Matthew Sonnenfeld
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Andrew,
The Panasonic lens that you linked to above will not work on the BMCC MFT. It will work on the BMPCC. The Vogtlander will work on either as it is fully manual. There are some lenses with electronic contacts such as newer Leica R lenses and Zeiss ZF lenses but these contacts relay lens data to the camera for metering, etc. These lenses however still function manually and are compatible with either MFT camera.
The general rule is that manual will work, electronic will not.
The Panasonic lenses, and many Canon EF lenses use a system called “focus by wire” where turning the focus ring does not actually move the elements, rather it is computerized and the focus ring is essentially a computer interface, not unlike a mouse, that tells the electronics inside to move the glass elements to focus closer or further away. As the original BMCC MFT does not have an “active” mount, it does not provide this necessary power and as a result, the lenses cannot focus. They also require this same power to change aperture as the lenses do not have independent aperture rings themselves either.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Just glad to help! I agree with you that this is probably a BMC specific problem. I think the PIX 240 will be a godsend for you as that seems to be the more reliable device. At least you will have the image that you want paired with the sound that you want. I will probably be calling BMD tonight to notify them of the issue and will update you on what I hear back from them. Honestly I’m glad we’ve investigated it this far because I never would have known about it! Gotta the the COW!
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Hi Larry,
I tried with my BMCC on firmware version 1.2. When I plugged in my TRS cables I was also getting noise but on Line level (which is my preference coming from a Sound Devices MixPre-D), I couldn’t get the background noise to get above -30db. With no sound coming into the camera, the background noise was a direct function of of the channel gain set in camera, i.e., if I turned the gain down to 0, the noise went away, at 100% it went to -30db, and anywhere in between depending on how I set the sliders. I also did not hear anything in headphones.
It sounds to me like there are definitely gain issues in the camera’s preamps that are causing a huge lack of uniformity among the product. Oddly enough, I can’t get my levels to 0 ever. Not sure if this is something that anyone else has experienced, but when I sent tone from the MixPre-D at 0db, I can’t set the camera to match the level and always have softer camera audio than I am getting in the mixer. So while your levels are too hot, mine aren’t hot enough. The background noise if you ask me may just be electronics and power that is sent to the TRS jacks when the camera notices a cable plugged in that is creating a low frequency noise floor. The variation of the level of the noise floor is because of the variation in the sensitivity of the preamps.
Maybe there is a whole other problem to investigate?
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Okay, very interesting. I will check at home with mine tonight and let you know what I find.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Does it happen when you just have the cables plugged in? Does there even need to be a mic attached or is it purely a baseline as soon as there is a cable plugged into the jack?
Have you tried with different mics?
Do you have it set to have Channel 2 use Channel 1 audio?
Can you please give me an outline of your general purpose set up? If possible I will recreate at home as best I can.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
https://www.3dbroadcastsales.com/products/PanasonicAGSFU100G.html
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
When did you get your camera? Assuming you are on firmware version 1.3 then you should not have the DC offset issue, but yes you would have the reduced low end which you definitely should be aware of.
This is definitely interesting though. I will have to run a test at home to see if I am getting the same thing. I am running a MixPre-D into my BMCC and I monitor through a Zacuto EVF looping through a HyperDeck Shuttle to get the HDMI. I suppose it’s possible that I’m getting the same thing and didn’t notice. I’ll check this tonight and get back to you.
Is there any difference in where you are hitting levels if you adjust the gain on the camera? Everything is set properly in terms of what should be Mic is Mic and what should be Line is Line? Does it happen regardless if it is Mic or Line level?
In theory the TRS should be giving you the exact same thing as a line level with an XLR. Where else did you see this before as mentioned in your original post?
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Hi Shane,
That’s typically my workflow for the 170 as well but unfortunately I had to be mixing with previous footage from a Blackmagic Cinema Camera, a 7D, and a GoPro Hero2 so I was trying to match as much as I could to keep everything playing together nicely.
I know, the amount of of mess here is astonishing!
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Thanks Michael for the motion adapter advice.
Unfortunately 24pN options are not available in 1080 using DVCPRO HD. Only pA.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary -
Does the Adaptimax have electronic control? I didn’t think it does. You may instead want to look towards the Metabones adapter.
But yes, this is a fantastic camera. Consider pairing it with the Blackmagic Hyperdeck Shuttle for a really formidable rig.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X, Panasonic HPX170, Canon 7D
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
AJA IoXT
Adobe Production Premium CS6, Avid Symphony 6, Final Cut Pro Studio 3
The College of William and Mary