BLACKMAG I C POCKET 6K PRO | USER REVI EW
POCKET CAMERA GOES PRO PR I CE £ 2254 / $2495
The new Blackmagic Design 6K Pro camera enhances the existing model, with built-in NDs, longer battery life and additional tilting screen
ABOVE The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro thrives on a tripod, producing quality live broadcasts
with 13 stops of dynamic range and dual-native ISO. It records up to 60fps from the full sensor, or 120fps in windowed, using 10-bit Apple ProRes in formats up to 4K, or 12-bit Blackmagic Raw in formats up to 6K. That’s all recorded internally to a CFast card, or externally to a USB-C drive. The latter also trickle charges the battery when the camera is in use – unless you’re recording Raw externally. One of the big benefits is the new easy-fit viewfinder. Previously, you had to fit a pricey external EVF, with the signal coming out of the HDMI port, as well as a rig to hold it and some external power source. Blackmagic’s solution is an optional EVF that slots into a port on the top plate once you remove
WORDS & P I CTURES ADAM DUCKWORTH
The new Pro version handles the criticism aimed at the original model, offering some neat solutions. But it definitely doesn’t cure all of the bigger issues we had – especially AF, autoexposure, IBIS and the crop in faster frame rates. Enhancing the older 6K camera – for the same very reasonable asking price – the Pro adds a tilting screen, longer-life battery, built-in ND filters, Blackmagic’s latest Generation 5 colour science and a port taking an optional EVF. That’s plenty of additions for a solid and impressive camera, boasting a 6K Super 35 HDR sensor
ou have to give it to the Australians, they do have a sense of humour. Blackmagic calls its
6K Super 35 machine a ‘Pocket Cinema Camera’, despite its mammoth size dwarfing anything else in its category – that includes those boasting much larger sensors. The new 6K Pro version of the camera is a tad bigger, especially if you add on the optional EVF. And with the battery grip, it’s a proper beast that looks more like a medium format stills camera or large-bodied pro DSLR. Yet, it’s still a ‘Pocket’ camera.
“IT’S A PROPER BEAST – MORE LIKE A MEDIUM FORMAT STILLS CAMERA”
JUNE 202 1 | DEF I N I T ION 37
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