GEAR
A MAGIC FORMULA FOR SHOOT SUCCESS How’s this for a real clash of styles? The £2329/$2535 Blackmagic PCC 6K Pro looks like a massive medium format stills DSLR when fitted with its EVF and battery grip. Yet it’s all about filmmaking, coming with a Super 35 sensor, a large, five-inch tilting touchscreen, built-in ND filters and XLR audio connectors. And Blackmagic still calls this a ‘pocket’ camera. As winner of the best hybrid in the recent Pro Moviemaker Gear of the Year Awards, this affordable beast is all about considered working when image quality is everything. It shoots Blackmagic Raw files processed through DaVinci Resolve Studio software – which
MISNOMER The big Blackmagic is definitely not pocket- sized, but produces great results
comes with the camera – and the results are stunning. Its 6K Super 35 HDR sensor has 13 stops of dynamic range and dual native ISO – and will shoot in 60fps from the full sensor or 120fps with a crop. It can record in 10-bit Apple ProRes for all formats up to 4K, or 12-bit Blackmagic Raw in every format up to 6K. These are recorded to a CFast card or externally to a USB-C drive. The Blackmagic EVF slots into a port on the top-plate and costs £519/$495. The large HDR touchscreen now tilts, which is a big bonus – but it’s not fully articulating. The Sony-fit NP-F battery is a new addition, or for more power there is an optional £145/$149 battery grip.
“This beast is all about considered working when image quality is everything” One-shot, contrast-detection autofocus doesn’t offer any tracking, and there are no autoexposure settings or image stabilisation. Controls are altered on the large touchscreen menu, where you can specify shutter speed or shutter angle. The sensor has dual native ISO, with base settings of ISO 400 and 3200. Recording is up to 6K in Blackmagic Raw format, 3.7K anamorphic and 2.8K in 17:9 – plus 10-bit 4:2:2 over a range of ProRes settings in C4K, 4K or Full HD. There is 120fps slow motion in 2.8K 17:9 Raw or in HD ProRes scaled from 2.7K. But the crop is severe. A full-size HDMI socket outputs clean 10-bit ProRes, and there are built-in LUTs. Footage is packed with detail and has natural colours, lots of dynamic range, virtually no moiré and little rolling shutter. blackmagicdesign.com
XLR-ATE! The PCC 6K will get your audio into top gear, as it has pro-style mini XLR jacks
SIGMA’S MEGAPIXEL MONSTER
Sigma’s £1999/$2499 quirky pocket-sized fp L is the world’s smallest full-frame mirrorless camera and the only one to shoot CinemaDNG Raw files to an SD card. It has phase detection autofocus, an optional viewfinder and a 61-megapixel sensor. Its hybrid design has cooling vents to stop overheating, buttons under the screen to set colour modes and tones, and standard 1/4in-20 threaded holes. It also has a Director’s Viewfinder option, which allows you to fix the lens of your choice and set the camera to give the view you would record on other cameras from Arri, Sony and Red. The AF system offers eye detection and a subject tracking AF system, which works within a 7x7 grid and has 49 focus points, but 100 and 120fps frame rates in Full HD have a severe 1.67x crop. It does have options for real 24p and 23.98p. Not to mention a zoom crop function, where you can shoot 4K from up to nine different crops of the sensor down to a native 3840x2160 region. The camera is still all about shooting Raw video, where you can extract incredible detail in post.
Connect an external SSD, and you can output 10- or 12-bit CinemaDNG Raw video. For smaller files, output via HDMI in ProRes Raw to an Atomos recorder or Blackmagic Raw to its Video Assist. Using HDMI output also allows DCI 4K video, in the wider 4096x2160 size – only in 24p. The fp L has a minimalist body. An optional EVF bolts on to the side and can tilt up to 90°. However, this viewfinder takes up the HDMI port and stops you charging the camera over USB. It’s a unique unit that might make sense for you. sigma-imaging-uk.com
FAN-TASTIC The cooling vents stop the sensor from overheating in long shoots
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