We have already spent a good amount of words on the qualities that Blackmagic Design managed to pack inside the Pocket 4K. One of the most unsung praises should be to the various options the camera gives you to record the files to.
It’s widely discussed of the USB-C and the option the port gives to record straight to SSDs, but that’s not the only available. And even if you are so certain that you want to go with an SSD as your primary (and maybe only recording media), it’s still reasonable to ask which one to buy?
Samsung’s T5 gets a lot of talks these days, but this is not the only flavor you can find around. Carl Yates at ProAV has put together an informative video regarding some excellent alternative options from Wise Advanced you may want to consider.
As you should already know, the camera has three different options, and those would be:
- Slot for Cfast2.0 cards
- Slot for SD cards
- Port for external SSDs
Browsing through Wise’s lineup we can see a lot of products available, but you may wonder how come you never heard the name before. That would not be entirely your fault.
The company in fact, although surely well known to seasoned British filmmakers, has a long history of designing OEM components meaning that you may have already been using their products unbeknown to you.
The company, however, is focused on producing media for filmmakers and photographers, such as different types of cards and readers. But let’s dive straight in! The best options for your Pocket 4K would be as following:
#1 SSD – Wise Advanced Portable SSD
The Wise Advanced SSD comes in small form factor. It’s quite similar to the Samsung T5, to be honest, and as that one has great writing speeds. It’s tiny, portable, and has the great convenience of ease of use in case you want to edit straight out of it (although it would be unwise to skip backing it up!).
You may find it in three sizes: 256GB, 512GB, and a 1TB beast are available too. They all support all possible formats of the Pocket 4K, from ProRes to BRAW through all available data rates. What you get more than the T5 is the custom bracket that allows mounting the SSD on top of the camera straight out of the box.
This kind of detail is what tells you this disk was made with filmmakers in mind. The long form factor allows to mount it straight on top of the camera as it will not interfere with your ergonomics.
#2 CFast 2.0 – Wise Advanced CFast 2.0 cards
CFast comes in the same sizes as the SSDs, adding an entry-level card that tops at 128GB of space. Sturdy and reliable, this format may be of great convenience if you share the same format factor through your gear.
Quite a lot of professional cameras have a dedicated CFast slot, so if you are already in the game for it, you can keep shooting with this standard that’s getting more and more common. Available options include: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and even 1TB.
#3 SD Cards – Wise Advanced SDXC UHS-II Cards
Small, compact and ubiquitous. This could be a nice summary of SD cards. From consumer to top-grade electronics they are everywhere. But how many of those you already have used or actually own are purposefully built for video?
Wise guarantees these cards, as well as previously discussed CFasts, to be shockproof, dustproof and waterproof. Nice to know, right? Speed is not a problem as all codecs are easily handled on these cards too, although they come in only two sizes, 64GB and 128GB.
In conclusion, if you are looking for the right media for your Pocket 4K, here you have some nice options, and this is probably one of the best things for us filmmakers to have, the ability to choose the best solutions for our needs and projects perfectly tailored on our exact specification.
[source: ProAV]
Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K (B&H, Amazon)
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