Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

[Papiskokuji]

1 hour ago, Papiskokuji said:

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.

 

 

Just opened the box, put a battery, a lens and a card. First impressions : the camera looks like it has already been used or feels like a prototype (which it is not)... The rubbers on the side protecting the ports don't feat snuggly, especially the top one. The sensor had a dust on it, the body cap has scratches, etc. The camera feels plastic, easily scratchable (if it's a word), a little bit less well finished than the previous blackmagic cameras (I haven't used all of them to be fair). Maybe it is still very rugged and it is just to remove some weight. There was some kind of screen protector misplaced on the back of the camera. Hehe but it's all ok I guess ! 

The good part now : when you turn on the camera, the screen is so big, so nice ! It's great ! The buttons while feeling cheap, are well-placed, responsive, so is the touchscreen. The menu, the function buttons are a delight ! It is very user friendly ! The noise at high ISO seems negligeable (just judging by the rear display, haven't recorded anything yet). The peaking is red and I haven't found a way to customize it (I'm sure you can do it, as you could in the past BM products). Extended video looks great (even if the weather and light is very dull right now, it needs further testing

The funny thing is... I can't find where you format the card ! Seriously... Haha... If someone knows where it is. And apparently I'll be able to record 4K 60p PRORES HQ with just my SD card (the ones for Sony UHD xavc s) And I can't change the language in the menu (It doesn't bother me at all, but it really seems like a beta firmware ?!)

Edit : I just found how to format the card. You have to touch the icon, it's not in the menu. I have also found for the peaking and zebra settings 

[Álex Montoya]

27 minutes ago, DBounce said:

ProATV did a shoot using the P4k

 

Dynamic range looks very limted in this video. Wonder of they just used the rec709 lut..

[jonpais]

8 minutes ago, Papiskokuji said:

Just opened the box, put a battery, a lens and a card. First impressions : the camera looks like it has already been used or feels like a prototype (which it is not)... The rubbers on the side protecting the ports don't feat snuggly, especially the top one. The sensor had a dust on it, the body cap has scratches, etc. The camera feels plastic, easily scratchable (if it's a word), a little bit less well finished than the previous blackmagic cameras (I haven't used all of them to be fair). Maybe it is still very rugged and it is just to remove some weight. There was some kind of screen protector misplaced on the back of the camera. Hehe but it's all ok I guess ! 

The good part now : when you turn on the camera, the screen is so big, so nice ! It's great ! The buttons while feeling cheap, are well-placed, responsive, so is the touchscreen. The menu, the function buttons are a delight ! It is very user friendly ! The noise at high ISO seems negligeable (just judging by the rear display, haven't recorded anything yet). The peaking is red and I haven't found a way to customize it (I'm sure you can do it, as you could in the past BM products). Extended video looks great (even if the weather and light is very dull right now, it needs further testing

The funny thing is... I can't find where you format the card ! Seriously... Haha... If someone knows where it is. And apparently I'll be able to record 4K 60p PRORES HQ with just my SD card (the ones for Sony UHD xavc s) And I can't change the language in the menu (It doesn't bother me at all, but it really seems like a beta firmware ?!)

Edit : I just found how to format the card. You have to touch the icon, it's not in the menu.

Jun Areia’s camera only had English.

[Turboguard]

17 minutes ago, Papiskokuji said:

Just opened the box, put a battery, a lens and a card. First impressions : the camera looks like it has already been used or feels like a prototype (which it is not)... The rubbers on the side protecting the ports don't feat snuggly, especially the top one. The sensor had a dust on it, the body cap has scratches, etc. The camera feels plastic, easily scratchable (if it's a word), a little bit less well finished than the previous blackmagic cameras (I haven't used all of them to be fair). Maybe it is still very rugged and it is just to remove some weight. There was some kind of screen protector misplaced on the back of the camera. Hehe but it's all ok I guess ! 

The good part now : when you turn on the camera, the screen is so big, so nice ! It's great ! The buttons while feeling cheap, are well-placed, responsive, so is the touchscreen. The menu, the function buttons are a delight ! It is very user friendly ! The noise at high ISO seems negligeable (just judging by the rear display, haven't recorded anything yet). The peaking is red and I haven't found a way to customize it (I'm sure you can do it, as you could in the past BM products). Extended video looks great (even if the weather and light is very dull right now, it needs further testing

The funny thing is... I can't find where you format the card ! Seriously... Haha... If someone knows where it is. And apparently I'll be able to record 4K 60p PRORES HQ with just my SD card (the ones for Sony UHD xavc s) And I can't change the language in the menu (It doesn't bother me at all, but it really seems like a beta firmware ?!)

Edit : I just found how to format the card. You have to touch the icon, it's not in the menu. I have also found for the peaking and zebra settings 

Maybe the Owner of the store played with it some before selling it after all ?

[jonpais]

Peaking is available in green, blue, black, white and red.

[Papiskokuji]

5 minutes ago, Turboguard said:

Maybe the Owner of the store played with it some before selling it after all ?

Hehe yeah, I don't know   It was still sealed with plastic and I guess he's a busy man !

[Turboguard]

Just now, Papiskokuji said:

Hehe yeah, I don't know   It was still sealed with plastic and I guess he's a busy man !

I know many stores who have a sealer in store. Bought second hand stuff before fully sealed. Anyway, not saying that's what happend but sounds weird! Hope no further problems pop up for you!

[Papiskokuji]

5 minutes ago, Turboguard said:

I know many stores who have a sealer in store. Bought second hand stuff before fully sealed. Anyway, not saying that's what happend but sounds weird! Hope no further problems pop up for you!

Yeah thanks ! Don't worry ! Everything's fine ! And I was a bit harsh with the "plastic feel" comment even though it was my first impression. The front rec button makes no sense haha, I tried it for fun, but the camera is impossible to hold this way (I mean for insane vloggers who would choose bmpcc4K to vlog !). But it doesn't hurt to have it.

Edit : And one last thing, I don't know where to find the serial number. It's not on the bottom (I also looked for where it was built, singapoure ? But found nothing)

[jonpais]

I wouldn’t vlog with it either, but apparently you can depress the shutter button with your thumb while pushing the focus button at the back of the camera with your index finger.

[DBounce]

9 minutes ago, Papiskokuji said:

Yeah thanks ! Don't worry ! Everything's fine ! And I was a bit harsh with the "plastic feel" comment even though it was my first impression. The front rec button makes no sense haha, I tried it for fun, but the camera is impossible to hold this way (I mean for insane vloggers who would choose bmpcc4K to vlog !). But it doesn't hurt to have it.

Edit : And one last thing, I don't know where to find the serial number. It's not on the bottom (I also looked for where it was built, singapoure ? But found nothing)

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.

[Snuff]

[jonpais]

Unless your monitor costs tens of thousands of dollars, chances are it does not have true 24p playback anyhow.

[BenEricson]

1 hour ago, DBounce said:

ProATV did a shoot using the P4k

 

This footage looks A LOT like the GH5 to me. The OG pocket doesn't clip like this? Could be post processing I suppose. Looks pretty gone to me.

[jonpais]

48 minutes ago, Papiskokuji said:

I also looked for where it was built, singapoure ? But found nothing.

 

[Turboguard]

17 minutes ago, BenEricson said:

This footage looks A LOT like the GH5 to me. The OG pocket doesn't clip like this? Could be post processing I suppose. Looks pretty gone to me.

I stopped watching cause of how horribly they've treated the footage. Not a good watch.

[Shirozina]

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........ 

[jonpais]

I'm loving the image quality I'm seeing from this camera.

[Turboguard]

2 minutes ago, jonpais said:

I'm loving the image quality I'm seeing from this camera.

Same here, and I still have my BMPCC. Used it for work just last Friday.

[Rinad Amir]

1 minute ago, jonpais said:

I'm loving the image quality I'm seeing from this camera.

@jonpais whats your thoughts on the image quality compared to GH5?

 

[DBounce]

3 minutes ago, Rinad Amir said:

@jonpais whats your thoughts on the image quality compared to GH5?

 

Honestly, besides color, which could be down to post processing, I don't see much difference at all. And that difference is even less when compared to the GH5S. I did expect it to handle highlights better than this. I would be nice to have the OG footage to play with... and some normal speed clips.