Have ordered a used Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera (original HD model).
Mar 10, 2020 22:18:19 #
I have been researching this camera on youtube and what attracts me to it is it shoots video in raw, using the cinemadng lossless codec. It records a sequence of dng files at 24fps or 30fps which are actually easy to import in Photoshop camera raw, and adjust the whole sequence by adjusting just one pic. The sequence can be saved as a tiff sequence, then exported as an mp4 file, all in Photoshop.
It sounds a bit complicated but I tried it with test cinemadgn files and had the routine down in a few minutes. I got the camera on ebay for $441 and also ordered a used metabones speed booster for Nikon lenses for it for $200. This will let me use my Nikon lenses and it adds an f stop of light and lowers the crop factor from 2.88x to 1.80x, basically the same field of view as video on an ASP-C (DX sensor) camera. I also bought an open box 256GB SSD that will mount inside the camera for $70, plus a usb cable for the SSD to transfer files to my computer for $20. The dng sequences take up about a 6GB per minute and require a fast transfer rate of more than 100 mb/s.
It sounds a bit complicated but I tried it with test cinemadgn files and had the routine down in a few minutes. I got the camera on ebay for $441 and also ordered a used metabones speed booster for Nikon lenses for it for $200. This will let me use my Nikon lenses and it adds an f stop of light and lowers the crop factor from 2.88x to 1.80x, basically the same field of view as video on an ASP-C (DX sensor) camera. I also bought an open box 256GB SSD that will mount inside the camera for $70, plus a usb cable for the SSD to transfer files to my computer for $20. The dng sequences take up about a 6GB per minute and require a fast transfer rate of more than 100 mb/s.
Mar 12, 2020 17:06:44 #
Oops. Found out the SSD drive doesn't work with this model Black Magic camera so I bought a 128GB cfast card. Set up the SSD drive with a cable as a USB drive for my desktop for backup.
Apr 11, 2020 21:56:42 #
I completed my first video with the Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera (BMPCC) original HD version and my nikon mount sigma 15-30 zoom lens and a cheap Chinese manual nikon f mount to MFT adapter. With the 2.88x crop factor, the 15mm lens gave me an equivalent 42mm focal length. Turns out I had to return the cfast card (B&H was very nice about it) and get the Kingston 128GB CANVAS/REACT SD card. The used camera and lens and SD card and adapter ran about $700 total.
I shot in HD at 29.97 fps CinemaDNG raw which creates a raw file for every frame of the video. Using Adobe Bridge and camera raw I was able to tweak a single image (temp, tint, contrast, shadow, highlight, white balance, saturation, etc.) and the changes get propagated to all the dng files in the sequence. So I didn't need any additional color grading when I opened the converted mp4 file in Premiere Pro.
From Adobe Bridge Camera Raw I converted the tweaked raw files to 16 bit tif files, then using Photoshop I exported the tif files video sequence to HD 1920x1080 mp4 video.
The conversion process took several hours but the output was the best video I have had with any camera.
Here's my first video, the right half of the screen is me shot with the BMPCC and the left hand my friend shot on his Nikon D5000 and 18-55 zoom kit lens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs5WBLHtgCc
I shot in HD at 29.97 fps CinemaDNG raw which creates a raw file for every frame of the video. Using Adobe Bridge and camera raw I was able to tweak a single image (temp, tint, contrast, shadow, highlight, white balance, saturation, etc.) and the changes get propagated to all the dng files in the sequence. So I didn't need any additional color grading when I opened the converted mp4 file in Premiere Pro.
From Adobe Bridge Camera Raw I converted the tweaked raw files to 16 bit tif files, then using Photoshop I exported the tif files video sequence to HD 1920x1080 mp4 video.
The conversion process took several hours but the output was the best video I have had with any camera.
Here's my first video, the right half of the screen is me shot with the BMPCC and the left hand my friend shot on his Nikon D5000 and 18-55 zoom kit lens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs5WBLHtgCc
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