BMPCC Quick tests

Yesterday I had the opportunity to do some quick and dirty test with the BMPCC. Resources were very limited but will do many more this weekend.

Setup: BMPCC with the Scandisk extreme pro card, ProRess 422 in Log mode
Lenses: Panasonic F2.8 12-35mm and 35-100mm

To see if the sensitivity is indeed 800 ISO I shot my color charts in Daylight and Tungsten. Although the internal lightmeter was overexposing it, My normal lightmeters (spot and flat sphere) gave me a reading that was pretty accurate on the BMPCC. Both daylight and tungsten seem to be on par with the official rating.Waveform checked in Resolve.
Original example: http://cdn.bastiaanhoutkooper.com/archief/BPCC_colorchart.mov
The light comes from the left so not completely equal but good enough to see some colorshifts I want to explore this weekend.

To do a quick dynamic range test I shot from my matte black bike from the shaded side up into the sky, straight into the sun. Serious test and great results. Every detail is still in the bike and I can get a lot of clouds too.
original file: http://cdn.bastiaanhoutkooper.com/archief/BPCC_dynamic_range.mov

Coming from film I always have issues with the strobing of digital camera's. Made a quick test on a wide angle (12mm) and longer lens, with and without the optical image stabilization of the Panasonic lenses.
The OIS didn't seem to make a difference but will have to analyze it a bit more.
As expected also the skewing is pretty strong, comparable to most prosumer camera's.

original wide angle, no OIS:http://cdn.bastiaanhoutkooper.com/archief/BPCC_Strobing_test_widelens_OIS_off.mov
original long lens, no OIS: http://cdn.bastiaanhoutkooper.com/archief/BPCC_Strobing_test_longlens_OIS_off.mov

I am not sharing all the files now to keep my bandwidth down but if someone needs it, please send me a message.

This weekend I will do some proper ones, testing keying and some exposure tests.
I am aware these test are not perfect but I know there are a lot of people hoping for some footage. Hope this is a start.

My first impression is positive, considering the price point. Lots of room for improvement in the firmware department but the images are pretty ok.

On the hardware side, it feels sturdy but I am a bit worried about this single mounting point on the bottom and combined with the very thin body it makes it a wobbly affair with a longer lens. For serious shooting I would mount it also on the top, probably within a cage like: http://www.viewfactor.net/blog/?p=386omxw

Short note on the lenses: Be aware that those Panasonic lenses, like the Nikons, turn the wrong way. Good point was that the optical stabilization works very well on the longer lenses. I was surprised how much it can help when shooting handheld.

Bastiaan Houtkooper NSC
http://bastiaanhoutkooper.com

Thanks for posting your findings!

To do a quick dynamic range test I shot from my matte black bike from the shaded side up into the sky, straight into the sun. Serious test and great results. Every detail is still in the bike and I can get a lot of clouds too.
original file: http://cdn.bastiaanhoutkooper.com/archief/BPCC_dynamic_range.mov

It seems the BMPCC has quite a lot of grain in the shadows, even in well lit shots? It's quite large grain as well, almost as if it's larger because they've cropped into the BMCC sensor?

I'd probably support any heavier lens and hang the camera on it. A cage plus a lot of stuff hanging on it somehow counteracts the pocket concept…

@Christian: I need more testing to really agree. I am also expecting some improvements with the firmware and the RAW format. Planning to do some over and under exposure test on Sunday.

@nomad: Depends what field you are working and what kind of shoot. I am not after portability but like the price/images quality. Most of my shoots are from a tripods. Yes you should support long lenses but even with my tiny 35-100mm lens I could move it up and down, because a lot of tripod plates have some rubber to keep it from sliding. WIth a longer body no issue but in this case it is. For sure I will have to remove the rubber but the mounting points are also not flat in the camera. Mounting is balancing on a square cm...

I have done some more precise testing with color charts and keyshots.
Recently I stopped my blogging site but is was easier to build a page on my own website than here.
All material is for download on my site. http://bastiaanhoutkooper.com/blog

Hope it helps others.

Bastiaan