It started to gain a reputation as a 'micro Alexa'.

Owners and prospective buyers had often heard about how it could intercut with far more expensive cameras. The aspirational aspect of the BMPCC was another lure. The original Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera ushered in a new era of highly mobile cinematography Aspirational So good is the picture from the BMPCC that many people started using it instead of larger and more expensive alternatives, despite the need to rig it up extensively. Unlike the GoPro’s that were used previously, editors don’t have to worry so much about lingering a bit longer on shots taken with a BMPCC compared to other cameras. In fact it is the closeness to the Alexa and the ease of intercutting with that camera that is one reason why the BMPCC is still being used extensively today, even on big budget feature films as a stunt camera. This was a tiny camera for around £800 that could record 13 stops of raw Cinema DNG video if required, with a colouromitry that intercut very nicely indeed with cameras such as the Alexa.

The thing that persuaded filmmakers to overlook the BMPCC’s foibles was simply its sublimely good picture quality. Like many others who took the time to use it, he discovered that the Pocket Cinema Camera was a wolf in sheeps clothing. This was interesting because Charters eventually became one of the camera’s staunchest supporters, happily intercutting it with Alexas and Amiras. Indeed interestingly Rodney Charters can be seen in one early video deriding it as all a bit pointless. When it first arrived on the scene in 2013 it came under criticism for its form factor and battery life.

The original BMPCC was both amazing and frustrating at the same time.

Replay: We've moved on a bit since then but here's what made the original BMPCC camera so special.

Blackmagic micro cinema camera