cantsin

The lens have major distortion and vignetting as its design compromises - and rely on in-camera software corrections of these optical flaws.

Then please tell me which mainstream graphics card can send the normal desktop via a 24p signal to a computer display. (Most computer displays do not even sync with 24p). We're running in circles here. In theory, yes. In practice, these are high-speed gaming displays with TN panels whose color reproduction is not good enough for video. 120Hz isn't really available any longer, and only few of them have a 240 Hz refresh rate: https://www.blurbusters.com/faq/120hz-monitors/

Then your computer might be too slow and dropping frames during playback.

The problem is that GPU frame rate settings for games only work in DirectX overlay mode. (The same is true for 10bit output, btw.) If you connect a computer monitor to a graphics card, it will sync at 60Hz (or 30Hz if the GPU cannot deliver a higher refresh rate in a high resolution), and you can't do anything about it. AFAIK video applications always use the resolutions and refresh rates configured for the desktop interface unless you use a dedicated video output card like a Decklink.

@Oliver Daniel, just a number of points: The days in which cameras shot fake progressive video (by firmware-deinterlacing an interlaced camera signal) are long gone. Those are leftovers from SDTV/SD video/CRT times when progressive scan video and tv standards didn't even officially exist. One cannot judge the motion rendering quality of 24p video unless one has a perfect 24p playback chain where (a) the software video player, (b) the graphics card and (c) the monitor actually plays 24p / has a 24Hz refresh rate, as opposed to playing 24p on 60Hz with oddly repeated frames/motion stutter as is the case on 99.9% of all computers. For true 24p playback, the minimum you'll need is a Decklink card (as opposed to a run-of-the-mill computer graphics card), an NLE that can play back through the Decklink card and a monitor that accepts a 24p signal and natively plays it back at 24 or 48Hz. (Normally, such monitors cost several $10,000, but the cheapest option is ca. $1500 Eizo CG.) My last bullet point hopefully explains this. So I'm pretty confident that 99-100% of "motion cadence" discussion here and elsewhere is really about (a) rolling shutter and (b) non-native 24p playback.

I agree that the GH5 is a more suitable camera for run-and-gun shooting, particularly because of IBIS, EVF, flip-/tilt screen, battery life and the option to record in more densely compressed codecs/smaller file sizes. However: The Pocket has tap-to-focus, can format cards in camera, and you can record Rec709 ProRes video that requires no grading at all and has beautiful colors out-of-the-box. (Actually, the old Pocket can format in-camera and record great Rec709 ProRes as well.)

Because many people misunderstand the meaning of "full frame" (mixing it up with s35). And because, if you're on a budget, a full frame sensor should, in most cases, be your last priority.

A buggy mess? The old Pocket? Sorry, that can't be. I had the canera since it came out. The software/firmware of the camera has always been rock-solid, with a simple and clean user interface.

It won't. I even predict that some owners of the old Pocket and the BMCC might be partly disappointed because DR is one stop less, and highlight roll-off seems to be clearly harsher if the test footage gives any solid indication. This may very likely be the price to pay for 4K sensor pixels on an MFT sensor. (If the new camera would have the same pixel pitch as the old Pocket and the BMCC, it would have only 2.9K sensor resolution.)

A common mix-up for many beginnners is that "full frame" equals the frame size of 35mm cine film. That is not the case. "35mm full frame" refers to the photography standard where frames on the film strip are horizontally, not vertically aligned und thus bigger. 35mm cine film is the equivalent of APS-C. So if you just want 35mm film look, you can settle as well with a cheap second hand APS-C DSLR or mirrorless (such as the Canon 550D/t2i or the Sony NEX-5N).

BM's color science is top-class because of the camera+Resolve workflow - on the one hand. On the other hand, color science matters less with a 10bit-Log/12bit-Raw camera since you have no baked-in look as with 8bit footage. The best thing you can do is buy a Color Checker Passport, use it as a clapperboard/reference for every shot that is in different light conditions, and use Resolve's automatic color chart matching function to make colors look 100% natural.

All Blackmagic Cinema Cameras - including the old version of the Pocket - have always shot Log in 10bit ProRes (called "Film" in the camera setting for the color space). BM sucks at marketing. What they better shouldn't do: - Call their cameras "Pocket Cinema camera" when 90% of people/consumers associate "pocket" with a small, easy-to-use point-and-shoot camera, rather than a Cinema Camera (like Arri/RED) shrunk to Pocket size (in relative terms). What they should do: - Advertise their cameras with "10bit ProRes log - always included, not a paid update, since 2012!" - Advertise their cameras with "Raw video - no hack or external recorder needed, since 2012!" - Advertise their cameras with "the only 12bit video camera under $2000, since 2013!" - Advertise their cameras with "the only sub-$2000 camera with no artificial sharpening and noise filtering, since 2013!"

Most of the clip is overexposed/clipping. I extracted two correctly exposed frames from the ungraded material and exported them as 16bit PNGs (losslessy compressed). So, if you want to play with the material but don't want to download the whole 11GB: http://data.pleintekst.nl/grab_1.1.1.png http://data.pleintekst.nl/grab_1.1.2.png And here a simple grade/color correction using Resolve Color Space Transformation from Blackmagic 4.6K film log to Rec709, luminance mapping + simple Gamma color tint correction: Looking good IMHO, with BM's signature smooth and rich image (no artificial sharpening, but with true detail).

Forget the SD cards, they only contain the free version of Resolve which you can download anyway. Resolve Studio comes with a USB dongle (the software can be freely downloaded as well but doesn't run without the dongle).

The Blackmagic Pocket never had an articulated screen. (No BM camera ever had one, actually.)

Oh man, these videos are so absolutely clue- and senseless! They only state the obvious (namely what can also be gathered from BM's camera spec sheet), tout things as new and revolutionary that the old pocket had, too (12bit raw, and even without fans) - while nobody asks the questions that really matter: Will the camera have an OLPF? If not, will moiré be an issue as with the old Pocket? Will the sensor filter stack remain as thin as in previous BM cameras? Will that mean that you will still need IR cut filters and BM camera-specific Speed Boosters? Will the old BMCC Speed Booster work with this camera, or do you need the Speed Booster Ultra? What is the quality of built-in mics and built-in preamps, and to which degree is fan noise audible in recordings with the internal mic? Is the windowed mode only available for high frame rates (for people who want to continue shooting with s16 glass)? Will 4K raw acquisitation work with 300MB/s SD cards and external USB-C flash drives, or will these two interfaces be limited to recording ProRes? Is the camera ISO invariant like all previous BM cameras, or will ISO be baked into the Raw footage because of the Sony sensor? How will the stills photo mode work? (We already know that it will only take raw stills in CinemaDNG mode and only JPEGs when in ProRes recording mode.) What will be the battery life in different usage scenarios (Raw vs. ProRes recording, phantom power vs. no phantom power, lens stabilization vs. no lens stabilization)? What will be the limitations for outdoor use and operating temperatures given the fan slots? Which functions will be assignable to the function keys?

@Damphousse, I wasn't writing about me, but about most prosumer video shooters who will buy the camera and get frustrated just as masses of DSLR/mirrorless shooters got frustated with the first-generation Pocket. (It's one of the cameras with almost unlimited supply on the second-hand market.) You can see it on Blackmagic's forum where people now start demanding electronic in-body stabilization (!) for the Pocket4K, apparently without knowing what kind of camera (concept) they're dealing with. Over here in Europe, Blackmagic cameras are only available in professional AV/video equipment retail (i.e. vendors like CVP or Marcotec) whereas Panasonic GH cameras can be bought at any good camera store.

BM cameras only have one-touch AF.

The Pocket 4K doesn't have AF, a flip/tilt display, an EVF, weather sealing, fanless operation, WIFI (including remote monitoring), will have only rudimentary still photography functions, and may require IR cut filters on the lens. A lot of people who are now considering the Pocket 4K as an alternative to the GH5/s may find out that their shooting style is severely limited by these missing features. And, as @Snowfun wrote above, the two cameras aren't in the same market. You can't even buy a Blackmagic Camera at a normal photo camera retailer.

For people who don't speak German: The camera sucks in air through the upper ventilation slots and blows it out through the lower ventilations slots to cool the sensor (which would - according to the BM representative - run too hot otherwise). I keep being skeptical that this will be an achilles heel for using the camera as a travel/documentary/run-and-gun camera in dusty or humid environments.

Panasonics states the sensor size for the 4:3 aspect ratio. When shooting 16:9 or 17:9, the sensor is also 18.96mm wide. Blackmagic states the sensor size for 17:9, because its camera doesn't have a 4:3 mode. The real size of the sensor is 18.96x13mm, but there seems no way of reading out this complete area in an open gate mode (probably because of limitations of the sensor electronics).

You're mixing up HDR with Log. (HDR video can contain a log gamma, but not for postproduction, but for display.)

On the German-language Slashcam forum, the following issues of ProRes Raw and its current workflows have been discussed: There are no WB and ISO controls in post (FCPX), which is weird for Raw. In the case of some cameras, like the Panasonic EVA, ISO and even (to a lesser degree) WB is baked into its Raw footage, no matter whether you record CinemaDNG or ProRes RAW. The playback performance of ProRes RAW in FCPX is excellent - but there are suspicions that this is because of some built-in Proxy workflow since you can't adjust WB and ISO.

Does the Zcam actually have a 10bit codec?

Well, sharpening and noise reduction can't be turned off in the camera, not even when you externally record ProRes from HDMI. So, technically, an external ProRes recording should have little or no advantages over the internal 10bit recording at high bitrates. And its true that h264 high profile retains more detail than ProRes at the same bitrates (but only then).