Since there have been quite a few more good videos about the Pocket 4K released we thought we would round them up here. It sounds like Blackmagic doesn’t expect the backlog to be fully cleared until January. We’re still waiting for our pre-order.
Blackmagic
Blackmagic Pocket 4K Versus iPhone 8 Plus
Some might take this to be a strange comparison but we are happy to see it. What we take from this: your story is more important than your tool (camera). There are many, many reasons why we wouldn’t want to shoot on an iPhone, but if it’s all we had we would have no excuses.
Interestingly, at 3:58 in there appears to be visible IR pollution with the black outfit appearing brown. We haven’t seen too many reports of this on the Pocket 4K and early reports seemed to indicate the IR pollution was much better controlled than previous cameras.
BMPCC 4k Versus BMCC 2.5k
So many acronyms but you know we mean. We’ve seen posts on some forums claiming that the BMCC 2.5k had a better, more filmic, more organic, less video, or more “mojo” look when compared to the Pocket 4K. Now, these are different cameras with different sensors and different versions of color science. It’s not unfair to postulate differences. But we’ve yet to see any compelling evidence that the Pocket 4K’s image can’t be made to look magic. We think the higher resolution, the neutrality of the colours, and the lack of noise in the footage make the output of the 4K lack immediately recognizable character. However, like a good microphone, there is an advantage in having a faithful, neutral recording that you can later adjust rather than being committed to a certain kind of character from the outset.
This video nicely shows how close you can get the BMPCC 4k and BMCC 2.5k images:
More Reviews and Thoughts on the Blackmagic Pocket 4K
One of our favorite people, Paul Leeming of Leeming LUT Pro (we use his LUTS on all our consumer Panasonic cameras) made a concise summary of his initial findings with the Blackmagic Pocket 4K camera:
“I have to say the 12 bit RAW footage is SO much nicer to deal with in post than 10bit 4:2:2 😂 The cleanliness and separation of colours is lovely and they really pop, without any artifacting or colour bleed. This camera is simply stunning for the price! So far I’ve only been doing technical tests, in order to characterise the sensor. I will try to do some more beauty and artistic shots over the next few days to really see how it handles in a narrative sense, but I am pretty sure that it’s going to look incredible judging by the tech tests!!!”
We will be purchasing his LUT for the Blackmagic Pocket 4K as it’s just such a time saver for us.
We hesitate to post the next video as we feel Wolfcrow has mis-characterized the Blackmagic Pocket 4K in the past, but hey, it’s not for us to decide what you should or should not see:
Cinema 5D have also released their first look review:
Short Promo Video Shot on the Blackmagic Pocket 4K
This producer used Contax Zeiss lenses which are known to have a bit of their own magic. The low light capability of this camera is really great and differs from Blackmagic’s previous cameras which are more light hungry to pull a clean image.
The Best Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K Review
Okay, calling it the best is pretentious. What we really mean is that it’s our favorite so far. It’s not the most in-depth or technical but it comes across as the most simple and honest look at the Pocket 4K from one its target users. We’re very happy with the footage he produced:
Blackmagic Pocket 4K Moire Test
It is possible to exhibit moire on the Pocket 4K. Blackmagic tends to take a minimalist approach and leaves more control (and potential issues) in the users hands. Moire on the Pocket 4K isn’t bad and it’s relatively easily mitigated, but if you do fashion videos with a variety of fabrics prepare accordingly.
Video Quality: Several Mirrorless Cameras and the Blackmagic Pocket 4K
We have nothing against Max Yuryev. We find him to be honest and he corrects his mistakes. The thing about this test is that it’s testing resolution and sharpness, which is only one aspect of video quality. We would trade dynamic range and color for sharpness any day of the week. We’re still happy to see this test and appreciate the efforts that went into producing this.
Some Useful Blackmagic 4K Pocket Comparisons
We hope that it doesn’t take too long for Blackmagic to bring BRAW to the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, as it will take a lot of the headache out of dealing with RAW. However, it’s still nice to have RAW as an option, as is having ProRes, so we can yet again only praise Blackamgic for the 3 options they will be offering us.