BMPCC low light? at DVinfo.net

Alex Anderson · November 14th, 2013, 12:08 AM

How good is the BMPCC in available low light? Such as shooting an interview and some B roll in someones living room and only have one or two table lamps turned on? with decent fast lenses of f/1.4 to maybe 2.8 and ISO maybe 1600 at the most? Raw and ProRes. Is there any footage online to see this? I m not looking for the typical night footage where store have lights on all down the street. I mean stuff in available low light. Maybe in a booth a dim lit bar bar would be a good example.

I need to do quick doc work at the highest quality with the least amount of gear (cam, lav mic and maybe a small tripod). I have been trying the Canon EOS M, but I see the raw is now out for the pocket and it has the things I need. I just need to know/see the low light performance.

Alex

Stephen Brenner · November 15th, 2013, 08:28 AM

Generally speaking, the pocket cam is going to need good lighting.
I've got a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 I can test with the camera.
Shooting in raw is going to help some.

Alex Anderson · November 15th, 2013, 09:57 AM

Stephen,
That would be great. I hope it does really good in low, available light. If you can, please try and shoot a person sitting in a living room with only one typical table lamp turned on and no extra lighting. i would love to know how the camera looks for facial lighting and skin tone and most of all if there is any noise in the video.

Alex

Bob Hart · November 15th, 2013, 10:34 AM

If using 35mm stills lenses on the smaller sensor, my personal preference would be to have lighting and/or camera gain such that the lens iris can be at f2.

35mm stills lenses may go unacceptably soft nearer to aperture wide-open on a Super16mm sized sensor but remain acceptable in 35mm or APS/C formats.

Stephen Brenner · November 15th, 2013, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Anderson

Stephen,
I need to shoot 1080p30 and I also need the audio with it in camera. No second audio setup.
Alex

Alex, I'm afraid to say that the built in audio in the camera is pretty bad.
In my opinion not only would you need an external mic but I suggest
a good preamp as well (like the mixpre).

Alex Anderson · November 15th, 2013, 12:13 PM

Stephen,
I understand. I am mostly concerned with seeing how well the Pocket does in low available light.

Alex

Bill Bruner · November 16th, 2013, 09:30 AM

Alex - No promises, but I'll do my best to shoot something for you today indoors in ProRes with a Konica AR 40mm at f1.8

Cheers,

Bill

Alex Anderson · November 16th, 2013, 01:00 PM

Thanx Bill. I appreciate it. See how low it can go in light and still be usable good quality video that you could use on a TV show in 1080p30.

Alex

Stephen Brenner · November 16th, 2013, 05:13 PM

I shot a short clip with the 50mm f/1.4 lens at full aperture.
The room had one 100 watt lamp.
The clip was very over-exposed.
Attached is one of the dng's converted to jpg.

Alex Anderson · November 16th, 2013, 09:13 PM

Thank you Stephen,
I appreciate you taking the time for this. It looks pretty good also knowing it can be lowered in exposure in post. What are your thoughts on it? I assume you shot in the daytime since the window is clipped white. How many windows are there in that room? That could make the video brighter than the one lamp. Would it be possible to do one more at night time so it's dark outside and the only light in the room is from the one lamp and the person is five feet or so from the lamp? That will show how good the camera will do in very low light. Posting one frame is ok on here like you did. You can also post a short video clip on a free upload site. Like the DNG sequence. I use https://www.transferbigfiles.com/

Sorry if I am asking for too much. I also think other people on here would also appreciate you doing this. All cameras look good with enough light. I always look for the camera that can do the best in the lowest light and be in the same price range of $1000 or less. The Canon 5DM3 is good in low light with a f1.2, but it costs too much money for me being $4000 or more after getting a good lens on it.

Best regards,
Alex

Stephen Brenner · November 16th, 2013, 10:23 PM

Shot at night with a 100 watt bulb for lighting,
and opened up to f/1.4, the results for both
iso 1600 and iso 800 are pretty noisy.

Alex Anderson · November 16th, 2013, 11:07 PM

Stephen,
I think it is workable. I assume you shot raw video and made some JPGs from a DNG frame? I opened both images in Photoshop CC and then used ACR with a little tweaking and it looked good to me. Keeping in mind I only had the JPG pics. I am sure the original raw DNGs will do even better for grading and noise reduction when needed. I lowered the saturation, raised the shadows a bit to see the eyes and a little bit of Luminance Noise Reduction to clean up the noise. All in ACR. I usually use Neat Video noise reduction on noisy shots inside Premiere Pro. I have to do a lot more work dealing with noise when I shoot raw or H.264 in the Canon EOS-M camera using Magic Lantern. I think using this Pocket will be much easier, faster and better.

It would be nice to try and see how the original raw DNG looks and works. The lens helps a lot in low light being it's an f/1.4. Thanks for helping out here.

Alex

Stephen Brenner · November 17th, 2013, 02:21 AM

I've uploaded the same dng's to Index of /uploads

Alex Anderson · November 17th, 2013, 04:33 AM

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Cheers,
Alex

Phil Goetz · November 19th, 2013, 09:28 PM

Y'all see this video?

Shot on BMPCC in lots of lighting conditions.

November 14th, 2013, 12:08 AM	#1
Alex Anderson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 261	BMPCC low light? How good is the BMPCC in available low light? Such as shooting an interview and some B roll in someones living room and only have one or two table lamps turned on? with decent fast lenses of f/1.4 to maybe 2.8 and ISO maybe 1600 at the most? Raw and ProRes. Is there any footage online to see this? I m not looking for the typical night footage where store have lights on all down the street. I mean stuff in available low light. Maybe in a booth a dim lit bar bar would be a good example. I need to do quick doc work at the highest quality with the least amount of gear (cam, lav mic and maybe a small tripod). I have been trying the Canon EOS M, but I see the raw is now out for the pocket and it has the things I need. I just need to know/see the low light performance. Alex

November 15th, 2013, 08:28 AM	#2
Stephen Brenner Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Brownsville, OR Posts: 116	Re: BMPCC low light? Generally speaking, the pocket cam is going to need good lighting. I've got a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 I can test with the camera. Shooting in raw is going to help some.

November 15th, 2013, 09:57 AM	#3
Alex Anderson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 261	Re: BMPCC low light? Stephen, That would be great. I hope it does really good in low, available light. If you can, please try and shoot a person sitting in a living room with only one typical table lamp turned on and no extra lighting. i would love to know how the camera looks for facial lighting and skin tone and most of all if there is any noise in the video. Alex Last edited by Alex Anderson; November 15th, 2013 at 12:22 PM.

November 15th, 2013, 10:34 AM	#4
Bob Hart Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: PERTH. W.A. AUSTRALIA. Posts: 4,477	Re: BMPCC low light? If using 35mm stills lenses on the smaller sensor, my personal preference would be to have lighting and/or camera gain such that the lens iris can be at f2. 35mm stills lenses may go unacceptably soft nearer to aperture wide-open on a Super16mm sized sensor but remain acceptable in 35mm or APS/C formats.

November 15th, 2013, 12:13 PM	#6
Alex Anderson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 261	Re: BMPCC low light? Stephen, I understand. I am mostly concerned with seeing how well the Pocket does in low available light. Alex

November 16th, 2013, 09:30 AM	#7
Bill Bruner Major Player Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Sunny California Posts: 513	Re: BMPCC low light? Alex - No promises, but I'll do my best to shoot something for you today indoors in ProRes with a Konica AR 40mm at f1.8 Cheers, Bill

November 16th, 2013, 01:00 PM	#8
Alex Anderson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 261	Re: BMPCC low light? Thanx Bill. I appreciate it. See how low it can go in light and still be usable good quality video that you could use on a TV show in 1080p30. Alex

November 16th, 2013, 05:13 PM	#9
Stephen Brenner Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Brownsville, OR Posts: 116	Re: BMPCC low light? I shot a short clip with the 50mm f/1.4 lens at full aperture. The room had one 100 watt lamp. The clip was very over-exposed. Attached is one of the dng's converted to jpg. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Stephen Brenner; November 16th, 2013 at 06:03 PM. Reason: attachment too large

November 16th, 2013, 09:13 PM	#10
Alex Anderson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 261	Re: BMPCC low light? Thank you Stephen, I appreciate you taking the time for this. It looks pretty good also knowing it can be lowered in exposure in post. What are your thoughts on it? I assume you shot in the daytime since the window is clipped white. How many windows are there in that room? That could make the video brighter than the one lamp. Would it be possible to do one more at night time so it's dark outside and the only light in the room is from the one lamp and the person is five feet or so from the lamp? That will show how good the camera will do in very low light. Posting one frame is ok on here like you did. You can also post a short video clip on a free upload site. Like the DNG sequence. I use https://www.transferbigfiles.com/ Sorry if I am asking for too much. I also think other people on here would also appreciate you doing this. All cameras look good with enough light. I always look for the camera that can do the best in the lowest light and be in the same price range of $1000 or less. The Canon 5DM3 is good in low light with a f1.2, but it costs too much money for me being $4000 or more after getting a good lens on it. Best regards, Alex

November 16th, 2013, 10:23 PM	#11
Stephen Brenner Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Brownsville, OR Posts: 116	Re: BMPCC low light? Shot at night with a 100 watt bulb for lighting, and opened up to f/1.4, the results for both iso 1600 and iso 800 are pretty noisy. Attached Thumbnails

November 16th, 2013, 11:07 PM	#12
Alex Anderson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 261	Re: BMPCC low light? Stephen, I think it is workable. I assume you shot raw video and made some JPGs from a DNG frame? I opened both images in Photoshop CC and then used ACR with a little tweaking and it looked good to me. Keeping in mind I only had the JPG pics. I am sure the original raw DNGs will do even better for grading and noise reduction when needed. I lowered the saturation, raised the shadows a bit to see the eyes and a little bit of Luminance Noise Reduction to clean up the noise. All in ACR. I usually use Neat Video noise reduction on noisy shots inside Premiere Pro. I have to do a lot more work dealing with noise when I shoot raw or H.264 in the Canon EOS-M camera using Magic Lantern. I think using this Pocket will be much easier, faster and better. It would be nice to try and see how the original raw DNG looks and works. The lens helps a lot in low light being it's an f/1.4. Thanks for helping out here. Alex

November 17th, 2013, 02:21 AM	#13
Stephen Brenner Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Brownsville, OR Posts: 116	Re: BMPCC low light? I've uploaded the same dng's to Index of /uploads

November 17th, 2013, 04:33 AM	#14
Alex Anderson Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 261	Re: BMPCC low light? Thank you. I appreciate it. Cheers, Alex

November 19th, 2013, 09:28 PM	#15
Phil Goetz Austinite Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Austin Posts: 550	Re: BMPCC low light? Y'all see this video? Shot on BMPCC in lots of lighting conditions. Blackmagic Pocket CInema Camera @ACL 2013 - YouTube