Blackmagic Design has released version 3.2 of its Blackmagic Camera app for iOS. The update introduces native live streaming directly to YouTube, Vimeo, and Twitch, without requiring additional encoders or third-party apps. The app continues to frame the iPhone as a production-ready camera interface with full manual control. Version 3.2 extends this idea to live workflows, letting operators start a professional broadcast straight from the app by entering a stream key for their chosen platform.

SRT for Professional Streams

Beyond platform streaming, the update adds SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) support. This protocol provides encrypted, low-latency transmission suitable for news, remote production, or event coverage over unstable networks. The app can now send SRT video directly to Blackmagic Streaming Decoders or any SRT-compatible receiver, positioning the iPhone as a viable field camera for broadcast environments. Support for custom RTMP and SRT servers allows integration with professional CDNs or in-house streaming systems. Or, you know, Vmix, Streamlabs, Facebook, and all the others.

Smarter Storage Feedback

External recording to SSDs remains supported via USB-C, but version 3.2 refines how the app reports media status. The update adds clear on-screen notifications if an external drive disconnects during recording, standby, or data upload. For mobile ProRes workflows, this is a practical safeguard against lost footage and unclear drive states.

Expanded Remote Control

Multi-view remote monitoring on iPad and Mac has been expanded. Users can now select the number of monitored angles, enabling more flexible layouts for multicamera setups. This builds on the app’s growing role as a companion tool for Blackmagic Cloud and DaVinci Resolve Camera projects.

Under-the-Hood Fixes

Blackmagic Design lists two key bug fixes: a corrected recording issue linked to auto white balance and intermittent audio monitoring dropouts. General stability improvements are included, though no details on performance changes were provided.

Availability

Blackmagic Camera for iOS 3.2 is available now as a free download on the App Store, with no subscription or in-app purchases. As with any newly introduced feature, live streaming and SRT workflows should be tested before critical productions to confirm stability and compatibility.

The post Blackmagic Camera 3.2: iPhone Streams Live, No Extra Steps first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Blackmagic Design has released version 3.1.2 of its Blackmagic Camera app for iOS. The update focuses on reliability and workflow refinements while adding one notable new recording format: 1920×1440 Open-Gate with Apple Log. Version 3.1.2 also corrects several issues introduced in the previous 3.1 update, improving stability and usability in production environments.

The official changelog lists several targeted fixes. Image stabilisation can now be properly disabled when required, addressing reports that the toggle was ignored in earlier builds. A bug that prevented Look-Up Tables (LUTs) from becoming immediately usable after import has been resolved. The update also corrects orientation problems seen in ProRes RAW clips when orientation lock was active, and eliminates certain recording failures encountered on iOS 26. In addition to these fixes, general performance and stability have been improved.

1920×1440 Open-Gate with Apple Log

The new 1920×1440 Open-Gate format captures in a roughly 4:3 aspect ratio, using more of the iPhone sensor’s vertical area. This allows greater flexibility for reframing between landscape and portrait outputs and enables higher-quality cropping in post. Combined with Apple Log recording, it gives cinematographers a more friendly base image.

However, early community testing indicates that this mode is not universally available across all colour-space configurations. Some users report that Open-Gate is disabled when using certain colour spaces such as Apple Log or Rec.2020. Others note that activating Open-Gate may automatically disable stabilisation. These behaviours suggest that the new mode depends on specific sensor and processing settings, and may vary by device or capture configuration.

Context and background

Version 3.1 of the app, released earlier, introduced major features including Apple Log 2, ProRes RAW recording, Open-Gate capture, and multi-device sync capabilities. It also brought a refreshed user interface and expanded monitoring tools. The newly released 3.1.2 serves as a corrective maintenance release for those features, focusing on stabilising their implementation and addressing initial usability issues such as LUT management and orientation behaviour.

In practical terms, this means the app should now be more dependable in day-to-day shooting conditions. Professionals relying on iPhone footage for pre-viz, dailies, or hybrid shoots with Blackmagic cameras should find the update a safer choice for critical use.

Outlook

While 3.1.2 is not a feature-heavy release, it solidifies the iOS camera app’s role in a growing professional ecosystem. The addition of a 1920×1440 Open-Gate recording mode bridges the gap between mobile and full-sensor capture, giving users a more flexible image to work with in post. It also confirms Blackmagic’s continued commitment to aligning mobile recording tools with professional grading pipelines.

As always, new features should be tested in controlled conditions before use in production workflows, particularly where sensor modes, LUT management, or ProRes RAW integration are involved.

The post Blackmagic Camera app 3.1.2 adds 1920×1440 Open-Gate first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Blackmagic Design has released Blackmagic Camera 3.0 for iOS and Android. The update introduces a feature users have been requesting since launch: the ability to sync and copy clips from remote phones back to a controller device. For productions that rely on multiple phones (for live events, social content, or indie filmmaking) this reduces both errors and time spent on data wrangling in post.

Until now, the app could act as a controller for other devices: previewing live feeds, changing settings remotely, and starting or stopping recordings. What was missing was media consolidation. Version 3.0 closes that gap by allowing the controller to pull down finished clips automatically, ensuring all material ends up on one device without additional transfers.

Remote Syncing: How It Works

The system runs over Wi-Fi, with one device acting as a controller and others set as clients. After recording, clients upload clips back to the controller. Each synced clip carries its metadata and timecode, allowing immediate conform in DaVinci Resolve or via Blackmagic Cloud. Blackmagic positions it as the core of the 3.0 release, making smartphones more viable for professional, multi-cam acquisition.

Live Streaming Direct from the App

The Android release notes also confirm native live streaming to YouTube, Vimeo and Twitch. For content creators, this is less about cinematic capture and more about direct delivery pipelines. Still, the ability to push high-quality video out in real time has obvious use cases for production teams working on fast-turnaround projects.

Faster Navigation: Swipes and Function Buttons

Version 3.0 revamps navigation with two simple gestures, which we had to seriously tone our Tinder-jokes down for (You are reading version 4 of this news, and no, we are not adults. At all.)

• Swipe left for immediate access to picture presets, slate controls and core camera settings.
• Swipe right for three user-programmable function buttons.

Expanded Control Set

The update also extends existing controls across both platforms:

• LUT handling has been refined, improving both monitoring and baked-in recording workflows.
• Lens and zoom control has been reworked.
• Frame rate settings now cover off-speed shooting and time-lapse capture.
• A new camera light control allows direct adjustment of device lighting hardware.
• Vertical multi-view support improves monitoring when working in portrait orientation, aligning with social-first shooting.

iOS-Specific Additions

The iOS release goes further with an extensive set of refinements:

• Toolbar reorganisation for faster access.
• Single-lens dolly zoom control.
• Expanded FPS options beyond standard ranges.
• HUD enhancements including histogram expansion and live LUT switching (Apple Log, Rec.709, Rec.2020, P3 D65).
• Recording in open-gate mode, with support for 2.0 anamorphic de-squeeze.
• Auto exposure when using automatic mode.

Blackmagic Camera in Context

The update sits within the broader architecture of Blackmagic Camera. At its core, the app is designed to give smartphones a digital film camera interface, complete with heads-up display (HUD) and touch-driven controls for ISO, shutter, white balance, resolution and frame rate.

Recording can be done locally on the device, to external storage via supported accessories, or directly to Blackmagic Cloud. The app includes media management, metadata entry, chat, and integration with DaVinci Resolve project libraries, making it more than just a capture tool. With version 3.0, the gap between acquisition and edit has narrowed further: remote clip syncing reduces ingest time, while Blackmagic Cloud upload pushes material directly into a Resolve timeline for collaborative editing.

Pro Workflows: LUTs, Metadata and Timecode

Professionals will note that the update builds on existing LUT management. LUTs can be loaded for monitoring or burned into the recording. With iOS 3.0, histogram displays can now expand to fill the preview, giving a more accurate look at exposure.

Metadata entry via the slate remains central to the workflow: users can define project, scene, take and notes on-set, with data carrying into Resolve bins. Timecode support with external Bluetooth sync devices continues to make multi-camera shoots viable, now with the addition of automatic media transfer.

Accessories and Expansion

While version 3.0 is primarily a software update, it interacts directly with supported hardware like the Blackmagic Camera ProDock. For productions needing HDMI output, genlock, timecode, or professional audio I/O, the ProDock provides the physical expansion missing from phones. At US$ 325, it’s positioned as the bridge between casual smartphone capture and professional rigs.

Testing Before Deployment

While the features are clear in official documentation, teams should test the update in-house before using it on critical productions. Remote syncing and live streaming are particularly sensitive to network stability and device limitations, which vary across iOS and Android hardware.

The post Blackmagic Camera 3.0: Remote Clip Syncing and Multi-Cam Control Arrive on Smartphones first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Professional productions rarely consider smartphones. They lack ergonomics, reliability, and lens flexibility, and often process images in ways that destroy useful data before it ever reaches postproduction.We usually avoid “smartphone” news unless the device breaks into workflows in a meaningful way. But the legends at epic tutorials found something!

The Pixel 10 Pro may qualify. Unlike marketing claims around “computational photography,” this development deals with sensor-level access to true 12-bit video, a technical unlock that places this handset in a different category. The magic word here is Dual Conversion Gain (DCG), a hardware feature that has existed in many image sensors but has rarely been available for video capture outside cinema-grade gear.

What is Dual Conversion Gain?

Dual Conversion Gain (DCG), sometimes branded as Smart-ISO Pro by Samsung, allows a sensor to simultaneously capture high-gain and low-gain readouts of the same pixel exposure. The two signals are then merged before digitisation, producing a RAW output that preserves highlight headroom while also retaining clean shadow detail.

In practice, DCG produces one single file with:

• Higher dynamic range than standard single-gain readout.
• Finer tonal separation in shadow and midtone regions.
• Lower visible noise in dark exposures.
• Reduced artefacts compared to frame-stacked HDR video.

Conventional HDR modes, particularly in smartphones, often stack multiple exposures across frames. That introduces motion ghosting and temporal artefacts. DCG, by contrast, works at the pixel level and requires no stacking.

Interesting Detail: Google Pixel 10 Pro's Main Camera has 12-bit mode enabled by default!
byu/RaguSaucy96 inGooglePixel

Why is this important in the Pixel 10 Pro?

Previous Pixel devices, as well as Samsung Galaxy phones using similar sensors, already shipped with DCG capability. But manufacturers locked this functionality away. It was inaccessible to standard camera apps, and even advanced third-party software could not invoke it without root-level hacks.

The Pixel 10 Pro is the first mainstream consumer smartphone to expose DCG for RAW video capture directly to third-party apps. That means filmmakers, VFX artists, and technical directors can now record true 12-bit RAW video from a phone without voiding warranties or tampering with the operating system. Orjust ghavcing to deal with the shit-ton of work that is rooting a device these days. This change is not a marketing flourish, it is a concrete technical unlocking of a sensor feature that has been sitting dormant.

Testing and confirmation

Testing performed by developers using MotionCam Pro demonstrates visible improvements. Comparisons of waveform plots and histograms show increased usable dynamic range and visibly cleaner shadows when DCG is enabled. Noise levels in underexposed shots are drastically reduced. Blacks hold structure instead of collapsing into blocky artefacts. Gradients appear smoother, avoiding the typical banding that plagues 10-bit smartphone video.

Independent reports confirm that only the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL models support this feature in video capture. The non-Pro Pixel 10 lacks the sensor bandwidth required.

Professional use cases

Let’s be clear: this is not a replacement for cinema cameras. But there are credible, professional-adjacent use cases.

BCAM/CCAM utility: For secondary angles, reference slates, or onset inserts where a lightweight, inexpensive camera suffices. The ability to record 12-bit RAW ensures that even imperfectly lit material has enough data for correction. But you have to consider how COlors and Contrasts land in, for example, Resolve – there is very little documentation, and you would need to test your footage to have a confident pipeline.

Photogrammetry capture: Tools like Meshroom rely on full-fidelity image data for reliable geometry reconstruction. Having decent video from a compact device could make mobile scans easier without elaborate lighting setups. Now, a LIDAR Scanner would be prefreable, but, in a pinch, with enough pictures, this should do as well.

Reference footage: VFX supervisors, colourists, or continuity staff may need to grab quick visual notes. Normally such reference clips suffer from baked-in compression and tone-mapping. A 12-bit file avoids this somewhat. And we are not talking about ProRes!

This makes the Pixel 10 Pro more of a pipeline tool than a narrative camera. Its footage can fit into established dailies or VFX workflows without breaking colour pipelines.

Cost vs. capability

By professional standards, the Pixel 10 Pro is inexpensive. A dedicated RAW-capable BCAM costs multiples more. That affordability opens opportunities: every team member could carry a RAW-capable capture device without straining budgets.

That said, ergonomics remain a limitation. Phones lack ND filtration, proper I/O, monitoring options, and reliable thermal management for long takes. Professionals should see this feature as an additional tool in the box, not a cost-saving substitution for proper gear.

Industry implications

The larger story here may be about smartphone manufacturers finally unlocking pro-grade sensor features. For years, hardware has been capable of higher-fidelity capture, but consumer apps and OS restrictions kept that potential hidden.

By making DCG and 12-bit RAW accessible, Google signals a shift. The Pixel 10 Pro may not replace cinema cameras, but it demonstrates that latent features can be delivered to professionals if vendors choose to. If this sets a precedent, future handsets may become more reliable companions in production environments.

The bottom line

The Pixel 10 Pro’s 12-bit RAW DCG capture is an interesting tidbit for professionals. Not a final-frame tool, not a marketing gimmick, but a useful side camera with real production/photogrammetrry/documentation utility. Treat it accordingly: a supplement for reference, technical, and capture workflows—not a substitute for your Alexa, Venice or URSA. And we ignored the questions of thermal stability, variable Framerate, standardized colour profiles, and so many more things that make a professional camera and a smartphone two different beats entirely.

A reminder

Innovations like this should always be tested thoroughly before use in production. Smartphone footage may now hold up in a certain few workflows, but reliability and stability remain critical factors.

The post Pixel 10 Pro unlocks true 12-bit RAW with DCG first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

Blackmagic Design has introduced version 1.4 of its Blackmagic Camera app for Android, marking a notable step in mobile production flexibility. The update includes full support for Sony Xperia 1 V and Xperia PRO-I devices, making them viable options for VFX and filmmaking pros who rely on high-end mobile hardware.

The Blackmagic Camera app, originally developed for use with Blackmagic’s digital cinema cameras, allows Artists to control camera settings remotely via their Android devices. With the new Xperia integration, Blackmagic responds to the increasing trend of professional-grade mobile shooting, particularly in fast-paced environments like VFX-heavy productions.

Xperia and Mobile Production

Sony’s Xperia 1 V and Xperia PRO-I are smartphones known for their exceptional imaging capabilities, boasting features like 4K HDR OLED displays and advanced camera systems. This update lets users control these devices with the Blackmagic Camera app, creating new opportunities for mobile production setups. The benefit? For professionals working in post-production and visual effects, the combination of a mobile-friendly platform and Blackmagic’s control interface could streamline location shooting, offering rapid feedback on footage without the need for heavy equipment.

Version 1.4 brings more than just Xperia compatibility. The update includes performance improvements across the board, refining the app’s interaction with Android hardware to improve stability. Other notable enhancements include:

• Expanded device compatibility for Sony Phones, as well as some Oppo Models.
• Optimized performance for smoother control of Blackmagic’s URSA Mini and Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro
• Better connection stability when using Wi-Fi

For a full list of updates, you can check the official documentation here.

Pricing and Availability

The Blackmagic Camera app is available for free in the Google Play Store. There are no additional costs tied to this update, which is great news for filmmakers and post-production professionals looking to add it to their Android workflow without budget concerns.

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While this update offers exciting possibilities, remember: before adopting any new tool in critical projects, thorough testing is key. Make sure it integrates well with your post-production pipeline and doesn’t introduce unexpected challenges.

For more information or to download the latest version of the app, visit the official Blackmagic Design site here.

The post Blackmagic Camera 1.4 Update for Android: Xperia Support and More first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.

When the hapless Digital Bolex disappeared from the market, these voices became even more numerous. Finally, Blackmagic Design (BMD for short) announced the new Pocket at NAB 2O18, and obviously many fingers twitched at “buy” without thinking twice. Unlike in the past, BMD was almost able to keep to the announced delivery date this time. But that doesn’t mean you can get the camera right away: It’s selling like hotcakes.

You could actually put the predecessor of the Blackmagic Pocket 4K in almost any pocket with a small pancake or 16 mm lens. That’s a thing of the past, because despite all the progress, processing four times as many pixels into RAW recordings and the corresponding heat dissipation cannot be accommodated in such a compact housing. The new camera looks very similar to a DSLR and is even a little chunkier. When you first touch it, however, the low weight (720 g) is surprising, which is also associated with a certain feeling of a plastic box. But it is a composite material reinforced with carbon fibres, which should be able to withstand quite a lot – others use such material in cars. In any case, there have been no reports of damage to the housing from those who have been working with it for some time. A few Ursa Minis, on the other hand, have not survived tipping sideways with the handle attached without breaking the metal housing.
At best, the torsional strength of the Pocket 4K could be somewhat lower than that of metal. With heavy lenses or even motorised focus pullers, you should probably attach the lens to the support rather than the camera alone. The housing is not rainproof. A common problem with the predecessor was the fragile sockets, especially the tiny HDMI connection, which usually failed when used frequently. There are now better things here: HDMI in full size, a much more solid, latching 12-volt socket and mini-XLR for sound (mono) in addition to the usual 3.5 mm stereo jack. The batteries have also grown slightly, they now correspond to Canon LP-E6. BMD has retained the lens mount for Micro 4/3 (MFT). The active cooling is audible, but only in the immediate vicinity. The outlet for the significantly warmed air is not optimally positioned on the underside, as a larger tripod plate could jeopardise the cooling, especially if the camera is carelessly placed on textiles.

Despite the touchscreen, there are plenty of sensibly placed and clearly labelled controls, including three freely assignable function buttons, a photo button for stills and a quick switch to slow motion. However, the latter can lead to problems if it happens to be assigned the same frame rate as the one you are currently shooting with. If you then accidentally touch this button, the picture/sound synchronisation is no longer guaranteed – so it is better to set a clearly different frame rate so that it is noticeable. It is also to be hoped that the labelling will be more durable than on the old Pocket: anyone who has used it intensively must now be able to operate it blindly. There is no longer a socket for LANC (Control-L); remote control is only offered via Bluetooth app as with the Ursa Mini Pro. If desired, GPS data from the controlling device can be transferred to the metadata of the recording – e.g. on the tracks of rare animals.
Together with the well thought-out menu structure, from which manufacturers like Sony could still learn a lot, the Pocket 4K quickly grows into your (not too dainty) hand. The manual is available in several languages, including German. Apart from a few amusing translation errors such as “camera assistant” instead of “AC” for AC, it is well organised and easy to understand; there is even an introduction to DaVinci Resolve. The camera menus are currently limited to English, but translations are planned.

Monitor

The screen makes good use of the available space, has a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 and around 500 nits. Although it cannot compete with a Ninja V that is twice as bright, it is significantly brighter and sharper than its predecessor (which can hardly be operated without a viewfinder magnifier). Unfortunately, it cannot be tilted, making it difficult to work with it from very low or high positions. Nevertheless, this decision is understandable, as the camera was obviously designed to be robust. The fragile tilting mechanism of some other cameras and the continuous strain on the corresponding cabling is always a potential weak point.

The monitor offers clear displays of all important parameters, which lead directly to the corresponding setting when touched without a menu; of course, they can also be hidden. Loadable LUTs for the display allow image assessment – these can optionally be transferred to the recording if you need to deliver immediately presentable material. Contour sharpening, zebra and false colours can be switched on for control purposes, but there is no waveform, histogram or vectorscope here. When the menu is activated or in dark scenes, a slight light scattering can be seen in the bottom left-hand corner, but this is insignificant in practice.

Sensor and lenses

The sensor has also grown, even slightly beyond the usual size in MFT photo cameras such as the GH5 from Panasonic. While the latter has a sensor with a width of 17.3 mm and an aspect ratio of 1.33 to 1, the chip in the Pocket 4K is almost 19 mm wide, but only 10 mm high. It is clearly aimed at film and actually has real 4K pixels in the cinema standard of 4096 x 2160 – other camera manufacturers are happy if you don’t know the difference to UHD with 3840 x 2160. Now, neither means a true resolution of 2,000 lines with a Bayer pattern, but at least both formats are available natively without scaling. The sharpness of a Sony A7III with oversampling is not quite achieved, but subjectively the Pocket looks very sharp. With one small catch: BMD still does not use an OLPF (anti-aliasing filter), so part of the sharpness impression is likely to consist of false detail. however, 4K on a small chip is far less critical than HD because the resolution limit of many lenses already has an effect. We were only rarely able to detect moiré in natural subjects.

The larger sensor has consequences for the choice of lens: If you still have S-16 lenses from an old pocket, they are unfortunately no longer as suitable despite having the same mount. They vignette massively at 4K and can only be used for 2K or HDTV via windowing or with crop. MFT lenses, which are now available in an enormous selection with both autofocus and purely manual focus, do not cause any problems with the image field. With a crop factor of 1.9 instead of 2 (in relation to KB photos), they even have a slightly wider angle of view on the Pocket 4K. With appropriate lenses, autofocus is possible on an area tapped on the screen, but this is relatively slow and cannot be continuously tracked as with modern cameras.
The Panasonic 12-35mm/f2.8 or the Olympus 12-100mm/f4 can be used as universal lenses. Both are excellent lenses and have image stabilisation – with Olympus, the latter in the lens is rather the exception. For a film camera, the lack of internal image stabilisation is less important, as you usually use aids such as a gimbal or tripod and the stabilisation can then even interfere. With appropriate lenses, you can activate their stabilisation in the camera for hand-held shots, but this cannot replace a gimbal. All classic manual lenses can be adapted using an adapter if you love their look. However, you can hardly save any money with them now that the Sonys with E-mount are available and there is a corresponding run on good lenses. The lower speed of the zooms is generally unproblematic on the Pocket 4K, as the new sensor is significantly more light-sensitive than all previous BMD sensors.

For the first time with BMD, the sensor has two native ISO values, namely 400 and 3,200 ISO. Our tests showed that it is less noisy at 1,250 ISO than at 640 or 800, which are obviously only generated by amplification. Yes, the noise even seemed a touch lower than at 400, even if this is somewhat at the expense of the latitude in the highlights. Even at 1,600 ISO, the image is still quite usable, while 3,200 requires some noise filtering. The limit value of 25,600, on the other hand, is exactly that: borderline. The dynamic range is around 13 f-stops and therefore slightly below that of the Ursa Mini Pro, but this is still a very decent result, as our test subject shows. This dual ISO is explained excellently at FilmmakerIQ bit.ly/hess_dual_iso. The rolling shutter is acceptable, it is more on a par with other cinema cameras and is not as massive as with film cameras. The structure of the noise is different to that of BMD, it appears very homogeneous and the infamous fixed pattern noise is barely discernible. It is noticeable that in the waveform display of Resolve a clipping below the black level is recognisable in the noise, which we have not seen in this form with other cameras. After light noise filtering, a normal noise carpet can be recognised again. Not only is the light sensitivity impressive for a still quite small sensor in 4K, the colours are also fully convincing. BMD once again shows that it understands colour science: it shouldn’t be too difficult to match correctly exposed skin tones with an Arri, even if the Pocket can’t really keep up in the colours of the limits of its dynamic range.

Recording media

Only the Ursa Mini is similarly flexible when it comes to storage media: in addition to CFast and fast SD cards, you can also connect an external SSD via the USB-C port (note: not identical to Thunderbolt 3) and record directly to it. However, there still seem to be minor firmware problems, because at least with the popular Samsung T5, you should first start the camera (approx. 5 seconds) and only then connect the SSD. Sometimes a card should also be inserted in the SD slot first so that the SSD is recognised (both use the same bus). However, BMD is aware of the problem and a solution should be in the works. Sandisk should urgently solve another problem: Some of the current batches of proven SD cards no longer work in BMD’s cameras, not alone in the Pocket 4K. Be careful with repeat purchases!

USB-C use is even more elegant and less expensive than the separately purchased SSD recorder for the larger camera or tinkering, as presented in DP 03:18. This means that everything is available, from fast but more expensive media to inexpensive and widely used media to media with long runtimes. A place for the lightweight SSD with some Velcro can usually still be found; unfortunately, USB-C is not secured against slipping out. On sufficiently fast media, the Pocket can manage 4K DCI or UHD with 60 frames, and with HDTV in the crop window it goes up to 120 fps. Unfortunately, no intermediate format of 3K (as with RED) is offered, so that a Bayer sensor would also deliver the full HDTV resolution. Currently, recording is only possible in DNG or ProRes 422, but BMD has also announced BRaw (see DP 01:19) for this camera. As the camera does not allow parallel recording on multiple media, not all formats can be recorded uncompressed at higher frame rates.

Power supply

Even though the Pocket 4K achieves slightly longer runtimes with the larger batteries than its predecessor, the power requirement for small batteries typically used in DSLRs is critical. The battery supplied by BMD achieves 49 minutes of continuous recording on an internal card, the remaining runtime indicator decreases continuously, it displays a warning shortly before switching off and switches off properly. In contrast, a new battery from Patona, which was also used for testing, lasted 33 minutes and switched off at 80% without warning. We have not had any bad experiences with these third-party batteries on other devices, but it is simply the case that the Pocket draws more power than a standard DSLR.

Unlimited reliability only seems to exist with the rather expensive original batteries from Canon and those from BMD. However, BMD is currently experiencing supply bottlenecks not only with the cameras, but also with these batteries. Especially when using SSDs, which also draw their power from the camera via USB-C, it is strongly recommended to avoid using third-party batteries. One possible weak point appears to be the battery cover – its lock does not look very trustworthy, but the battery itself is secured against falling out by an additional lever. On the other hand, the cover is also easy to remove if you want to connect a more powerful battery (such as the Sony L series) externally using a dummy – the accessories industry has reacted quickly.
The Pocket also has a socket for an external 12 volt supply. Strictly speaking, it can be 12-20 volts, so that standard video batteries with D-Tap can be used without fear, although they can have up to 16.8 volts when freshly charged (nominal 14.4). The appropriate cable must be purchased separately. A power supply unit for this connection is included in the scope of delivery and also charges the internal battery; however, a separate charger is not included. When the camera is switched off, the battery can even be charged via USB. As long as a charged battery is in the camera, the power supply remains very reliable. If you have to change the external battery or someone unplugs the mains cable, recording continues without interruption.

Sound and timecode

The four internal microphones sound very good and have an amazing feature when using a zoom lens with an electronic connection: The sound is zoomed in! In the wide-angle position, the sound is more open and spacious; in the zoom position, it sounds closer and more intimate. Noise from the inputs is barely audible, but the fan becomes discreetly audible in a quiet environment. The mono XLR input offers switchable 48 volt phantom power – which places additional demands on the battery and costs around 10 minutes of battery life. The built-in loudspeaker is only used to determine the presence of sound. The output for headphones is usable this time, it has neither too much noise nor too much latency, as has been the case with some other BMD models.

Unfortunately, this is the end of the plus points: the 3.5 mm stereo input is far too insensitive and can only be used in front of the stage at a heavy metal concert without an external preamplifier, even with powerful microphones. However, a radio link with line output is sufficient. Whether this is a software error or a fundamental weakness could not yet be determined during our test. In addition, the inputs cannot be switched separately to line or micro level, they can only be switched together. This restriction is not obvious in the menu and can be confusing.

On the other hand, the use of external timecode generators is a good solution: you only have to briefly feed an LTC timecode into one of the inputs without assigning it to a track during recording. As soon as it is recognised, a jam sync is performed, indicated by a small symbol next to the TC in the monitor. The synchronisation is then stable for several hours as long as the power supply is maintained. Consequently, it is wisest to work with separate sound recording if you do not want to tether the camera to an external mixer. The Zoom Recorder F4, among others, demonstrates very good TC stability. The internal microphones can at least provide a good ambience or a guide sound if you want to create the sound with Pluraleyes or similar programmes.

Which gimbal?

The choice should not be a problem with such a light camera, but the wide housing causes problems. On most gimbals, the handle comes up against the tilt motor if you can’t move the pocket far enough with an additional plate and still balance it. The Ronin S from DJI is currently available at a favourable price, which can be used with an additional plate. An alternative is the Moza Air 2, which can be used together with the Half Rig from Smallrig. Neither of these have been tested by us due to a lack of availability, but the reports from experienced forum colleagues are positive.

Comment

The Pocket 4K should be used for exactly what it is: a compact, very light and unbeatably cheap camera for the image quality. If you consider the value of the licence for DaVinci Resolve Studio, it costs just 1,000 euros. It can be used just as well in a YouTube home studio as a B-camera or crash cam alongside an Arri, and is also excellent as backpack equipment for landscape and wildlife photography. However, with its lack of ND filters, no viewfinder, weak sound section and critical power supply, it will not replace an Ursa Mini Pro, which also offers more resolution and dynamic range. Otherwise, you would have to put together a monster rig that is neither more user-friendly nor much cheaper.

The post More pixels in your pocket – Blackmagic Pocket 4K in test first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Uli Plank.