I caught up with my partner Karl to find out more about the gear he uses for our videography services. Here’s his review on The Blackmagic Pocket 4k!
The Blackmagic Pocket 4k isn’t really considered a run-and-gun camera and probably for good reason. While it does have amazing picture quality, its short battery life, lack of stabilisation and no autofocus makes it more difficult than other choices. I guess a better title for this would be ‘How I use the Pocket 4k’!
When it comes to shooting weddings, one of the key considerations for me is that my work needs to match well with my partner Jaymee Photography, this mainly involves the colour. Being able to use Braw as a codec is pretty important as it gives me a lot more flexibility in post-production to be able to match my colour looks to Jaymee’s. There are not many cameras at this price point (or any that I can think of!) that can record 4k 60p 10-bit raw, which is really what made me choose the Pocket 4k. The other great thing about Braw is that for such a powerful codec, it’s pretty light. I shoot at a 12:1 compression ratio, which gives me files similar to ProRes size. That makes it much easier on storage and processing power - double win!
There are a few hurdles that I’ve had to overcome though, the hardest of which is battery life. I use three different powering solutions that I mix and match depending on what’s going on. The first is the standard LP-E6 battery, for when I have time to swap out batteries (great for bridal shoots, detail shots and anything where I have time to get the shots). For a wedding ceremony though, I definitely don’t want to swap batteries half-way through. In this case, I use a cable to power it from my Ronin-S, this can power it for 2 hours which is more than enough! Lastly, for handheld or tripod use I have a power handle that attaches to my case which has a larger NP-F battery and also powers it for about 2 hours.
The other two hurdles go hand in hand - Autofocus and Stabilisation. I use a Ronin-S 85% of the time which gives me those smooth looking shots. I’d be pretty lost without it, though it can get heavy. For Focusing, I use the Tilta Nucleus Nano which is a wireless follow focus. It’s taken a lot of practice to get good at focusing, but I’m really glad I do manual focus, it forces me to be specific about what’s in focus to create a story. I go for a cinematic look for most of my work so these solutions are the best options anyway!
It took me months to decide which camera to buy. I tend to be quite particular about purchases so I narrowed it down to two options, then figured out what accessories I could buy within my budget, narrowing it down to what I definitely needed etc. I’m glad I went for this option, as I think overcoming those hurdles teaches you a lot. It’s also a camera I’m going to grow into as I learn more about video, particularly colouring. Feel free to comment if you have any questions or comments about the Pocket 4k!