Where to sell BMPCC

[Mark Davis]

I've recently received a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and have decided it is not the camera for me. Is there anywhere on this forum to sell it? Would rather it go to a buff than to an eBay auction. I've searched the forums and can't find an appropriate category and don't want to breach any protocols by posting it directly here.

Thanks

Mark

[Chris Medico]

Have you checked out the classified section on the forum here?

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/private-classifieds/

[Ron Little]

Hey, I would really like to know what you do not like about the BMPC.

[Mark Davis]

Doh. Thank you Chris. Totally missed that.
And to Ron - it's got a beautiful picture but best suited to totally controlled environs in my view. I shoot a lot of run and gun. The lack of auto iris and a menu buried colour balance is unnerving me.

Mark

[Ron Little]

Thank you Mark that information is very helpful.

[Dave Perry]

Yes, the BMPCC is very much a cinema camera, not an ENG camera. So did you sell it yet?

[Mark Davis]

Yes Dave, very much so. An odd beast. Demands constant attention but makes adjustment difficult to execute in my experience. Fine when you can call 'action' and 'cut'. Its an exciting camera but I'm sure I will be too anxious using it in critical moments. Still looking for a small cam for b roll documentary style. Thinking GH3 or Canon 70d now.

I messed up the add last night by not including the required prefix. Fixed and up now. -http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/private-...ml#post1816433

[Dave Perry]

Hey Mark. I'm waiting for my BMPC 4k. Looks like it'll be around Christmas before they are available though. Just talked to my vendor who yesterday spoke with BMD. Anyway, I love my hacked GH2. You might consider one since they are still a great camera and considerably cheaper than a GH3 or 7D.

[Bill Bruner]

Mark - I have both the BMPCC and the GH3, and for large sensor run and gun, the GH3 is definitely the winner.

That said, I have the GH2 also, and the lack of a headphone jack is a real problem (unless you want to carry a recorder or an external preamp around). The 70D has the same challenge.

Cheers and good luck,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[Michael Dalton]

Would agree. Had one and sold it. I'm not into small sensors, they shake too much. The ISO is really high, so you need a ND filter to stop it down in sunlight. Not sure what's up with that. It was a cool camera though.

[Craig Seeman]

I guess I look at it very differently.
Run and Gun. The video I've seen from Phil Bloom and Paul Moon is run and gun. Shooting handheld in available light in places that would normally require permits for bigger cameras.

Auto Iris. It works for me with lenses that support it like my Lumix 12-35.
In video mode press the iris button and it averages the light and sets the iris.
In film mode (which I'd use typically) it lowers the iris to make sure the hightlights don't hit zebras which you can set between 75 and 100.

Small sensor and shake? I'm not sure what that means. Most would consider this a large sensor. It's micro four thirds. Yes it's smaller than full frame like Canon 5D or APS-C like Canon 7D but it's larger than handy cams and even 2/3" shoulder mount ENG cameras. The sensor has nothing to do with "shake." The camera is actually pretty good with Lumix Optical Image Stabilizer lenses.

White balance. Yes just presets. That's because they're only ballparks. The codecs are designed to be graded in post and that's where you fine turn the white balance. This can mean a longer post workflow to grade the shots but it's also a much better robust codec than found in DSLR most of the time (H.264) which can't hold up to heavy grading. You could say this is a "painter's" camera because it's designed for a lot of image and looks control in post. That does require extra work. That doesn't hinder my shooting though.

High ISO requiring ND filters? The camera's ideal is 800 ASA. It goes up to 1600 and down to 200. Sort of like a gain control. The need ND depends on the lens and shooting conditions. You can always stop down if you're not looking for shallow depth of field.

ND helps when you're opening up for shallow depth of field and need to prevent the highlights from blowing out... which is much easier to deal with in this camera than all but the most expensive "cinema" cameras since it has 13 stops of dynamic range. This means you can expose to the right (the highlights) and bring things down in post, further avoiding noise in the video. Additionally a Vari ND gives you a bit more flexibility than a built in ND with just three settings since you can make much finer adjustments. With step up rings, you can use the same Vari ND with all your lenses. True you have to change it when you change lenses... but with a good zoom, you don't have to do that too often if you're running and gunning.

I goth this camera precisely because I can use it and use it EASILY in places I can't bring my Sony EX1 because it's too big (I can get stopped by security and too heavy to hand hold).

Paul Moon shot this hand held. That Grand Central Station shot was hand held riding down an escalator. All "run and gun" He shot across the NYC Subway platform zoomed and handled. I can't imagine doing that with any ENG style camera.

He notes:
True to the elegant simplicity of the BMPC, I shot the entire piece handheld, using a single lens (Panasonic 12-35mm, continuous f2.8 aperture, optically stabilized H-HS12035

New York City | Breaking in the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera on Vimeo

[Noa Put]

Run and Gun. The video I've seen from Phil Bloom and Paul Moon is run and gun.

Run and gun means for me that something is happening, you switch on the camera and right after you press record you start changing focus, iris or iso to a constantly changing environment which could be going bright outside to dark inside shooting a subject from a further distance back to a close up and using the zoom to reframe in one go.

The videos you mention first all settings have been set right and then the rec button is pressed, that's not run and gun but shooting in a controlled environment.

What I described you can't do with a bmc pocketcam or a gh3 but you could with a small handicam like a sony cx730 and get a perfectly usable continuous shot where all is in focus, exposed right and very stable.

[Craig Seeman]

Noa, for what you describe as run and gun is what I'd use my Sony EX1 for. I also have a Canon Vixia. Keep in mind that for many years news crews had no problem shooting footage in the middle of wars with 16mm film cameras with less automatic control than the Pocket camera.

Even with my Sony EX1 and my Sony PD-170 before it, I never used auto iris or auto focus because I'm much more accurate with my hands. In my experience, full auto will ruin as many shots as they help. The Pocket cam, with the right Lumix lens gives me push iris and push focus as I note above, which I have used with my small sensor ENG type cameras.

There's absolutely nothing "controlled" about shooting in NYC subway with Police and Homeland Security will stop you before you set anything up with any camera larger than a Vixia... or Pocket camera. It would also be about the worst environment to shoot full auto. At least with Pocket I can fix the color temperature and lighting in post without breaking the codec. In fact I'd argue that the Pocket camera is the best small fix it in post camera on the market and fix it in post is common for messy run and gun video.

[Noa Put]

With controlled I mean you first prepare your camera and then start to shoot, that's not what I understand by run and gun, if anything unexpected happens you have camera's that will allow you to continuously get the shot, the pocketcam is not such a camera.

[Craig Seeman]

I don't need any setup for the Pocket cam with Lumix lens. It's tiny. Lens on and ready to go. Turns on in an instant. Grab focus ring and I'm shooting. The only thing it doesn't have is constantly changing auto focus, auto iris, auto white balance, things I never use. I even turn those off in my Vixia. I don't want that stuff changing when someone walks in front of me or as I pan it past a nearby poll while shooting something a bit further.... just a Paul Moon did in the NYC Subway.