The Nexus G1: is a box camera really always the best form factor?

A box camera such as the proposed Nexus G1 mod for the BMPCC 6K has its advantages, but, as Phil Rhodes points out, there are downsides to the form factor too.

Speculation about a third-party box camera mod for Blackmagic’s seminal 6K Pocket Cinema Camera raises some interesting questions about what we want out of cameras. It’s not a new idea; speculation and (mocked-up, third-party, almost-a-hoax) animations of potential cubes from Big B have circulated before. But despite the apparent popularity of the concept, the company has seemed cautious about building one.

The enormous public interest in Thomas Boland’s Nexus G1 project, as detailed in Andy’s piece, is the sort of thing that a manufacturer might be cautious about, given the propensity for netizens to claim something’s a good idea and then fail to buy it once it’s been made. Certainly, Blackmagic has always seemed cautious about boxes. 

That could change at any time, of course, and the recently released full-frame pocket camera includes the sort of technology that might make an excellent basis for a box camera along the lines of Panasonic’s DC-BGH1. Even so, a line of thought suggests that a box camera makes little less sense than just putting that big chip (and that big lens mount) into something with the shape and facilities of an Ursa Mini.

The box-shaped reality

Aficionados of the box layout (since a featureless cube is a layout) might object that it’s smaller and lighter, which it is, and more flexible, which it also is. Some manufacturers have made it their business to build small, modular camera systems. Where that works well it generally involves custom accessories with custom mounts and connectors, allowing things to bolt down in a secure and compact manner. More often, though, modularity doesn’t work as well as we’d like. It looks good in press shots when the accessories are first-party or at least carefully chosen. It tends to work a bit less well in reality, where every show will likely end up with at least one unexpected box attached with sticky tape and zip ties.

The result ends up being time-consuming to build and awkward in use, with dangling cables to snag the unwary and more than one battery to keep everything running. On bigger jobs, where there’s time to make up cables and even custom mounting plates, things might be better, but when we’re day-playing, it’s a bind. Boland’s box camera mod seems less likely to go out on three-month features than one-day music videos where some department or other (but let’s face it, it’s usually sound, isn’t it?) will stroll over on the first morning with a roll of sticky velcro, a nest of cables, and a purposeful expression.

For anyone who already owns Blackmagic’s 6K pocket camera, which to begin with is only a pocket camera if you have yeti-sized pockets, a box conversion might make a certain amount of sense. One of the least-rickety ways to add things to cameras like this is with 15mm rod systems, and putting 15mm rod systems on a camera that relies on a rear-mounted touchscreen for almost all of its controls is not a route to a contented first assistant. Building in at least rod clamps on a box camera is a very good idea, and it must have multiple tripod mounting holes, which Boland’s design does.

The question, though, is what the minimum configuration for most people might be. Add a monitor, a top handle and a bridge plate, and you’ve more or less built an Ursa – and Blackmagic already has an Ursa with a 6K sensor in it. The difference is a few variations in features and the fact that the rigged box camera is still likely to be flimsier, more covered in easy-snag wiring, and slower to rig and de-rig. That sort of conglomeration of parts tends to be tougher to case, too, since there are more parts of it onto which we’d rather not put pressure.

The minimalist argument

Yes, there are circumstances under which absolute minimalism helps. Drones are one of those situations, although the re-cased guts of a Pocket Cinema Camera 6K (and particularly an appropriate power supply) are always likely to require a bigger drone than most Pocket Cinema Camera owners can afford or legally operate in most of the circumstances in which they’re likely to want to operate it. 

Gimbals also like very small cameras, and here a box shape might make a difference (one of the incidental issues of Blackmagic’s pocket series is that they’re sometimes wider than small gimbals can handle). Steadicam operators traditionally value lightweight cameras, although there are issues in that the top-to-bottom weight distribution of the sled can become awkward if the top end becomes too much of a featherweight. 

And, really, compared to even the tiniest Alexa, are we seriously contending that an Ursa of any kind is anything other than a featherweight to begin with? Your narrator has seen unsuspecting camera assistants practically throw Ursa rigs into the air under the influence of muscle memory appropriate to a weightier Arri product. Blackmagic already has lightweight cameras of a more convenient shape than the pocket.

So, certainly, there will be people for whom a box mod kit for a 6K Pocket might make sense, principally people who already own a 6K Pocket. Like many third-party modifications, this sort of thing is often enough to get someone over the tricky period when the work outgrows one’s first camera, but income isn’t quite sufficient to justify buying one’s second. But in general, let’s not overlook the benefits of bolting all of the circuit boards down inside a nice machined case. Flexibility is not the only watchword here.

With that in mind, let’s also celebrate the enterprising spirit of the Nexus G1. It’ll likely make life easier for some people, although cost-benefit numbers will likely depend on how many are made. If it does well, perhaps it’ll attract the attention of someone at the OEM. And even if it doesn’t, nobody will be shocked to see a cube with a lens mount on the Blackmagic booth at a future NAB anyway.