GEAR BLACKMAGIC POCKET CINEMA CAMERA 6K
“The footage shot in 6K or 5.7K is astonishing– full of detail, bright yet natural colours, and with lots of dynamic range”
as it’s crucial to get 6K footage in perfect focus. The camera is ideal for using LUTS, and you can load your own via the SD card. It comes with built-in LUTS similar to the 4K camera, but these are different. There is Pocket 6K Film to Extended Video, which has a wide dynamic range, and Pocket 6K Film to Video, which is a standard high-definition Rec.709 punchy look. There is Pocket 6K Film to Rec 2020 Hybrid Log Gamma, which is mid-way between a flat Log image and a standard Rec.709 image. Finally, Pocket 6K Film to Rec 2020 PQ Gamma is for HDR. The LUTs can be used to normalise the monitor image while recording Log. The crucial factor is the image quality, and the extra step you have to take to use the Raw files if you don’t edit in DaVinci Resolve which, let’s face it, few do. There is no question Raw gives an advantage as you can alter white-balance, and pull back shadow and highlight details far more effectively than in any regular compressed codec. You have to do this in DaVinci Resolve, then import the corrected footage into your own NLE for editing, which adds another step. For critical work, this is the way to shoot. But shooting 4K in ProRes is easier to handle in terms of post workflow. Just import it to your NLE and go from there without any fuss. Of course, you don’t get the ultimate flexibility of colour balance changes and detail recovery, but it’s still very, very good. And you don’t have to learn another software package.
IMAGES A genuine cine lens like a Xeen turns the small Blackmagic into a real cinema camera
When you do look, the footage shot in Raw at 6K or 5.7K is astonishing. Full of detail, bright yet natural colours and with lots of dynamic range, and no moire we could easily see. We shot it in everything from low light, low contrast to full blazing sun and it handled everything well. There is very low noise thanks to its Dual Native ISO sensor, which works when shooting ProRes, but compared to the smaller sensor of the 4K camera, the 6K does have slightly more rolling shutter. It’s not particularly noticeable in most THE VERDICT When the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K was launched, we said that for the money, there’s nothing that comes close for filmmakers who want to use it as a small cinema camera. The killer spec is 4K Raw for the ultimate quality. Now the 6K version is here with a much bigger sensor – and around twice the price for essentially the same camera technology. But with Blackmagic Raw and the shallower depth- of-field you get with the bigger sensor, plus its improvement in noise, it’s worth the price hike, and is still a shockingly affordable camera for what you get. But it’s not for everyone. For ENG or run-and-gun documentary users, it’s not the best choice as there is no viewfinder, in-body image stabilisation or workable AF, and the file sizes are huge, along with a short battery life. For sports shooters, the lack of continuous AF and heavily cropped 120fps makes it not ideal either. But for a filmmaker who wants to take full control, has time to check focus, false colour, and
situations, but provoke it and you can see it with fast whip pans, for example. Noise only becomes an issue at 6400 or higher, and then it’s easy to correct. The colour is natural, with neutral skin tones if footage is graded carefully. If you record with a LUT then just choose a Blackmagic LUT in your editing software, as there aren’t any specifically for the camera yet. It’s better to spend a little of your time colour correcting then grading, and adding in noise reduction if you are shooting on Raw or Log, to achieve your own look.
spendmore time in post to get the exact look then it’s a staggering performer, with fantastic image quality at a stunningly low price.
More information blackmagicdesign.com
HOW IT RATES
Features: 9 Shoots Raw and ProRes to a memory card, but no image stabilisation Performance: 9
Rawfiles are incredible, 6K/50p and 120fps for HD super slow-mo Handling: 9 Menus are easy to use, a large screen – but it doesn’t even tilt Value formoney: 9 The specs are incredible but it’s twice the price of the 4K version OVERALL RATING: 9/10 It’s cheap for a 6K camera, shoots Raw and ProRes, has great image quality Pros: 6K Raw shooting, high resolution image quality Cons: Sluggish autofocus, poor battery life
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PRO MOVIEMAKER WINTER 2019
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