Blackmagic Design unleashed their new Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K this afternoon! What does that mean for all of us who have the BMPCC 4K? Well the BMPCC 6K is pretty similar. The only major changes are the sensor size and recording frame rates – which means, you’ll be able to use most of your accessories from the previous 4K camera. So is the new camera worth the almost double price of their 4K version? Let’s take a look…
BMPCC 6K VS Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k
So our team has recently been filming with the BMPCC 4K and we love the color science and user interface. The ability to record compressed RAW is a big upgrade from the previous Cinema DNG where file sizes were extremely large. We filmed a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera slow motion test footage you can see here:
Our team is heavily invested in EF mount lenses, so when filming on the 4K version of the camera, we did need to purchase a Metabones Speedbooster, which cost about $600 to convert the M45 to S35. So adding that lens adapter to the camera price of $1300, it really made the full package $1900. When comparing that to the newer BMPCC 6K camera at $2500, it is a little bit more palatable. Getting the ability to film in 6k for any projects we’re mastering in 4k is a nice option so we can crop in a bit if necessary. And it seems like even downsampling 6k to 4k will likely be sharper than native 4k footage.
I really do like the ability to not use a lens adapter for all of our EF glass. I think that’s a major plus. However if you are invested in Micro 4/3 lenses, this upgrade isn’t as tempting.
BMPCC 6K Anamorphic?
I also love that Blackmagic are bringing anamorphic formats to their cameras. We are a recent adopter of the Atlas Anamorphic Lenses, and we’re really excited to try them out on the Blackmagic Cinema 6K camera. I think they will be a great combination. Currently only our ARRI Alexa Mini camera can record proper native anamorphic, so this is really exciting for projects where we can’t bring the Mini out, but want to have the Anamorphic look. The Alexa Mini was just overkill for last year’s chili cookoff at Grandma’s!
New Black Magic 6K Camera: Final Thoughts
Blackmagic had a big hit with their BMPCC 4K camera, and it makes sense that they followed it up with the 6K EF model. I’m really looking forward to trying it out especially with its anamorphic mode. Release date on the 6K camera is set for August 12, 2019, so let’s hope they can keep up with the orders!
What do you think about the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K? Is it worth the upgrade? Or if you haven’t dipped your toes in the Blackmagic ecosystem yet…does this tempt ye? Let us know, and make sure to check us out on YouTube for new Vids every Tuesday and Friday HERE!
