Great Pocket Cinema Camera Travel Video

For some reason, the best travel videos seem to come out of Southeast Asia.  The great "Oh Angkor", shot on the GH2, is one example.  Another is "Thailand Singapore Bali" shot primarily with the Sony RX100.

Now we have another - "Siem Reap 2013" from ThirtySix-O Media - this time shot with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and a couple of small lenses - the Panasonic 20mm f1.7 and Olympus 12mm f2.   Again, great dynamic range in this piece:




This is great video quality to bring back from vacation - especially considering that a camera the size of a cellphone and two tiny lenses were used to shoot it.
Some are saying that this is primarily a "professional" camera, but I beg to differ.  In the hands of advanced amateurs who know what they are doing, the Pocket is going to be a terrific little camera to travel with.
Just make sure to bring along a few extra Nikon EN-EL20 batteries, an MH-27 charger and a laptop to manage your cards! 
Again, you can pre-order your Pocket Cinema Camera here or by clicking on the Adorama display ad below.

If you don't want to wait for the Pocket, you can order a Cinema Camera EF or MFT from Amazon. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep posts like this coming.

Another Great Pocket Cinema Camera Narrative from Jsfilmz

I'm turning into a real fan.  Impactful short film with a message.  Please watch all the way to the end. Shot by J's friend and his wife with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera.




Dynamic range is very impressive. This camera is the real deal - and so is Jsfilmz.


Again, you can pre-order your Pocket Cinema Camera here or by clicking on the Adorama display ad below.

If you don't want to wait for the Pocket, you can order a Cinema Camera EF or MFT from Amazon. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep posts like this coming.

First Narrative Short Shot With Pocket Cinema Camera

Another sign that we may be about to get our cameras! They are starting to appear in the hands of consumers who don't seem to have special relationships with either Blackmagic or with dealers.

A talented amateur who goes by "Jsflimz" has posted a 1080p action short on YouTube.  As far as I can tell, this is the first Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera footage with the whole package - actors with dialogue, VFX, and post-production (cutting and grading). Check it out (please watch at 1080p):




This is clearly an amateur production with a couple of rough spots, but the dynamic range here is very exciting and, dare I say it, "filmic".

This is what I had hoped the camera could do - give amateurs access to the dynamic range and bitrate to allow them to get past the typical DSLR's horrid compression and 8 bit colorspace.

Reading Jsfimz' notes in the comments section is informative too - but not at all  like reading "American Cinematographer".  Here, the filmmaker describes his motivation:

"btw i dont have any experience at all. i just do this short films for fun. instead of getting drunk everynight. this and fishing is [sic] my outlet"

Nevertheless, he did a great job.

If you're as impressed by the image quality here as I am, and you've been waiting to see some narrative from this camera before ordering, you can go ahead and pre-order your Pocket Cinema Camera here or by clicking on the Adorama display ad below.

If you don't want to wait for the Pocket, you can order a Cinema Camera EF or MFT from Amazon. It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep posts like this coming.

Wedding Shooters - Don't Let This Happen To You!

Epic Fail

Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt - and I admit that I laughed when I found out the groom only suffered a few cuts.  But in all seriousness, flying a copter in close proximity to people on the ground can be a matter of life and death - and should not be attempted unless:

1. The operator is experienced - this means hours of practice, not minutes


2. The equipment is reliable and suited to the payload it is to carry - no DSLRs on a copter rated for a GoPro


3. Winds are relatively calm - strong or gusty winds can exceed the abilities of even the most experienced pilot.

This video has had over a million hits in a little over two weeks. My concern is that the media and attention-seeking politicians will use this video as an excuse for clamping down on copter-mounted cameras.

It behooves all of us who would like to retain the freedom to fly these small copters for personal and light commercial use to operate them safely - or at least not to post our accidents on YouTube or Vimeo.

There are safe, easy-to-fly copters that cost a little more than trying to build one yourself.  I recommend buying one instead of trying to lash together parts from hobby stores, hoping to save a few bucks.

Adorama has their Hands on the Pocket Cinema Camera!

According to this August 15th blog post from Adorama, they have their first camera in - which gives hope to all of us who pre-ordered our Pocket Cinema Cameras there.

In the meantime, the box cutter and my Olympus 11-22mm lens, Panasonic MA1 adapter, Wooden Camera hot shoe, Rainbowimaging pistol grip with trigger, and 64GB ADATA SDXC card all wait patiently by the door, ready to get the box open and shoot some ProRes as soon as the camera arrives!

SHAME - Second Tier Profiteers Mark Panasonic G6 up by $100

No, this is not a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

If you click on the image above, it will take you to a page where you can back order the Panasonic G6 at $749.99.  You can also get on the pre-order list for the camera for $749 at Adorama.

Sadly, however, if you do a search for the camera at Amazon, you'll be taken to a page that lists it for $100 above retail through a company called 6th Ave Express (I am naming them because I'm calling them out - but there's no link, because I don't want to encourage this behavior).

As it turns out, the folks at so-called "BigValue" are doing the exact same thing on eBay.

This is clearly not as pernicious as profiteering from food during a famine - or even from overpriced fuel during an oil embargo, but consumers deserve to know that it's going on.

I completely "get" the law of supply and demand - and that retailers should have some price flexibility to cover extra costs - but a $100 markup on a $750 camera?

As we used to say in the military, YGTBSM.  This is profiteering, pure and simple.

This isn't all the retailers' fault - ultimately, it is Panasonic's.  Once again, they have introduced a camera, promised a delivery date, and then failed to ramp up production to meet demand.

Sadly, this is a pattern. Panasonic cameras routinely miss promised delivery dates in North America, they have poor availability in the largest retail channels in the United States (that's being charitable), and they do not issue updates explaining the situation to consumers.

I tend to recommend Panasonic cameras on internet fora and on this blog because, in my view, their hybrid still/video bridge camera (the FZ200) and their DSLMs (the G6 and the GH3) are the best-in-class hybrids between about $500 and $1500.

That said, Panasonic's supply chain challenges are a real problem for the company and its consumers.  It is clearly a losing sales strategy - and it is not very helpful to the company's credibility among camera buyers and bloggers.

If anyone at Panasonic is reading this - you should know that it is becoming more and more difficult to recommend your cameras - because it is becoming more and more difficult to find your cameras at the prices you advertise on your website.

For now, hybrid still/video camera buyers with less than $800 in their budgets, who want moire-free video and terrific stills - and who cannot wait for the G6's supply challenges to work themselves out, may want to consider the Nikon 5200, $797 with the 18-55 kit lens at Amazon (or even less on eBay).

The G6 is a great camera, and a good value for the money at $750 with the kit lens - but it is a bad deal at $850, and I don't recommend it at that price.

If you're in the market for any of these cameras, please click on the display ads below.  It won't cost you anything extra, and it makes it possible to keep these posts coming. Thanks!

While You Wait - Five Downloadable Pocket Cinema Camera Videos

Click on the image to go to the download page

For your grading pleasure, the folks at Wooden Camera have posted five gradable videos from the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera.

Something to keep you occupied as you sit by the front door waiting for your Pocket Camera to arrive.