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Blackmagic Pocket 4K battery grip


Andrew Reid
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Found one on eBay for £200 so thought I'd give it a go.

Got the rusty potato out for a test shoot versus the X-T4.

The Voigtlander 17.5mm F0.95 is really nice on it.

Did I miss any firmware updates on the Pocket 4K since I last bothered with it?

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1 hour ago, Andrew Reid said:

Did I miss any firmware updates on the Pocket 4K since I last bothered with it?

I don't know when you last updated, but the recent ones only add features for use with the ATEM Mini, turning it into an unmanned studio camera if you need it. There was also an update that adds a horizon level cross. Other than that, if you have Braw, you've had the last major update.

EDIT: that's not true - they've also added 120fps in 2.6k - 75fps at 4096 x 1720 - and 2.8k anamorphic up to 80fps

Have you had time to test the real world battery life with the grip? Is there any improvements on letting you know when the battery will die? I've been using a v-mount which has its own indicators, so pay little attention to what the camera tells me.

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26 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

The first thing I am filming is to do a codec test vs the latest 10bit LOG cameras like X-T4 and to figure out whether the codec in the Blackmagic is actually worth losing so much other functionality for.

To be fair, the main advantages of the BRAW codec isn't in the pixel peeping.  Film anything well and its gonna look good with modern cameras these days.

For me, the advantage of BRAW is

A) Altering ISO and white balance in post production.  Not for every shot, but for some, its quick, simple and for some shots, can place less stress on filming.  For some shots last year, it was a life saver.

B) Its so much smoother to edit than H264 and H265 in Resolve.  Thumbnails load quicker.  Less quirks or crashes.  Plays back well.  

Factor in, I prefer the colour science, at least to that seen in my GH5 and this is why I favour the Pocket over the more functional GH5.

 

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3 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

they've also added 120fps in 2.6k - 75fps at 4096 x 1720 - and 2.8k anamorphic up to 80fps

I left my Blackmagic on the old firmware to keep Cinema DNG.

Can you roll back to old one if you install the latest? If so how do you find the old file?

120fps in 2.6K is a cropped window right? 75fps at 4096 x 1720 sounds great though.

3 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

Have you had time to test the real world battery life with the grip? Is there any improvements on letting you know when the battery will die? I've been using a v-mount which has its own indicators, so pay little attention to what the camera tells me.

No time yet but seems good at first impressions. Battery compartment is a bit wobbly and build quality feels a bit cheap but it's a big step up from the single Canon battery in terms of capacity with the Sony FP-550s.

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@SteveV4D exactly that. I’ve always said the P4k is an editor’s camera. Post work is a breeze. even with a heavy grade it plays back super smooth on my old laptop. I have to make proxies to even watch untouched h265 clips. 

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Can you roll back to old one if you install the latest? If so how do you find the old file?

120fps in 2.6K is a cropped window right? 75fps at 4096 x 1720 sounds great though.

@Andrew Reid As far as I know, if your camera shipped with a DNG firmware, it can roll back. If you got a camera that shipped after Braw, then no you can't. I tested it myself with the first two updates after Braw came out, but haven't tested since. There is a chance the new updates stop that from happening, but I doubt it.

Yes 2.6k is cropped.

 

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1 hour ago, Anaconda_ said:

As far as I know, if your camera shipped with a DNG firmware, it can roll back. If you got a camera that shipped after Braw, then no you can't. I tested it myself with the first two updates after Braw came out, but haven't tested since. There is a chance the new updates stop that from happening, but I doubt 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/

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i have the original as well. I wonder if bmd have the original firmware available for dl. Not some thing i have worried about before. if i wanted to sell it and i cant think of any reason why i would want too, but it would be a bonus i think to have the original firmware available on a usb stick.

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1 hour ago, leslie said:

I wonder if bmd have the original firmware available for dl.

You can, Braw was added in v6.2, so v6.1 was the last update with DNG. You can get it here: 

Update notes - Mac - Windows

If I remember right, it's just a case of removing any other BMD update software from your computer, installing this and plugging the camera in. It should then install v6.1 (on cameras that shipped before Braw)

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