record, and it should wrap over! this makes it even more tedious to handle...
* when not in any menu, make the UP/DOWN arrows either assignable function keys, or let them set the last menu entry (like gain up/down)

greets
Mike

Here’s some footage

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I've added one more item to the above wishlist:
* when not in any menu, make the UP/DOWN arrows either assignable function keys, or let them set the last menu entry (like gain up/down)

Hi all. Finally got my G2 today. Any recommendations on cables/adapters for the micro-BNC 12G SDI? Ideally I would like a right-angle micro M to standard F, as I'll be connecting a long standard BNC/SDI cable into my Decklink 8K, but non-right-angle would also work.

I've added one more item to the above wishlist:
* when not in any menu, make the UP/DOWN arrows either assignable function keys, or let them set the last menu entry (like gain up/down)

That would be great, actually.

I want to see Blackmagic implement this menu system in all the cameras so the cameras can use a small LCD screen or use a touchscreen.

I want to see Blackmagic implement this menu system in all the cameras so the cameras can use a small LCD screen or use a touchscreen.

no, I dont care about that menu system.. I want to have bluetooth as in the pocket4ks and a good android app to configure all my cameras that way...

greets
Mike

I want to see Blackmagic implement this menu system in all the cameras so the cameras can use a small LCD screen or use a touchscreen.

no, I dont care about that menu system.. I want to have bluetooth as in the pocket4ks and a good android app to configure all my cameras that way...

greets
Mike

It doesn't seem like you have used this new one.

It doesn't seem like you have used this new one.

yes, I did I already have mine and did some first takes... it's nice, but fiddely with the keys... it works. but only when you have it in direct reach...

Have anyone tried to use Ethernet with USB C drive.

What adapters supported?

Couldn’t fine in the new manual. Or is there supported devices list somewhere?


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another feature request: "quick format"
when I want to format my disk, the firmware should first look at the partition type and offer a "quick format" with a pre-selected exFAT or MacOS... currently, I have to click even more, allthough it's easy to detect, that I have exFAT and just want to clean it up.

regards
Mike

So I've been using the Micro Studio G2 quite intensively these past weeks, here are my takeaways.

- It's an amazing camera and one of the best ones Blackmagic ever built.
- Same image processing / sensor as Pocket 4K
- Does not overheat
- Battery lasts 60-70 minutes

Drawbacks :

- No bluetooth chip (biggest drawback) , a bit sad Blackmagic kept the 4 button menu system which was already very inconvenient. A workaround could be to offer settings change using USB with the Camera Setup app (like ATEM Camera ID for instance)
- False Colors / Status Text / Zebra, etc can ONLY be set on the HDMI, that's quite a bummer. I don't understand why SDI is forced to Clean Feed. It was super practical to toggle Status Text / Zebra / False Colors remotely.
- Status Text cannot be toggled on and off over HDMI , as opposed to all other BM cameras
- No ProRes recording

Apart from that it's for sure a killer camera and way way better than the G1 !

- Status Text cannot be toggled on and off over HDMI , as opposed to all other BM cameras

Mine has that option under the Monitor settings.

Yes you can do that with the camera buttons, but you can’t turn it on and off through the Blackmagic SDK like the other cameras . That is quite specific though.

I am planning to order some custom 12G 90* HDBNC male to straight BNC female cables and have them available for users to purchase. Anything under 50cm in length is a steep price hike on production since they must be hand made at that point.

I was originally going to have them be 10cm pigtails, but maybe longer is better since they can be tied somewhere to take the load off the connection. So I thought I would check here and see what the needs really are. Would 10cm long be best for your needs? Or 50cm? Or does it not matter to you?

Thanks!
Will


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Is the record resolution UHD or C4K?

The specs page says UHD, but then it also goes on to say sensor is 4096x2160

I already play around with the G2, and its definitely UHD, 3840x2160...no other resolution selectable... no crop sensor... fixed UHD

Have anyone tried to use Ethernet with USB C drive.

What adapters supported?

Couldn’t fine in the new manual. Or is there supported devices list somewhere?


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I recently used an UNI ethernet/USB adapter to Cfast2.0 card reader and successfully recorded 30 minutes of Q0 all the while sending Rest commands over ethernet. I guess they all work until they don't.

Good Luck

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Is the record resolution UHD or C4K?

The specs page says UHD, but then it also goes on to say sensor is 4096x2160

UHD 4k

It's a shame the resolution is limited to UHD.

Whilst I understand this is geared as a "live studio" style camera, additional resolutions and aspect ratios would have been great.

Can I get a lens for this camera that allows me to remotely control zoom over HDMI via ATEM? I'm assuming color correction etc is also available for control via ATEM. I'm looking to upgrade from multiple iPhones to BlackMagic cameras, primarily to be able to remote zoom from ATEM. Thanks!

Yes you can do that with the camera buttons, but you can’t turn it on and off through the Blackmagic SDK like the other cameras . That is quite specific though.

I also realized that the REST API very limited. I normally would expect that all options available through the "On Screen Menu" are also available via API.

Can I get a lens for this camera that allows me to remotely control zoom over HDMI via ATEM? I'm assuming color correction etc is also available for control via ATEM. I'm looking to upgrade from multiple iPhones to BlackMagic cameras, primarily to be able to remote zoom from ATEM. Thanks!

The manual has a list of 4 lenses for that. Also the support web page has a Readme that adds a couple of Canon EF mount lenses that will also work using the BM speedbooster.

Yes you can do that with the camera buttons, but you can’t turn it on and off through the Blackmagic SDK like the other cameras . That is quite specific though.

I also realized that the REST API very limited. I normally would expect that all options available through the "On Screen Menu" are also available via API.

I found out, that I can "change" the monitor settings remotely using Presets. So now I have one preset with "Monitor" and "Zebra" set on, a different one with those settings switched off. Using the REST API I can remote toggle the settings.

Unfortunately a profile contains more or less all parameters, so changing a profile is directly impacting all other camera parameters.

I've now also tried the uni USB C Ethernet Adapter (https://amzn.to/3ugRrZL)
It seems to work, my SSD-Drive is detected, I can record AND I got an IP Address via DHCP (it's even shown in the menu then...).
NTP did update the BMMSC4K internal time. Nice.

Now comes the strange part: how can I connect and get the stored clips?
The webbrowser with this IP only shows an error, ftp doesnt work, SMB does neither...
but I can ping the device...

any ideas?

I've now also tried the uni USB C Ethernet Adapter (https://amzn.to/3ugRrZL)
Now comes the strange part: how can I connect and get the stored clips?
The webbrowser with this IP only shows an error, ftp doesnt work, SMB does neither...
but I can ping the device...

Have you enabled these in the setup tool? They defaulted to disabled for me

@Julusian: I dont find anything in the setup regarding HTTP/FTP/SMB?

I ran an "nmap" against it, here are some important facts:

The OperatingSystem calls itself "Micro-Studio-Camera-4K-G2.fritz.box"
Open ports are 80,443,5357... so it definitely runs a webserver, but I dont know the exact path to the URL. An FTP or SMB server is not active yet, and in the camera menu, there's nothing to configure... I assume, that would happen on the web page, if I could access it correctly

Now comes the strange part: how can I connect and get the stored clips?
The webbrowser with this IP only shows an error, ftp doesnt work, SMB does neither...
but I can ping the device...

Mac or PC? I can mount the folder through finder ⌘K or browser, both ftp and smb, the only thing that doesn't work on Mac is ftp on Safari, ftp works on Chrome.

Did you run the camera setup utility? The correct ftp/smb paths (which need to be enabled) are;

DHCP
ftp://yourcameraname.local
smb://yourcameraname.local

Fixed (example)
ftp://192.168.0.101
smb://192.168.0.101

Good Luck