Zak Forsman

Have had some time with the ALEXA mini and it's the best I've worked with. Color, highlight roll-off, etc.

both micros I've had exhibit slightly less noise than the pocket. i'm speculating but it's probably that additional noise that likely hides any FPN on the pocket, and now revealed on the micro in the shadows.

6 minutes ago, squig said:

slashCAM are dreaming. The Micro has less usable DR than the 5D MK3 raw which is rated at 11.7 stops by DXOmark. It's also clear that the Micro is slightly noisier than the Pocket.

not in my case. i own the pocket and micro. pocket is definitely a touch noisier, side by side.

Die Hard is great at any time, but especially during xmas.

Oh yeah! Many filmmakers like to mimic optically printed slow-mo which is essentially doubling frames to slow things down to half speed. For many, many decades this was the only available method for post slow motion. And I actually prefer its analog feel to most optical flow post slow motion, especially when it's digital artifacts are obvious.

Lots of successful post slow motion has been done with Pocket footage. You can't do it in camera unless shooting 30fps retimed to 24fps is enough for you. But that's a very subtle look.

3 hours ago, mercer said:

Does it come with a Resolve 12 dongle? The specs on the site says it does, but it isn't mentioned on B&H's site. 

No, both the Micros and the Pocket come with a copy of Resolve "Lite". No dongle for the Studio version. But I bought one for $350 from someone on BMCuser.

I prefer the Micro, but plenty of others don't. The micro is a little more of the typical digital cinema camera "brain" that requires a rig, a monitor at a minimum. The Pocket is closer to a stripped down point and shoot experience. Both deliver terrific images.

31 minutes ago, Cassius McGowan said:

Was on cheesycam and he made a diy handle that controlled the iso shutter and ap. I have a GH4 and a GH3. Was looking to sale one and keep the other for taking pics. But was looking to to get 2 Pocket and Mico cams. Was set to shoot a comedy special in September and was thinking would that be a good option.

Oh and what do you recommend on getting first the micro or the pocket?

50 minutes ago, Cassius McGowan said:

Every time I come to this thread makes me want to sale my gh4 and get a bmm

I went from a GH4 to a Pocket and Micro. Very happy to sacrifice 4K for  12-bit RAW and better DR and color rendition. But important to note that one should not expect it to function like a DSLR, if that's what one is used to. it's a no frills, and tiny, cinema camera.

Yeah, that's with a BMPCC speed booster behind it.

3 hours ago, mercer said:

@Zak Forsman was that the 18-35mm? Also, excuse my ignorance, but I noticed you wrote this was shot with 59.97 fps, but the Micro has straight 60 fps, is it better to shoot with the 59.97 fps for a specific reason... Same goes for 23.97 as opposed to 24 fps? Also, when shooting 60p(59.97) for slow motion, would you still leave the shutter at 180?

23.976 (sometimes "abbreviated" as 23.98) is a broadcast framerate, of which 59.94fps would be the broadcast equivalent of shooting 60fps for slow motion. while true 24fps is a theatrical framerate, of which higher speeds like true 60fps would be matched for. nowadays, our televisions and monitors are capable of displaying everything, but I work in the post world and also have released a couple movies where your broadcast master has to adhere to broadcast delivery specs. this means a framerate of 23.976. and so I'm in the habit of keeping things on the broadcast side because the stuff I produce is destined for televisions -- DVDs, Blu-rays, iTunes, Netflix, etc all run at 23.976fps. If I was using the Micro as a crash cam on a studio level feature that was destined for theaters, I'd be shooting 24 and/or 60. They would later retime the finished movie to 23.976 for broadcast.

and what kidsrevil is referring to is that when television was invented picture and sound had to run at different frequencies. so a slight offset of 29.97 was used instead of true 30fps. when things shifted to a slower framerate in recent decades, they moved to 23.976 as opposed to true 24. now i don't know how necessary that really was today, but i believe it's just one of those things that have stuck around and remained the standard regardless. 

yep, i leave the shutter angle at 180°.

3 hours ago, Ebrahim Saadawi said:

What's that beautiful lens Zak? 

Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8. Matches their 18-35mm f/1.8 well, but is twice the weight. the lens support pictured isn't necessary, this is the first time I'd put it on the camera so had it there just in case.

The Micro, unlike the Pocket, will let you record in "BMD Film" while sending the Rec 709 "Video" signal with increased contrast and saturation over HDMI to your monitor of choice. So no, you do not need a monitor with LUT capabilities.

The Micro makes shooting fun. Very happy with it. This was shot earlier today at 59.94fps with my niece who was on pooper scooper duty. 

password: micro

Kaylee, I tried to like your post. unfortunately, I've hit my like limit for the day!

I'd put this in the same category as the music video for "Smack My Bitch Up" -- shot from someone's POV, content is its own rhythmic animal, and the band is nowhere to be found.

I'm happy with the Wasabi brand LP-E6 batts. Of 20 I've bought, 1 has prematurely lost its charge capacity. At $15 each, I don't mind if I have to occasionally get new ones.

Beautifully shot and overflowing with authenticity. All those genuine moments you captured, orchestrated or not, resulted in something like a fast-paced Lynne Ramsey piece. That BMMCC is in good hands. 

I've had DBounce on my ignore list for awhile. Doesn't work when he's quoted. This garbage about music videos adhering to a rigid form is just another reason to leave him there. It's noise that drags the forum down.

11 minutes ago, gsenroc said:

Zak how did you turned off the frame guide? I tried to turn it off but didn't succeed. Also the battery percentage doesn't work either.

I have it set to 1.85:1 when I don't want to see frame guides. not a perfect solution but i'm sure they'll give us a "guideless" 16x9 option eventually. seems like a dumb oversight. what issue are you having with the battery percentage? not showing up? maybe it's the brand of batt you're using?

i'm not an expert, here's the suggested minimums. http://documents.blackmagicdesign.com/DaVinciResolve/DaVinci_Resolve_12_Beta_Configuration_Guide.pdf

I have a GTX 980 ti 6GB and get realtime playback of HD RAW files until I get upwards of 5 or 6 nodes. that includes NR.

the ratio of lens to camera here is amazing.

masochist.

yes, the image is nicer than the Pocket. but marginally so. you'd have to know your Pocket really well to pick up the improvements in the Micro's image. improved rolling shutter, improved color rendition, a little less noise, and truly... that 60p renders beautifully, the motion cadence in general is very refined -- none of that weird double image ghosting you get with DSLRs. my GH4 had it, drove me crazy.

I can understand not liking the form factor if the point and shoot style of the Pocket is closer to the ideal. But I love having "micro brain" that is the size of a rubik's cube, making it extremely versatile. I dont use gimbals or drones either. 

Unlike regular RAW, RAW 3:1 requires Resolve, unfortunately. And it does require a hefty graphics card. I just upgraded mine to be able to work without memory errors.

I don't think ProRes limits your dynamic range. It's 10bit so more information is being thrown away. But 10bit is still great.

3 hours ago, mercer said:

You can shoot 60p in prores, right?

yeah. i prefer shooting RAW though. and ProRes HQ and RAW 3:1 are in the same ballpark size-wise.

3 hours ago, Turboguard said:

Could you do 1:1 Raw to another source?

yes, RAW 1:1 is available for up to 30fps, I think. definitely for 23.976 and 24fps.

No you can only shoot 60p using RAW 3:1. So they're a third the size right?

noise is slightly improved, rolling shutter is improved. I personally prefer the micro brain form factor to the pocket's point and shoot design. adding up all the improvements, there was enough for me to make the upgrade. but that's a call each person needs to make on their own -- if the slight improvements and differences justify the expense.