Verdict
The Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6 K is n’t a typical mirrorless camera . It ’s near useless for still photography and lacks many quality - of - life features . And yet none of that matter , because this photographic camera achieves its main destination by being a lean , affordable and generally substance abuser - favorable means to shoot cinema - timber picture . Potential buyers should bear in idea that it bunk Blackmagic ’s exist 6 K Pro exemplar in some area ( depleted light ) while fall poor of it in others ( slow - motion footage ) .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6 K is the first newfangled model in the society ’s Pocket Cinema Camera mountain range let go in over two years , the first to strike down ‘ Pocket ’ from its name and – most importantly – the first to come with a full - human body image detector .
Previous fashion model have employed 4/3 and APS - C sensors , but the Cinema Camera 6 K ’s 36 mm x 24 mm sensor is almost three times large than the latter , offering movie maker possible creative advantages in the form of cleaner low light range quality , a shallower deepness of field and the ability to utilize anamorphic lenses without a harvest .
The Cinema Camera 6 K also boast a large lens mount ( the Leica L - Mount ) to suit its larger sensor , and is now using CFexpress card for on - board entrepot , but in many other ways look and feels very standardized to older Pocket Cinema Camera theoretical account .
That might be date as a well thing , given the range ’s reputation for deliver superb quality video recording in a way that suits professional workflow perfectly – all in a comparatively compendious and cheap tv camera body . Let ’s ascertain out if this latest example lives up to its precursor ’ high standards .
Design
The Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6 K is all but identical in looks , size and weight to its Pocket Cinema Camera forerunner ; Blackmagic may have dropped “ Pocket ” from the name this time around , but very small has changed physically . There ’s the same DSLR - style form , same large tilting screen , same front tally lamp and same button layout .
The camera dead body is constructed from voiceless polycarbonate ( aka charge card ) which feels problematic enough to resist farsighted twenty-four hours on hardening or localization , but unlike a circle of premium cameras there ’s no weather - sealing here – so habituate outdoors on a showery mean solar day at your own peril .
It ’s a passably wide , heavy body by mirrorless standards – but a small , lightweight body by cinema camera standards , so I have no complaint about its bulk or dimension . With a lens attached the thing feel balanced and easygoing to hold , and the chunky supplied strap help with portability too .
The push button and dial layout is solid , with controls well - labelled and locate within easy reach of fingers and thumbs . There are four customisable buttons that can be set to hold the drug user ’s most needed functions , and the touchscreen port is simple and light to pilot .
As on previous Cinema Cameras , the projection screen is a major highlight . It ’s bright ( 1500 nit ) , broad ( 16:9 aspect ratio ) , sharp ( 1920 x 1080 settlement ) and importantly larger than most mirrorless camera display at 5 inches across . It can careen up and down but unfortunately can not be made to face forward , which makes thing a turn crafty for anyone looking to shoot themselves and feels a bit dissatisfactory for a picture - centrical tv camera .
There ’s no viewfinder as standard , but Blackmagic ’s £ 485 electronic view finder bring like a spell should you need one . It ’s a fairly expensive upgrade though , so takes a bit of a shine off the photographic camera ’s affordability – especially give very few other mirrorless modelling fare without a built - in EVF . In terms of adding other appurtenance , there are go up points top and bottom ( two here ) for the likes of tripod , cages and microphones .
Features and performance
Most mirrorless cameras come with some form of tracking autofocus and many offer in - body paradigm stabilisation – but you wo n’t find either of these things here . Autofocus is included when a compatible lens is bind , but is obtuse , not always precise and wo n’t dog a moving discipline . Stabilisation can be add in post - production thanks to the built - in gyroscope data point , and it ’s very effective , but does call for cropping your video frame .
The deficiency of these features does n’t finger specially damning here , because the camera is propose principally at filmmaking professional who are happy manually focussing and probably have access to all fashion of grips , tripods and gimbals to keep the camera steady while inject . Still , it ’s worth noting that the Cinema Camera 6 K is not really a photographic camera for newbies to cut their teeth on – something a morsel more various and full - featured from one of the major mark would be a much good set .
The camera features a CFexpress placard slot for on - board storage ( a 256 GB bill of fare can put in about an hr of 12 - bit RAW footage ) , and itsUSB - Cport can be used to record to externalSSDsand flash drive .
There ’s a full - size HDMI end product too , but it ’s for monitoring rather than commemorate ( patronise a 1080p cleanfeed ) , while other connectivity include a 12V DC major power stimulation , 3.5 mm earphone socket and two character of microphone input signal : 3.5 mm and mini XLR . The latter is rarified on a mirrorless camera , but essential for professional filmmaking . There ’s also a ramp up - in stereophonic system mic with ports either side of the lens mount .
The USB - C port here is n’t as versatile as on some cameras , as it ca n’t be used for incessant mightiness supplying ( there ’s the 12V for that ) or file cabinet transfer ( users will have to put the CFexpress card in a card lector for that ) . It can however be used to reload the battery , albeit only when the camera is turn off . Blackmagic issue an external charger for this too , and it ’s almost sure quicker than using USB .
speak of the battery , it ’s decent . The camera expend magnanimous NP - F570 batteries , and a fully charged one gives it around an hour of substantial 6 K recording . Spares can be snapped up for around £ 45 .
Video
Here ’s the main cause to purchase the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6 kilobyte : like the Pocket Cinema Cameras that occur before it , it records excellent broadcast- and movie - quality television at a fraction of the price of many professional video television camera .
What this one does a bit otherwise to its predecessors is excel in low light situations as a result of its huge full - frame detector , which offers a threefold aboriginal ISO up to 25,600 . Put a fast lens on it and you’re able to immortalise very operational and comparatively racket - free video at nighttime and in other situations where usable light is limited .
That ’s a definite advantage over the other models in the kitchen stove , but I was a little disappointed to see that the built - in ND filter from thePocket Cinema 6 K Prodidn’t make it to this camera – which advise it ’s not as worthy for bright sunshine work ( at least not without external ND filters added ) .
It ’s also not quite as comfortable recording in high spirits material body rate footage as the 6 K Pro , which could snaffle up 4 special K footage at 120fps . Here , you have to drop the resolution to 1080p to attain that speed .
That being said , the Cinema Camera 6 K ’s full - frame of reference sensing element can immortalize “ open gate ” – in other Word , using its total surface – which is something you do n’t get on any other Pocket Cinema Camera . Open logic gate video is 6048 x 4032 , 3:2 ratio and can go up to 36fps , and its big reward is that you’re able to crop to pretty much any aspect ratio and orientation in post - production .
Also new this time is an L - Mount lens mount , giving the camera access to around 50 native full - frame lens ( made by L - Mount co - laminitis Leica , Sigma and Panasonic ) plus thousands of others via adapters . The L - Mount has been designed with full - bod in mind , so suits the larger detector of the television camera well .
The telecasting character itself is wild . The camera only disc in one codec – Blackmagic ’s own 12 - bit RAW format – but it can be adjusted to various compression level . Video has a flat look by nonremittal but LUTs can be loaded into the photographic camera and apply to give you a prevue of the ruined look , and in any case you ’ll almost certainly be grading and correcting everything in military post - production . This is , after all , a television camera for pro .
With 13 stops of dynamic range of mountains in the 12 - bit video files , there ’s range for piles of adjustment in your post - processing platform of choice . I used Blackmagic ’s own DaVinci Resolve Studio 18 Studio ( a barren copy of which comes with every Cinema Camera 6 K ; regular price is around £ 260 ) to edit out , stabilise and grade all the footage you see here , and I think it ’s a fantastic pro - level piece of software system that works brilliantly with this camera .
A final Son on distillery : you could take them on the television camera but the slow autofocus and deficiency of on - board processing mean photography is a side feature rather than anything like a primary attracter . I would honestly rather use a smartphone to take photos than this , but for video few of its rivals can extend to it .
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Should you buy it?
Blackmagic ’s splendid 12 - minute codec and the camera ’s huge sensor make it suited for scud in the trickiest of lighting condition .
With slow AF , no IBIS and a rudimentary still picture taking apparatus , this is a camera with a singular centering : serious filmmaking . It ’s not for beginners .
Final Thoughts
Like the Pocket Cinema Cameras that add up before it , the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6 K is a specialist tool for a narrow-minded subset of people ; it ’s not a camera with mass ingathering . Big , non - waterproofed and miss many of features you ’d expect on a liberal - name mirrorless camera in this damage orbit , it can be a tricky mathematical product to control for anyone not au fait with filmmaking .
But for masses who live how to get the good out of it , its capabilities are very impressive , peculiarly when it comes to abject light video capture . It deserves its top spot in Blackmagic ’s line - up , even if some of its senior brethren might be proficient at certain thing .
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We test every television camera we refresh thoroughly . We use put test to compare feature properly and we utilize it as our independent equipment over the review period . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to go over a product .
FAQs
you’re able to take photos with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 4 K , but the dull autofocus and deficiency of on - gameboard processing means you’re able to find good note value elsewhere if picture taking is a precedence .
There ’s no view finder as standard , but Blackmagic ’s £ 485 electronic viewfinder exploit like a charm should you need one
Full Specs
