Right off the bat it’s clear that the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K is an insane value proposition.
Blackmagic Design shocked the cinema camera world with the surprise announcement of the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K. Building on the popularity of the PocketCinema Camera 4K, the new BMPCC6K introduced an updated sensor and the ability to use Canon EF-mount lenses natively, while retaining all of the same advantages of the Pocket 4K.
Rather than being positioned as a replacement, the BMPCC6K is designed to exist alongside the 4K model, allowing users to select a model based on their current lens preference and resolutions needs. In this hands-on review, we’ll explore the unique in’s and out’s of the camera and how film and broadcast ministries could incorporate it into their unique workflows.
Upgraded features
At the heart of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K is a Super 35-sized sensor capable of capturing footage at a 6144 x 3456 resolution. The sensor can film at up to 50fps in full-frame and 60fps in a windowed 6K 2.4:1 dimension, as well as 120fps at a cropped 2.8K format. It also features anamorphic capture at 3.7K resolution with frame rates up to 60fps. The advantages of 6K capture for most filmmakers is that a single shot can be reframed to a tighter shot in post, allowing filmmakers to achieve wide and tight shots and still finish in a full 4K resolution. Super-sampling 6K down to 4K also allows for dramatically increased sharpness and reduced sensor noise in the image. The BMPCC6K also boasts a new EF lens mount, allowing Canon and 3rd party EF lenses to be used natively with the camera. This mount allows for fuller lens control than is often possible with lens adapters, and also incorporates support for some image-stabilized lenses.
Shared features
Fortunately, the new BMPCC6K retains almost all of the 4K version’s most popular features, including the sensor’s 13 stops of dynamic range and Blackmagic Design color science. The sensor also boasts dual native ISOs of 400 and 3200, which can be gained up to 25,600 ISO. Both cameras can shoot in ProRes 422 and Blackmagic RAW at lossless, 3:1, 5:1, 8:1, and 12:1 compression rates. Filmmakers will need to utilize the Blackmagic RAW settings in order to take advantages of the camera’s full 6K resolution.The camera records internally to CFast 2.0 and SD UHS-II cards, as well as externally to USB-C portable drives for a more cost-effective alternative. It includes a full-sized HDMI output for utilizing external monitors and a 12v power input for connecting to external power sources.
The advantages of 6K capture for most filmmakers is that a single shot can be reframed to a tighter shot in post, allowing filmmakers to achieve wide and tight shots and still finish in a full 4K resolution.
The camera ships with a power supply, as well as a Canon-style LP-E6 battery for powering the camera internally. On the audio side of the equation, the camera features stereo mics built into the body and a small built-in speaker for on-set playback. It also incorporates a mini XLR audio jack with phantom power for shotgun mic recording, as well as a 3.5mm mic input and headphone jack. From a form factor perspective, the BMPCC6K retains an almost identical super-sized DSLR design as the original Pocket 4K. And as with the 4K camera “Pocket” is a relative term. It’s certainly lightweight, coming in at just over 1.6 pounds, but would require the user to be wearing cargo pants to get the body into any kind of pocket. The camera’s new EF lens mount makes the camera body slightly deeper than the 4K, but the difference is fairly negligible. Current users also report that the BMPCC6K works seamlessly with almost all camera accessories designed for the Pocket 4K.
In action
Right off the bat it’s clear that the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K is an insane value proposition. The BMPCC6K features amazing color rendition, fantastic resolutions, top-of-the-line recording formats, high frame rates, and produces an overall beautiful image. While we loved having the options of different RAW and ProRec codecs, we found ourselves gravitating towards primarily filming in Blackmagic RAW 8:1 compression, which provided a good balance of RAW flexibility and manageable file sizes. Having said that, the 6K file sizes are significantly larger than 4K files, so users will need to decide if the additional resolution will ultimately be worth the increased file sizes on a particular project. While they’re not strictly recommended by the manufacturer, we were absolutely shocked by the camera’s ability to record that Blackmagic RAW to SD UHS-I 170MB/s cards. Blackmagic recommends UHS-II cards, which are still far more affordable than the memory cards required for most cinema cameras filming RAW internally.
The camera’s Dual ISO abilities are a significant step forward for Blackmagic Design cameras, but taking advantage of filming in lower-light settings will require users to find the right balance between gaining up the ISO and adjusting the image in post-production. In our tests we achieved the best end results when we kept the camera at 3200 ISO or lower, but footage captured at up to 6400 ISO proved to be still fairly usable. While the camera doesn’t include any in-body stabilization, lenses with built-in IS seemed to work well for capturing handheld. Filming wider with the BMPCC6K’s larger sensor also proved to make handheld footage more usable overall. Filming at 120fps requires shooting with a “windowed” sensor, which crops the image in significantly. RED camera users will be very familiar with this approach of utilizing only the center of the image to achieve higher frame rates. As with all Blackmagic Design cinema cameras, the BMPCC6K menu system is one of the best and most intuitive on the market today. Having three assignable function buttons built atop the camera body also proved to be extremely useful for things like quick false color and focus checks. The one issue that the BMPCC6K does share with the Pocket 4K is the problem of battery life. On the Pocket 4K a single LP-6 battery could only power the camera for around 25 minutes. With the BMPCC6K that same battery seems to last for closer to 20 minutes.
The BMPCC6K features amazing color rendition, fantastic resolutions, top-of-the-line recording formats, high frame rates, and produces an overall beautiful image.
We actually had the camera shut down after recording for a few seconds at 35% battery life. The footage wasn’t lost, but it was a bit disconcerting. Filmmakers planning to use the camera for longer-format filming will want to explore other options for powering the camera, including external power supplies run into the camera’s 12v connection or USB-C port. Blackmagic Design also offers an add-on Battery Grip that is supposed to power the camera for 2+ hours of filming. In postOur experience with editing the 6K footage coming from the BMPCC6K was surprisingly great. As has already been noted, the Blackmagic RAW codec is just awesome, providing filmmakers with total control of ISO, white balance, tint, and color profiles in post-production. The Blackmagic RAW codec also seems to be extremely efficient, running almost flawlessly on a mid-level iMac and even a newer MacBook Pro. In our experience we found that the editing and grading process with Blackmagic RAW worked best on DaVinci Resolve, and a full version comes free with the camera. Blackmagic RAW plugins also allow for native editing within Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro. In our tests with Premiere, the footage played back smoothly with few hiccups or issues, even after color grading was applied.
A modular approach
For filmmakers just getting into the artform, one of the most important things to realize about the BMPCC6K is that it’s a dedicated cinema camera. Features like auto-focus, in-body image stabilization, built-in ND, or robust audio controls have been jettisoned to reduce the camera’s footprint and leave cinematographers the most options for user customization. Like RED or ARRI Alexa cinema cameras, it’s designed to be built up with a rig as large or as small as a filmmaker might need.
The upside to these types of modular systems is that the cost of entry for the camera body itself is usually lower. (In the case of the BMPCC6K the cost is almost insanely low for the value.) It’s also easier and more affordable, and honestly more fun, to build up and modify your rig over time. The downside is that developing filmmakers might not realize what’s not there until they’re out in the field. You absolutely can film with the BMPCC6K without adding anything additional other than a lens, but in most situations filmmakers will probably need additional accessories for success. In our review the first thing we added right away was an additional video monitor capable of 1,000+ nits brightness. This made it far easier to mount the camera in a much wider variety of positions, as well as view the image in brighter outdoor settings. It also made setting up scene easier with the monitor turned around into a selfie-mode position. As mentioned earlier, filmmakers looking to maximize the effectiveness of the camera will also want to secure external power solutions. In addition, it will be important to lock in solutions for adding ND and polarizing filters when the need arises.
Finally, documentary and narrative producers will want to explore ways for capturing improved audio, one of which should be the inclusion of an external shotgun mic mounted to the camera rig. They may also want to consider an external audio recorder with physical dials for improved capture quality and more robust real-time control.
As we were in the process of reviewing the BMPCC6K, Blackmagic Design announced new software updates allowing the camera to be deployed as an effective part of a live broadcast setup.
In Real-Time
Without a doubt, the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K is one of the most exciting cameras to hit the market in years. While it’s probably a bit too specialized to be the first camera a growing church film team acquires, it’s an incredible option for when your team is ready to begin creating cinematic content. As we mentioned before, the value proposition of capturing 6K RAW footage for under $2K is just insane. As we were in the process of reviewing the BMPCC6K, Blackmagic Design actually announced new software updates allowing the camera to be deployed as an effective part of a live broadcast setup. This new update provides for external camera settings control via the built-in HDMI connection. It also allows for remote timecode sync and tally light color changes to indicate which camera is currently active in the broadcast mix. These new features make it easier than ever for church film teams and tech teams to share a single camera, significantly increasing its value for ministry. Blackmagic is one of the real industry leaders in value-adding to products users have already purchased, and it’s a trend we hope will stay deeply encoded in the company’s DNA.
In conclusion
If you’d told cinematographers two years ago that you wanted a camera capable of filming RAW internally at a 6K resolution for under $30K you’d have been laughed out of the room. With the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Blackmagic Design has once again set an aggressive new benchmark for quality vs. value, and it’s new a standard that other cameras in the sub-$10K segment will be judged against moving into the future.
The Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K retails for $1,995.
To find out more visit: www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicpocketcinemacamera
