First shoot on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera

Tyler Purcell · March 17, 2014

Next video is up... Its a re-hash of an old one, but its pretty good as well. I've got 4 more to post between now and the end of the month. Lots of great stuff in some extreme (sun/heat/dusty) conditions. I also started shooting a friends documentary feature with the camera. I will ask permission to post a few clips so you can see what it looks like.

Still love the camera... :)

Tyler Purcell · March 25, 2014

Next video is up! I had an issue with my color grading setup on this one... so pardon the flatness of the color, its MORE flat then usual.

Enjoy!

Tyler Purcell · April 28, 2014

Well, I started doing some serious color grading with the camera using Apple's Color which is a very basic tool, but it gets the job done. Unfortunately, I can't use DaVinci yet because it would take an entire re-build of my editing machine, operating system and software would need to be updated. I enjoy running the older software because it allows me to run MUCH older applications and not have to re-buy new ones.

Here is the most recent episode of my series, its a bit more "colorful" heh ;)

The indoor stuff was shot at 180 degree shutter at 1600ASA with a 14mm wide angle lens. The outdoor stuff was shot with a 45 degree shutter and my normal 200ASA setting.

Will Montgomery · April 30, 2014

I never shot a wedding before but I since my cousin was getting married I thought it would be nice to try out the BMPCC.

I had no idea the wedding would be in such a very dark room! Certainly not the right camera for the situation but with the Metabones adapter and a Nikon 17-35 2.8 & 50mm 1.4 I was actually happy with the results. It did require some heavy color work but I thought some of the shots were almost "film-like" (I'm usually a 16mm shooter).

Tyler Purcell · May 3, 2014

Looks good Will, very cinematic! :)

Are you running a shoulder mount or any stabilizing system? Only ask because the rolling shutter syndrome was pretty bad. I find that if I run the camera at any less then 45 degree angle, it has a lot of rolling shutter when hand holding. In my video above at the fire station, I ran 180 degree shutter and it was OK because I used a viewfinder adaptor that I could push the camera against my face to help stabilize. Its the one of the VERY FEW things I don't like about the BMPCC, if they put in a global shutter, it would be a MUCH more versatile camera.

Anyway, looks great anyway! Good job on the color as well.

Matthew W. Phillips · May 4, 2014

I had no idea the wedding would be in such a very dark room! Certainly not the right camera for the situation but with the Metabones adapter and a Nikon 17-35 2.8 & 50mm 1.4 I was actually happy with the results. It did require some heavy color work but I thought some of the shots were almost "film-like" (I'm usually a 16mm shooter).

Thanks for putting this up, Will. It is nice to see someone who usually shoots film put footage up here on the BMPCC so the rest of us film shooters can see what the camera can look like.

Although I disagree that it has a film-look, I do think you did a good job with it. If I had to shoot digital, I would definitely go with the pocket.

Tyler Purcell · May 5, 2014

Ohh... here is the next episode of my series...

Same lenses and settings as the other episodes above. I had some white screen door effect going on with a florescent light hitting the glass at a funny angle. So I had to do some massive multi-level corrections on the interview footage. Unfortunately, on my grading monitor and editing machine, it looks great. I hope it doesn't look to bad on an uncalibrated machine! HA! Gotta love digital! :(

Enjoy

Will Montgomery · May 6, 2014

Looks good Will, very cinematic! :)

Are you running a shoulder mount or any stabilizing system? Only ask because the rolling shutter syndrome was pretty bad. I find that if I run the camera at any less then 45 degree angle, it has a lot of rolling shutter when hand holding. In my video above at the fire station, I ran 180 degree shutter and it was OK because I used a viewfinder adaptor that I could push the camera against my face to help stabilize. Its the one of the VERY FEW things I don't like about the BMPCC, if they put in a global shutter, it would be a MUCH more versatile camera.

Anyway, looks great anyway! Good job on the color as well.

No stabilizing system, just a Wooden Camera frame and trying to hold it as steady as possible. Due to plane issues I arrived about 5 minutes before the wedding started. I brought an Arri SR but didn't even get it out of the rental car due to the crazy low light at the event.

I'll look for the rolling shutter...it's something I never had to deal with before and didn't really notice but I'm sure once I see/understand it I won't be happy. I will certainly play with the shutter angle to minimize that.

The color was by Steve Franco at &Transfer here in Dallas...amazing talent. He's done some beautiful work for me on film projects and I consider him as close to a color god as I've ever met. I'm just getting to the point that I can color the BMPCC to make it bareable to edit; especially the raw footage since it has the color temp adjustment but the "film look" ProRes is more of a challenge. These cameras are certainly making us all study up on Resolve.

I did notice a difference in the quality of shots made with my Nikon 17-35 2.8 and my Nikon 50mm 1.4. The 17-35 just seemed to have a great natural look, I was really happy with it.

Tyler Purcell · July 28, 2014

I've been doing some spec stuff recently, shooting with the hopes of getting a job ya know?

Here are two very different spec video's, both from my recent trip to Boston.

Edited on Avid Media Composter in Pro Res 220HQ and color'd in DaVinci. Unfortunately, there are some coloring mistakes, but its a learning curve and I don't have a color calibrated monitor, so I can't really find out how things look until I throw it up on my projector or upload them and watch repeatedly.

Interestingly, I didn't have a tripod for either. Both were hand held with body/lens/mic only. Thats the only way I could shoot so spontaneously and not draw too much attention to myself.

Enjoy!

ronaldo miranda · May 15, 2015

I've been doing some spec stuff recently, shooting with the hopes of getting a job ya know?

Here are two very different spec video's, both from my recent trip to Boston.

Edited on Avid Media Composter in Pro Res 220HQ and color'd in DaVinci. Unfortunately, there are some coloring mistakes, but its a learning curve and I don't have a color calibrated monitor, so I can't really find out how things look until I throw it up on my projector or upload them and watch repeatedly.

Interestingly, I didn't have a tripod for either. Both were hand held with body/lens/mic only. Thats the only way I could shoot so spontaneously and not draw too much attention to myself.

Enjoy!