REAL WORLD USE: BMPCC6K

[Andrew Dease]

Being less than 1/4th the price of Komodo, I know some peoples this cam. I have read the battery lasts 30 mins or that it is completely undependable. Compared to KOMODO Komodo looks better sure, but it is close...

That being said DOES ANYONE USE THIS FOR WORK, DOC WORK, etc? Is it useable or a Toy for you tubers?


I prefer Komodo but it still not released, no word on it, and QUADRUPLE the price makes me thing stupid for waiting for yet another Red.


Thoughts?

Note I am focusing on DEPENDABILITY, which I consider Red to have, but I also have had a ton of shit go wrong on all fronts with REDS in the past... so...

[Andrew Dease]

Also worth noting how good the Fuji XT4 looked compared to KOMODO in Rands Recent post...

[Brian Timmons]

I was gaffer on a project that shot on BMPCC6K last year and am working with that same footage as editor.
The first day there were issues with the camera audio falling out of sync with the video.
After updating the firmware the camera was pretty reliable.

The DP was filming to a Samsung SSD drive connected via USB 3 and there were a few times
where the connection dropped in the middle of a shot. Not the biggest surprise as USB 3 was never
designed for set use.

I remember the batteries lasting closer to 1 hour.

Playing around with the BRAW files, it records a solid image that you can definitely
push around in post.
The codec is definitely much better compared to h.264 in DSLRs.

The ergonomics are not particularly great for rigging and changing batteries can result in unrigging just
to get to the battery compartment
In short, it's ergonomically about the same as most higher end DSLRs (except for the screen which is fixed on the back).

I haven't shot or even touched a KOMODO yet but from what I can see
it's on a different level in terms of ergonomics, feature set, build quality, connector quality, etc).

This seems to generally be the case between RED and BMD cameras.

They both hit certain niche markets and I definitely welcome working with BMD cameras over most DSLRs
(which is the market BMD seems to have the most success in).

RED is a hardcore cinema camera company. There's generally a different mindset and expectation for people buying
and using their cameras and RED caters to that quite well.

I'm planning on getting 2 KOMODOs when the time is right.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

[Andrew Dease]

I was gaffer on a project that shot on BMPCC6K last year and am working with that same footage as editor.
The first day there were issues with the camera audio falling out of sync with the video.
After updating the firmware the camera was pretty reliable.

The DP was filming to a Samsung SSD drive connected via USB 3 and there were a few times
where the connection dropped in the middle of a shot. Not the biggest surprise as USB 3 was never
designed for set use.

I remember the batteries lasting closer to 1 hour.

Playing around with the BRAW files, it records a solid image that you can definitely
push around in post.
The codec is definitely much better compared to h.264 in DSLRs.

The ergonomics are not particularly great for rigging and changing batteries can result in unrigging just
to get to the battery compartment
In short, it's ergonomically about the same as most higher end DSLRs (except for the screen which is fixed on the back).

I haven't shot or even touched a KOMODO yet but from what I can see
it's on a different level in terms of ergonomics, feature set, build quality, connector quality, etc).

This seems to generally be the case between RED and BMD cameras.

They both hit certain niche markets and I definitely welcome working with BMD cameras over most DSLRs
(which is the market BMD seems to have the most success in).

RED is a hardcore cinema camera company. There's generally a different mindset and expectation for people buying
and using their cameras and RED caters to that quite well.

I'm planning on getting 2 KOMODOs when the time is right.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA

Great writeup.

[Mike P.]

How about BMP4k, does that count?

There's not much it doesn't do well (arguably better than DSMC1). Granted, we use a Tilta cage/handle which has an NPF slot that powers the camera for 3~4hours, holds the SSD, and has locking usb/HDMI cables, so that gets rid of most rigging concerns. Actually, the battery handle has a built-in fingerwheel/usb port so you can even attach one of Tilta's lens motors to the handle and control it (negating some of the advantages of DPAF). Boot-to-shoot in like ~5seconds, all the assists (1:1, false colour, ISO, wb, etc) are intuitive/become second nature after a day, plenty of audio connection options (3.5mm, mini-XLR, excellent scratch mics), surprisingly quick AF (though not continuous), fast/easy GUI, dual-ISO for low-light, dead-quiet in operation...

For us, in a real world setting it's been very single-op friendly and as reliable as any REDs I've used (though I haven't used the BMP in extreme weather). It's just super fast/easy, and then you have BRAW which can be pushed around nicely and actually gives better file sizes than prores when using the Q modes. Plus even over/under means using false colour gives solid exposure. I dunno... given the price, I can't think of a better B-cam (the mirrorless stuff is also awesome, but usually *more* expensive and doesn't give you raw or the audio connectivity options.)

The two things that can kinda get in the way are the non-articulating screen (but you can throw on an external if it's going to be very high/low) and the form factor isn't totally gimbal friendly because the size and weight distribution is wide.

[David Rasberry]

Horses for courses. If one is an independent filmmaker on a tiny budget, then these low end cameras are a godsend. Excellent image quality and practical workflows at very economical prices.
The high end cameras are much more efficient and reliable on productions where budgets mean hours a day wasted dealing with inferior ergonomics, less robust construction, reliability issues and slow setups cost far more than the cheaper cameras would save.
A production that doesn’t think twice about destroying a $6k camera instead of a $50k camera in an action scene as long as they can reliably recover the media and get the shot will not consider the low end options.
Some years ago one of the Zacuto shootouts compared the on set efficiency between a DSLR and a a RED DSMC1 shooting an interior bar scene. In the time the Red crew executed more than 50 setups the DSLR crew managed less than 20.
A Komodo living on a drone as a companion to a Helium or Monstro saves hours of setup time switching cameras on or off the drone.
Essentially equal IQ match between cameras in the same workflow saves hours to days of finishing time in post compared to lesser alternatives.
Where on set budgets can run tens of thousands a day, a Komodo could easily recover its cost in a day with no compromise in IQ compared to its more expensive brethren.