After spending the last month
trying different combinations of power solutions,
rigging components, and add-ons,
I think I've finally compiled my list
of recommended accessories for the Blackmagic Pocket 4K.
Let's get Undone.
[offbeat music]
♪ Gerald Undone ♪
♪ He's crazy ♪
What's happening, everybody? I'm Gerald Undone,
and I'll say just about anything you tell me to.
So today, we're gonna be covering
my six favourite accessories for the Pocket 4K,
and we'll also be going over the little components
that are required to make everything work.
So let's jump over to the bench and poke this thing
-with a screwdriver. -[Batman transition riff]
So for my first favourite thing, let's start with the cage,
because pretty much everything is attached to it.
And for this one, I'm gonna be recommending
SmallRig again, just like I did for my previous builds,
because I think they offer really great bang for the buck,
and this one, the 2203, has a couple features
that I really like. First, I opted for the Samsung T5 holder
so that we can write directly to the SSD,
which is something that I highly recommend,
and is my second favourite accessory for the Pocket 4K:
the Samsung T5. I'm using the cable
that came with the T5, and it runs along here,
underneath the handle and then around the lens,
and then is held securely in place
by another cage accessory, the cable clamps.
This is very convenient. On this 1 TB SSD,
I can get close to three hours of recording
on the highest constant quality raw setting of Q0.
And it's pretty awesome because when I'm ready to edit
my footage, I can just loosen this clamp here,
disconnect the drive... the cable stays in place,
and then I can use the other cable
that came with the drive to connect it to my computer,
and I can edit the footage right off the drive.
The next cage attachment that I recommend
is this little guy down here that connects to
the Metabones Speed Booster and then firmly to the cage.
And this stops it from wiggling around and makes it feel
like the Speed Booster is actually
just part of the camera,
basically making this an EF mount camera.
And the Speed Booster that I'm using is the 0.71x Ultra,
which pairs nicely with the Sigma 18-35,
and this combination is my third-favourite
recommended accessory for the Pocket 4K.
And the Sigma 18-35mm is the winner
of that Sigma lens roundup video that we did
just a little while ago, and I think it's probably
the best option for video.
I'm basically getting a 24-48mm f/2.4 full-frame
equivalent after accounting for the Pocket 4K's crop.
I've put a Cool-Lux Lens Gear on here,
which allows me to connect it
to this wireless focus module, and that's another reason
why I have the Metabones bolted down is advantageous,
so that you get less shake in the lens when you pull focus.
The focus module that I'm using is the Ikan Live Air Compact,
which I think is an absolute gem.
It's my fourth recommended accessory,
and it's the best option in its price range.
And what I like about it is that it's super simple to set up.
As soon as you put the battery in, it turns on,
and then you can set the focus points of your lens
by just rotating it
in one direction until you hit the stops,
and then rotating in the other direction
until you hit that stop, and then you just turn it back
just a little bit, and then now it's activated
and you can control it with the remote.
And this is beneficial for a lens like the Sigma,
which doesn't have hard stops, but just kind of soft stops,
so you can feel them out and then tell the lens where to go,
because usually if you use, like, an autopilot mode,
it'll just keep turning the lens because it doesn't detect
the soft stops of the Sigma.
So this takes all of, what, five seconds to set up?
And now you're ready to rock. I love this product.
Now, the controller module, on the other hand,
has an internal battery, which you can charge via USB.
But if you're running low on power, you can tether it
to USB and actively power it that way.
I have mine attached to the Atomos Shinobi,
which is my fifth recommended accessory
and my preferred monitor for this camera.
Normally, I'd recommend the Ninja V,
but it's wasteful to buy a recorder for this camera
because the HDMI output is only 1080p,
and only really useful for monitoring.
If you only have the Ninja V,
it'll definitely work as a great monitor.
But if you're buying one specifically for this purpose,
I would save the money and get the Shinobi.
The Shinobi is also much lighter
and has another advantage in that it can magnify
by four times instead of just the two times found
on the Ninja, which makes it much better
for pulling focus...
which is exactly what I do with this Ikan and Shinobi system.
So I can detach the monitor from here,
and then I can use it remotely like this
and focus on myself with the camera pointed at myself,
which is exactly how I've been filming my videos lately.
And you could do a wireless connection if you want--
I don't mind running an HDMI cable
cause I'm usually just at my desk--
and I can just focus, and I can see myself this way
and it's much better for self-filming.
I'm also using this new monitor mount
from SmallRig that just came out on July 5th, I believe,
which you can just tighten in from the bottom
so you don't have to spin the monitor around.
And then once it's secure, you can use it to swivel
and tilt the monitor in pretty much
whatever direction you want.
And this one uses a shoe mount on the bottom,
but there's a couple other options:
one with the standard 1/4"-20,
another one that has locating pins.
Now, to power all this, I've got a few options for you.
First, I've got the same Dovetail Quick Plate
on the bottom from SmallRig, so it's gonna fit
into the same rod system that we built for the a7 III.
If you want more detail on that,
I'd highly recommend you go check out that video.
But I have made a couple modifications to it
for the Pocket 4K. First, I added this lens support
on the front because the 18-35 is a little bit longer
and a bit heavier, so this'll help further reduce
those focus vibrations that I was talking about,
and help with the overall stability.
And I left a little bit of space on the rods in front,
so that way if you wanted to add a matte box,
then you have this in order to use for swing-away ones,
but if you want to use a clamp-on matte box,
then again, the lens support will help take some of
the weight from the matte box. So, I like the system,
I think it's pretty versatile at this stage.
And then the other modifications were to power the Pocket 4K,
which is gonna be my sixth and final recommended accessory,
but it's gonna be a bit of a broader one to cover
all the power solutions, so there's gonna be
some sub-recommendations. So, my favourite method
for powering this is by using a D-Tap to 2-pin connector
using the auxiliary power input on the side
of the Blackmagic, and then connecting a D-Tap
to this V-Mount battery plate.
And I prefer this over using a dummy battery
inside the Blackmagic to replace the Canon battery
that goes inside, because this gives you a bit
of a redundancy. Let's say that you didn't realize
that your V-Mount battery was low--
here, let me turn on the Pocket 4K--
and it died on you,
or if you wanted to hot swap batteries,
having the battery inside allows you a little bit
of a grace period for this. So, you can see
that the screen is on. If I take out the V-Mount battery,
we're still running, and we're gonna have about 20-25 minutes
while we go fetch another battery,
or until we realize this one died.
You'll also notice that I lay my battery plates down
rather than have them vertical,
which I see in pretty much every other build.
Now, the vertical battery style is definitely good
for cinema cameras, but often cinema cameras
don't really have a lot to see on the back end.
But, with hybrid cameras and the Pocket 4K,
which has a screen on the back,
having the battery vertical is just kind of wasteful
in my opinion, so I lay it down flat like this,
and I can still see the screen quite well,
even with the battery in the way.
And this is a reasonably tall V-Mount battery.
They make them even smaller than this, obviously.
And it actually helps with balancing this on a tripod
as well, especially when you use a longer lens,
because now you have the camera at more
of a centre-point, so your plate is gonna be
more centred, and it's easier to balance.
So, I actually recommend building it out this way.
And just like with the Sony rig,
I also have another power cable being run up
and to the Shinobi, so it's all being powered
by the same thing. And because this is a USB port here,
I could also power the focus module
if I wanted to that way, or something else, like a phone.
And just like with the Sony rig,
the rods and supports and quick release plates
are all from SmallRig and all the power options,
like the batteries and the cables and the plate,
are from IndiPRO Tools.
I'll put links to everything that we discussed
in the description below,
but this setup will get you close to three hours
of runtime with this 98 watt-hour battery,
which matches nicely with the close to three hours
record time that you get with the Samsung T5.
You can obviously have a longer runtime
if you use a larger battery.
IndiPRO Tools also sent me another powering option
that they wanted me to show you guys
that would work for this camera,
but also for many others. It's called the PortaPak,
and it's also a 98 watt-hour battery,
but it's not V-Mount.
It features a 12-volt DC output, a 7.4-volt DC output,
and a USB port. So you can use the 7.4-volt output
to power dummy batteries for your different cameras,
and it also comes with a splitter,
which you can plug in there and then you can connect
up to two different devices.
And they sent this along with the Canon battery,
dummy battery adapter, so we can plug that
into the 7.4-volt and then stick this into the Blackmagic
and power it that way, and it works quite well.
But as already said, I prefer not to use dummy batteries
when I can avoid it and so playing around
with this PortaPak gave me a different idea.
Because it has a 12-volt option,
we should be able to adapt that to the 2-pin connector
on the Blackmagic in order to get that redundancy back,
but unfortunately all of my 2-pin connectors
are for D-Tap. But thankfully, IndiPRO Tools
agreed to make me a custom cable
that goes from the 2-pin connector
to the 12-volt connector.
And because the cable is long and coiled,
you could stick the PortaPak in your pocket
or in your bag, and then when you connect it
to the camera... with this quick-release
that I built into the rig here,
we can now take the Blackmagic off.
It's tethered to a power cable,
and we can use it for sort of a run-and-gun style like this
and still get that three hours of power.
This is a really fun solution when you want to be
more nimble for run-and-gun but still want
that battery life, and because we have the cage attached,
we can still have the secured SSD
for the longer record times,
we still have our lens adapter bolted on,
and we have that extra weight
so now we can get more stable shots.
Now, there is a combo option for this PortaPak,
which comes with an enclosure, and travelling case,
and a couple extra cables. And you can get these
for whatever camera you want,
but basically the camera goes on top of the enclosure
on this cork here, you mount the bottom part to a tripod,
you put the PortaPak inside of the enclosure,
and it just kind of gives you a sort of a built-out rig
like that. I think this is a fine solution.
Obviously, I prefer to build out larger rigs.
And there's a bit of a pricing difference here,
obviously, versus what we're talking about.
So, if you go full V-Mount with this whole rig here,
it's gonna cost you probably on the high end,
like closer to $350.
This solution, I think, is $229 if you get the enclosure
and everything with it.
But if you just go with the PortaPak by itself,
this is only $99, which is a fantastic price
for a 98 watt-hour battery, by the way.
So, for that more run-and-gun style,
all you really need at that point, then,
is this $100 PortaPak and then the cable
that they made for me, which I'm told is gonna be
for sale in their store soon.
Now, there's also been some other recent releases
from other manufacturers for V-Mount batteries
that are really small and could work as a pocket solution
from the D-Tap to 2-pin,
but they're usually smaller capacity
at around 45 to 50 watt-hours,
but it's still a decent option, and I'm gonna be testing those
in the coming weeks for more
pocketable power solutions for the Pocket 4K.
Because that's why they called it the Pocket 4K, right?
Because you have to fill your pockets with batteries?
[crickets chirping]
Just kidding. I love this camera.
[Batman transition riff]
So, obviously you're not required to build out
this camera with every single component
that I listed here and you can obviously choose
which components are most important to you.
But I know many of you will ask in the comments
what it cost to fully max out this rig like I did,
so let's go over that real quick.
So, I've got a price list here in US dollars,
and the camera itself is $1,295.
The cage and various SmallRig components cost me
about $300. The Samsung T5 SSD is $180,
the Ikan Wireless Focus is $300,
the Metabones Speed Booster Ultra is $650,
the Sigma 18-35mm lens is $800,
and the Atomos Shinobi is $400.
And then the IndiPRO Tools powering options will range
from $150 to $350 depending on whether you go
with the PortaPak option or if you build out
the V-Mount solution. So, that makes for a grand total
of around $4,200, or around $2,900
in addition to the camera if you own nothing
but the body. And while that may seem like a lot
of money, what you're able to do with this camera
now that pretty much every possible limitation
has been removed is well beyond the $4,000 price range
and much closer to the $8,000 zone and beyond.
Most comparable cine cameras will cost you
around $5,000-$6,000, and that's without lenses
or media. So, in my opinion, this is a great deal,
and it's really, really fun to use.
But that's gonna be it for me. I hope you found
this video helpful, or at least entertaining.
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Alright... I'm done.