Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Raw Footage

I'm using this tiny little SSD to record RAW footage on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6K. Amazing it can keep up with the writing speed needed to record so much data... but it does. Comes with a little rigging device which I found very handy.

Fast and reliable for my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k.

A very nice and solid case for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera.

With this adapter I'm able to use my EF-S lenses for my Blackmagic pocket cinema camera.

Nice and sharp on my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema.

Works exactly as expected with no issues (with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K)

I would definitely recommend this camera to anyone looking for a cinema-quality image on a (semi high-end) DSLR budget. The image is crisp and film-like, and the RAW format opens up a word of options for coloring in post. Is it perfect? Of course not. What camera is? But, for the price it's an amazing value. One of my favorite aspects of this camera is the user interlace. It's the most well laid out and pleasing UI of any camera system I've used. The foldout display is great. The top side quick function buttons for false color, LOG preview, and aspect ratio guidelines are equally fantastic. Another big selling factor is the native compatibility for Canon EF lenses. That's a huge plus over the 4K model. Blackmagic RAW is incredibly versatile in post within DaVinci Resolve Studio. I shot mostly 6K at 8:1 compression, and while I had to optimize some media for my machine, playback worked very well. The color science of Blackmagic Film Gen 5 is truly magical and unmatched. There's also an option for ProRes RAW, but file sizes will be much, much larger (DaVinci doesn't support ProRes RAW currently, either). A couple downsides - the battery life isn't great, so grabbing a few extra batteries is a must for shoots. Blackmagic has an official battery grip for this model, but that will make the body pretty bulky. So, it depends on your rig needs. A V-mount battery may be your best bet for longer shoots. There's so IS or autofocus, but that isn't a problem for me as I prefer manual focus for video. More so, standard cinema lens are manual focus pulled anyway. The body is definitely larger than a DSLR, but it is a dedicated cinema camera so the tradeoff in size is acceptable.

I needed a storage dock to transfer SSD footage from my Blackmagic Cinema Camera to my external hard drive. The Rocketstor storage dock has been a simple, efficient solution for me. Just connect a thunderbolt cable and you can transfer about 50 GB in 11 minutes. Not bad! As a filmmaker, it is the perfect intermediate to set up for post production. Using multiple SSD cards, I can continue shooting while the footage downloads. I highly recommend it for indie filmmakers who are working on a smaller scale.

I have tried it with my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K, which is too wide to fit without some kind of adapter. First, I just used the riser that comes with the gimbal, offsetting the upper plate. That worked, but made it hard to attach the camera. Then I got a quick release plate (just an inexpensive one made by a company called Andoer). That is certainly more convenient. I have never used a gimbal before, but found it very easy to balance the camera on it. The roll lock certainly helps. I would guess it took no more than 5 minutes, and I expect to get faster at it as I gain experience. Its very easy and intuitive to use, solidly built, and the motors are certainly strong enough (but I havent tried it with a heavy lens). The batteries take a long time to charge, but seem to last a long time. I suspect one could get a full day of use out of them.

The Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is an amazing video camera for the price. The BMPCC 4K has a lot of high-end features for a compact body will sacrificing other components and features. I can highly recommend it and I promise you won't regret getting one of these for your production.