BMCC Production 4K

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As BlackMagic Design announced several new products this year at NAB2014 (as seen above), one question was - Will they continue to support fixes/bugs for previous cameras? A recent response from the Blackmagic Design Forum points to yes. A few notes included

1. New debayering for shooting directly to ProRes or DNxHD on the Blackmagic Cinema Camera EF and MFT
2. Improved MFT lens support on the Pocket Cinema Camera
3. Compressed RAW support on the Production Camera 4K
4. Autofocus support for EF lenses on Blackmagic Cinema Camera EF and Production Camera 4K

There are a few other improvements with hints to audio level metering and histogram displays among other comments about some requests that may not be possible to fix over at the Blackmagic Design Forum (Found Here).

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find-price-button Varavon BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Cage with 15mm Rails HDMI Clamp

Varavon has just released a new BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Cage w/ 15mm Rails. It's got all the features you'd need in a rig, including top handle and 15mm rail system. The red knobs seen at the front of the cage are used to 'clamp' cables in place from slipping out, such as the HDMI cable.

Cable Lock BMPCC Varavon Cage HDMI
find-price-button Varavon BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Cage with 15mm Rails HDMI Clamp

One unique option that I haven't seen with other #BMPCC Cages is the direct use of an LCD View Finder. In this image Varavon shows to what appears to be their Multifinder Uni Low Angle ViewFinder (though I can't be sure) attached directly to the BMPCC Cage. This ViewFinder will crop about 2mm on each side of your screen. You can already find the Varavon BMPCC Cage available via eBay (click here)

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find-price-button Varavon BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Cage with 15mm Rails HDMI Clamp

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BlackMagic 4K Cinematic Camera Cinema Production

Want some 4K footage from the (not yet released) BlackMagic Design Production 4K Camera? There's information about the camera's status, but they've uploaded almost 10GB of footage for you to download and color grade. Head on over to this link where Grant Petty has an update: https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16615

BlackMagic 4K Footage

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I've had this Mitakon Lens Turbo MFT Adapter for a almost a week and I am just getting ready to publish a video showing some examples from this. Recently I noticed an increase of questions and the amount 'buzz' picking up around the Internet, so I wanted to quickly provide some additional important information. THIS ADAPTER WILL NOT WORK ON THE #BMPCC BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera. It simply will not fit or attach to the camera.

If you're not familiar with this adapter, it's similar to the Metabones Speed Booster (found here) (but less than half the price). Always a concern on smaller MFT cameras is the cropped sensor. The Lens Turbo adapter offers a wider field of view on these smaller sensor cameras and also increases your Aperture by 1 F-Stop. Your lenses are now wider and faster!

Metabones Speed Booster MFT M43 Nikon Adapter
find-price-button Metabones SpeedBooster Nikon to M43 MFT

Right now the Lens Turbo MFT / M43 adapter fits Nikon (F, G, Ai, Ai-s, E) manual lenses and should work perfectly on your Panasonic GH3 or BlackMagic Cinema Camera MFT mount (not Pocket Cinema). How well does it actually perform? Give me a few days, and you'll see a video with a variety of examples.

For more info, you can find the Lens Turbo MFT Focal Reducer adapter available now via eBay (click here).

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find-price-button Lens Turbo Focal Reducer Nikon to MFT Micro Four Thirds Adapter

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When it comes to the #BMPCC, there's a few accessories you may want to add-on, and so a solid cage is a good starting point to carry these extras. Adding on a pair of 15mm rails will get you even further when it comes to mounting video accessories. I've shared a few BMPCC cages on this blog, but here's an actual look at the parts and assembly of the new Tilta BMPCC Cage [BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera Cage].

Tilta is well known for their build quality and finish in products, typically targeting high end camera models. This new Titla BMPCC Cage is no exception. Optionally the Tilta Cage can be purchased with a Top Handle and a set of Rails. The rails are mounted through a quick release system under the main cage, and you still have full access to all ports, battery, and sdxc card slot. An HDMI Lock is included to keep your cable in place and to prevent damage to your camera. [Note: using this lock can block access to your DC input]

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find-price-button Tilta BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera BMPCC Cage

The only things I've found to be of small concern is the low profile Top Handle that gets in the way of my RedRock Micro Live Lens adapter. I'm unable to attach or remove the RRM adapter when the Tilta Top handle is mounted. The silver-ish finish on the rails look great, but one pass and they are easily scratched up. This doesn't affect any functionality of course. Overall a solid product for mounting accessories to your BMPCC.


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find-price-button Tilta BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera BMPCC Cage

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As amazing as this little camera is, it's annoying that the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera requires extra juice just to make it run for more than 40 minutes. I tried the Switronix Pocketbase (seen here) which works, but I personally grew tired of the form factor, and how it blocks access to the SD Card (battery door) so I decided to DIY my own adapter.

The BMPC DC input uses a 12V power source, so i've decided to use a 12V battery plate that i've just added the proper 2.5mm OD x 0.7mm ID barrel adapter tip to. It's hardly DIY since all you have to do is cut off the tip and replace it with the proper sized DC Plug.

These battery plates will take a certain battery and step the voltage up to 12V. I've even tested the guts against a Sony 7.4V battery, and it works great, but decided to go back to the original battery plate because of it's slim profile. If you dig hard enough you can find many of these battery plates online dedicated for common Canon LP-E6, or Sony L Series / NP-F Type batteries.

You can see how handy it is to have a cage for mounting accessories on the BMPCC. I could either keep the battery off to the side, or relocate it to the rails with a clamp. There are many great cages on the market, but in the video i'm using the Shape Cage for the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera.

Shape Cage BlackMagic Pocket Camera Shape Cage BMPC Shape Cage BlackMagic Pocket Camera Rig
find-price-button Shape Cage for BlackMagic Pocket Camera + Top Handle + 15mm Rail Base

If you stuck with the Canon BP battery plate + Canon BP battery + DC Plug, I would say this entire DIY project will run $50 dollars or less and take you less than 5 minutes (yes that total cost even includes the battery). It's much cheaper than other off the shelf products in retail stores right now to power the BMPCC, and I find it to be a clean and simple solution.

Here's the 12V step up Battery Plate i'm using which takes the Canon BP batteries typically used in the older GL2 camcorders. Eventually i'll track down a cheap Canon LP-E6 battery plate or Sony L Series plate and use these guts to step it up to 12V. Here's my current parts list below if you want to tackle this for yourself.

Canon Battery BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera
find-price-button 7V step up 12V Battery Plate for Canon BP Battery12V BP Plate

Canon GL2 BP battery for BMPC BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera
find-price-button Canon BP Series Batteries for GL2

If you're looking to DIY your own power cable for the Pocket Cinema Camera, the specs for the power plug from BlackMagic Design are 2.5mm OD x 0.7mm ID which you can find on eBay. To keep things small (unlike my current adapter), I suggest going for the right angle tips (found here).

DIY blackmagic 12V power battery 2.5mm 0.7mm right angle dc male plug cheesycam
find-price-button 2.5mm OD X 0.7mm ID Male DC Plug

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Exciting news! BlackMagic Design has finally released new firmware today for the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera. This update adds lossless CinemaDNG RAW support to the Pocket Cinema Camera. Due to to the high data rate, they recommend using the Sandisk Extreme Pro 64GB SD card for recording RAW (found here).

The lossless CinemaDNG RAW will work in DaVinci Resolve and applications from Adobe like Photoshop and Lightroom. However, the Preview and Quick Look feature in OS X is not compatible and you will not see a proper image (at this time).

What’s new in Blackmagic Camera Utility 1.5
• Adds CinemaDNG RAW recording support for Pocket Cinema Camera

To download the firmware visit the BlackMagicDesign.com Support webpage at https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support

When they were first released, inventory was scarce, but it appears these #BMPC BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Cameras have been in stock lately. Here's a few links if you don't already own this camera.
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find-price-button BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera - via B&H


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find-price-button BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera - via Amazon

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The BlackMagic Cinema Camera can run a short time with it's internal battery, but it's really designed to use external power. I've shared a few options on this blog, but here's another option to power the BMCC off of a 14V battery adapter using Sony BP-U60 / BP-U30 batteries. If you already have these batteries from your Sony EX-1 camera, this is a great little add-on.

This battery adapter has a 1/4-20 threaded screw to attach to many rigs or cages, or can be mounted to the optional 15mm clamp. If you don't have batteries, you may want to look into the adapter plates that are bundles with a battery charger. You can find these products via eBay following the links (below).

Sony BMCC BP-U30 BP-U60 battery adapter wall charger BlackMagic CInema CameraBlackMagic Cinema Camera 14V Battery Sony BP-U60 adapter
find-price-button Sony BP-U60 BP-U30 Battery Plate 14V for BlackMagic Cinema Camera

Sony BP-U30 batteries BlackMagic Cinema CameramVp2MjLn2FYklJnCLkpFYVg
find-price-button Sony BP-U30 / BPU60 Batteries


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For those of you shooting with the BlackMagic Design Cinema Camera [or looking into the Production Camera 4K], here's a quick and closer look at F&V's new BMC Cage. Assembly is pretty simple, and the final product fits nicely around the BMCC without obstructing any of the ports, doors, buttons, or screen.

At approx. 1/2" thick frame, the cage is rock solid and thick enough to mount accessories to any of the available 1/4-20" or 3/8" threaded holes over the top and along the sides. The frame can be adjusted to a wider setting if you need additional clearance around the sides. Unfortunately neither the Base or Advanced Kits come with a set of 15mm rails, so you'll need to provide your own.

Although there are cheaper BMCC cages available, I would say the build quality of this new F&V BMC Cage is at a very professional level, could easily match any of the more expensive brand names, yet the F&V BMC Cage Base Unit starts at just $369. More information about the BMC Cage (found here).

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find-price-button F&V BlackMagic Design Cinema Camera BMC Cage

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