The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro, price tag $2,495, has been officially announced, with a release date from today.
Since the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema camera’s original release, it has become a firm favourite amongst amateur filmmakers and those working on a budget.
The small body gives you access to pro-level features, and although the sensor may be small, it’s still capable of producing high-quality footage full of tone and detail.
Now the new Pocket Cinema camera 6K Pro has arrived and this is a direct update to the 2019 Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6K released in 2019. However, there’s a one big difference, this time MFT mount option has been dropped.
Firstly there’s a change in sensor size going from four thirds to Super 35mm; this also means that the lens mount is different and will go from MFT to EF.
Unfortunately for existing users of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera with the MFT mount, that means it’s not going to be a simple swap of the body to upgrade your system, but a complete upgrade on lenses and filters.
While this may not be the upgrade option for existing Pocket Cinema Camera users, this new camera is feature-packed and very exciting for the independent film making community.
The new Advanced Pocket Cinema Camera 6K model features built-in ND filters, an adjustable HDR screen, Gen 5 colour science, larger battery and optional viewfinder!
This headline features instantly make this camera very appealing, but the ones that get me excited are the built in ND filters and improved battery life. The standard run time fo the original was just 15 minutes, so a cage system such as the Tilta with external battery supply was essential.
Checking through the features in a little more detail and the new 1,500 nit adjustable HDR touchscreen screen brings the camera’s design right up to date.
Built-in ND filters are common place in pro-level camcorders, so it’s good to see these packed into the small body.
The larger battery and support for an optional electronic viewfinder are also welcome additions.
The image processing also leaps with generation 5 colour science, Super 35 HDR image sensor with 13 stops of dynamic range, dual native ISO of 25,600 and a popular EF lens mount.
Made from lightweight carbon fibre polycarbonate composite, the camera features a multi-function handgrip with all controls for recording, ISO, WB and shutter angle right at their fingertips. Because it’s an advanced digital film camera, the sensor is designed to reduce thermal noise allowing cleaner shadows and higher ISO. The large 5 inch LCD makes it possible to get perfect focus at 4K and 6K resolutions.
Featuring a larger 6144 x 3456 Super 35 sensor and EF lens mount, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K lets customers use larger EF photographic lenses to create cinematic images with shallower depth of field, allowing creative defocused backgrounds and gorgeous bokeh effects.
The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro includes additional pro features such as built-in 2, 4 and 6 stop ND filters, adjustable tilt HDR LCD with a bright 1500 nits ideal for use in bright sunlight. It also includes two mini XLR audio inputs and a larger NP-F570 style battery.
Whether users are shooting in bright sunlight or almost no light at all, the 13 stops of dynamic range with dual native ISO up to 25,600 provide stunning low noise images in all lighting conditions. The 6K models feature a larger Super 35 sensor that allows shooting with a shallow depth of field and anamorphic lenses. All models let customers shoot up to 60 fps in full resolution or 120 fps windowed. An amazing sensor combined with Blackmagic colour science means customers get the same imaging technology as the most expensive digital film cameras.
The 6K models feature an EF lens mount. Customers can use lenses customers already own from other cameras such as DSLR, URSA Mini Pro or even the original Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Customers can use commonly available photographic lenses that provide incredible creative choice and wonderful feature film quality lens effects. The active lens mount lets customers adjust focus and iris from the camera’s buttons or the touch screen.
The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro features high quality, motorized IR ND filters that let customers quickly reduce the amount of light entering the camera. Designed to match the camera’s colourimetry and colour science, the 2, 4 and 6 stop filters provide customers with additional latitude even under harsh lighting. The IR filters have been designed to filter both optical and IR wavelengths evenly, eliminating IR contamination of the images. Activation buttons are located on the rear of the camera body, placed within easy reach of their thumb from the multi-function hand grip. User-selectable filter settings can be displayed as either an ND number, stop reduction or fraction on the LCD.
The Pocket Cinema Cameras feature dual native ISO up to 25,600, which means they’re optimized to minimize grain or noise in images while maintaining the sensor’s full dynamic range. The native ISO of 400 is ideal for scenes with on-set lighting. The gain is set automatically as customers adjust the ISO setting, so it’s easy to capture great images when customers don’t have time to set up lights.
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera records using standard open file formats, so customers don’t have to waste time transcoding media. Recording works in industry-standard 10-bit Apple ProRes files in all formats up to 4K or 12-bit Blackmagic RAW in all formats up to 6K. Developers can download and use the free Blackmagic RAW SDK to add support to their applications. Best of all, media files work on all operating systems, plus customers can format media cards and disks in HFS+ for Mac and ExFAT for Windows.
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera features a large, bright 5-inch touchscreen that makes it easy for customers to frame shots and accurately focus. On-screen overlays show status and record parameters, histogram, focus peaking indicators, levels, frame guides and more. The Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro LCD monitor is a more advanced HDR display that can be tilted up and down, so it’s easy to monitor their shot from any position. The 6K Pro model’s HDR display features 1500 nits of brightness, ideal for use in bright sunlight.
Featuring the same generation 5 colour science as the high-end URSA Mini Pro 12K, the new Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro delivers an even greater image quality with stunning, accurate skin tones and accurate colour every shot. Customers get a new dynamic 12-bit gamma curve designed to capture more colour data in the highlights and shadows for better-looking images. The colour science also handles some of the complex Blackmagic RAW image processing, so colour and dynamic range data from the sensor is preserved via metadata which customers can use in post-production.
The Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro supports an optional viewfinder to make outdoors and handheld shooting accurate and easy. Customers get an integrated high quality 1280 x 960 colour OLED display with a built-in proximity sensor, four-element glass diopter for incredible accuracy, and a wide -4 to +4 focus adjustment. A built-in digital focus chart ensures customers get perfect viewfinder focus setup. Customers can also view critical status information, such as frame guides. The Pocket Cinema Camera Pro EVF connects quickly to the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro via a single connector. The viewfinder has a 70-degree swivel range and comes with four different types of eyecups for both left and right eyes.
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras feature a mini XLR input with 48 volts of phantom power for connecting professional microphones such as lapel mics and booms. The 6K Pro model features two mini XLR connections, allowing customers to record two separate audio tracks using two mics without an external mixer. The four built-in mics have an extremely low noise floor and are shock and wind-resistant, capturing great sound in any location. There’s also a 3.5mm audio input for connecting video camera microphones, along with a built-in speaker for playback and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and 6K use removable LP-E6 type batteries, while the 6K Pro model uses larger NP-F570 batteries. A Locking DC power connector is used, so customers won’t have to worry about losing power during a shoot. Plus, the included AC plug pack can power the camera and charge the battery simultaneously. Even the USB-C expansion port can trickle charge the battery so that customers can use portable battery packs, mobile phone chargers or laptops. The optional battery grip lets customers add extra batteries to dramatically extend the camera’s power so customers can keep shooting all day.
All Pocket Cinema Camera models include a full version of DaVinci Resolve Studio, the same software used in Hollywood to create high-end feature films, episodic television shows, commercials, and more. DaVinci Resolve features the new cut page with intelligent editing tools and innovative new features designed to help customers quickly find the footage customers want, edit it together and output it fast. In addition to the new cut page, customers also get DaVinci’s legendary professional editing, advanced colour correction, audio post and visual effects tools, all in a single software application.
BLACKMAGIC POCKET CINEMA CAMERA 6K PRO FEATURES
- Designed from carbon fibre polycarbonate composite.
- 6144 x 3456 sensor with 13 stops and dual native ISO up to 25,600.
- Compatible with a wide range of popular EF lenses.
- Built-in motorized 2, 4 and 6 stop ND filters.
- Up to 25,600 ISO for incredible low light performance.
- Standard open file formats compatible with popular software.
- Adjustable, HDR 1500 nit LCD screen.
- Includes Blackmagic Generation 5 Color Science.
- Optional Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Pro EVF.
- Professional mini XLR inputs with 48-volt phantom power.
- Larger NP-F570 battery, optional Blackmagic Pocket Camera Battery Pro Grip.
- Includes full DaVinci Resolve Studio for post-production.
AVAILABILITY AND PRICE
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro is available now for US$2,495, excluding local duties and taxes, from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide.
www.blackmagicdesign.com/uk.
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro is available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for US$2,495.