BLACKMAGIC POCKET CINEMA CAMERA 6K PRO
in 17:9, C4K, 4K, 3.7K anamorphic and 2.8K in 17:9. Or you can record in 10-bit 4:2:2 in a range of ProRes settings, in C4K, 4K or FHD. The fastest frame rate is 60fps, but off-speed frame rates are allowed. There is also 120fps slowmotion in 2.8K 17:9 Raw, or in HD ProRes scaled from2.7K. But the crop in 120fps is 3.388x, which is a lot. It might work for wildlife, as it gives your lenses a huge reach, but at the ultimate expense of image quality. The camera is actually more at home on a tripod on a film set or in a studio, where it integrates perfectly with Blackmagic’s live broadcast and streaming ecosystem. And it has an inlet for mains power, which takes a very secure push fitting. Dual native ISO is good in low light, while 13 stops of dynamic range is ideal for HDR. There’s a full- sized HDMI socket to output clean 10-bit ProRes, a mini XLR input with phantompower for professional mics, built-in LUTs, time code and zebra pattern for monitoring. The camera’s professional credentials are backed up by quality rubber covers over ports, including a headphone socket andmini XLR jack. Plus, there are good-quality internal mics and preamps, with on-screen
audiomonitoring that is easy to see and understand. However, the real beauty of this camera is the footage quality. To get the best out of it, try shooting in Raw. This gives it a real benefit in quality and control, but it comes at a cost. One is the extra processing power and time involved, as BRAWfiles have to be processed in Blackmagic’s Da Vinci Resolve. You do get a free, full Studio version of Resolve, which is industry standard for colour grading, but there is a learning curve to getting the best out of it – and it’s an extra step if you then want to export to your usual NLE. The other issue in Raw is the large file sizes. However, the 6K Pro allows you to select different compression levels for Raw files, from 3:1 right down to 12:1 (if you keep the bit rate constant), or four quality levels from Q0 to Q5 for consistent quality. This is a trade-off between file size and quality. But when shooting in 6K, even the most compressed files give stunning resolution. At 6K, you can get around an hour of recording on a 256GB card. Recording 4K or lower in ProRes gives edit-ready files that are easier to handle, and usually save on space compared to Raw. But with a choice of compression levels,
BIG TIME With its optional battery grip and EVF, the BMPCC 6K Pro is a large camera (top). The big screen (above), which now tilts, has very obvious menu settings, allowing you to select codecs and colour settings
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