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Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K (BMPCC-4K)


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First units appear to be shipping, so I thought I'd worth mentioning the interesting points for soundies:

 

Audio in through unbalanced 3.5mm stereo jack or one channel balanced TA3 with 48V phantom.

According to the manual it also accepts TC through the 3.5mm jack real timecode camera metadata (like the MixPre-3/6)

 

If anybody gets a hands on with one of those let us know how it works : )

chris

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2 hours ago, Allen Rowand said:

Someday…

 

I wonder if it's possible to build a split cable for a Tentacle to run TC into the 3.5mm input and the scratch audio mic into the TA3 in. If anyone would care to get me a Pocket 4K and a Tentacle I'd be happy to report back!

The camera is not out yet. I was one of the first preorders on adorama.

Should be fine but does BMPC ta3 have voltage for microphone?

 

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10 hours ago, Allen Rowand said:

Someday…

 

I wonder if it's possible to build a split cable for a Tentacle to run TC into the 3.5mm input and the scratch audio mic into the TA3 in. If anyone would care to get me a Pocket 4K and a Tentacle I'd be happy to report back!

I wouldn't bother with that; just use a TC device/Tentacle for the TC on the hybrid TC/Audio input and use the build in mic from the camera for scratch. If you want you can use a camera hop track on the xlr input. My guess is the build in mics of the BMPCC are better than the  tiny scratch mic of the tentacle sync. The reason they buid it was for DSLR cameras, because when you want to use the mic in it bypasses the internal mic. I believe the BMPCC just lets you select whatever you want via the menu.

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1 hour ago, Vincent R. said:

I wouldn't bother with that; just use a TC device/Tentacle for the TC on the hybrid TC/Audio input and use the build in mic from the camera for scratch. If you want you can use a camera hop track on the xlr input. My guess is the build in mics of the BMPCC are better than the  tiny scratch mic of the tentacle sync. The reason they buid it was for DSLR cameras, because when you want to use the mic in it bypasses the internal mic. I believe the BMPCC just lets you select whatever you want via the menu.

 

You're right; I have the original BMPCC and don't even think about using the built in mic.

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19 hours ago, Allen Rowand said:

I wonder if it's possible to build a split cable for a Tentacle to run TC into the 3.5mm input and the scratch audio mic into the TA3 in. If anyone would care to get me a Pocket 4K and a Tentacle I'd be happy to report back!

 

from the manual it looks like you can route TA3 balanced mono, built-in micc L, built-in mic R, 3.5mm L and 3.5mm R in any combination to the 2 camera channels. so you could use the built in camera mic for scratch which should have better quality then the tentacle mic.

edit: ah, vincent already covered that, sorry for the double.

 

17 hours ago, RadoStefanov said:

The camera is not out yet. I was one of the first preorders on adorama.

Should be fine but does BMPC ta3 have voltage for microphone?

 

some cameras have already been delivered (not many in the US though)

and yes, the TA3 has P48

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On 10/3/2018 at 12:56 AM, chrismedr said:

According to the manual it also accepts TC through the 3.5mm jack real timecode camera metadata (like the MixPre-3/6)

 


BMD's older Blackmagic Design Micro Cinema Camera also worked the same way too. 

 

On 10/13/2018 at 9:36 AM, Philip Perkins said:

If you could use one connector for audio and the other for TC only that could be interesting.


TA3 for scratch audio, 3.5mm for timecode input. 

 

On 10/8/2018 at 2:34 AM, Vincent R. said:

My guess is the build in mics of the BMPCC are better than the  tiny scratch mic of the tentacle sync.

I've had a listen to the BMPCC4K built in mics (btw... the BMPCC is a different camera!) and they sound surprisingly "good" (by the low standards of camera mic standards! Certainly compared to the original BMPCC it sounded a lot better). 

 

 

 

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On 10/19/2018 at 5:19 PM, IronFilm said:

TA3 for scratch audio, 3.5mm for timecode input. 

 

Just tried that with a TRX+ at their demo booth at SMPTE on Wednesday and it worked great. It detects it as LTC timecode and attaches it to the video as such, not as audio, so no chance for problems that way. The built in mic was shockingly good (that is not to say it was stellar, just that on camera mics are usually terrible and this one was not). 🙂

 

This was the first time I have held one of the final units (played with the prototypes at NAB) and I was surprised at how much lighter it was. The prototypes were pretty heavy but the real units were much better. I cannot wait until mine comes.

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 12/27/2018 at 1:52 PM, Fred Salles said:

Hey, I just want to make sure that the pin wiring of their TA3 audio in is standard? (1ground, 2 hot, 3 cold)

I am making the cable for a friend but don't have the camera to test it. No details on the cam user manual of course...

Thanks anyone who has tried own cable for the confirmation.

 

I just bought/received this XLR to TA3 cable and tested it with my BMPCC4K.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/871634-REG/Laird_Telemedia_rd1_ta3m_xf_18in_Red_One_Camera_TA3M.html?sts=pi

 

It sounds like it works, so I assume it's standard wiring. That said, I don't know a whole lot about wiring for audio. If it's wired wrong for the camera, would it be immediately apparent?

 

Also, the listing for that cable on B&H says "Please note! This cable is compatible with Rev. B cameras only.", and I have no idea what that means)


Happy to post pics or do tests for anyone with specific requests.

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On 12/28/2018 at 5:52 AM, Fred Salles said:

Hey, I just want to make sure that the pin wiring of their TA3 audio in is standard? (1ground, 2 hot, 3 cold)

I am making the cable for a friend but don't have the camera to test it. No details on the cam user manual of course...

Thanks anyone who has tried own cable for the confirmation.

 

I made some cables recently and emailed Black Magic to check:

 

 

XLR pinout is the following:
 
Pin1 – GND
Pin2 – +ve signal (Hot)
Pin3 - -ve signal (Cold)
 
IMPORTANT: This is the view of the Camera
 

image.png

 

 

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6 hours ago, Tobi A said:

 

I made some cables recently and emailed Black Magic to check:

 

 

XLR pinout is the following:
 
Pin1 – GND
Pin2 – +ve signal (Hot)
Pin3 - -ve signal (Cold)
 
IMPORTANT: This is the view of the Camera
 

image.png

 

 

 

Do you know how to tell which way a cable is wired if you already have the cable?

 

If a cable is wired incorrectly, could it still sound OK, but eventually damage the camera?

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4 hours ago, TristanChaika said:

 

Do you know how to tell which way a cable is wired if you already have the cable?

 

If a cable is wired incorrectly, could it still sound OK, but eventually damage the camera?

 

You'd need to check with a multimeter or open the connectors and have a look. If incorrect it wouldn't damage the camera but there is a possibility the phase is reversed . 

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On 12/30/2018 at 3:04 PM, Tobi A said:

 

You'd need to check with a multimeter or open the connectors and have a look. If incorrect it wouldn't damage the camera but there is a possibility the phase is reversed . 

 

I don't have a multimeter, but I did email Laird digital. Their short response in its entirety was "These are wired pin to pin. 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3."

When I look at the neutrik XLR connector on the cable, it has pin numbers and pin 2 and 3 reversed from what the blackmagic diagram posted above shows. But I don't know if that means there's a problem? It doesn't specify hot/cold, etc. but if it's wired pin to pin, does it matter?

IMG-6773.JPG

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4 hours ago, Allen Rowand said:

The mini XLR (also known as a TA3) and standard XLR connectors have pins 2 and 3 in different positions, this is normal. The cable manufacturer said the cable is wired 1:1, so you're fine. Your cable is balanced and has the correct polarity.

 

Great. Thank you for your input. I also just noticed that this pin numbering is consistent with a cable made by blackmagic for the video assist as seen in the below photo. After some investigating, it looks like they also market the cable for the pocket 4k. It's about $9 cheaper than the Laird cable I bought. The Laird cable seems well made. It is nice and thin and has an official Neutrik connector XLR (not sure about TA3) and an interesting (protective?) mesh around the cable it'self (that's what the red color is in my photo in the post above).  Additionally, Laird responded same-day to my follow-up email and stated "I think it should be fine, but BlackMagic’s tech support could confirm that for you. The question would be about how the camera’s input is wired."

 

Blackmagic's cable:

bmhypaxlrm2.jpg

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