Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Announced – Super 35 Sensor and EF Mount

News

by Jakub HanAugust 8^th, 2019

Blackmagic Design today announced the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, a new handheld camera with a Super 35 sized 6K HDR image sensor, 13 stops of dynamic range, an EF lens mount and dual native ISO up to 25,600. BMPCC 6K is supposed to be available immediately and the price has been set to US $2,495 (including DaVinci Resolve license).

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

Blackmagic Design shared some exciting news today. They announced new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, DaVinci Resolve 16.1 public beta, and a new performance measurement tool – Blackmagic RAW Speed Test. This article only covers the new BMPCC 6K camera. For the other news, please check our second article.

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K (BMPCC 4K) was announced at NAB 2018 – nearly one and a half years ago. Since then it got fairly popular among filmmakers. Mostly because of the high quality video codecs, great dynamic range, dual ISO, and overall great selection of resolutions and framerates. On the other hand, the camera’s build quality and power management are not that great. And, unlike its predecessor, it’s not pocket-sized anymore. For more information about the BMPCC 4K, please check Nino’s hands-on review of the camera.

Today Blackmagic announces the new Pocket 6K. The company states that the BMPCC 6K is very different from the Pocket 4K in specifications and price, being a higher resolution EF lens based solution. The Pocket 6K sits between the Pocket 4K and URSA Mini Pro G2, complimenting the range, rather than replacing the Pocket 4K. What are the new Pocket 6K specs?

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

First and foremost, BMPCC 6K features a larger Super 35 sensor with a resolution of 6144 x 3456 (16:9 ratio). Just like the URSA Mini line of cameras, the Pocket 6K utilizes the Canon EF lens mount. The new camera will shoot in the following resolutions:

• up to 50 fps at 6144 x 3456 16:9
• up to 60 fps at 6144 x 2560 2.4:1
• up to 60 fps at 5744 x 3024 17:9
• up to 120 fps at 2.8K 2868 x 1512 17:9 (windowed mode with higher crop)
• true anamorphic 6:5 mode in 3.7K 60 fps at 3728 x 3104

The new Pocket 6K features same dual gain ISO as the 4K version – ISO 400 and 3200 (maximum ISO value is 25,600).

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

Recording works in 10-bit Apple ProRes files in all formats up to 4K or 12-bit Blackmagic RAW in all formats up to 6K. The camera features built-in CFast and SD UHS-II card slots, and a USB-C expansion port for recording directly to an external SSD. Media cards and disks can be formatted in HFS+ for Mac and ExFAT for Windows.

In terms of dynamic range, Blackmagic Design claims the new camera will have 13 stops (just like the BMPCC 4K). Just a reminder – in our hands-on review with the BMPCC 4K during cinema5D lab test we measured 11.6 stops of dynamic range for a signal to noise ratio of 2 (12.7 stops for a signal to noise ratio of 1) at ISO 400 (10.5 and 11.8 stops for ISO 3200) in ProRes 4K DCI 25p.

BMPCC 6K body is made from lightweight carbon fiber polycarbonate composite. The camera features a multifunction handgrip with all controls for recording, ISO, WB, and shutter angle reachable by one hand. Just like the BMPCC 4K, it has the large 5 inch touchscreen LCD in the back to help with precise manual focus at high resolutions. The camera supports “touch to focus” controls.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

We said this many times already and I will say it again – Blackmagic camera menu is one of the best and most straightforward solutions for cameramen and all Japanese manufacturers with complicated menus could take an example from Blackmagic. The BMPCC 6K menu interface stays the same as with other Blackmagic cameras, which is good. The Blackmagic OS interface uses simple tap and swipe gestures to adjust settings, add metadata and view recording status. On screen overlays show status, a histogram, focus and peaking indicators, levels, frame guides, playback controls and more.

The new Pocket 6K features the same Generation 4 Color Science as the high-end URSA Mini Pro G2 for accurate skin tones and pleasing colors. The camera works with industry standard 17 and 33 point 3D LUT files, or users can work with the built-in LUTs such as Extended Video, Film to Video, Film to Rec.2020 and more.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

The camera includes a full size HDMI connector for monitoring with support for HDR and clean 10-bit output. There’s also a mini XLR connection with 48 volt phantom power for attaching professional microphones, a 3.5 mm video camera style microphone input, and headphone connection.

When it comes to power, Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K uses standard removable LP-E6 type batteries and also features a locking DC power connector. The included AC plug pack can power the camera and charge the battery at the same time. The USB-C expansion port can also be used to charge the battery from portable battery packs, mobile phone chargers or a laptop computer. The new BMPCC 6K is also compatible with the Blackmagic Pocket Battery Grip.

The BMPCC 6K also includes built-in timecode generator to keep multiple cameras synced. After plugging in an external timecode generator such as Tentacle Sync into the 3.5 mm audio jack, the camera will automatically detect timecode and lock the internal generator. The new DaVinci Resolve 16.1 will automatically find and sync the shots from all cameras.

The camera also supports still frame capture up to 21.2 megapixel and remote camera control via Bluetooth.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K compared with the 4K version

Price and Availability

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K is available now for US $2,495. Just like BMPCC 4K, the 6K version also includes a full version of DaVinci Resolve Studio. The price is incredible given the camera’s specs and I really hope Blackmagic will be able to accommodate the demand quickly enough this time.

Blackmagic Design also thinks on their customers who are currently waiting for their ordered BMPCC 4K. The company will support any customers who wish to transition a Pocket 4K back order to the new Pocket 6K. They advise that customer wishing to do so should speak with their authorized reseller.

What do you think about the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K? Are you going to include it in your kit? Let us know in the comments underneath the article.