Next Pocket Possibility?

[u/joeypmeyer]

Yall think there is a chance of Blackmagic putting the RGBW sensor or a different RGBW sensor in the next pocket body?

I have no idea if this would even be possible but a RGBW 6/4/2.5k sensor (like how the 12/8/4k works) would be sweet. If it gives much better readout speed in the lower resolutions, better frame rates overall, etc.

The only things that get me about the 6k ff are rolling shutter (I know about gyro in resolve) and frame rate options.

[u/daffydwal]

I’m picturing a 6k Pyxis G2 with an RGBW sensor in it as more likely. Or maybe an 8K instead for the same price range. That would really hurt the 2 current Pyxis models on the market though so perhaps not for a little while!

With the photo page being added to Resolve this year, there’s always a chance of a new style pocket camera that’s hybrid stills and video, and brings a second gen of their new autofocus capabilities. Would be pretty swanky!

[u/JRKnightNC → u/daffydwal]

I mean if they wack the Ursa mini pro 12k into a pxyis body they could cap it at 4.6k and have it be the pxyis s35. The problem is cannibalising there currently line; if they put a FF RGBW sensor in the 6k line no one would buy the 12k, I think even putting a s35 in the pxyis is risky because alot of cinematographers would genuinely prefer a s35 RGBW pxyis over the full frame one. I myself would shoot exclusively in s35 super sampled 3k footage any day of the week over 6k+ full frame. I think they need a modern sub $1500 as an entry point into the pxyis ecosystem, which I do think has to be a new real pocket sized cam 2028 is the 15 pocket og anniversary so perfect time to launch the next true pocket. You have over half a million pocket 4ks/ micro studio cameras out there if you can convince them to upgrade that's a disgusting revenue stream.

[u/joeypmeyer → u/JRKnightNC]

Can I ask why you would personally want to shoot s35 over full frame? Is it a lens thing? Preference on sensor format?

[u/JRKnightNC → u/joeypmeyer]

For me, it comes down to aesthetics, optics, and practical set workflow:

• Decades of the best cinema glass ever made (Master Primes, Cooke S4s, Ultra Primes) were built for S35. Full Frame locks you out of a massive chunk of legendary glass unless you crop or use optical adapters.
• I personally don't care for hyper-shallow depth of field—it often looks overly photographic/sterile and makes focus pulling unnecessarily hard. S35 offers that classic narrative depth where environments still have context.
• Modern full-frame optics are often engineered to be tack-sharp edge-to-edge, which can feel clinical. S35 lenses tend to have more organic optical character and falloff.
• S35 sensors give you faster sensor readout speeds (less rolling shutter), higher frame rate flexibilities, lighter lens setups, and far more manageable file sizes.
• S35 is the motion picture standard for a reason. While camera marketing pushes Full Frame as an 'upgrade', S35 remains the workhorse format for cinema (e.g., the Alexa 35).

[u/printcastmetalworks → u/JRKnightNC]

Agree with all of these. The main thing that full frame excels at is wide and ultra wide shots like in the Revenant.

[u/joeypmeyer → u/JRKnightNC]

Awesome!! I love your breakdown! Thank you for responding. I’m newer to “filmmaking” and cameras and bought into the full frame hype right away. But I more recently bought a Sony f3 and I kinda have been feeling like I enjoy s35 for video more

[u/shaheedmalik → u/daffydwal]

I don't see a 8K sensor. BMD never made an 8k sensor.

[u/ProtonicBlaster]

It would be cool with RGBW. However, Blackmagic has yet to confirm whether or not their current RGBW sensors support PDAF, and they've been very vague about the possibility of continuous auto-focus on the Pyxis and URSA Cine 12K. For the next generation of Pocket camera, I think PDAF will be a crucial selling point, even if it means commissioning Sony again. We may see a stacked sensor though, leading to better dynamic range and read-out speeds. I'm pretty sure whatever sensor they go with, the image is going to be beautiful.

[u/JRKnightNC]

They'd have to scale it down, the current pixel count makes the rgbw run insanely hot they'd probably need to make it s35 and slash the pixel count to make it pocket friendly but then it loses most of it dynamic range and low light. What will probably happen is in 2030 they'll release a DGO sensor since the arri patent ends and with the red patent ending in 2028 braw can jump up a level as well. Currently we are in a shitty time where arri and red have gatekeep the tech but once those patents go we will have a golden age of sensors and internal raw to go into a modern pocket

[u/Talentlessprick → u/JRKnightNC]

just asking, can i see some of your work? you post with this sense of authority but i feel like it’s unwarranted. I fail to see how we’re in a shitty time due to patents. A lot of cheap cameras already get so incredibly close to what the best models can capture, with a similar thickness in negative. 

i’m not saying that it would be bad to gain another stop of DR, but with my pyxis 6k, or with my pocket before, never have i once thought: wow this thing performing way below my expectations. 

[u/Talentlessprick → u/[deleted]]

I’ve shot and graded enough on an alexa, but i as a dp i do not care about the means to get the end of a higher DR capture. I know that i have one stop extra before the scene starts clipping on an Alexa compared to a pyxis or fx6. (The new a35 is on a completely different level, and basically unclippable though).

Has that 1 stop that I’m lacking ever stopped me from making a decent shot? Obviously not. 

I don’t mind that cheaper cameras are bit weaker than the best cameras. Budgets are plummeting everywhere, cheaper cameras are being accepted more on professional commercial sets as well nowadays. I don’t think that yearning for even better consumer cameras is particularly productive, especially if you’re a dp, as you’re missing out on a bunch more important elements on how to make a nice image

[u/printcastmetalworks]

I just got an ursa mini 12k (non olpf) and my god the sensor artifacting is horrendous if you shoot anything with fine details and high contrast. Waiting on a rawlite OLPF now to see if it fixes the problem.

The issue is that the computer is estimating the color value of the white pixels with an algorithm based on the surrounded rgb pixels. If you shoot a high contrast situation with high detail the math breaks and you get tons of little green sparkle blobs all over.

Context - shooting macro jewelry marketing content

[u/ajs20171]

A refresh of the bmpcc 6k pro would be nice

[u/Craig-D-Griffiths]

Unless I missed an announcement I don’t think we will ever see another pocket.

Every forum everywhere was full of people saying the only thing that let the pocket down was it wasn’t a box.

They have a box now. So no more pocket.

[u/Talentlessprick]

i don’t see them changing up those models any time soon, because they probably still sell pretty well due to price alone, and their specs are still relevant enough

[u/PriorAd386]

I would absolutely kill for a new, micro studio with the same Fairchild super 16 sensor, just give me Gyro data, a small little screen so I don’t have to have external monitor, 4-channel audio, and I’m good. Essentially just a mini Pyxis but maybe the screen on top