I took a look at the SmallRig BMPCC4k cage 2203 and handle 1638. I was very surprised by the results with the cage and handle at an astonishingly low price of $88! Currently the cage is on sale for $69 (regular price $99) and the handle is $19. You get a total of 89 potential screw mounts on the cage and handle combined!
You must watch the video!
Keep the magic alive,
MT
editor/founder
I initially doubted the lowlight capability of the BMPCC4k. Especially after owning the BMPCC and BMCC which were prone to noise and FPN in lowlight settings. Yes, they stated on the spec sheet of the BMPCC4k a dual native iso of 400 and 3200 with capability of reaching 25,600! But how noisy will it be? Any FPN? Will the footage be usable or correctable?!
At the moment I cannot release too much footage of my projects and that is why I do more tests that can illustrate the same point. But after looking at some footage I shot I came across this frame and really liked it and felt it demonstrated some of the power of the lowlight capability.
Keep in mind this was given a simple grade in Resolve by changing the gamma to extended video, increase the exposure +1, saturation by 10. This was shot with a speedbooster at 1.2, Sigma 18-35mm, Raw 4:1, and iso 3,200. I also denoised the image but this was a quick correction and grade of the footage and not a final correction or grade. When shooting in Raw there is no in camera noise reduction. This allows all the Raw data to be captured.
Davinci Resolve is a must to truly unlock the potential within each of the data pixels. So do yourself and footage a favor and at the least perform corrections and grading in Resolve. This footage was obtained at night in a parking lot with only a few lights in the distance. No lighting was used just a super fast lens and the higher native iso of 3,200.
The initial ungraded footage shocked me and I thought it was garbage and unusable because of the noise and extremely dark shadows. I wondered if any detail was available. Yes, I shot in Raw 4:1 but I have never had to pull so much information from an image.
I was happy to see that so much information was captured and I was able to bring back to life in Resolve. I removed some of the noise, increase the exposure slightly, boost some of the color and overall the image after a quick grade and correction looks very usable. I breathed a deep sigh of relief!
No we will take a closer look at the focal point of the image to see the shadows, color, and detail retention.
The corrections and grade might be a little too much because it has a soft look but some noise can be put back in or film grain to give it a “cinematic” look. But everything is to your personal taste the main point is having the pixel data retained and being able to correct and grade the raw footage in such a lowlight situation is amazing.
If you are still not convinced checkout this extreme zoom side by side and look at the colors, skin, and shadows. It truly is an amazing lowlight beast! Noise is always an issue when increasing iso but at 3,200 and correcting/grading in Resolve you can make your images go from garbage to usable with a few clicks of the mouse. Of course, starting with Raw cannot be emphasized enough.
I hope this post will help you understand the power of the BMPCC4k and the innovative dual iso that must be paired with Resolve for the greatest results.
Keep the magic alive,
MT
editor/founder
I purchased the Viltrox ef M2 .71x speedbooster and after initially testing I realized it wasn’t as sharp as the low budget Pixco .71x but considering that it had iris control I decided to keep it. But I wanted to conduct one more test to verify how sharp and how much color the Viltrox was able to transmit. I did not plan on writing an article or releasing a video but what I discovered may help you make your decision before you purchase.
When I received the Viltrox the focus was horrible (watch the first Viltrox video) I turned the glass clockwise and kept rechecking until the the focus was as best as possible. The glass could not turn anymore. As far as I know the Viltrox is genuine and all the packaging appears to be OEM. Nothing indicates that this is a “knock-off”.
I conducted the test using my super sharp Sigma 18-35 1.8, camera settings: 400 iso, 4k dci, raw lossless, 24 fps, cokin ND filter, film, both speedboosters at 1.2 aperture. All the variables are the exact same the only thing that was adjusted on each test was the focus. The lens was set to 18mm, 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm. I did not adjust the aperture of the Viltrox because I wanted to see what both speedboosters could do wide open and the Pixco could not be adjusted. Why would I want a speedbooster that could not keep up with a low budget at 1.2? Also, why buy fast glass if you need to increase the iris beyond its native 1.8? Something is wrong if you need to close the iris beyond the native 1.8 to get a focus shot and color retention. That can only be an indicator of cheap/poor quality glass on the speedbooster.
Keep in mind, many times when lenses are declared sharp or that they have great color transmission the images are not focus and color charts which provide a baseline that can be closely examined. I initially filmed a fence that served the primary purpose but using the chart will truly unlock everything in question.
Initially it appears the Viltrox is slightly lighter and after we change the gamma in Davinci Resolve to extended video the pixel data becomes more apparent.
Now the center is zoomed in to see how much color and focus is captured. Keep in mind each lens was focused as much as possible on the chart and the focus peaking on the camera lit up the chart.
The Pixco at 18mm clearly is sharper and has more color than the Viltrox. At 18mm the lens is wide and now we will take a look at 35mm in the center to see how it performs.
With the lens at the wide 18mm and zoomed in at 35mm the Pixco clearly out performs the more expensive Viltrox. The corners of the charts reveal the same thing, the Pixco is sharper and has more color than the Viltrox. Although the Pixco on the “t” focus lines on the right and left have slightly more aberrations than the Viltrox but I am not sure if those appear because of the sharpness and the Viltrox cannot transmit the slight aberations.
Another thing being discussed on forums is the Viltrox costs $229 on Amazon from the manufacturer but other sellers have them on Ebay for $129 in the USA. Not sure what is going on with that but considering the Pixco is $88 and has a sharper focus and more color transmission I will be sending back the Viltrox because electronic iris control is not more important than sharpness and color transmission in my opinion.
Keep the magic alive,
MT
editor/founder
I just wrapped up doing extensive testing of the Pixco ef-mft .71x and Viltrox ef m2 .71x speedboosters with a color focus chart and you will be blown away by the results! I was debating on keeping the Viltrox for the electronic iris but wanted to do this last test.
It’s one thing to look at an object in a shot and proclaim it to be sharp or to look at a shot of the sky and declare it blue. But when you shoot a chart and all the variables are equal only the sharpest and truest color will win!
One last point the manufacturer sells the Viltrox on Amazon for $229 but there is some sellers on Ebay based in the USA for $129? Are they really the same retailer? Is it the same product?
There is a price difference between the Pixco and Viltrox and some people prefer electronic iris control but will the pixel data suffer? Find out next week!
Keep the magic alive,
MT
editor/founder
