about
Hi! My name’s Ollie, I’ve been working as a freelance videographer in New Zealand for the last 10 years. I have a passion for content creation and the equipment that helps us bring our ideas to life.
Through my career I’ve had the opportunity to work with and own a variety of powerful film-making tools. From DSLR videography to Red and Blackmagic cinema cameras, these tools have a huge impact not only on the end result and look of a project, but also the process and workflow in production and post-production.
For me, there’s always been something special about Blackmagic’s camera lineup. They’re well-known for their colour science, rich feature set and competitive pricing, and have become an incredibly popular choice for many creators. Somehow though, they still feel underrated - their innovative interface, speed and reliability has made them my favourite cameras to work with by far... and there’s always been unrealised potential in the Pocket Cinema Camera platform.
Their shortcomings lie, of coarse, in their battery life and their displays. While more recent models in the lineup have added slightly larger batteries, they still only offer 1 hour of runtime, and an inconsistent battery level display that leave you guessing when it may die on you. These cameras pack some of the most powerful modern technology, and they need the industry standard V-Mount power solution.
The problem then becomes rigging, using often expensive parts and cables to adapt V-mount batteries to the cameras, which have to be mounted at a distance from the camera’s back in order to maintain access to the screen’s controls and settings. No matter which setup or arrangment you go with - you end up with a cumbersome, hefty mess of cables, missing out on the sleek, portable and user-friendly ‘Pocket Cinema Camera’ concept.
Mid-2023, I tore my Pocket 6K apart and began designing alternative solutions. After many iterations and 3D printed test models, I landed on a configuration which rehouses the camera’s touch screen into a new tilting enclosure on top of the camera, freeing up the back of the camera for a V-lock battery mount.