Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

Well, well, well…just as the back orders for 4K Pocket Cinema cameras were starting to reduce Blackmagic in their wisdom decided to announce a 6K version which will be available in August !! With IBC on the horizon you could be forgiven for thinking this was a tactic by Blackmagic to scupper any new release plans from the other camera manufacturers. However, if their intention was to shake-up the industry (which is never a bad idea) they certainly succeeded.

What's on offer?

At first glance there are a lot of similarities between the BMPCC 4K & BMPCC 6K even down to the same form factor; although the BMPCC 6K is slightly deeper to accommodate the new sensor/EF lens mount and it is a little bit heavier, 898 g compared to 721 g. This continues with the layout of buttons, connections and as the chart below shows it also includes identical ISO and dynamic range. This is strange as figures provided by Blackmagic suggest the new sensor should have slightly better highlight handling, but more of that in a follow-up article. The BMPCC 6K uses all the same accessories as the BMPCC 4K including the LP-E6 battery which will give you approx. 45 minutes of runtime with the new camera.

Pocket Cinema Camera 4K	verses	Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
MFT		EF
ISO up to 25,600		ISO up to 25,600
13 Stops		13 Stops
3D LUTS		3D LUTS
Large 5” Screen		Large 5” Screen
Professional Audio		Professional Audio
Blackmagic RAW		Blackmagic RAW
18.96mm x 10mm Sensor		23.10mm x 12.99mm Sensor
4096 x 2160 Resolution		6144 x 3456 Resolution
DaVinci Resolve Studio		DaVinci Resolve Studio

Why all the fuss?

So you get all of the things you liked about the BMPCC 4K plus a couple of ground breaking features which given the price make this camera a game changer.

Active Canon EF Lens Mount

Although the ability to record in 6K will get all the headlines, the change of lens mount will possibly have the biggest ramifications for users. Those new to the world of Blackmagic cine cameras now have a wide array of Canon EF-mount lenses to choose from. However for those who have already invested in MFT lenses the move to EF will not be popular… for obvious reasons.

New sensor

This is the feature that will get everyone excited. The BMPCC 6K camera is using a Super 35-size sensor that delivers a native resolution of 6144 x 3456 compared to 4096 x 2160 for the BMPCC 4K. It gives 13 stops of dynamic range, and a dual native ISO up to 25,600. The larger sensor also allows shooting with a shallow depth of field and anamorphic lenses.

Shooting Resolutions and Frame Rates

You have a number of options available from HD up to DCI 6K. The BMPCC 6K camera will shoot up to 50 fps at 6144 x 3456 16:9 or 60 fps at 6144 x 2560 2.4:1 and 60 fps at 5744 x 3024 17:9 You can shoot in true anamorphic 6:5 using anamorphic lenses in 3.7K 60 fps at 3624 x 3020. An anamorphic de-squeeze can be applied to the LCD touchscreen and HDMI output. When you record in 3.7K 6:5 anamorphic format it automatically applies ‘2x anamorphic de-squeeze’, and in 16:9 formats you can enable ‘1.33x anamorphic de-squeeze’.

File Formats

The BMPCC 6K camera uses standard open file formats which are compatible with all post production software. To record all formats up to 4K use 10‑bit Apple ProRes and for all formats up to 6K use 12‑bit Blackmagic RAW. In other words to get the full 6K resolution you have to use Blackmagic RAW !