Introducing Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

I read all these posts and I am still more at begin.

Just wanted one wide motorised silent prime lens for steady cam or slider with LANC control. Olympus looked like a good choice.

Hello all,

I'm new to video like I said in a previous post, but I've used m4/3 mirrorless cameras for still photography for a while now. Since I already have a good lens collection and am dabbling in video I'm keen to get the Pocket Cinema Camera.

I'm wondering if there is an Electronic Viewfinder available that will plug into the camera's HDMI socket. I'm aware of external portable monitors but those are both bulkier than what I'm thinking of and probably as hard to view in bright sunlight as the camera's own built-in monitor. I find a viewfinder that you can put your eye right up against indispensable in bright sunlight. And no, I'm not thinking of a bulky, awkward loupe to strap to the camera's back. Olympus has recently introduced an excellent high resolution clip-on electronic viewfinder for their Pen series cameras, the VF-4. Something like that would be great.

Does anyone have solutions?

They exist, but they're pretty big and bulky (and expensive).

Cineroid, Zacuto and Alphatron are some of the more popular ones. Check them out and you'll see what I mean about bulk - nothing like those Olympus ones.

Hello all,

I'm new to video like I said in a previous post, but I've used m4/3 mirrorless cameras for still photography for a while now. Since I already have a good lens collection and am dabbling in video I'm keen to get the Pocket Cinema Camera.

I'm wondering if there is an Electronic Viewfinder available that will plug into the camera's HDMI socket. I'm aware of external portable monitors but those are both bulkier than what I'm thinking of and probably as hard to view in bright sunlight as the camera's own built-in monitor. I find a viewfinder that you can put your eye right up against indispensable in bright sunlight. And no, I'm not thinking of a bulky, awkward loupe to strap to the camera's back. Olympus has recently introduced an excellent high resolution clip-on electronic viewfinder for their Pen series cameras, the VF-4. Something like that would be great.

Does anyone have solutions?

They exist, but they're pretty big and bulky (and expensive).

Cineroid, Zacuto and Alphatron are some of the more popular ones. Check them out and you'll see what I mean about bulk - nothing like those Olympus ones.

Yes, you're right. I've just checked out some of those and they certainly seem to be designed for larger cameras than the Pocket Cinema Camera. Perhaps some enterprising company will make a nifty adapter in the future that will allow the use of the Olympus EVF on the BMPCC. Thanks.

Yes, you're right. I've just checked out some of those and they certainly seem to be designed for larger cameras than the Pocket Cinema Camera. Perhaps some enterprising company will make a nifty adapter in the future that will allow the use of the Olympus EVF on the BMPCC. Thanks.

Doesn't the Olympus connect via something in the top? Any smaller solution for the Pocket Cam will have to go via HDMI, so the cable will make it bulkier and less elegant.

Yes, you're right. I've just checked out some of those and they certainly seem to be designed for larger cameras than the Pocket Cinema Camera. Perhaps some enterprising company will make a nifty adapter in the future that will allow the use of the Olympus EVF on the BMPCC. Thanks.

Doesn't the Olympus connect via something in the top? Any smaller solution for the Pocket Cam will have to go via HDMI, so the cable will make it bulkier and less elegant.

Yes the Olympus EVF slides into the camera's accessory shoe and connects via a socket just below that on the camera's back. Any possible future adapter for the BMPCC would probably have to screw onto the top thread of the camera and incorporate both the accessory shoe and socket. In addition it would probably have a short cable that plugs into the camera's HDMI socket and a battery to power the EVF.

Not the most elegant of accessories but depending on the design probably still less bulky than other alternatives.

Since the HDMI output is switchable between 'clean' and 'overlay' (I wonder if it would also show peaking and focus assist and all that when overlay is on?), perhaps a pair of spectacles with OLED display like the ZEISS Cinemizer could work quite well also.

That would look rather out of this world, though. Needs getting used to. But you could attach a necklace to your OLED spectacles and leave it hanging on your chest when not in use. Reports say that quality of these OLED displays are pretty good (although resolution is only 870 x 500 px), and you would have no distraction from sunlight. Just don't don't forget to take them off when trying to walk around to change location ...

Not cheap though at around 600$, but neither are regular EVF.

Can this active Canon EF adapter work with pocket Camera?


http://store.redrockmicro.com/Catalog/L ... ivelensmft

Reports say that quality of these OLED displays are pretty good (although resolution is only 870 x 500 px)

If I'm not mistaken, that's about the same resolution as the backside display - so it's not that low either...

Just been on the phone to CVP the UK Blackmagic resellers who said that they still have no idea when the cameras are going to ship and that Blackmagic have been very sheepish with their answers. They said that if Blackmagic do fulfil their promise of shipping in July that they don't expect it to be much more than 1 here and there. I really do hope they have learned their lesson this time, as not shipping in mass quantities in July will be seriously damaging to the companies already damaged reputation. Lets hope!

Can this active Canon EF adapter work with pocket Camera?


http://store.redrockmicro.com/Catalog/L ... ivelensmft

Yes, but I was told it's more affordable to get Nikon G versions of lenses that don't have manual aperture so that you can control it mechanically with an adapter.

Just been on the phone to CVP the UK Blackmagic resellers who said that they still have no idea when the cameras are going to ship and that Blackmagic have been very sheepish with their answers. They said that if Blackmagic do fulfil their promise of shipping in July that they don't expect it to be much more than 1 here and there. I really do hope they have learned their lesson this time, as not shipping in mass quantities in July will be seriously damaging to the companies already damaged reputation. Lets hope!

That would definitely compromse their reputation, yes.

I also spoke with one of the resellers here in the USA and they haven't heard anything about receiving the BMPCC either. They are expecting a delay and potential refunds

Amazing! No news about a product that isn't available nor is it due yet, that's astounding. [/sarcasm]

The Product was due July, 1st.

The noninformation is disappointing.

My dealer, where I ordered the BMCC a year ago called today, that the cam for me would be ready for shipping.

A company valueing the customer would have stated at least something on July 1 st or 2 nd.

The Product was due July, 1st.

I think they've been saying more like the 25th, not the 1st. At least that's what the folks at the DVEStore have been passing on, and that was from the outset. That means that BMD isn't late (yet).

A company valueing the customer would have stated at least something on July 1 st or 2 nd.

They're not very good at PR, but they aren't actually late yet.

The Product was due July, 1st.

The noninformation is disappointing.

A company valueing the customer would have stated at least something on July 1 st or 2 nd.

Your misinformation is disappointing. Who actually told you the camera would be available on July 1st?!

Cool thing, making up alleged promises (which BM never gave) and then ranting about your dreams not coming true... come on, have a little faith! You can start whining august come.

If they intended to ship from July 25th - given the history - it would have been wiser to state "Shipping August" and risk to ship 3 days in advance.

Since they still state "Shipping July", any customer would think they are shipping right now.

We we are all human, but this is far beyond not being good at PR.

After all the personal stuff with the sensorglasses of the BMCC with a detailed explanation what the problem is, it is not understandable - neither from a professional standpoint, nor from a personal one - that there is zero communication on this topic to a peer group, that supports a company like BMD despite the more than disastrous start of the BMCC.

Your misinformation is disappointing. Who actually told you the camera would be available on July 1st?!

Cool thing, making up alleged promises (which BM never gave) and then ranting about your dreams not coming true... come on, have a little faith! You can start whining august come.

I am not ranting. And not whining. I am complaining. If you are unaware of the difference, please educate yourself.

"Mr. MacJaeger, this penthouse will be available for you in July!"
"GREAT! When exactly?"
"....."
"Hello?"
"....."
"Mr. Real Estate Man, you are standing right in front of me. When exactly?"
"....."
Neighbour comes in "Mrs. Stewart from 3rd floor heard it will be July, 25th."
"Is this correct, Mr. Real Estate?"
"....."


It is a surreal situation. It is not the cold war. No spy has to die to get a crucial information from a country far, far away.

All it would take, would be a one-liner in their own forum or their own website.

Not communicating is rude behaviour in most countries of the world.
Unworthy for a company that cares for its customers.

Not communicating is rude behaviour in most countries of the world.
Unworthy for a company that cares for its customers.

I agree and have said so in the past, but at least this time it's you who missed the memo. July 25th has been a well-established target ship date for a while now, and it's what most of the resellers have been listing. The ones who have been saying something else have been saying August.

Not communicating is rude behaviour in most countries of the world.
Unworthy for a company that cares for its customers.

I agree and have said so in the past, but at least this time it's you who missed the memo. July 25th has been a well-established target ship date for a while now, and it's what most of the resellers have been listing. The ones who have been saying something else have been saying August.

I'm sorry that there have been some misunderstandings about the ship date. To my knowledge, we have always simply stated "Shipping in July" without giving any specific date, whether it be the 1st or 25th. The engineering team still sounds confident that cameras will ship before the end of July.

Not communicating is rude behaviour in most countries of the world.
Unworthy for a company that cares for its customers.

I agree and have said so in the past, but at least this time it's you who missed the memo. July 25th has been a well-established target ship date for a while now, and it's what most of the resellers have been listing. The ones who have been saying something else have been saying August.

I'm sorry that there have been some misunderstandings about the ship date. To my knowledge, we have always simply stated "Shipping in July" without giving any specific date, whether it be the 1st or 25th. The engineering team still sounds confident that cameras will ship before the end of July.

Can we expect any announcements soon about when it will be shipping, or should I just continue checking the website every day? it would be nice if everyone who has pre ordered we're given some communication.

Not communicating is rude behaviour in most countries of the world.

Not reading the information available, on their website and in this forum, is just as rude. And not educating yourself about the point you're going to rant about, well... i better say no more.

Can we expect any announcements soon about when it will be shipping, or should I just continue checking the website every day? it would be nice if everyone who has pre ordered we're given some communication.

We don't typically give an official "update" unless we have news to share. The plan is still to ship in July, so nothing new to share at the moment.

Can we expect any announcements soon about when it will be shipping, or should I just continue checking the website every day? it would be nice if everyone who has pre ordered we're given some communication.

We don't typically give an official "update" unless we have news to share. The plan is still to ship in July, so nothing new to share at the moment.

Thanks for the reply Christine, can we have any confidence in the amount of cameras planning to be shipped at the end of the month? If it ends up only shipping 10 units in July, you guys might be responsible for world wide riots lol.

Thanks for the reply Christine, can we have any confidence in the amount of cameras planning to be shipped at the end of the month? If it ends up only shipping 10 units in July, you guys might be responsible for world wide riots lol.

I have a feeling that it's not going to matter; as far as I can tell there's a lot more demand for the Pocket than there was for the 2.5K model, and you saw how backed up that queue was!

My guess is that even on the off chance that BMD hits the ground running with shipping these little beasties, it's going to take at least a month or two make even a dent in demand for them... unless it turns out that they can't do raw on SD cards, in which case there probably WILL be riots.

I'm hoping for raw, because the Pocket is a much better option for backpacking and mountaineering than the 2.5K or 4K models!

Thanks for the reply Christine, can we have any confidence in the amount of cameras planning to be shipped at the end of the month? If it ends up only shipping 10 units in July, you guys might be responsible for world wide riots lol.

I have a feeling that it's not going to matter; as far as I can tell there's a lot more demand for the Pocket than there was for the 2.5K model, and you saw how backed up that queue was!

My guess is that even on the off chance that BMD hits the ground running with shipping these little beasties, it's going to take at least a month or two make even a dent in demand for them... unless it turns out that they can't do raw on SD cards, in which case there probably WILL be riots.

I'm hoping for raw, because the Pocket is a much better option for backpacking and mountaineering than the 2.5K or 4K models!

I pre ordered the morning of the NAB announcement so hopefully I wont be months behind, but I am in the UK and we all know how few cameras they send to europe so it may not matter how soon I pre ordered.

We don't typically give an official "update" unless we have news to share. The plan is still to ship in July, so nothing new to share at the moment.

A policy BMD should reconsider Christine, judging by your own forums.

A blog would be great. JB does a good job at providing this for products he is testing, and occasionally Grant comes on here, but an official BMD blog would go a long way to communicating with what seem like a pretty dedicated audience.

We don't typically give an official "update" unless we have news to share. The plan is still to ship in July, so nothing new to share at the moment.

A policy BMD should reconsider Christine, judging by your own forums.

A blog would be great. JB does a good job at providing this for products he is testing, and occasionally Grant comes on here, but an official BMD blog would go a long way to communicating with what seem like a pretty dedicated audience.

I agree, some more communication with the BM fans and customers would go a long way towards helping them feel respected for pre ordering BM products and would just improve public relations as a whole.

So you'd like a stream of posts saying "Still on schedule" for 3 months before expected release?

So you'd like a stream of posts saying "Still on schedule" for 3 months before expected release?

Personally, I would find that much more positive than an unannounced and l8er than reasonable expectations upd8 that apologizes for another delay.

...and a pox on the house of whoever is first to call that a whine.

Any idea when a list of qualified SD cards will be available? Already bought batteries but am holding off on the card.

So you'd like a stream of posts saying "Still on schedule" for 3 months before expected release?

That's not what others do Jace, and not what I'm thinking.

Updates on JBs tests, his Vimeo vids, similar to what he's posted I guess.

The number of products BMD have on the go, being used by awesome creatives to do interesting things, I'd read that. Doesn't have to be all about one product being on schedule.

Could even get testers to write guest blog posts. Could be a great way to communicate to current customers progress and depth of product range. Might even be able to cross sell product, who knows!

So you'd like a stream of posts saying "Still on schedule" for 3 months before expected release?

That's not what others do Jace, and not what I'm thinking.

Updates on JBs tests, his Vimeo vids, similar to what he's posted I guess.

The number of products BMD have on the go, being used by awesome creatives to do interesting things, I'd read that. Doesn't have to be all about one product being on schedule.

Could even get testers to write guest blog posts. Could be a great way to communicate to current customers progress and depth of product range. Might even be able to cross sell product, who knows!

I get where you're coming from but that's not quite the same as shipping/manufacturing updates. I love JB's blogs and such but I didn't get the impression that was what people were requesting.

I get where you're coming from but that's not quite the same as shipping/manufacturing updates. I love JB's blogs and such but I didn't get the impression that was what people were requesting.

I guess if they posted updates on some form of blog, people would have a better idea of where it's at in terms of shipping, manufacturing and development.

Some companies keep everything close to their chest, but after the issues with the first gen BMCCs it would definitely put people at ease.

So you'd like a stream of posts saying "Still on schedule" for 3 months before expected release?

Yeh man, thats exactly what we mean! (SARCASM)

So you'd like a stream of posts saying "Still on schedule" for 3 months before expected release?

That's not what others do Jace, and not what I'm thinking.

Updates on JBs tests, his Vimeo vids, similar to what he's posted I guess.

The number of products BMD have on the go, being used by awesome creatives to do interesting things, I'd read that. Doesn't have to be all about one product being on schedule.

Could even get testers to write guest blog posts. Could be a great way to communicate to current customers progress and depth of product range. Might even be able to cross sell product, who knows!

I know this isn't exactly what you're hoping for since it doesn't have any product updates, but we actually launched an online community a couple days ago: http://www.splicecommunity.com/

If you want your work featured, please submit here: http://www.splicecommunity.com/contact/

Can we expect any announcements soon about when it will be shipping, or should I just continue checking the website every day? it would be nice if everyone who has pre ordered we're given some communication.

We don't typically give an official "update" unless we have news to share. The plan is still to ship in July, so nothing new to share at the moment.

Hi Christine, first let me say that I couldn't be happier with my BMCC MFT, I love this camera. But, the whole no update thing did cause me problems with my purchase. As neither I, nor my preferred distributer, Adorama, had any foreknowledge of when the camera was coming I went ahead and bought an EF version. Then 3 days later the MFT showed up at my door. Even my rep had no idea it was coming. I then had a slight issue with returning the EF. Now, had I known it was coming I could have avoided the confusion. I'm not sure why Blackmagic has adopted a no communication policy, but it doesn't work. The fact that not even my rep knew it was shipping gives me no confidence that BM cares about customer service. You've got a great product but you seriously need to work on the communication as it is causing issues down the road.

Has any new footage been released from John Brawley or others? I've seen the Vivid Sydney footage and the market footage.

I'm a little concerned with how little sample footage seems to be available this close to "release," especially the fact that we haven't seen any RAW footage.

Folks, can I use this lens on pocket cinema camera?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/3 ... _AF_S.html
Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX

which adapter should I order in that case?

Folks, can I use this lens on pocket cinema camera?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/3 ... _AF_S.html
Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX

which adapter should I order in that case?

Yes. You'll need a Nikon G to MFT adaptor so you can control the aperture.

MTF Services and Novoflex make high quality adaptors but they are expensive (you get what you pay for tho) or you can grab a cheap one off eBay.

You could also use the new Metabones SpeedBooster.

JB is teasing "new" BMPCC pocket cam features:

https://twitter.com/brawlster/status/355550178452856832

https://twitter.com/brawlster/status/355550020646346754

He hints that these features may possibly be coming to current cams, too. Stay tuned!

-

JB is teasing "new" BMPCC pocket cam features:

https://twitter.com/brawlster/status/355550178452856832

https://twitter.com/brawlster/status/355550020646346754

He hints that these features may possibly be coming to current cams, too. Stay tuned!

-

Oh wow! This is epic!

And the folks at Wooden Camera have a BMPCC in the house... So expect some well made accessories to be appearing soon...

And the folks at Wooden Camera have a BMPCC in the house... So expect some well made accessories to be appearing soon...

Yay! Wooden Camera!! where the handle costs 3 times more than the Camera!

And the folks at Wooden Camera have a BMPCC in the house... So expect some well made accessories to be appearing soon...

Yay! Wooden Camera!! where the handle costs 3 times more than the Camera!

You get what you pay for. I have their EVF mount that I use on my BMCC and FS100. Solid bit of kit that will outlast both cameras. I'm happy to pay for that kind of quality.

Folks, can I use this lens on pocket cinema camera?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/3 ... _AF_S.html
Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S DX

which adapter should I order in that case?

Yes. You'll need a Nikon G to MFT adaptor so you can control the aperture.

MTF Services and Novoflex make high quality adaptors but they are expensive (you get what you pay for tho) or you can grab a cheap one off eBay.

You could also use the new Metabones SpeedBooster.

thank You for respond!
can I use then this adapter as well?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/9 ... s_for.html
Dot Line Micro Four Thirds Adapter for Nikon G Lenses

Don't know the brand but it should do the trick.

And the folks at Wooden Camera have a BMPCC in the house... So expect some well made accessories to be appearing soon...

Yay! Wooden Camera!! where the handle costs 3 times more than the Camera!

You get what you pay for. I have their EVF mount that I use on my BMCC and FS100. Solid bit of kit that will outlast both cameras. I'm happy to pay for that kind of quality.

The reason it will last longer than your camera is not because it is better made than the camera, but because in essence it is just a chunk of drilled metal. There is nothing to go wrong on a handle. do you really think more costly parts and more planning and labour went into a metal handle than into a cinema camera the size of an iphone to justify the handle costing more? I really doubt it! What you are actually paying for is a brand, a fashionable bolt on, which is fine if you have money to burn. but if you have money to burn why buy a blackmagic at all? There are plenty of cameras out there that do much more than the BM if you like to throw money away.

I really want to preorder one of these cameras now. But I am sort of hoping to get an idea of how long I will be waiting. Any guesses? Am I looking at 2014 delivery if I order today?
Regards,
Jarrett

You know what's so awesome about Blackmagic? They exist!