Is The OG BMPCC Still Worth It? | 10 Years Later 

This is how I grade my footage - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q3na_elj4ag.html 🖌

This camera is the reason I can’t shoot anything below Cinema DNG. Once you dial in the WB and exposure, you transcode to ProRes 444 and edit to your hearts delight. Now you can use AI to upres 4K once you’ve finished color grading. The finished image is simply stunning.

tl;dr: 10/10 best buy. Let me tell y'all a story. I bought my BMPCC OG about a year and a half ago. And it's my first video camera at all. I was astounded by the image it could produce, the price (270 USD), and the size. So I go out to take a first shot and realize that I just can't hold it smooth enough to shoot anything handheld at all! I even don't know how cameras can be so shaky. So I find a cage, and then I also get a shoulder rig. and a few lenses. And it wasn't enough at all. But it was good to start. Then I get ND variable filters, as well as UV and PL filters, for the majority of my lenses. Everything on the camera screen looks too dark, so you need to trust a histogram more. Then you want to make normal walking shots, so I get a glidecam and practice with it for a few months. Oh yes, you definitely need to get a battery plate and a normal battery. As well as a microphone. and a tripod. It's a joke to call it a "pocket camera," because now I have to take a large backpack with all this sh*t to get the results I want. I'm currently awaiting my monitor as well as an anamorphic adapter. And folow focus. So I've spent more than $2000 in total. Because learning to shoot on this BMPCC turned me into a camera geek. It's awesome. I definitely recommend it.

Hope you'll make more of these BMPCC OG videos. I love this camera!! This vlog is terrific and inspiring for us BMPCC OG users. Your love for the camera is so apparent on your face when you talk about the camera. :) Thanks for making this one! I too love the simplicity of this camera!

I bought the original about seven years ago and was very happy with it. Then I switched to the bmpcc4K very quickly because I thought I needed more pixels. I never really managed to create films with the new camera that gave me emotional satisfaction. Meanwhile, for a year now i've been working exclusively with the original again because everything you said in your great video also applies to me. Thank you and I wish you a good production for your career.

I love the OG. Own two of them and take them with me everywhere. Even if the footage doesn't always see the light of day, I find that it is the closest to shooting film while still having the comforts of digital that we take for granted. Thanks for sharing!

Well done dude, this is one of th best videos of the BMPCC modern reviews and a personal reminder to get it of the closet and try to shoot something

Subscribed. Can’t wait to see your journey. Thanks. Ed

I'm a filmmaker and a RU-vidr still using BMPCC. In fact I've shot a feature film with it throughout 2022 (will release a trailer on my channel in a few weeks) and I love using it and grading it on Resolve and can say that it is so much better than even 10-bit 4:2:2 H264 (I think it's not that much about chroma subsampling and bit depth but more about bitrate). BUT, resolution disadvantage shows itself especially on wide shots. And it has some moire problems. And some dynamic range/highlight rolloff issues.

I got mine roughly a year ago. It's tough to work with in the begining, but so rewarding to learn more about it and get better each time. I like the simplicity of it and the amazing video quality.

Bought 2 of them when BMD had a half off sale on it and the BMPC 4K so I bought one of those as well. I LOVE the Pocket. It is always my go-to camera.

I'm working on bringing my Micro Cinema back to working condition for sets. The image quality from those Fairchild sensors cannot be beat, especially for those skintones!

I've owned several of these. And I think you said it perfectly. It's an incredible camera for personal projects or stylized shoots. There's something so special about the image it produces. But I would never build a production business around it. Even though I've used it as a B and C cam on hundreds of productions.

Excellent, excellent video! Thank you for the confirmation, inspiration and encouragement when it comes to this camera. I recently messed up and damaged the HDMI connection port on the one I’ve had for sometime, smh. Thought I could just go ahead (and will) working with it in addition to the bmpcc 4Ks and 6K I have as well. But I decided to go ahead and search for another and successfully found one at Adorama in Excellent E-plus + condition. I figured that I will need that external monitor at times. So anyway again I thank you and really appreciate what you shared about slowing down in order to get the shot right and how it will increase personal technique, style and growth. And not feel less than or inadequate doing so. That’s what I personally got from you and this. Salute and thanks!

👍🏾👍🏾YESSS!!! Excellent Work, Colin! Instant Subscribe. I still have mine, and love it. Cheers

Great review! I own the 6k Pro as well as an a7iv. As much as I probably don't need this camera, something about the colors and picture feels so refreshing. I'm tempted to pick it up.

I swooped one up for 350 with a lens last summer. I may eventually grab a P4k as well, but will never sell the OG. For now I am thoroughly enjoying the process and working on getting better at lighting and framing. The images out of it are outstanding.

Love Black Magic! I have 2 of the 6k Pro that I use for short films and filmed a feature movie last year. Combined with Cine Lenses awesome and the ease of use just outstanding. Plus Davinci Resolve Pro.

Hi Colin. Love your productions. You should talk more about your work and what goes into production. Found you with the BMPCC. A little underground gem. Ed

Perfectly "said". I made money with my OG when they first came out. Still own it and love it too. Carry on.... nice film.

I have the 4k and the OG. The OG is my run and gun / pocket set up. I carry 4 extra batteries and it's good enough. 2-3 batteries for a full day is good enough for me because I only shoot in 10-15 second bursts with around 30-45 minutes with a 1900mAH battery. I keep it bare minimum with IBIS lens and variable ND filters. IBIS lens and Variable ND filters are must haves. Although it's recommended to stay at native 800 ISO, I stay at 1600 because of the run and gun nature. Low light situations aren't the best. The audio is horrible. However, for how small the setup is, this camera is extremely fun to use. In good lighted situations, it nails that old cinematic film look that other cameras can't do. I think this camera makes you more creative too.

This is my A cam for 10 years. I just got me a bmpcc 4k for less than a month and I didn't used for professional work yet. The day my BMPCC4k arrived, i had the opportunity to shoot with it the next day but i didn't, for security reasons. Instead, i used my BMPCC OG. And man, I thought i was using the 4k already... the image was so beautiful i thought i was using a modern cinema camera. I have the new 4k version but i'll still use the pocket og professionally, that's for sure!

Grat job! 🙂The "OG" is still beast! 🔥

Your audio is outstanding, great EQ

Great video. :D I sold mine a few years back. But still, with all hiccups I really miss it.

HELLZ YEAH !!!!!!! TIMELESS !

Love your video. I have a couple of them . I want to start using cine prime lenses with them to experiment a bit. What do you recommend to do not get black edges, meta bones adapters? Big thanks

Very helpful video!

I own two OG's and I'm obsessed with the images that come out of the camera. I'm still on a quest for the best small battery option. I love your footage from Italy. What do you use to grade it like that? Would you consider putting out a grading video?

i think for someone that just starting shooting videos, its better to start from camera with a lot of limitation like this or canon/sony entry level cameras. it tought us about how to film better, how to prepare for a shoot, how to understand your gear better, and also to appreciate the gear you have when you upgrade.

.... and the unbalanced internal audio recording issue plus the synching the external audio with the visuals recorded with this beloved camera. I have one of earlier units with bad SD card port or a messed up mainboard causing the internal RAW recording impossible. If I find a brand new one I'll buy it in 2023

For simplicity I shot on Canon for years, until I bought a Lumix GH4, which looks great, almost as this one, but shoots 4k. Too bad it can’t record uncompressed (unless you have an Átomos recorder, but that breaks the run and gun concept). I even shot in a RED Scarlet and hated it because of its weight. Now I have a BMPCCP6KPRO and even though it’s fantastic, I still wanna have an OG. Need one. That’s how good it is.

I really love those cameras for lower resolution work, but they are no longer supported, at least from what I understand. My first one pretty much fell apart, mechanically, and my second one quit working as well, with an electronic problem relating to the camera talking to the lens; it was over-heating too... It's a shame. The main issue I had was that the display is so small and has such low resolution. Other than that, the Cinema DNG 10 bit capability just rocks! For a higher resolution camera, the Ursa mini pro G2 is pretty great, and the newer Ursa with Gen 5 color... The Ursa, at least to my eye, has the best color and all around picture quality short of getting into something like a Red. As much as I like the various Japanese cameras, at least for me, the color response just doesn't look as natural as the Blackmagic cameras or the Red.

Any recommendations for a small IS lens for this? I’ve had one of these for years, but I don’t do a lot of video (more stills photography), so it doesn’t come out of its bag much. I have a Metabones speed booster so I can use my EF lenses, which is fine, but it’s really bulky that way, and I like what you’re saying about a walkaround video cam. That’s part of why I bought it on the first place, and then things started getting out of hand. 😂

Hope to see more OG contents from you.

Hello! Could you tell me which memory card to use in this camera? I can't find any compatible ones.

Also I love BMD products and workflow

I liked the video, do you have a video talking about the camera's video settings, I bought one, I can't record in raw, without letting the video get bad with the high exposure, if you can, make a video editing the file in camera RAW

I have one and I love my BMPCC OG

Trying to find the right camera for a podcast room. We rent the room by the hour and are typically shooting 2 to 3 Guest at a time. I heard the black magic was great because it worked with so many of the pieces of equipment that we use. Getting ready to work with it this week. What’s your favourite glass for the BM?

Get this camera with a Kowa/Navitar 6mm 1.8 lens, and you also have a great tiny wideangle kit.

What are your favorite lenses for this camera? Really great video. Thank you for making.

All thanks to the Fairchild Sensor.

Best things is Raw and size and most importantly the image is special

Check out some BMPCC footage - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XwhfKf4SMv8.html

Yes it is I own three bmpcc and one bmcc 2.5k and they rock

I've had this camera for about five years. It's the only digital camera I've ever owned but I agree with everything said. Still after 5 years a third of what I shoot is unusable (too light, too dark, too shaky, badly focussed), but the 2/3 that remains looks great. I grade it with Cineprint 16 and it gives you the best impression of 16mm you could get without actually shooting in 16mm. I cannot tell the difference, if you'd told me the footage in your video was shot on a 16mm I would have believed you.

Lately, I really like the way the image turns out, if you process the video from the camera through the Filmbox plugin, it turns out as if you are shooting on a real 16 mm film) I plan to conduct several experiments on my channel.

Can we shoot slow shutter speed videos with it ? Like shooting at 1/8th 1/15th second ?

I took out my Bmpcc after 4 years today and the cables are missing. As I'm trying to find out where to buy it and I realize that this camera is now called the "original" bmpcc.

How well would this match as a B or C cam to a BMPCC4K?

Almost went for this one...., then got a Canon 5D MIII instead.

How did you grade the footage shown in this video? I see several different types of film emulation here, and some of them look absolutely fantastic.

I have to ask: if I were to get myself one of these, what would be a good prime lens choice ? Whats your choice ?

Has it a clean HDMI output for external recording? Can't find any info...

Is it good for stills or it’s particularly for cinematic videos? Thanks

I got it for the cinema dng raw codec.

I absolutely despise the BMPCC, the extremely specific SD cards, the ridiculously small power barrel size that has to be adapted, the batteries that last 10 minutes on the long end, mega crop factor… but god damn do I regret selling it.

You are a psychic; instantly paused the video and went on eBay!

Get the Blackmagic MICRO Cinema camera instead and all is well…60 fps, full hdmi, faster read out so less rolling shutter. The bmpcc needs to be rigged out anyway so mine as well go for the BMMCC instead!

I have one

Owned this camera for years. You need to rig it out, doesn't have to be huge. If you don't rig it out it's almost useless

or sigma fp

Literally impossible to get today sadly

maybe its the lens im using.. I used a olympus 12mm 2.0 and just did not like the image that came out of it. Check out my footage and let me know what you think.. on my channel.

2023 year .. they steal doing videos about Bmpcc)

it shoots at 24fps

20 years??????? you mean 10 years!!!

Something people don't like to hear: This camera is old, unusable by itself, and in desperate need of a refresh. Steer clear. It produces nice images but is at this point an atrocious package that needs more baby sitting and support than an actual baby. A BMPCC (REAL POCKET CAMERA NOT A BRICK SIZED CHUNKYBOI) 2023 version with better battery life would be amazing!

You look like Ted Bundy 😄

Your voice and profanity usage is nauseating, but good info.

‼First and foremost - you are referring to 'people with cameras' as filmmakers. They are not. Repeat after me - THE ARE NOT FILMMAKERS. Don't call wannabe pseudo-creative unts, filmmakers, they're not. They're ankers with cameras, that's all.