Mr. Freeze

@Andrew Reid 1. What moment/film was your motivation to pick up a Camera to create films? 2. Being able to travel back in time, let´s say 1920-2000, what decade/year would you like to visit and film in?

Those Rokinons/Samyangs/Walimex Lenses are great, especially for the money and when bought second hand. Sure, they have their weaknesses, being softer wide open, manual focus only, not similar in size etc, but I like the images a lot. I´d say the´re really usable at f2 but great at f2.8

Good idea, I´d like that. I wasn´t really talking about a copy of the scene, but a variation of it, able to recognise.

Cool idea, grouping 2-3 people (1 Director/DoP/Editing, 1 Grading/VFX, 1 Sound and Music) You´d have to create Teams based on software I guess, but it would be an interesting experiment. You´d need to have a precise theme for the clip though, to keep it somewhat comparable, for example: dystopian setting, scifi-element, a chase- or hunting-scene, a silent, emotional scene, at least one green-screen element, integration of some sort of miniature, ...

I like the music video idea, but it gives lots of room for creativity. Maybe if changed to Music video shot with a 35mm Prime. Another idea would be to recreate a well known movie scene, for example a blade runner interview scene, a star wars sunset, a rocky training-montage, or another famous scene.

They don´t really match my budget, I´m still using my Samyang/Walimex VDSLR-Lenses a lot, but this Schneider Kreuznach Lenses seem really great, especially with the new price. Looking at the photo/video with the Sony FS5, they appear to have a good, but not too big size.

Myself, I really like using the Pocket 4k, so keeping it would be my suggestion, as long as you don´t need IBIS, Autofocus and as long as you like the grading-process. The files you get from it are great, both BRAW and Prores. In that case, keep it and get a cheap but good DSLR or Mirrorless for the Photography side. If you DO need IBIS, Autofocus and/or don´t really want to do the grading, and/or want one camera to cover both things the candidates are: Panasonic G9, Fuji XT-3, Sony A6xxx, LX-100.

Sure, I was only building on IronFilms Mantra. No matter what camera it will be: Autofocus and Stabilisation need to be an important factor as you´ll need them for both, photography and videography. So none of the Blackmagic ones 😉

Could be another option for you. Take the Pocket 4K this weekend and make a short film with it. Do ergonimics, workflow, operation etc. hinder you to achieve the shots you want, and if so, would another camera be better in these areas? What kind of videos are you filming most of the time? Narrative, documentary, Fashion, Musicvideos, Family-Clips?

I guess since there have been a lot less of them produced it can be attractive for some to stay with CDNG. If you sell it, I would describe this "feature", so the user can downgrade to the old firmware, if this codec is necessary.

Concerning the price of a Pocket 4K. Is it one of the first ones, still capable of recording CDNG? Those go for higher prices compared to the later versions, already shipped with BRAW.

You could sell the 50mm f1.2 and get a nice, flexible Zoom-Lens like the 24-70mm or the 24 105 and use it with an EF-Adapter.

Isn´t capable of doing 4k, you could install MagicLantern on it and experiment with Raw, but I wouldn´t chose the 5Diii. The EOS R could be a great Option. Newer Hardware and a solid combination of Photography and Video. The GH5, as another option works great handheld, ideally combining IBIS with IS of the lens. What about your Lenses? Did you use EF-Lenses with the 4k or MFT? This would be another factor in this equation. You could use EF-Lenses with your new Camera if you have some.

Basically what IronFilm said. Myself, I started with miniDV, then HDV, bought a 550D/T2i and got a Blackmagic Camera after selling it. Besides the fact that the T2i is a good camera for photogaphy, I didn´t miss anything in terms of the video-functions when using the Blackmagic. What was it about the 5Dii that you now miss with the Pocket 4K? What makes the DSLR-Type attracktive in your opinion? The GH5 is a great camera, but different compared to the Pocket 4K and also different compared to the 5Dii. Just give us some more information about why exactly you think about switching back. Think about what you want to film, workflow, lenses, accesories, shooting-habits etc.

I actually like LT a lot, did so even with the first Pocket Camera. As long as you expolse it the right way, it still offers more than enough grading capabilities in post. At least for what I need. Great for longer interviews and or concerts as well. Looking forward to your comparison.

Probably with the glorious h.264 codec and 8bit... highly unlikely. But sure, you´ll never know. 😉

I´m all in with a 2.8k Sensor. But still, I think UHD is a nice middleground in the resolution race, even though, great 1080p is enough in a lot of areas. It isn´t too much to ask for that in a new camera in 2020 or 2021, but nevertheless, 1080p from a really good 2.8k Sensor could be interesting for some if the camera delivers the expected image quality . I really like the BMD color science, the codecs the cameras offer (Prores and BRAW), the Software etc. but they need to improve other areas, battery life being on of them.

Some great points here, Andrew! Yeah, that 2.5k Sensor was/is awesome. Great for 1080p or 2K Output, but capable of being upscaled to UHD aswell. Bringing it back in a new camerabody with upgraded software and interface wouldn´t be a bad idea. I would prefer other mount-options but nevertheless. An EVF is cool, but not a requirement, at least for me. If the screen has to be articulated, it has to be a really solid construction concept. IBIS can be great, but it depends on the implementation and whether there are any downsides on imagequality/processing power as a result of it. Battery life has to be improved a lot. This is really a PITA. Sure, Sony batteries on with an adapter works, but isn´t practical. DPAF is something I personally haven´t worked with. I like the manual focusing for the stuff I do, but I know how important it is for some of the potential users. Still, not a requirement for me personally. As for higher framerates, I like the 120 fps of the Pocket 4K, but the imagequality suffers. I think HFR shouln´t be a nice gimmick, it should deliver the best quality as possible without going overboard.

They definitely need to deliver something that makes it a new flagship, making it the next evolution for the Ursa aswell as destinguish itself from the Pocket 6K and its features. I use the Pocket 4K, but obviously the 6K is a fantastic camera. The question is, how they proceed in making changes/new featues. Will they go Fullframe or stay with Super 35? Or will they offer two options? They´ll have at least 6k Recording, but will they go 8K to step up the Pocket 6Ks Resolution? They´ll probably integrate the ND or another version of it, something I need in a lot of situations with my Pocket 4K. I really like the USB-C for recording, but I think the integration of an external drive could be optimized. I really liked the SSD-Option in the BMCC, and the SSD Recorder on the URSA. So maybe something similar for m.2 drives or SSD could be great. I´d like to see some external control via WLAN, not just for basic settings but for controling focus points, focus programing etc. We´ll see if they announce some news this year for a 2021 relesase.

That´s really bad. Even though I don´t use mine wide open, at f2.8 it is quite sharp and captures lots of details. If I´d had to set it to F8 to reach usable sharpness, I probably wouldn´t use it. Seems like they vary a quite a bit.

I know that it is softer wide open, compared to other primes of the set. Still, stepped down a bit it is great. At least my sample is. Overall, they deliver great value for the money.

I have the same Samyangs/Rokinon/Walimex Lenses. What was so awful with your 24mm? Besindes the focus ring having not enough resistance for my liking, it is a nice lens. Just curious why you didn´t like it.

Yeah, that´s what I heard. As long as the camera was able to record DCNG when shipped, you can downgrade the firmware. I have one of the first models, so it was still capable of recording in CDNG but I´m fine with giving it up for BRAW and all the new modes. I really like the 2:35 4k Mode, even though I rarely use the 75fps mode, it´s a great mode to have. Btw. Frank Glencain did a comparison between CDNG and BRAW: https://frankglencairn.wordpress.com/2019/03/07/no-more-cdng-on-blackmagic-cameras-and-why-it-doesnt-mater-at-all/

Depends, I guess. Do you want to film in the dark, or simply have scenes with less bright lights? As long as you can control the lightsources the way you want, you don´t necessarily need a A7Sii. I myself use Blackmagic-Cameras ever since the first pocket camera was released. The Pocket 4k/6k for examp offer great lowlight capabilities. But Panasonic, Fuji and Canon offer great ISO-performance too. Maybe take a look at some out-of-camera-Samples and see, whether the codec, format and colorscience is what you´re looking for.

1. You´re probably right, neither BMD nor Canon or any other manufacturer can satisfy their audience. May it be because of the form factor, codecs, limitations... 2. I´m okay with the Pocket 4K as it is, but I would´ve liked a box design a lot more. The original Pocket came at a time where others didn´t even think about raw/prores and it was basically 8-bit h264 everywhere. I think the Micro Cinema Camera would´ve sold a lot better without it being promoted as an drone/action camera. If they went with "the micro is the pocket v1.5" and aimed at the same audience, probably a different story. And the original Pocket had the summer sale, that boosted the sales a lot. Still, I think if the camera is 50% Photo 50% Video, a "normal" camera design is the right way for most of the potential customers. If the camera is primarily aimed at videography, the design should be pointing in this direction. Mounting options, integrated cage-elements etc.