"Junun" - new Paul Thomas Anderson film shot on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera goes to the movies

In the spring of this year, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will be Blood, Boogie Nights) travelled to Rasjathan, India with his friend Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and producer Nigel Godrich to record an album called Junun (available for pre-order from Amazon and iTunes).

Anderson intended to record the journey and release it as a documentary - but, as he says in this interview at the New York Film Festival, his "newfangled, sexy camera gear" was held up at customs, so he had to resort to Plan B - which turned out to be the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras he had in his bag (plus Paul Godrich's drone).

Paul Thomas Anderson shooting handheld with the BMPCC (via MUBI on Twitter)

The film, which shares the album's title, was shot verité style in the recording studio and on the streets of Rasjathan and captures the amazing process by which the music was created.

You can stream Junun now via Amazon video - order the album at iTunes - or stream it on Amazon Prime.





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"D" Cam for Avengers: Age of Ultron - the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera!

IMDB's Technical Specifications page for the upcoming sequel to Marvel's the Avengers - Avengers: Age of Ultron (teaser trailer below) shows the usual list of very expensive Hollywood cameras - the Arri Alexa XT, the RED Epic, the Canon EOS C500 - but it also lists the $900 Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera shooting ProRes 4:2:2.

Here's the trailer:



The GoPro HD Hero 3 is also listed (probably as a POV cam).

It is terrific to see a camera from the world of micro-budget filmmaking used on a major Hollywood production - and it's also a testament to the quality of the images produced by the Pocket.

This camera has already been used for major TV advertising campaigns and on the set of the TNT series Dallas - but this is one of the first feature films.

Given this camera's price/performance ratio, it's likely that we'll see more BMPCCs on set in Hollywood going forward.

Hat tip to an anonymous poster over on 4chan for the heads up.

Blackmagic URSA pre-orders shipping - first footage from the wild!

The Bear is in the house - Blackmagic URSA EF - $5995 at Adorama

The 4K Super 35 Blackmagic URSA, introduced at NAB 2014 in April, has started shipping. Guy Fiorita at New York production house Shout Chorus appears to be one of the first shooters in the US (and one of the first shooters without a connection to Blackmagic) to get his hands on the camera  - and has taken the time to post a mini-review plus few NYC street scenes (video after the break).

Guy didn't have the shoulder kit, so URSA wasn't on his shoulder very long and he used a tripod for most of the shots.  But he also says that the camera's weight isn't a deal breaker.

I'll let Guy's review and video speak for themselves, but at $5995 (EF version) or $6495 (PL version), shooters might be willing to put up with a little extra weight to get 4K (UHD) RAW or ProRes at 60p plus a global shutter. Goodbye CMOS skew and "jello-vision"!

You would have to pay $28,990 to get UHD/60p and a global shutter from Sony.

It looks like Blackmagic Design is absolutely committed to revolutionizing the price model for cinema cameras - all the way from the sub-$1000 RAW capable Pocket Cinema Camera to feature production with the Super 35 URSA. Good news for filmmakers.  Bad news for the traditional camera manufacturers


Here's Guy's video:



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Blackmagic Firmware Update 1.9.5 Brings In-Camera Formatting to the 4K Camera - Pocket & Cinema Cams Soon?

This morning, Blackmagic Design rolled out yet another firmware update in the 1.9 series (any bets on when they roll over to 1.10?).  This update fixes a long-standing problem with all of the first generation Blackmagic Cameras - the inability to format media in-camera:

New Camera 1.9.5 update!  Get in camera SSD formatting for Blackmagic Production Camera 4K! Download now!
— Blackmagic Design (@Blackmagic_News) September 5, 2014

You can download it here.

This summer has been terrific for early Blackmagic Camera owners who bought these cameras "on faith", hoping that the company would, over time, fix their shortcomings. Kudos to Blackmagic Design for rewarding that faith.

With the earlier additions of audio meters, histograms and SD/SSD time remaining, Blackmagic dealt with just about every challenge that could be addressed in software. Now, with the addition of in-camera formatting, Production Camera shooters will be free to buy drives and format them in the camera rather than bringing them to their workstations or dragging their laptops and external drives into the field.

This makes the $500 off sale on the 4K Production Camera even more attractive. If you've been waiting for the Production Camera to become even more usable in the field, this may be the time to pull the trigger. If so, please click on one of the links or displays in this post. It won't cost you anything extra and it will help keep these posts coming. Thanks for your support of the revolution.

All of that said, I really want this feature for my Pocket Cam - and I'm sure BMCC owners feel the same way. Faster, please Blackmagic!

Blackmagic update 1.9.3 adds histogram, audio meter, time-to-go - huge usability improvement for BMPCC & BMCC!

Finally, over two years after the introduction of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera at NAB 2012 - and over a year after the introduction of the Pocket Cinema Camera in April 2013 - Blackmagic Design adds basic camera features to the amazing images produced by these cameras. As a business strategy, this makes sense. Early adopters have been willing to guess at audio levels and how much time they had left to shoot, while producing stunning RAW and ProRes images. And revenue generated by sales to early buyers has provided Blackmagic with the time and resources required to fix the cameras' firmware.

Speaking as an early adopter, this has been more than a little frustrating - but now that these basic omissions have been remedied, it will be difficult to stay peeved.

That said, these cameras are still battery hogs - and the BMCC's black sun issue has not been resolved - but Blackmagic owners are a lot happier today than they were yesterday.

Here are the new features provided by the update:

What's new in Blackmagic Camera Utility 1.9.3 

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 

Add histogram, time remaining and audio level indicators.

Use Up and Down to reveal and hide the meters while Left and Right will adjust the aperture of your active MFT lens. 

Fixed bug where in-camera playback may sometimes drop frames.

Blackmagic Cinema Camera

Add histogram, time remaining and audio level indicators.

Now that my Pocket Cinema Camera is now almost as usable as a real camera - perhaps I'll use it more :)

If usability challenges have kept you from buying a BMCC or BMPCC, now may be the time to jump in. They are still the only straight out-of-the-box RAW video cameras below $2000.

Metabones Canon EF to Pocket Cinema Camera Speed Booster now available for pre-order!

Finally - the $659 Metabones Canon EF to Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Speed Booster Adapter is available for pre-order at Adorama!

Now, Canon shooters can transition to the $495 BMPCC with straight-out-of-the-box 10-bit ProRes and 12-bit RAW recording for a little over $1100 without buying new glass. I'd say now is the time to leave 8-bit h.264 behind.

Sadly, this adapter should not be used with the GH4 or other micro 4/3 cameras due to possible shutter damage. Hopefully, the vanilla Canon EF to micro 4/3 adapter is coming soon.

New Blackmagic Firmware Update 1.8.2 - Record 230 min of 1080p ProRes on a 64GB SD or SSD!

Today, Blackmagic Design announced firmware update 1.8.2 for all of its cinema cameras - the $495 (on sale, as of this post) Pocket Cinema Camera, the $1995 Cinema Camera and the $2995 4K (UHD) Production Camera. This update adds three easy-to-edit Apple ProRes file formats to the menus for these cameras - ProRes 422, ProRes 422 Lite and ProRes 422 Proxy.

With the increased compression of these formats, shooters can now record more video on their existing cards and drives - or, buy less expensive SDs and SSDs.

Here are ProRes 1080p data rates at several frame rates of interest (from Apple):

23.98 fps; ProRes HQ is 176 Mbps, ProRes is 117 Mbps, ProRes LT is 82 Mbps and ProRes Proxy is 36 Mbps.

25 fps; ProRes HQ is 184 Mbps, ProRes is 122 Mbps, ProRes LT is 85 Mbps and ProRes Proxy is 38 Mbps.

29.97 fps; ProRes HQ is 220 Mbps, ProRes is 147 Mbps, ProRes LT is 102 Mbps and ProRes Proxy is 45 Mbps.

Here is the Blackmagic press release:

Fremont, CA - July 17, 2014 - Blackmagic Design today announced announced the immediate availability of Camera 1.8.2 software which adds three new Apple ProRes™ file formats for the Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and Blackmagic Production Camera 4K. Camera 1.8.2 update is available now free of charge from the Blackmagic Design website.

Blackmagic Design camera customers have always been able to record in both CinemaDNG RAW or compressed ProRes 422 HQ formats, however now this new software update adds three additional Apple ProRes™ file formats, ProRes 422, ProRes 422 LT and ProRes 422 Proxy. This means customers using Blackmagic Design cameras will be able to get significantly smaller video file sizes allowing much longer recording durations on the same media card, all while preserving full frame 10-bit 4:2:2 quality.

Because this update is available to our camera customers free of charge, they simply need to download it, and install the update from their Mac or Windows machine using a simple USB cable connection to the camera. Once the update is complete, customers will see these new formats available in the camera menus.

Because this update reduces the data rate of recording, it means customers can now choose lower cost SSD or SD cards while still recording high quality video in SD, HD and Ultra HD resolutions. Using ProRes 422 Proxy it is possible to record 230 minutes of 1080HD video on a single 64GB SD drive. Selecting the type of ProRes format for recording can be set via the on screen menus and all ProRes types can be played back instantly.

The Apple ProRes 422 formats are designed specifically for multi-stream non linear editing, minimal generation loss and fast export, making them very popular video file formats for post production and broadcast. All ProRes files recorded with Blackmagic Cinema Cameras and Blackmagic Production Camera 4K can be opened directly in DaVinci Resolve 11 and Apple Final Cut Pro X™ for immediate color correction, editing and finishing.

“We are extremely excited to release this next update for our camera customers ,” said Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design. “With the addition of the 3 new ProRes formats, cinematographers can now record for longer on low cost SSD’s and SD cards without sacrificing image quality, as they are still recording in full 10 bit 4:2:2 quality. Because our cameras feature a software centric design, we are very excited to be able to update our cameras with more and more features over time and make the cameras better and better! And there is more to come!”

Availability and Price Camera 1.8.2 is available now for download from the Blackmagic Design web site free of charge for all Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and Blackmagic Production Camera 4K customers.

With this recent spate of software upgrades and price cuts, Blackmagic Design is making a credible attempt to reclaim the spotlight - by fixing some of the longstanding challenges with its cameras and improving its price position in the marketplace. Let's hope the next software release adds some of the other features that shooters have been clamoring for - such as a solution to the BMCC's black spot challenge, in-camera clip deletion and in-camera card/drive formatting.

One thing's for sure, my BMPCC just became a whole lot more usable - for free. Hat tip to Blackmagic for providing four flavors of 10-bit 4:2:2 video in a $495 camera - while Canon is still charging $5000 for 8-bit 4:2:0.

As usual, if anything here has helped you to make a buying decision, please click on one of the links above or the displays below. Even if you're not in the market for a cinema camera, please patronize our sponsors in the margins - it won't cost you anything extra, and it will help keep these posts coming. And to stay on top of the latest cinema and video camera news, deals and tips, please follow HCR on Blogger, on YouTube, on Google+ and on Twitter. Thanks so much for your support of the Hybrid Camera Revolution!

For a limited time, #1 Bestselling Pro Camcorder, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is just $495!

Today, Blackmagic Design announced a $500 off summer sale on the groundbreaking 12-bit RAW Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. Until August 31st, 2014, the BMPCC is $495 at Amazon, Adorama, eBay, B&H and other authorized retailers.

At this price, the Pocket Cinema Camera becomes price competitive with entry level DSLRs and DSLMs - with a camera whose image quality is on par with cameras costing thousands of dollars more. Here's the Blackmagic press release:

Fremont, CA - July 16, 2014 - Blackmagic Design today announced an exciting Summer Special discount for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera for the low price of US$495. With a normal recommended retail price of US$995, this Summer Special represents incredible value and is available for a limited time and will end on the 31st of August 2014. This Summer Special price is subject to limited availability, after which the price will return to the usual recommended retail price of US$995.

Since its introduction, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera has been used in thousands of independent films, television commercials, music videos and anywhere cinematographers need a high quality digital film camera in a stealthy super small size.

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera includes powerful features such as Super 16mm sized 1080HD sensor, super wide 13 stops of dynamic range, built in SD card recorder for Apple ProRes, lossless CinemaDNG RAW capture and active Micro Four Thirds lens mount, all in an attractive compact design.

This compact design allows the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera to be used in more situations where a larger camera would not be practical. It’s so small that it can be used in situations in the field where a larger camera could be dangerous. The camera’s film look even allows personal video to be shot with the style and creativity of a motion picture film.

Unlike regular video cameras Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is a true digital cinema camera as it includes a super wide dynamic range image sensor with 13 stops of latitude, allowing feature film quality images.

A common mistake in the television industry is the assumption that more resolution means higher quality. Most cameras produce"video" looking images that suffer from highlight and black clipping that limits details. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera's wide dynamic range eliminates this problem and provides film quality with dramatically more detail retained in black and whites in the image. Once the shoot is complete, DaVinci Resolve Lite 11 color correction and online editing software can be used to adjust images and take advantage of this extra range in the images.

To eliminate the damage that low bit depth and high compression video storage creates, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera includes a easy to use SD card recorder that allows the full sensor dynamic range to be recorded in professional ProRes 422 (HQ) format, as well as 12 bit Log RAW lossless compressed CinemaDNG format. These files can be read by high end video software as they are all open standard.

“We have worked hard to set up this exciting special price to allow more people to afford a super compact digital cinema camera that they can personally own. However stock is limited at this lower price so customers who want to buy at this price will need to move fast,” said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. “We are extremely proud of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and we want to thank all the cinematographers who have send us examples of the work they have completed with this camera. We want to thank everyone for the wise and intelligent feedback they have given us and we hope this special offer is a great way to show our appreciation to the wonderful customers we have. For us, this is a dream come true!”

Now, at the $1700 price point, we have the GH4 competing with cameras such as the ~$3000+ 5D Mark III and ~$11,999 1 D C - while, at the low end, DSLR video shooters can buy a straight-out-of-the-box RAW camera for the price of a T3i.  This is bad news for the old-line DSLR manufacturers.

It seems to me that Canon and Nikon either have to step up to the plate and offer more high end features for the money - or, cede the video market to the newcomers and watch sales of mirror-box DSLRs slip even further.  If I owned stock in these companies, I would sell it.

If you've been eyeing the BMPCC, but didn't have quite enough money to buy one - now may be the time to pull the trigger. Please click on one of the links, pictures or display ads from our sponsors on this page to order. It won't cost you anything extra, but it will help to keep these blog posts coming. Thanks so much for supporting the Hybrid Camera Revolution!

OFFICIAL: Blackmagic Design Releases Camera Utility 1.8!

After yesterday's false start, Blackmagic Design has posted the official version 1.8 of the Blackmagic Camera Utility here for US users and here for UK users.  Here's what's new:

Blackmagic Production Camera 4K

• Updated user interface
• Losslessly compressed RAW DNG recording support
• Addresses an issue where pixel artefacts are seen in edges with strong highlights while shooting in 1080 mode
• Adds autofocus support for compatible EF lenses

Blackmagic Cinema Camera

• Updated user interface
• Adds autofocus support for compatible EF lenses Improved debayering when shooting to ProRes or DNxHD
• Improved focus peaking display
• Improved ISO handling when shooting at ISO 1600
• Improved general audio performance
• Iris setting is retained when switching between camera recording and clip playback

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

• Updated user interface
• Improved performance when recording using internal microphones
• Improved instances where a grid-like pattern may occur in some flare highlights
• General improvements in autofocus with active MFT lenses
• Adds supports for stabilization in MFT lenses without physical O.I.S switches
• Improved support for Sigma MFT lenses
• Improved support for Lumix 12-42mm PZ lens
• Improved support for Olympus 60mm f/2.8 MFT lens
• Iris setting is retained when switching between camera recording and clip playback

Blackmagic Studio Camera

• Improved phantom power compatibility
• Addresses an issue with interlaced video being output as progressive video

Get the full run down in this video from Blackmagic Design CEO Grant Petty.

The big news, of course, is that the Blackmagic "4K" Production Camera now records to Cinema DNG RAW. The improvements for the other cameras in the line are nice, but not as significant. It would have been a real win for Blackmagic if they had been able to fix the BMCC's black dot problem, for example.

If you want to shoot UHD and want 12-bit color depth and the flexibility and gradeability of RAW in post, the Blackmagic Design 4K Production Camera ($2995 with free Sony UWPV1 Lavalier Microphone, Bodypack Transmitter & Portable RX Wireless System at Adorama) is pretty much the only game in town below $10,000. If anything here has helped you to make a purchase decision, please support our sponsors by clicking on the links or pictures above or the display ads below and in the margins. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep these posts coming. Thanks so much for your support!

Off to update my BMPCC to see how well these updates work!

Flycam Flyboy III Stabilizer - Less Than $60!

Here's a great how-to video from the CineCity in India on balancing the new Flycam Flyboy III lightweight stabilizer. The camera seen in the example is the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera - which seems to be the perfect target camera for a lightweight stabilizer. What makes it even better is that the compact Flyboy III is less than $60 from the CineCity on eBay!



This looks like it's easy enough to balance that I'll actually use it. There are only 9 left as of this post - I'm ordering mine now, so there will only be 8 left for you guys :)

If you prefer not to order from eBay, get one from the CineCity through Amazon for a few dollars more.

Selling my Pocket Cinema Camera for a GH4 - Why?

I still love my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. I have found ways to overcome its handling limitations (with an inexpensive LCD shade, a loupe and a pistol grip).



I have learned to combine its expanded image and peaking features for razor sharp manual focus, its small form factor is convenient and visually appealing, I absolutely love 10-bit ProRes and, now that the GH3 is back over $1000, the BMPCC is the only sub-$1000 camera with a headphone jack. So, why am I selling it to buy a Panasonic GH4?

Because the BMPCC is the last camera I pick up when I leave the house. On the other hand, I take the GH3, with its 'inferior' 8-bit codecs, everywhere I go. It turns out that I need to be able to shoot a high quality still photo every once in a while - and an iPhone just doesn't cut it for me. So, I guess I chose the right title for this blog. I am a hybrid still/video camera shooter, still looking for the "revolutionary" camera that can do it all. Is the GH4 that camera? Hopefully, we'll see in a few weeks.

If you're looking for a 12-bit RAW cinema camera for $899 and you're in in the SF Bay Area, click on one of the pictures above or this link to see my Craigslist post. If you prefer a new BMPCC, GH3 or GH4, please click on one of the links above or the display ads below. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help keep these posts coming. Thanks!

New Product from NAB - Affordable Multi-Axis Stabilizers from Big Balance

So I see a gentleman in Flava Flav-style white framed sunglasses racing around the show floor in a motorized wheelchair, followed by another guy "flying" a very small handheld gimbal. Okay, so my interest is piqued.

I start following these two to see where they're going. Turns out they're headed back to the booth for Big Balance Technology - an exciting new player in the multi-axis gimbal market.

With the introduction of the $15K MoVI 10, the $5K MoVI 5 and the $1.8K Defy last year - plus the proliferation of brushless gimbals we're starting to see on 'copters (such as the Zenmuse Z15), there are lots of gimbals at NAB this year. For years, I've dreamt of smooth, gimbaled Hollywood-style motion from a 2 or 3-azis stabilizer, but I hadn't planned to stop by any of the gimbal manufacturers' booths this week, because there was no way I could afford a powered stabilizer - or so I thought.

Enter Big Balance. A new Hong Kong company with a presence in the US and Europe. They saw the opportunity to bring multi-axis gimbal technology down from the high-end to smartphones, action cams, small and large interchangeable lens cameras - and this year they're at NAB, planning to ship their products in June. Prices start at an unbelievable $220 for their "Gazelle" 2-axis smartphone stabilizer.

Here's my interview with Larry Reich from Big Balance with a demo of the $995 Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera on a $750(!) Big Balance Gorilla stabilizer. I was so impressed,I forgot to pay attention to holding focus on Larry:




For smartphone and action cam filmmakers, this is a no-brainer. They should buy the Husky and the Mustang as soon as they are available.

For compact cam and DSLR/DSLM filmmakers, it's a little more money - but still worth it - especially for BMPCC owners (like me) who are frustrated by how hard it is to hold the camera steady.

If you have been on the fence about buying the BMPCC because you have been concerned about image stabilization - it may be time to pull the trigger.

GH4 Footage Starting to Arrive Before NAB

Panasonic DMC-GH4 with DMW-YAGH Pro A/V Interface Unit - $3298

We're starting to see more GH4 footage in advance of the big show. Here is a nice little fashion film from Mytherapy in London:




Here is the Behind-The-Scenes:




And for the pixel peepers in the audience (you know who you are), here is Andrew Reid's side-by-side between the GH4, GH3 , 5D Mark III (RAW and h.264) and D7100 . Please read Andrew's blog post after you watch the video:




In my view, the frame grabs at the bottom of Andrew's blog post tell the story. The reigning champ of micro-budget cinema, the Panasonic GH3, seems to have been decisively dethroned (especially now that prices have gone back up to list).

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera - and even the Sony RX10 - were mere pretenders to the throne. But now, the king is dead - long live the new king!