The Box Camera IS REAL | My Initial Thoughts on the Blackmagic Pyxis

[@TeamTaur]

Order mine 30minutes after BH emailed me about it early yesterday. U know what...of all the cinema cams I have, the pyxis reminds me of my Canon c300markii.... So naturally I got the ef version ordered.. Cannon is big about buttons for everything, and mappable buttons too. This cam is just a tribute to c300m2.... battery placement, top handle, buttons galore, IO placement, dust cover memory slots, sdi out, sdi timecode. Whelp my 6kpros and canons getting a sibling. This was all I was wating for, full frame BM 6K that sits and look better on rs3 and craneS. Jus with ibis was added for when I'm lazy. Yeah yeah yeah, gyro.... I prefer to eat them tho. Now June is gonna take 6 months to come😂😂😢

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

Love the comment. We all want to have a lazy camera to shoot sometimes so I’m not mad at you at all.

[@chrisbogart687]

You are a voice of sanity in a sea of madness out there. You hit it right on the head about this camera and who it is for and isn't. This is a platform you someone to build their rig from and a damn good platform. Blackmagic has thrown the gauntlet down with their 3 new cameras to take on everybody and anybody with them. It is all about your actual and real requirements as to which one to get. Thanks.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

Thank you for comment man.

[@trevorpinnocky]

Camera looks brilliant. I’m excited for it and i know the images are going to be stunning. I was online looking for you yesterday boss…

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

Thanks. I wish I could have streamed but job comes first.

[@CCozart]

Good point concerning the SDI being able to output the entire sensor data to an external recorder!

[@pasegers]

i like the screen on the side , more useful than on the top for me, i just hope that they make a app for iphone as monitor and a firmware to there video assist to use it with the usb-c

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

I’ve heard a few people suggest this. Let’s have our fingers crossed 🤞

[@visibleriss]

Was waiting to hear your thoughts on this camera. Coming from a G2 I think it’s a solid upgrade. I feel like they purposely put the screen there to force people to make a decision between this and the Ursa. I love that we have SDI now but I do wish there was at least a HDMI in case we wanted to use this for a small event, etc and don’t have to sacrifice the SDI.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

Thanks for your comments Riss. I don’t know if it was purposely designed to force you to choose between this and a Ursa, not saying it couldn’t, I just think it’s more to do with their design ideology. I do wish they had an HDMI as well but given majority of their products make you choose between one or the other, it maybe based on their design ideology. Plus just getting a little decimator will solve the trick.

[@billyoung9538]

Sigh... People don't grasp that claimed dynamic range is not the same as actual dynamic range. Sony and RED both claim they have MORE dynamic range than their sensors actually test to have in the lab, WHY? Because they are giving the whole sensors dynamic range including the unusable section in the noise floor that is more or less unusable. Here is a FACT, No RED camera currently tested at Cine-D has ever had a patch range larger than 15.7 stops so far. That means the MOST any RED camera on Cine-D, including the VV- Raptors have had a patch range higher than 15.7 stops. That means the best any RED tested at Cine-D could hope to achieve currently is 15.7 stops IF they managed to eliminate all the noise in the nose floor. Now one might get slight production variants to to that number, but that number isn't a debatable thing it's a tested fact. So if RED is claiming 17 stops on their cameras then they are stretching their dynamic range definition to include the entire noise floor plus a stop and a third to make their claim. With regard to Sony on the DR front the A7S III had a patch range of 14.6 stops at their low base and 15.5 stops at their high base. That means the A7s3 can't hit more than 14.6 stops at it's lower ISO,and not 15 stops as Sony claimed; however, in theory it could hit 15.5 stops at it higher gain setting if all noise was removed, but even with it's higher patch range potential it's integrated noise reduction still results in a lower end result than it's lower iso in their tests. . If we then look at the Blackmagic 6k Full frame and use the exact same measurements we find it's low gain patch ranges is 14.7 stops, and it's high gain is 15.7 stops. This means when Blackmagic is stating their DR is 13 stops they are NOT including the noise floor in their Dynamic range estimates meaning they are giving a far more realistic and accurate representation of their DR PRIOR to adding noise reduction, and we can see that the patch ranges are larger than the A7S III, which means with the proper noise reduction it has the potential to match or even beat the A7S III in usable DR. Why? Because basic NR will recover somewhere between 1-2 stops on average. So when one sees Blackmagics claim of 13 stops it's roughly the equivalent of a Sony camera claiming 15 stops.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

Great comment man.

[@billyoung9538]

Just stating that while it appears the mount can be swapped. Grant never stated they were user swappable, and they are selling the camera with the different mounts with no options currently to buy the additional mounts. That said it does appear that they made it swappable for the factory builds which means even if Blackmagic doesn't officially release the other mounts some third party no doubt will.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

True. Appreciate the correction

[@JonasStuart]

For me this camera is 90% perfect. If open gate went up to 60fps and 4k went up to 120fps and rolling shutter was any improvement to my P4K that would be it. Of course internal NDs and flip out screen would be great but would reflect in the price. I think a Pyxis pro should have these options even if it makes it a little bigger and more expensive. I think they've done really well with this camera. I don't car about comparisons with other cameras 'cos every camera has it's weak point - and most of the cameras competing with this are 2-3 times the price. I'm not for making perfect the enemy of the good so I'll be getting one later this year - and I'm sure this great camera will be the worst Pyxis ever made - BMD always improve once they have a camera platform out: P4K > P6K > P6K Pro > 6K FF - same with the URSA. Nice video - now get some sleep °¬)

[@sergiomartinez5946]

I don't have a problem with external monitor. It's a lot better than one on the camera. There's still limitations even with flip out screens.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

This is very true. Most on camera monitors are very small and not great representation of what you actually get and it is easy to miss things in frame with most on camera monitors

[@APU658]

Tilta will come up with some great accessories for this beautiful camera.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

Absolutely third party cameras are going to have a field day with the camera and I for one can’t wait.

[@madedigital]

A couple of things!!! I never seen so much launched at the same time

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

Yeah this is by far the biggest launch of products they’ve done in quite a long time.

[@BlaqViper]

While the price is the main draw, what its missing is glaring. Those hyping it up without experiencing it on a paid shoot may find themselves regrettably coming back down to Earth. I believe DM will take the tempeture of this offering and use the feedback to create the future Pyxes Pro that should have build in ND, 15 stop range, 4K at 60 or even 120fps and 14 and maybe even 16 bit internal recording. With those upgrades, those hyping up the price of the Pyxis will also hype up a $4K to $5K price.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

As someone who has the current full frame cinema camera, which is the exact same sensor as this camera, I think the price is very aggressive and this camera is highway robbery compared to what it’s offering.

[@madedigital]

it will need a video assist which has hdmi out and sdi out i dont see that as a problem ...its a up sale. I think if people look for problems they will find them if they look for solutions they will find them

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

Great Statement

[@albertfetch3503]

Is the 4k60 cropped of full sensor width? They don’t talk about windowing in that mode but I can’t tell.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

It’s the same as the BMCC6K so if you want to shoot 4K it will go into a S35 mode crop.

[@sammymorales6838]

I wish the screen swivel…..why wouldn’t they make it swivel it would make that monitor so useful. Having the menu on the side you can miss a shot, I shoot docs. Unless they release an external monitor that you can control the camera from the monitor.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

There’s already third party monitors that give you control over the camera, Portkeys comes to mind.

[@jmac2050]

for 3k, you do Not get a lot, you get an expensive starting point.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

I hear but totally disagree with this statement you get way more than what others offer at this price point.

[@jmac2050]

@@JamesJacksonFilmz fx 30 is about 1600,

[@jmac2050]

@@JamesJacksonFilmz 3k for a box, no handle. will need another 3k for monitor, lens, auto focus, ect.... fx30 is about 1600 ..

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

@@jmac2050 we are talking full frame cameras that can shoot 3:2 open gate at 6K resolution or higher in 12 bit raw. Pretty sure the FX30 can’t do that.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

@@jmac2050 you are comparing apples to oranges. And if your upset that a box style camera doesn’t have a monitor or handles that comes with it, then you clearly don’t really want a box style camera because that’s how they come and all the other options are significantly more expensive than the Pyxis and don’t offer as much features.

[@2424rocket]

Lousy rolling shutter, bad in low light, and crappy dynamic range… The future is here. Stick with Sony folks… You won’t be disappointed.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

I gotta correct you on quite a few things. First The dynamic range is on par with all the Alpha and FX Sony. I know because I’ve used them all myself and seen them in multicam paid gigs. Second no the camera is absolutely not bad in low light. I’ve taken it out in very dimly areas and was able to get beautiful images. You can even see in the low light video I posted. And the wedding team I film with use majority blackmagic pocket cameras and we never have an issue with low light reception. You just need to know how to use it.

[@FelixCervantes]

Terrible camera. The mount means all the new great mirrorless lenses such as the Cooke SP3s and the Zeiss Nanos will not work with the camera. You will be required to use filters ahead of the lens. The dynamic range is terrible. Someone said they are selling their Komodo for this and that is the stupidest thing I have heard.

[@JamesJacksonFilmz]

If you really think the dynamic range is terrible, you haven’t really used the camera. It’s dynamic range is on par with kinefinity and all of Sony’s FX cameras and on par or better than most of canon’s cameras Also your statement on Cooke sp3s in incorrect as they already said they plan to come with L mount option later on. Plus most actual filmmakers I spoke to about this camera are shooting PL glass and will love the built in mount option vs mirrorless mounts.

[@evanthecameraman]

Why are you holding your chin in every thumbnail?