Blackmagic Pocket price drop! RIP to BMPCC?

[saveDqueen]

Just a quick heads up for those who are interested..

Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera for US$495
http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/sg/press/pressdetails?releaseID=61418

Is this product going to the graveyard soon with this price drop? Or is this an agressive move to gain more market share with interested individuals who are looking at GH4 & A7s, but unwilling to spend more? And how will the bigger brothers react?

Exciting year ahead for consumers!

 

[tomcat]

But does that translate to lower prices here in Singapore? :dunno:

 

[saveDqueen]

Its on the first page of BMD's webpage

 

[kandinsky]

But does that translate to lower prices here in Singapore? :dunno:

At first I thought it's a temporary promo limited to the US market, but seems like it's extended to its worldwide retailers as well. Very attractive pricing.

With a normal recommended retail price of US$995, this Summer Special represents incredible value and is available for a limited time and will end on the 31st of August 2014. This Summer Special price is subject to limited availability, after which the price will return to the usual recommended retail price of US$995.

Availability and Price
The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is available now for $US495 until 31 August 2014 subject to availability from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/sg

 

[XsenseX]

GG to those who got it at RRP few months back. Straight away 50% resale value gone.

I think they are coming out with a new one that doesn't have such a long crop factor. 1.6x similar to APS-C would be more sellable.

 

[Sventek]

Does anyone know where these are available in Singapore?

 

[kandinsky]

I think they are coming out with a new one that doesn't have such a long crop factor. 1.6x similar to APS-C would be more sellable.

Yeah, if they dropped MFT mount, they could increase the sensor size, but they'd probably have to drop the 'pocket' name too.

4K pocket announced NAB 2015....shipping 2016

https://twitter.com/phalynx/status/489610716761313280

I LOL'ed at this comment on twitter :bsmilie:

 

[kandinsky]

Does anyone know where these are available in Singapore?

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/sg/resellers

 

[Sventek]

Thanks kandinsky - although now I just feel stupid!

 

[Deunamist]

It's only for a period of time. I suppose a newer model is coming out so they are aggressively trying to push out stock of the older one.

 

[eleveninth]

cathay announce it at $695

Anyone getting?

 

[astrocom]

cathay announce it at $695

Anyone getting?

I called them yesterday afternoon. No stock liao. Either it's selling like hot cakes or BM only plan 'very' limited stocks only?

 

[Bamboopictures]

I called them yesterday afternoon. No stock liao. Either it's selling like hot cakes or BM only plan 'very' limited stocks only?

Meaning there will be a fresh batch of them in marketplace soon! haha.

 

[astrocom]

Meaning there will be a fresh batch of them in marketplace soon! haha.

I believe it could be a long wait for orders to be fulfilled given the price and its a global offer. Remember the long wait during the launch?
Has the new firmware rectified the 'hot pixel/firefly' issue?

Are the resellers accepting orders that is to be fulfilled later? If not then it seems more like clearing stock only. Old stock? That's why I ask about the 'hot pixel/firefly'.

 

[XsenseX]

I believe it could be a long wait for orders to be fulfilled given the price and its a global offer. Remember the long wait during the launch? Has the new firmware rectified the 'hot pixel/firefly' issue? Are the resellers accepting orders that is to be fulfilled later? If not then it seems more like clearing stock only. Old stock? That's why I ask about the 'hot pixel/firefly'.

Definitely old stocks + possibility of a V2 coming that will completely overtake the current batch. No company in the right mind will do a discount on stocks they don't have and let ppl wait another 6 mths. It's business suicide.

 

[Sausage]

Is it still available? The promo seems to have gone from the blackmagic site.

 

[RyanKhoo]

cathay announce it at $695

Anyone getting?

Pardon my ignorance, since this is a m4/3 camera, can I use my existing Panasonic's m4/3 lens into this camera ?

Thanks

 

[Bamboopictures]

Pardon my ignorance, since this is a m4/3 camera, can I use my existing Panasonic's m4/3 lens into this camera ?

Thanks

BMPCC is NOT a M43 camera! Only the mount is M43 but the sensor is super 16mm with a crop factor of 2.88X.
Yes you can use your M43 lenses directly but do the math and you will have problems finding wide angle lenses for the BMPCC.
Luckily Metabones makes BMPCC speedbooster which will reduce the crop factor to 1.4X. But you have to buy Nikon or Canon lenses.

 

[DXNMedia]

Pardon my ignorance, since this is a m4/3 camera, can I use my existing Panasonic's m4/3 lens into this camera ?

Thanks

Yes, you'll have full iris & One-touch AF control with most M43 Panny or Oly lenses.
Their One-touch AF is very slow with the hunting, but manual focus is a breeze with the peaking feature.
If you use a LANC controller with focus control, you can continuously pull focus.

Initially I thought wide angle is an issue, but with a bodycap 9mm M43 fisheye @$139, you'll get beautiful ProRES grade 'Gopro like' wide angle shots with slight fisheye distortion (27mm only), but looks good compared to H264 footage. After a lot of tests to make sure I'm comfortable enough to deploy the cam for real paying jobs, I think one can do just fine with a 12-50mm, which essentially gives you abt 36mm - 150mm, plus options of using a servo powered zoom for a nice slow zoom. Pretty decent... and if anyone tells you it's still not wide enough, I think they're either experts in reading specs/reviews, or probably professionals using only Gopro as a benchmark.

Low light is weak, @ASA 1600, indoors without proper lighting yields grainy but filmic like footage...no blocky compression artifacts or patchy blocks of black & skin tones...
I must admit that for the price even pre-discount @ $1200+, it's a very good cam, probably quite underrated, but it is superior only because of the ProRES recording capability.

My 2 cents worth of opinion after getting the cam just because of the offer. I was very much skeptical about it initially, but after fiddling with it, I think it'll be a very useful cam...Not as a main cam, but maybe as a 2nd unit cam for b-roll, cutaways, alternate angle, etc..

 

[RyanKhoo]

Yes, you'll have full iris & One-touch AF control with most M43 Panny or Oly lenses.

That's great for $635 I do not mind trying leh ...

If you use a LANC controller with focus control, you can continuously pull focus.

What you mean ? Can elaborate ? where to buy this LANC Controller and most importantly what is a LANC Controller ?

I think one can do just fine with a 12-50mm, which essentially gives you abt 36mm - 150mm, plus options of using a servo powered zoom for a nice slow zoom. Pretty decent... and if anyone tells you it's still not wide enough, I think they're either experts in reading specs/reviews, or probably professionals using only Gopro as a benchmark.

Ok, then I should be fine with my 12-35

it's a very good cam, probably quite underrated, but it is superior only because of the ProRES recording capability.

Why is a ProRes recording considered superior ? Final Cut can convert all AVCHD recording to ProRes before editing ...