Blackmagic Camera 7.3 Update Released – New Features for BMPCC 4K, 6K & 6K Pro

Firmware Update

by Jakub HanApril 26^th, 2021

Blackmagic Camera 7.3 Update adds new monitoring options and improves autofocus on all three recent Pocket camera models – BMPCC 4K, 6K, and 6K Pro. The two older models from this pack – BMPCC 4K and 6K – get the new Blackmagic RAW Generation 5 color science with additional Q1 and Q3 recording options. The Pocket 6K gets 4K DCI recording in Blackmagic RAW. The update is available for download from the Blackmagic Design Support Center.

Roughly two months ago, Blackmagic Design released the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro. It improved many aspects of the BMPCC 6K when it comes to ergonomy (brighter tilting LCD screen, ND filters, optional EVF, larger batteries, etc.) while still keeping the same image quality as the original Pocket 6K.

Make sure to check Johnnie’s Pocket 6K pro review to know more about the camera. Today, Blackmagic Design released a new Camera 7.3 Update for the BMPCC line. Let’s take a look at what is new.

Blackmagic Camera 7.3 Update

The Blackmagic Camera 7.3 Update adds new features to all the “new pockets” – Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4k, 6K, and 6K Pro. All three cameras will get the following new features:

• Upgrades the luminance histogram to RGB histogram
• Adds color channel clipping indicators
• Adds false color guide display
• Adds LCD screen calibration settings
• Improves autofocus and active lens control
• Improves focus peaking visibility
• Fixes an issue with importing LUT’s and Presets

Last year in July, when announcing the URSA Mini Pro 12K, Blackmagic Design also first announced the new update to Blackmagic RAW – The Generation 5 color science with the new film curve. The recently launched new Pocket 6K Pro already came with the new Gen 5 color science. The older Pocket Cinema Camera 4k and 6K are now getting the new Gen 5 color science along with few other updates:

• Adds support for Generation 5 color science.
• Adds 4K DCI Blackmagic RAW recording for Pocket Cinema Camera 6K.
• Adds support for LCD screen dimming for power conservation.
• Adds Q1 and Q3 Blackmagic RAW recording options.

It is also nice that Blackmagic Design brings the 4K BRAW option to the Pocket 6K. Previously, the camera was only able to record in ProRes in 4K. Last. but not least, with this new update Blackmagic Design fixes a bug that can cause image misalignment in the URSA Studio Viewfinder.

Additionally, Blackmagic Design recently released the full shipping version of the new Blackmagic RAW 2.0 including the developer SDK. The new version of BRAW added support for Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K as well as support for dual card recording.

Furthermore, the Blackmagic RAW 2.0 brings updates to Blackmagic Generation 5 Color Science, adds DaVinci Wide Gamut and DaVinci Intermediate gamma support. BRAW 2.0 also adds support for Nikon Z 6II and Z 7II Blackmagic RAW clips captured by Blackmagic Video Assist.

Price and availability

The Blackmagic Camera 7.3 Update is available for download right now free of charge directly from Blackmagic Design Support Center. The installer will add Blackmagic Camera Setup software to your system so you can update the software and manage your Blackmagic Camera.

It also installs Blackmagic RAW Player, Blackmagic RAW Speed Test, Blackmagic RAW SDK, and Blackmagic RAW plugins. For updating Blackmagic Cameras from Camera 4.0 or above it is advised to export your presets and LUT’s onto a card as they will be removed during this update.

Do you use cameras from Blackmagic Design for your productions? What do you think of the new Generation 5 color science? Let us know in the comments section underneath the article.