[Craig Seeman]

Thought you’d find this thread on Twitter interesting.

It seems people at Apple and BMD have been helpful to him.

[Craig Seeman]

Seems to be working on both Silicon and Intel Monterey and Ventura and getting ready to Mac App Store Test Flight beta.

Chris Hocking is a developer of Command Post for FCP as well.

[Craig Seeman]

He’s been quite clear in his responses on Facebook. No Transcoding. This is plugin support (much like Premiere Pro plugin it seems).

[Craig Seeman]

I think many of us are aware of that Oliver. That locks you into your raw settings beforehand, otherwise, you need to go back and convert again to make changes and it requires you to create more files eating up drive capacity. I think working with BRAW directly has many advantages and users have been asking for it for years and continue despite conversion options whether with plugin transcoder or going through Resolve. Having a plugin with direct BRAW support is a significant workflow improvement.

[Craig Seeman]

I’d shoot 4kP30 since anything I record I may want to repurpose for YouTube.

Some believe downscaling will look better than targeting the 720 frame size but I haven’t experimented enough to determine that.

[Craig Seeman]

I miss the debates whether FCP or industry in general. Heck we could certainly debate some of the YouTube videos I’ve seen. Lots of the FCP tech stuff moved to FCP.co but even that’s been dead lately. There are rarely any articles (none in several months) there these days. Lots of stuff has moved to social media but that’s really not conducive to intelligent discussion. Facebook is a world of misinformation, opinions with substance, poorly worded posts, etc. Other methods like Instagram TikTok, even Twitter are not geared towards discussion IMHO.

[Craig Seeman]

I can’t speak to prefered look but can certainly many docs are being done with Sony FX6 or FX9 and FX3 as the B camera or A camera when small, stabilizer or autofocus called for. The FX6, like BMPCC and other “cinema” cameras, don’t have stabilization or autofocus but some do rave about Sony’s built-in variable ND.

But in the OP’s price range are BMPCC6,6, 6Pro and Sony FX30 and FX3. What you use is just as likely best on features needed as color science is Sony’s has improved and is quite serviceable for Doc work. If one has the budget, one from BMPCC and one from Sony can cover various shooting circumstances. There are many in which I find BMPCC too inconvenient. For shooting run & gun (most of my work these days) Sony wins. For planned shots, BMPCC looks nicer.

[Craig Seeman]

Sometimes in doc shooting, you need to track a subject and Sony autofocus supposedly does a great job with that. Try gyro can help but your NLE, at least for processing that, has to be Resolve.

Sony just released the FX30 (APS-C equivalent of the FX3) and the body only is just $1800.

Again, it depends on what and how you shoot but I find the BMPCC 4K has limits when I do run and gun. It’s just not that convenient and I can’t risk losing unplanned shots.

Sony does overstate their dynamic range when you consider noise though so I consider them similar. Their color science has improved. BMPCC has the edge for planned shots, shots where you have a few seconds to set up but too much of my shooting doesn’t allow for that (ENG style and sometimes with equally fast turnarounds).

Camera prices are so low now it’s possible to own both although the lens is the cost both allow for Canon lenses as a middle ground.

[Craig Seeman]

I have BMPCC 4K. While I love the look the problem with documentary shooting is the lack of built-in stabilization and autofocus. While you can you a stabilized lens and there is push to focus it creates a bit of an awkward workflow, not great for run and gun work especially if one is coming from a good camcorder model. I feel it’s not the best tool for the job in those conditions.

[Craig Seeman]

The A7SIII and FX3 are similar cameras in different bodies and the FX3 is only slightly more expensive. They’re both full-frame.

On the other hand, the rumored FX30 is APS-C and rumored to be about $2500. I don’t think people will be selling either of the above to go from full-frame to APS-C unless Sony introduces a new higher-demand feature.