Kieran

I do not see red or arri implementing good autofocus. So not sure why blackmagic should. Its a cinema camera, and ibis or autofocus are not on my havetoo shortlist. 
 
The pocket 4k is on place 1 for sure on my list. 

Here is the trailer:
 
I believe it was the Ultra.

I’ll be able to post this video tomorrow but heres a grab from my phone. BMPCC4k w/ Sigma 18-35 + Digital Diffusion FX1.
 

Hey Andrew ! I made a review of the camera ! I tried to stay impartial and to put as much footage as possible in it and not just filming myself just talking about the camera. That's actually what made me do this review in the first place. I can't take it anymore : people talking about something in front of a camera with no footage to show. If you have time, I'd really like to have your input on my review ! Cheers ! (I'm sorry to for the repost )
 

From the look on his face, I think he's actually doing this ...

 

Hello everyone!
I received my BMPCC4K almost a week ago and unfortunately I haven’t had much time to play with it so far but I wanted to give you my first impression and observation in the hope these might be helpful!
BUILD QUALITY / ERGONOMICS:
The camera is pretty big (and wide especially) but it’s surprisingly light. I’m not a huge fan of the exterior plastic material as it feels a bit cheap and quite prone to scratches but at the end of the day this a professional tool so as long as it’s able to withstand normal use I’m not too bothered about it.
I haven’t found any spots that are cause for concern, yes the battery cover it’s a bit flimsy like other people reported but it never came open on me (and even if it did the battery is safely hold in place with a spring loaded clip so it won’t fall over anyway).
The lens mount seems pretty robust, I tried mounting some heavy lens and haven’t experienced any flex so it seems all good.
The mounting points looks very sturdy as they’re surrounded my a metal plate so if you plan to mount something heavy without a cage it looks like is not gonna be a problem.
The camera feels quite good in the hand the only reservation I have is that is fairly easy to obstruct the bottom exhaust while shooting handheld as it’s the natural resting point for the hand that operate the lens.
The screen is pretty awesome I should say, it’s detailed, responsive has good colours and it’s surprisingly bright when needed. Is it usable under direct sunlight without a hood? In my experience barely but so is the vast majority of built-in screens out there, for that you need something very bright like a smallHD 1500nits or something similar.
USABILITY/OPERATION:
Like many other people said before this camera is an absolute joy to operate, the menu system is one of the best in the industry, it’s logically laid out and super intuitive. Overall the experience is much more akin to a RED or an Alexa rather than a hybrid camera and this is good given the this is a cinema camera after all ?
I like how everything can be controlled so easily via the touchscreen but I like even more the fact that you don’t have to rely on it if you prefer not to or you’re in a shooting situation in which is not practical. All the main functions have dedicated buttons (and a dial in the front just under the record button) plus the three functions buttons are completely programmable either as toggles for specific functions or you can assign a precise value to a parameter that you wish to quickly recall (say you want to go to iso 3200 with a touch of a button you can do that)
The Preset menu is another gem of the OS, you can save camera configurations with totally different settings and recall them in a moment, it’s a massive timesaver!
The screen, other than being of great quality, offers an impressive range of tools for a built-in screen the highlight of which (for me) is definitely the inclusion of false colours which is such a great tool to expose and is something that is never present in hybrid cameras.
Battery life is not amazing but again it’s quite normal for a cinema camera with an actively cooled sensor I think. I would say you can expect 35-40 minutes recording time quite consistently. Like other users reported already original Canon batteries seems to give the best and most consistent results and are the only one providing a percentage to the camera so I might swallow the hefty price and buy a couple extra of them. I haven’t had any problems with stuck batteries so far and I hope it stays this way!
I’ve recorded mainly on SD cards and I’m glad to report that my Sony G ones can reliably record 4K RAW 60fps 4:1 with no issues (although they’re not in the official list provided by BM but I suppose they’re very similar to the new “Tough” series just released which are approved instead).
I also used SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-I and although they’re not fast enough for 60fps they can record 4K 25 RAW 4:1 with no issues.
I’ve also made a test with a random SSD mounted in a usb-c caddy and it worked perfectly so I’m probably gonna purchase a couple of Samsung T5 as soon as I find a nice holder that I can use without a cage.
IMAGE QUALITY:
This is where the camera really shines (and it’s kind of important I reckon, right?) ?
The images are detailed and rich, the colour science is very very good out of the box and coupled with the ease of use and the big screen is easy and fast to acquire great footage.
The dynamic range is not greater than other cameras like the GH5s or the A7III but the numbers on papers often don’t tell the full story.. The camera produces files that have not been processed in any way (if you shoot raw of course) so it’s actually easier to squeeze every bit of information from them compared to a heavily compressed codec.
As other users already noted I found the highlights rolloff to be a bit on the harsh side so I’d say it’s a good idea to protect the highlights with this camera as a priority.
The dual native ISO values of 400 and 3200 are a very good choice in my opinion, particularly in daylight when you don’t have to use a ton of ND filtration to get the correct exposure.
Noise levels are pretty good although I have to say there is more chroma noise that I would like (particularly compared to the kind of monochrome noise Sony has accustomed us to with their sensors) but again, with files this good it’s quite trivial to use your denoiser of choice and get rid of it without murdering the image.
I also noticed in a couple of shots some moire/aliasing and unfortunately this is quite inevitable since this is not an oversampled sensor readout and there is no OLPF…
This is it for now, hope I haven’t bored you to death and that you’ve found useful information and I promise to follow soon with more details and some hopefully nice images too!
Have a great weekend everybody!

Also people saying “oh this is a must, and this is a must” and then people on here quoting and saying this like “that’s fucking crazy, I thought this would be an amazingly easy camera to use”, like what the hell people! We all have different ways of using the camera. I don’t shoot/use my equipment like everyone else of you. E.g it doesn’t apply to all of us. If they came out with a paintbrush for a painter and he was like “I don’t like the strokes of the squirrel hair” do you think every other artist in the world would have gone bonkers and screamed hell at this new brush?!
 
It’s become a witch hunt in here. It’s sad because a lot of you are tech enthusiasts like myself and your clouding your minds for no reason. Be happy this technology exists, it’s a wonderful camera.

Yeah, I had the camera before most and I have written about my experience, which has been amazing. But NO ONE ever quotes me in here. And Andrew, yes, he just keeps talking about that battery door, I switch my batteries a lot cause I keep the camera on while testing so burn through them pretty quickly (yes it drains your batteries if you have third party, listen to AaronChicago or what his name is, OFFICIAL CANON is the way to go for maximum running time) so I open and close that battery door A LOT with ZERO problems. 
 
I’ve used the camera ALOT outdoors and yes the screen gives of glare but I can still use it without problem! I also shoot handheld, and haven’t felt a need to “rig” it up for more money, I bought a half cage with handle because I am used to shoot with ANY camera, that style. Getting a holder for T5 was just a plus as I had it hanging out (and let me tell you, with zero problems) before and it was just ugly. 
 
Everyone complaining and raising concerns are people that DOES NOT have the camera. 

I do get there should be better quality control for many things on this camera, and it's far from 'perfect'. But a lot of these comments, not just from Andrew seem quite nit picky. For example, complaining you need expensive media is a result of having such a big codec. If you don't want the codec, there's other options with cheaper media. If you want RAW and ProRes out of the camera, expensive media is the price you have to pay.  That said, as soon as BRAW hits, this whole issue is out the window.
Same with the M43 lens distortion, if you're buying this for the an unprocessed image from the sensor, don't complain that it's not been processed. Granted, for ProRes recordings it could be nice, but then people would complain the ProRes looks so different form the RAW. I like that they're almost indistinguishable until you hit heavy grades.
Andrew, you mention the battery door in almost every comment about this camera, but as far as I know, only 1 person here has had an issue with it, and it was solved by BMD or the reseller quickly. It just doesn't seem to be an issue, just one faulty unit. 
Then adding cages and monitors - that's 100% optional and is far from a requirement to make it work. 
Anyway, I don't wish to rant or persuade people one way or the other about this camera. I'm enjoying using it, I'm enjoying editing it, and I'm enjoying riging it up and stripping it down. 

Downsampling ( if properly implemented) will always result in better resolution than a 1:1 crop so I'm not surprised the P4k isn't as good in resolution terms. However Resolution is probably the least most important factor of cinematic image quality.

lol at pixel peeping license plates from a mile away. these kinda tests always crack me up.. do a skin tone test in mixed lighting and we'll see who comes up on top!

Perhaps. But that doesn’t give anyone on here the right to condemn him.
Especially based on rumours less well  evidenced than the specs of the A7S3.
Focus on his abilities as a film maker and life will be happier for all.
(superb review of Mavic 2 Pro on Bloom’s site)
 

Philip Bloom has received the pocket cam from PROAV TV 
Looking forward to seeing what he can do with the cam
 
 

For me, the design of the Pocket4K is not ideal, but then neither is any camera under $2000. I'd love the design to be more like the FS5 or Canon XC15. I'd be happy to pay $1000 or so more for a  Pocket4K Pro or Ursa Micro that could take a larger Sony BPU battery and had a tiltable screen.
In terms of manufacturing, I don't see a problem and they shipped the camera on time. Marketing wise, we got to see a lot of footage from the camera before release and pre production versions travelled the world with viewing sessions available to the public at some decent retailers in major cities where we are able to hold and use the camera (without recording) months before it shipped allowing us to make a more informed decision on wether we wanted to pre order it. Show me another Camera manufacturer that has done the same? 
Shipping wise, again, they shipped on time and yes, unless you pre ordered it's hard to get your hands on one for now BUT even the Sony A7III has been extremely hard to get a hold of (here in australia anyway) months after release so I really don't know what you are referring to when you say that BMD shipping and marketing have been flawed. Although I do know exactly why YOU are saying this and it's really unfortunate that you still let one event jade your vision so much.
While people may criticise  Caleb Pike or Peter McKinnon for letting an invitation to a trade event jade their vision on the Canon R, you have been jaded in exactly the same way by not being invited to one. You knew well before the cameras release that it had vents top and bottom or that it wasn't full frame or than it didn't have IBIS but before 'Manchester Gate' you were still quite positive toward the camera. Since then, you have been extremely negative about it. It's a shame all round that camera bloggers are so easily persuaded by manufacturers isn't it Andrew? 

Ive never heard a good DP complain that the Red Epic, Red Helium, Arri Alexa, Sony F55 are not full frame. I've put the Metabones XL speedbooster on my pocket4K  and super happy with the look.
Andrew, it seems that the whole BMD Manchester incident still has a bitter taste in your mouth. You are looking for any excuse to hate this camera in the same way that most heavy forum users look for excuses to hate on any camera and use a cameras lack of features as excuses as to why they are on forums rather than out shooting nice images. Sorry, I know that view is going to make me unpopular on a forum but I think it's kinda on the mark. 
Is the Pocket4K for everyone? No. The camera isn't a white unicorn....it isn't the perfect camera for everyone. No camera is.
If you just want to shoot bare bones, in the hand video with no light, get an A7III. If you want to VLOG, get a camera with a flippy screen (although interestingly, I know a few vloggers that use Red Helium as a vlogging camera!). It really depends on what your priorities are. 
The Pocket4k is a solid little camera. Sure I wish the battery lasted longer than an hour and I wish the screen was easier to see in bright sun but having used Sony A7 series, Panasonic GH series and the Fuji X-T2 all as B cams, would I chose to shoot with one of those over the Pocket4K? No chance! I still need to add external monitors to those small hybrid cameras anyway and their battery life is barely any better ( apart from GH series) ........but the Pocket4k image creams them! 

It can easily be the 'gold standard at the price point. The images up to ISO4000 are fantastic and 6400 is usable.. I never need to go above ISO4000 for my paid work. For lazy hobbyists that just want to shoot in the dark, get a Sony A7III and shoot 8bit. It's all you need.
Lowlight performance of the Red Epic wan't as good as the A7S but I'd rate the picture of the Epic far above the A7S all day long.
I've shot with the Red Epic, The Ursa Mini Pro among other cameras that have massive holes in the top. The Epic even has a huge noisy fan in the front that also use to suck all sorts of crap into it, didn't stop me using it in all sorts of conditions.
Using the supplied BMD LP-E6, the battery icon flashes red and displays the voltage so you know it's time to change batteries. Using Wasabi, this doesn't happen and the meter is unreliable. I will try some genuine Canon batteries and report back but the BMD LP-E6 works fine after a few charges and discharges.
 
Mine hasn't done this at all. The OS is extremely robust...My Fuji X-T2 on the other hand hangs every now and again forcing you to pull the battery and I've heard the same about the X-T3.
It's not just RAW, the ProRes files also look fantastic on the Pocket4K. Absolutely no jaggies on fine hair but still plenty of detail. Very smooth image. As a Fuji shooter, I also love good colour science and the Pocket4K doesn't disappoint.
 
 
The X-T3 also has poor battery life and crashes.

The stills are just some testing yesterday but they ARE from the Pocket 4K. I'll try and see if I can make a video soon but there's a lowlight shoot I'd like to add in and need to find some time for that.
The Blackmagic RAW video is from the Ursa Mini Pro though. 

I just like the look of the great actors. And the asian guy is my brother haha.

@Mrrvrn Sigma 18-35 combined with that Viltrox looks pretty good on Pocket 4K.
 




Stills from Note Suwanchote

shock horror - very good m43 camera (GH5) is not significantly outperformed by newer m43 camera!
and everyone now wishes they hadn’t sold their old BMPCC which does certain things better than either of them........ 

Well it is plastic, and this was a well known fact from since the camera was announced. I would say that if you are accustomed to magnesium alloy bodies you will be disappointed in the perceived build quality. The original pocket felt much more solid. The new one honestly does feel cheap when compared to all metal bodies. But then again, if they had used all metal construction there is no way they could sell this body for the current low price. It's a trade off for sure. However I do like the images out of camera. It's a shame more reviewer don't shoot at 24p instead of slowmo. We all know slowmo by default looks cinematic. But slowmo is more of a niche use case. Whereas, normal speed playback is much more frequently used. It's hard to judge motion cadence with slowmo.

Hey Guys !
Here it is ! I just picked it up at Photocineshop in Paris  I was the first in queue, I called them monday, they told me they expected it mid october. But I received a call today telling me it's here so... They received only 3 cameras. They ordered 75 and have 60 in queue. Funny story, the guy at the counter told me the boss was mad at him because the boss wanted to keep the first ones for rent (it's also a big rental company) and not fulfilling the first orders ! I think I have the first retail version in France ( I know it's a lame sentence !)
I'll try to shoot something decent tomorrow and put it online the same day ! But I only have relatively fast SD cards. I just need to sell a kidney for a CFAST on which I'll be able to record 12 seconds of RAW footage :)))
I can't wait to test the dynamic range and the battery life of the camera, my two biggest concerns.

Even under daylight well exposed it was clear which camera was which with the gh5 having a rather pale green desaturated look to the skintones. The pocket had some vitality to the skintones but was a bit too sharp for my liking. And the alexa was head and shoulders above the others.  

Read the small print:
"Anyone can attend except those called Andrew Reid..."
??