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Andrew Reid
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So you want:

Punch in magnification during recording, it's essential otherwise your shoot is ruined

You want USB C cable hanging out to SSD, no self respecting pro can do without it

And of course mini XLRs the only game in town for audio recording (ignoring pre-amp quality in Pocket cams of course)

These particulars = happy pro, happy trouble free pro shoot!

But the battery meter going to 50% and camera turning off is fine. We'll gloss over that one! Pros are probably lugging their v-lock battery around with their "Pocket" camera any way! Problem solved! And we'll forget the screen turning into a makeup mirror outdoors. Great bonus feature for the talent actually as they can use it to apply lipstick. USB C port is of course the epitome of pro recording connection, you see the Alexa on every shoot with a consumer phone cable hanging out the side.

Yes, I detect a cult forming in 3,2,1...

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8 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

So you want:

Punch in magnification during recording, it's essential otherwise your shoot is ruined

You want USB C cable hanging out to SSD, no self respecting pro can do without it

And of course mini XLRs the only game in town for audio recording (ignoring pre-amp quality in Pocket cams of course)

These particulars = happy pro, happy trouble free pro shoot!

But the battery meter going to 50% and camera turning off is fine. We'll gloss over that one! Pros are probably lugging their v-lock battery around with their "Pocket" camera any way! Problem solved! And we'll forget the screen turning into a makeup mirror outdoors. Great bonus feature for the talent actually as they can use it to apply lipstick. USB C port is of course the epitome of pro recording connection, you see the Alexa on every shoot with a consumer phone cable hanging out the side.

Yes, I detect a cult forming in 3,2,1...

I think punch in focus is essential for cameras where you are focusing yourself.  Especially if the screen is small and need to ensure you have focus in the right place.  Can you make do without it, sure, but I shouldn't have to.

SSD recording isn't essential, but I find it very useful. Personal prefernce.  Wire isn't that much a problem for me.

And as for mini XLR, not the only solution for audio obviously, but like mentioning SSD recording, something the Pocket has that many other professional cameras in this price point do not.  

Just balancing the negativity here with a few positives.... 😉

Speaking for the negatives you mention, I don't gloss over them at all.. they are valid points of criticism, which you have mentioned one or two times. 😂😂

I neither defend them or excuse them.  I just wish to balance them with the various points that exist in the Pocket 4Ks favour.  And there is more to it than just the ability to record RAW and ProRes. 

And whilst I wish to see BM consider battery life, IBIS, AF and a better screen for outdoors in future models, I would also like Panasonic to consider things like punch in focus, SSD recording option, and a few other things the Pocket has, along with ProRes recording when updating their cameras next.

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5 minutes ago, SteveV4D said:

And whilst I wish to see BM consider battery life, IBIS, AF and a better screen for outdoors in future models, I would also like Panasonic to consider things like punch in focus, SSD recording option, and a few other things the Pocket has, along with ProRes recording when updating their cameras next.

Yes I completely agree.

And a build in ND too.

A lot of the basics we are still waiting on.

Pro camcorders aren't my cup of tea, and I will never swap the mirrorless / stills camera form factor for a C300 type body to get these features. So I do want to see this addressed in the GH6 and whatever comes next.

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11 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Compared to this Blackmagic's only camera-related "innovation" is to come up with a low price for a sensor in a box that happens to shoot ProRes and RAW internal whereas other cameras tend to stick with compression, and much smaller file sizes with a small trade off in image quality.
 

Swappable lens mounts? Over-sampled sensor (4.6K) for better 4K quality? Recording straight to affordable SSD drives (either via USB-C or an integrated module)? Cheapest camera to use V-Locks natively? One of the best viewfinders available today? Internal compressed raw recording that avoids Red's pesky patent? One of the best UI's of any digital cameras ever? Larger internal displays (though admittedly the one on the Pocket is not that good - perhaps even as bad in daylight as the one Panasonic put on the EVA1)? Prores recording to SD cards (appeared first on the Video Assist monitors)?

It's ok not to like their products. They've certainly had their issues over the years. But it makes you look rather silly when you ignore everything they've done and denigrate all their achievements because of some grudge.
 

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Yes I absolutely do hold a grudge after my Pocket 6K debacle and being treated like an idiot by Patrick Hussey at IBC. My support of Blackmagic ended there and then. It's over.

You can point out all the wonderful unique features to me until you are blue in the face mate.

It doesn't change anything. They have lost a customer in me and someone who was there right from the first camera.

Perhaps you can get back on topic and re-read the original post in this thread which actually has nothing to do with SSD recording or mini XLRs... It's about people. About the staff who have been mistreated. For me this is an ethical problem, going far beyond whether an LCD is visible in daylight or not.

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On 2/19/2020 at 12:27 AM, Andrew Reid said:

So you want:

Punch in magnification during recording, it's essential otherwise your shoot is ruined

You want USB C cable hanging out to SSD, no self respecting pro can do without it

And of course mini XLRs the only game in town for audio recording (ignoring pre-amp quality in Pocket cams of course)

These particulars = happy pro, happy trouble free pro shoot!

But the battery meter going to 50% and camera turning off is fine. We'll gloss over that one! Pros are probably lugging their v-lock battery around with their "Pocket" camera any way! Problem solved! And we'll forget the screen turning into a makeup mirror outdoors. Great bonus feature for the talent actually as they can use it to apply lipstick. USB C port is of course the epitome of pro recording connection, you see the Alexa on every shoot with a consumer phone cable hanging out the side.

Yes, I detect a cult forming in 3,2,1...

the original usb cable that comes with the t5 ssd does indeed hang out the side quite away, a ugreen 90 degree usb cable gives a much improved streamlined setup. Cant really blame samsung for not putting a 90 degree connection on one end. Who would have thought we'd be hanging ssd's of cinema cameras 9 months ago   😲

p4klead1.jpg

p4klead2.jpg

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On 2/19/2020 at 12:05 AM, barefoot_dp said:

Swappable lens mounts? Over-sampled sensor (4.6K) for better 4K quality? Recording straight to affordable SSD drives (either via USB-C or an integrated module)? Cheapest camera to use V-Locks natively? One of the best viewfinders available today? Internal compressed raw recording that avoids Red's pesky patent? One of the best UI's of any digital cameras ever? Larger internal displays (though admittedly the one on the Pocket is not that good - perhaps even as bad in daylight as the one Panasonic put on the EVA1)? Prores recording to SD cards (appeared first on the Video Assist monitors)?

It's ok not to like their products. They've certainly had their issues over the years. But it makes you look rather silly when you ignore everything they've done and denigrate all their achievements because of some grudge.
 

I understand your point but once there's no half like button, here's my comment : ) There's something to change there in the BMD land as well : X

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/11/2020 at 1:50 AM, Andrew Reid said:

My question for the Blackmagic apologists is this...

https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=97337

Are the issues reported here acceptable for a new camera straight out of the packaging?

Screenshot_20191224-210554_Gallery.jpg

20191224_210444.jpg

And when mine arrived with a deep gouge in the lens mount under the lens cap, they claimed it was due to rough handling by DHL in Germany...

***

"My name is Callum Mclay and I am the head of Technical Supportfor Blackmagic Design in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

I was sorry to hear about the condition of your camera out of the box. We always recommend reporting any unexpected behaviour to our Support team as soon as possible so that there is a record of it occurring and so that we can do our best to address it for you. This might be why the reseller was unable to accept that the condition of the camera was out of the box, as an amount of time had passed between receiving the product and reporting the condition to them, and because the product had been in use as detailed on your website.

We had seen a very small number of cameras arrive with customers with minor cosmetic damage. We identified the cause of this as extreme rough handling conditions with couriers. These conditions went beyond our own extensive packaging testing, where there became a possibility that the product could have moved inside the packaging and been damaged."

***

😂

It takes the piss doesn't it? No?

How do you get damage like this from a camera moving around inside protective packaging?

A) the packaging is completely inadequate.

or

B) it's a cover up.

Buy a Z-Cam instead and support a company that actually cares about the customer.

 

On 2/11/2020 at 1:50 AM, Andrew Reid said:

My question for the Blackmagic apologists is this...

https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=97337

Are the issues reported here acceptable for a new camera straight out of the packaging?

Screenshot_20191224-210554_Gallery.jpg

20191224_210444.jpg

And when mine arrived with a deep gouge in the lens mount under the lens cap, they claimed it was due to rough handling by DHL in Germany...

***

"My name is Callum Mclay and I am the head of Technical Supportfor Blackmagic Design in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

I was sorry to hear about the condition of your camera out of the box. We always recommend reporting any unexpected behaviour to our Support team as soon as possible so that there is a record of it occurring and so that we can do our best to address it for you. This might be why the reseller was unable to accept that the condition of the camera was out of the box, as an amount of time had passed between receiving the product and reporting the condition to them, and because the product had been in use as detailed on your website.

We had seen a very small number of cameras arrive with customers with minor cosmetic damage. We identified the cause of this as extreme rough handling conditions with couriers. These conditions went beyond our own extensive packaging testing, where there became a possibility that the product could have moved inside the packaging and been damaged."

***

😂

It takes the piss doesn't it? No?

How do you get damage like this from a camera moving around inside protective packaging?

A) the packaging is completely inadequate.

or

B) it's a cover up.

Buy a Z-Cam instead and support a company that actually cares about the customer.

 

On 2/11/2020 at 4:20 AM, Andrew Reid said:

Yes my crime was to use the camera. It arrived the day before my flight to Italy, so I had no time to sort out a replacement. At the track in Monza, I used the Pocket 6K for a few shots before the power went kaput at 50% battery meter every 30 seconds. So the next day, I persevered and wanted to try out the slow-mo, but it crashed with a black screen every time I tried. Lost a lot of material. Shot the rest of the time with different camera. So feeling pissed off on the way back from Italy to IBC in Amsterdam, I decided to take my camera to Blackmagic at the show and ask what was going on. I was insulted, fobbed off, patronised, belittled and offered no solution. The next week after a month long trip I finally arrived in Berlin and contacted the dealer to return it. They did the usual quibbling, before partially refunding me after they received the camera back in the state I received it brand-new... Scuffed and used looking, but I may add just to be clear I didn't add to it... Not during my troubled and brief use of the camera at the Grand Prix nor at IBC. No more damage that was already there from the shrink wrap.

EOSHD is not a purely unfeeling, fact based endeavour for me, I'm afraid feelings and emotion do come into it. When a company puts out shoddy quality control and fobs me off or insults me, it doesn't make me want to help further the online Blackmagic community for them or put work into Blackmagic related content.

I have news for you. I am biased.

My strong advise to Blackmagic users is seriously to look at the alternatives and get off the hype train.

Canon 1D C used has a more cinematic image than both the Pocket cameras and is as low as £1599 / $1900 now
X-T3, and all the new mirrorless cameras. etc.

If you enjoy your Blackmagic don't let my experiences stop you... But let they be a lesson for Blackmagic to improve their lot.

Andrew, Is there any chance you can produce a  purchase receipt , and or documentation of sending it back.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/31/2020 at 12:31 AM, Andrew Reid said:

Blackmagic fan detected.

So I'm guessing that you can't provide provenance of your purchase, or return of said camera. Hope you can, otherwise I think this whole thread, as we we say in Oz, is bullshit. I'm not a Blackmagic fan as such, but a Grant Petty fan as he's bought production back to OZ at Bertie Street Port Melbourne. 

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46 minutes ago, harry henry said:

So I'm guessing that you can't provide provenance of your purchase, or return of said camera. Hope you can, otherwise I think this whole thread, as we we say in Oz, is bullshit.

 

Just clarifying before I respond in full to this but are you saying that he has never owned said camera? 

 
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1 minute ago, harry henry said:

Provenance is always proof where I come from.

 

Sigh...

On the basis that the next level to this will then likely be to say that any purchase receipt has been fabricated, I'll give you some additional provenance.

I've literally had said camera of his in my hand and can confirm what was wrong with it.

It was not long after this post on Twitter when he seems quite excited to receive it.

And this one shortly after that when he unboxed it and found the damage.

In point of fact, I was using it just before this one when he was marching on to their stand at IBC with said camera in his hand to have a row with them about it.

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2 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Sigh...

On the basis that the next level to this will then likely be to say that any purchase receipt has been fabricated, I'll give you some additional provenance.

I've literally had said camera of his in my hand and can confirm what was wrong with it.

It was not long after this post on Twitter when he seems quite excited to receive it.

And this one shortly after that when he unboxed it and found the damage.

In point of fact, I was using it just before this one when he was marching on to their stand at IBC with said camera in his hand to have a row with them about it.

 

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