Damphousse

Yup. I bought a Pocket myself after the price cut!  ;)

At $495 let 'em come out with a new one. I'd want to let a new one simmer and season for a year to get the bugs out before I jump on that bandwagon. Also if they announce in September god knows when you'll see it. BM aren't exactly known for delivering on announced dates. I'm just hoping I get the back-ordered one I ordered from B&H.

More on topic
Skin tones, DR etc.

I'm astounded. How can you absolutely know for sure? I've been using cameras for 20 years, and reviewing them for the past few, and I'd *never* make assumptions like these until I actually have spent some time with either the camera, or a substantial number of sample files.
 
Also, don't be surprised if the sensors are the same.
 

I think nobody mentioned it but this camera can also do 720p @240fps - and 640x480 @360fps.
 
So this turns the camera even more interesting, 240fps in 720p is not bad at all.

This played in my town a few weeks back. The thing I find ironic about the film is that Wiseau made a movie that'll be more popular and memorable than anything most people with actual talent will ever do.

Even when I own the magic GH4, I'll most likely never achieve his level of success.

I depends on what you are shooting and what lenses you are using.
what style of filming you are doing
Dirctors like Paul Greengrass , Kathryn Bigelow shoot their films mostly hand held (Bourne, Captain Philips, Hurtlocker Zero Dark Thirty etc)
and it has a look and feel that is very real documently style , you are in there  with the Actors.
Directors like David Fincher and the great Alfred Hitchcock always shoot locked off on tripods (legs) and they have a more formal approch to film making and you can see that style in House of Cards (Netflix) Girl With the Dragon Tattoo , The Game , Fight Club etc
Vertigo , North by Northwest etc etc The camera does not move much and the action is framed alot of the time around a 'standard lens'
 
if you are shooting hand held get a shoulder mount rig to stabalise out your shots as actually holding the camera in you hand induces rolling shutter skew as your hand gitters about , so I awlays shoot on a shoulder rig for my hand held shots. (even with IS lenses)

Use handheld only when you have a very good reason to.  And don't compare handheld shots to static, compare them to slides, pans, tilts, ..etc.

The only thing we can expect from the Canon Cinema line is a price way above what the specs are worth.  C200 - 8 grand, C400 - 15 grand. Awesome. Cannot wait to not buy any of these. 

Adorama have just given me official pricing for the GH4. The prices are due to go live at 12.01am March 10th (Monday).

Pre-order now to be one of the first to receive the camera in the United States. Shipping date is May.

Panasonic GH4 body only (black) with 4K video recording - $1698

Panasonic YAGH interface unit (for 10bit 4K, HD-SDI and XLR audio) - $1998

Panasonic GH4 with YAGH interface unit bundle - $3298

 Read the full article here

The external add-on isn't a "4K add-on" it is a HD-SDI and XLR add-on, you don't need the external add-on or a external recorder for 4K on the GH4 it does it internally. You know that right?! Surely you do. So are you just trying to make things look worse than they actually are with your list? If so I think that's a bit unfair.
 
Hopefully available by the end of the year? Try April at the latest (TBC)!
 
As for form factor, clunky is not a word I'd use to describe the GH4. Incidentally the Blackmagic is a lot heavier, the wrong shape, has no articulated screen, and a very cut down feature set in comparison. Still love Blackmagic but you've gotta state the facts!
 
My view of it is as follows...
 
BMPC 4K
1.5x crop Super 35mm sensor (1.0x crop in cinematography terms)
EF mount (good if you have lots of nice Canon EF lenses, not so good if you have Micro Four Thirds or lenses requiring a mirrorless mount)
Global shutter - nice - but comes at expense of dynamic range and low light
10bit ProRes - very nice
Raw - great for heavy grading and VFX work
 
GH4
2.17x crop in 4096x2160 mode, 1.7x crop with Speed Booster in 4K mode (1.2x crop in cinematography terms)
Mirrorless mount
Better low light performance (goes up to ISO 6400 in 4K mode)
8bit 4:2:0 internal recording may lead to some artefacts and won't grade as well as ProRes, but it will still look stunning
Better audio support and quality, with optional XLR box
Articulated screen
16MP stills
Built in EVF
10bit 4:2:2 available to external recorder
Larger feature set
 
The Blackmagic Production Camera has enough unique features to be considered for certain jobs. The GH4 is the better all rounder.
 
If you need global shutter, EF mount, 10bit ProRes internal and raw, but don't mind the very basic feature set overall, basic ergonomics, heavier weight overall, need for external battery and poor low light performance go Blackmagic.
 
If you need mirrorless mount, better ergonomics, likely better 1080p especially via HDMI, better audio, more features, smaller form factor and internal battery go GH4.
 
Dynamic range probably quite similar on the pair.
 
And on price, the GH4 is a lot cheaper. You don't NEED the external box. You can shoot with it like you can the GH3. The Blackmagic puts more demands on storage space and processing power, and needs an external battery plus SSDs.

I'm going to have to take a contrarian view, here. I believe that Mr. Petty would be much better-off if he focused on his own cameras' quality control, firmware, and supply issues and less on bad-mouthing the big players in the camera and lens markets. It makes perfectly logical sense to me that those manufacturers turned-down his camera ideas precisely because they didn't think that they could make money manufacturing them. And I think that they were RIGHT.
 
As passionate as a lot of us here may be with these high-dynamic range, raw workflow bodies that BM is making, the lion's share of professional cinematographers will gravitate towards RED, Alexa, and the EOS Cinema line of cameras. Those cameras are low-volume, high-margin products. The stills-centric, DSLR market is conversely high-volume and low-margin. BM (and similar) “bootstrap†digital cinema cameras are arguably low-margin and low-volume... which won't ever attract the major players.
 
Meanwhile Mr. Petty can sit on his high horse and complain about these money-grubbing big boys that scoffed him and his ideas. But at the end of the day, he still needs to employ HIS tiny workforce of 350 people, by choosing at least SOME products that can make money... such as his excellent high-volume, low-margin post-production equipment that put BlackMagic on the map.
 
While I admire altruism and passion, unless Mr. Petty has deep pockets like Jim Jannard, he needs to focus on business. And making that evil money... by giving people the products they want, at the price that they're willing to pay, and at the quantities that can support BM's bottom line.
 
I'm sorry to be a stick-in-the-mud, but that's how I see it.

The video in the OP is lovely looking. But they went to a lot of effort with the locations, crew, rigging, camera movement, light, makeup, costumes, props, organisation, logistics, ideas, direction, cinematography, distribution...
 
Yet shot it in crap-o-vision with a 60D. It doesn't make any sense.
 
I must say they played to the strengths of the camera very well and avoided any nastiness and the low-fi grade does help but imagine the extra impact those frankly amazing visuals would have had with a better camera.

@enny: This video compares the BMCC with 5D3 H.264 - not the Pocket with 5D3 RAW.

I don't understand this post.

DSLRs are for photographers. They are made for stills and not video. It's just so happens that we have adopted it as a filmmaking tool.

If you are a serious filmmaker, Canon want you to buy the Cinema EOS Line. Nikon aren't interested. Fuji, erm... No need to bother. Panasonic...they have plans and want you to buy into their M43 system. They get punters in with the GH line, to then offer video based models later. ;)

So what if Nikon haven't bothered with a video feature in this camera, who cares?

Technically, hobbyists don't need professional features. Professionals need professional features and therefore buy professional cameras.

Blackmagic cameras are for pros and lack many pro features. Canon etc, I expect, don't care. It's very niche.

I'm not sure why ML RAW comes into this in any way at all. The effect this has on the market is literally nothing. It's a hack. It's not a feature of the camera. ML RAW is a discovery, it's not a market leading feature.

The annoying fact for most is that if you want a camera with better features, you need to get shooting and earn some money. If it's just a hobby, then why would the camera manufacturers screw their business models by giving top features to people who just want to point and shoot? It doesn't make any sense.

There is a feeling that manufacturers (Canon especially) are not putting in the juice they could even into their pro cameras. This is true, and it happens because they are a business who want to make a profit.

I don't think the camera companies are out of touch. This forum is out of touch. The camera companies believe they are catering for you, and as we are all buying their cameras, they are. ;)

How big is the percentage of people that actually realise a Canon 550D is basically the same as a 700D? I think it's very small.
 
That doesn't necessarily mean the economy is to blame, although it does make sense. People have less trust in the economy and that stops them from buying stuff, that's a fact.
 
Also market saturation could play a big role. Average Joe who buys a dslr isn't going to upgrade anytime soon. You could blame this on lack of innovation, maybe if things really got better people would be tempted to buy, but then again.. the economy really doesn't help. It's not just the camera manufacturers that notice this, even the shops around the corner do.
 
Thinking a 5D3 Mark III hack makes a big impact on sales is also naive... sorry.
Yes, some people will buy it now because of it. The world isn't full of enthusiasts / indie filmmakers. On the grand scheme that really isn't going to make a big difference.
 
Not defending the manufacturers here, but we're talking mass market here. 8 million camera's. The percentage of nerds like us is just a small part of that.

Used hook's lut in resolve, then a little FC after. I directed the color stuff, a buddy directed the zombie shots. I specifically shot mostly close up & intimate with the band to take advantage of that anamorphic space. Lots going on in the de-focused z axis :)

Shot this a few weeks back in 50d ML raw & a Bolex Anamorphic. Wouldn't change it for anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCERCFJBKCE

Pulp Fiction!
 
The script is a poem, it's engrossing, funny, clever, doesn't take itself too seriously. Lovely retro anamorphic cinematography, some crazy distorted old glass in that.
 
It's the film that made me realise film could be perfect by wearing heart on sleeve. I think I was 13 at the time.
 
I can nearly recite the script of by heart ;)
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYSt8K8VP6k

Is there confirmation that these cameras will not have the NEX menus? I didn't read that elsewhere, that would be great because NEX menus are confusing toys, there are no tabs and any configuration change makes you go to through a lot of work and the worst thing is the lack of customization. What good is the Fn/Mode dial button if I can't change its function?
 
I think that for video, manual focus will be fine for a lot of use but for photography - and I understand why the Leica comparison and not the DSLR - you'd like a AF, NEX cameras doesn't really have a fast AF and here we get into the lenses. Sony has been making a name for themselves in not delivering the goods when it comes to lenses.
 
The almost 3.5 years old NEX cameras still doesn't have a portrait lens and neither non-pancake decent wide angles. You get lenses from $300~450 and then, suddenly you jump to $1000 and even the Sony/Zeiss doesn't deliver the same optical quality as the best lenses from Micro4/3 and Fuji. And adding a new family of lenses plus the 3 others (APS-C/FF A-mount and APS-C E-mount) it makes me worry. Will Sony at least bring a decent roadmap? Or will it happen all over again? Sony is said to launch official Canikon lens adapters, would it mean that they will rely on that for lenses?
 
I didn't know about the video improvements and hope for that, but for now, it's just hope. I remember how Sony pumped up about the A99 video capabilites how it would a true FF hybrid and in the end they didn't deliver that. So I think we have to wait to see the real thing and not rely so much on just words.
 
Anyway, although I have my converns and as such I will wait before even thinking about buying these cameras, they are, for sure a great step for mirrorless cameras. I also have been saying that mirrorless is the future and I wonder what's gonna happen when it becomes known to the general public that fact. Canikon made a living of just their names and how people think that having a Canikon DSLR means being a "PRO" and that's why they have the luxury of not worrying about entering the mirrorless market or they have been so lazy about it - and I also think that one day they may pay for it. We'll see.

Yes a friend of mine had that on a paid job with GH2, it crashed and lost a shot on a celeb interview and he had to start again :S so hacks are always a risk. But then he got the BMD and that physically broke on its first job! Poor fella...
 
That's why I went to such lengths to stress test Tragic Lantern for 600D and gave my results in the Shoot Preparation section of their forum: i don't like losing shots. 
 
Personally I have a lot of faith in Magic Lantern as a group, so I feel they'll have a stable 5D iii raw after not too long. I too would feel happier if it were not a separate module but in the main feature list! We'll just have to wait for that I'm afraid, or risk it. If I wanted a BMD, I'd probably have to wait longer to get one! You can't record video to SD in 5D, only the Compact Flash, but yes your point is clear and true, that's not as good as an SSD for sustained raw use.
 
The best solution I've thought of so far for 5D MKiii raw is a NexTo DI and two CF cards. You swap CF cards and dump them alternately to an SSD in the NexTo DI, which clones them to its drive. I've not yet tested it though.
 
http://www.nextodi.com

It depends what you're shooting and how, so there's no really any one particular ideal shutter angle.
 
If you shoot handheld with a lot of movement, 90 will cut a lot of the blur. I sometimes find handheld work at 180 too soft.
 
If you plan to use Twixtor for a slow-mo sequence, you ideally need 45 degrees at 30fps. Motion blur hurts Twixtor.
 
If you're filming sports or action go for the higher shutter speed / narrower angle like 45 or 90.
 
If you're doing a locked down sequence on a tripod with little movement, especially in low light, select 180.
 
If you're really desperate for light and nothing is moving very fast at all, choose 360.

I've just finished up a shoot using the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera on a professional shoot, so I thought I would share my experience with the camera in this environment. (I will post the video when its finished up)
 
The Shoot
 
My business was hired to shoot a music video for a concept on Green Screen. It was a parody of infomercials, so the task was to film various models and comedic hosts demonstrating several very silly products. I was the DoP/camera operator, and we also had a director, 2 assistants, 2 photographers and  a make up artist.
 
The Gear
The Blackmagic was mounted on rails in a Wooden Camera Cage, with just a Follow Focus. I had 4 x Sandisk Extreme Pro SD cards, 3 batteries, mic, charger and AC adapter. The camera was connected through HDMI to an external monitor. The green screen was lit with 2 Kino Flo 4-Banks, and the models with Kino Flo Diva 401s and Dedolights. 
 
I would not recommend the Wooden Cage. Its just ok. The screw holes all over it make no sense. The battery charger was the worst piece of kit I've ever used in the history of video production. Cant remember the brand (begins with a H), but lots of companies are selling it with the camera as a bundle. You can put AA batteries in it and its so fiddly. It sucks. 
 
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Feedback
Whilst I was impressed with the BMPCC, I did have various issues with the camera - mostly with the lack of in-camera formatting and batteries. I will display these through Pros and Cons. 
 
Pros
+ The build is solid and of high quality
 
+ The back screen is nice and clear, a very decent size!
 
+ Very simple to use meaning you can focus on creating
 
+ Image quality is fantastic. Compared it with the GH3 in flat profile and the difference was staggering
 
+ Skin tones are beautiful, very organic
 
+ Not much dynamic range to see, but the roll-off was very smooth on the models
 
+ The size makes it easy to handle and not a pain to shift around. Nice and quick.
 
+ Zebras are very useful. Wish I had these on my GH3!
 
Cons
- This camera eats memory cards for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Used all of the 4 x 32gb cards. So the cost of running this camera at a professional level could be quite costly.
 
- Battery life is dreadful. The shoot was 8 hours long and we went through 9 full charges. 
 
- No ability to format cards in camera. Completely unacceptable. We ran out of space, backed up the cards and tried to format one to exFat on a Mac. Camera wasn't having it. 10 mins left til close. So had to use GH3 for last 2 shots. Director wasn't happy. 
 
- No indication of recording time left. No idea if 1 second left on 60 mins! Again, this is unacceptable. 
 
- Auto focus is absolutely terrible. I don't use it much, but its useful when you are against time in a studio. Just doesn't work. Why bother Blackmagic? Your features HAVE to work. 
 
- Focus Peaking is temperamental. It works, then sort of does, then doesn't at all. Maybe something wrong with this unit? 
 
- Manual focusing with the Panny zooms seemed to be a lot more fiddly on this camera than on the GH3. It seems to be much more intricate and I have no idea why that is. The director agreed. 
 
- No articulated screen. Its 2013. I don't want to sit on the floor or bend over in front of models to see the screen. 
 
- Moire. Can't handle fine lines. 
 
Conclusion
Having only use the camera once for a studio shoot, its hard for me to give a full opinion on this camera - but from my experience there are some definite quirks that I feel are a major issue for its use in a professional (and general usage) environment for its target 'DSLR video user' market. 
 
Ok, it shoots in 10 bit ProRes and has a beautiful image. It will shoot RAW soon. Its cheap. But...
 
For professional use, the fact you cant see how much recording time you have left or even format a card is a completely ludicrous omission and causes issues. Issues that take more time, more work, more stress, more stuff you shouldn't have to deal with in a camera. Blackmagic need to sort this out, it cant be difficult. 
 
The fact the the camera is labelled 'Pocket' is mind boggling. Batteries constantly need charging, and its always a worry. If you were to really carry this round in your 'Pocket', expect to need a bagful of batteries. Or you are screwed. 
 
The focusing area of the camera also seems unfinished. Auto focus doesn't work, and peaking just can't be arsed half the time. Didn't they test the camera, or is it a good-egg, bad egg thing with the production line? 
 
My opinion so far is that this camera isn't completely ready for use in a professional environment, and is better suited as a hobbyist item for (very) short films. If you can afford lots of storage, 60 billion batteries and a ton of memory cards, and dont mind a few workarounds then you should enjoy it - its a cool gadget with a beautiful image that a video DSLR really needs. 
 
Its very quirky and needs more work, which is expected of a 1st generation model. Lets hope for more improvements and a Blackmagic employee facepalm about essential little features that are unacceptably missing. 
 
I like it. Its just a pain in the arse. Like my fiance. You might just have to put up with its issues just because its so beautiful ;)