Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro Reviewed by Corry Raymond
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Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro:
Review by Corry Raymond
A collaboration with
Fantastic video quality, thought-out features, friendly interface, affordable price... Yes, we are talking about Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro! Watch Corry's ultimate review now.
Corry Raymond
Ultimate Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro Review by Corry Raymond
Fantastic video quality, thought-out features, friendly interface, affordable price… Yes, we are talking about Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro! Watch Corry's ultimate review or read more below 🎓
Trailer
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Intro
1
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Price
70
Specs
97
Advantages
120
Disadvantages
231
Best for pros
337
Project purposes
382
6K vs. 4K
450
Final footage
489
Camera settings
534
Ending
629
Meet Corry
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What you’ll learn
The biggest advantages are Built-in ND filters, Small body size & Tilt screen.
The biggest disadvantages are Base ISO, No IBIS & its Body shape.
Product review chapters
Price
A rental price for the Blackmagic 6K Pro ranges between 60-80€ for just the camera, and approximately 130-180€ for the kit. The price depends on where you rent the camera. To buy the camera body would cost anything between 2000-2500€, depending on if it's new or not.
Specs
The camera has a super 35mm sensor, 6k resolution, EF lens mount, dual native ISO at 400 and 3200, 13 stops of dynamic range, in-built ND filters, ProRes and BRAW shooting capabilities and optional accessories.
Advantages
The 6K Pro is a heavier version of the Pocket 6K. They have identical sensor and shooting options, but there are key differences that make a huge impact. Firstly, the 6K Pro has in-built ND filters, which is an advantage for filmmakers. It also has a small body size, which gives you the versatility to build the camera into what you need it to be. The tiltable screen is significantly better than the 6Ks and 4Ks built-in screen, as it is brighter with strong colours and contrast.
Disadvantages
No camera is perfect, so the 6K Pro also has a few disadvantages. Firstly, most professional cameras have a base ISO of 800, but the base ISO on the 6K Pro is 400. It also doesn't have any modern image stabilisation features such as IBIS. Its body shape is also odd because the 6K Pro is a hybrid of many different types of cameras.
Best for pros
The Blackmagic 6K Pro is best suited to a pro shooter. If you are a beginner operating this camera can get difficult because of the lack of auto features. However, if you are a pro, this gear will be able to do all the tricks you are used to such as shooting in 120 frames per second and filming in raw 6K. These features can be tricky for a beginner to unlock, but if you like a challenge, learning this camera from scratch will give you the skills to work with any camera.
Project purposes
This camera is intended to be used on a big screen. It can mimic an image looking similar to the Arri Alexa or a RED camera with a super 35mm sensor. Its niche is its size and what it packs into that size. Wedding videographers will have a blast with this camera, but it is also perfect for shooting music videos, low-budget indie features and short films. With an expert cinematographer and colour grade, the audience won't tell the difference between a 6K Pro or an Arri Alexa.
6k vs 4k
There are a lot of questions concerning shooting in 6K. As director David Fincher says: "Shooting in 6K and editing in 4K gives you the extra pixels to refrain in post. That is an additional 33% of pixels to refrain, which is especially useful for shooting gimbal shots.
Final footage
The Blackmagic cameras have always had a reputation for having a classic celluloid film look. To achieve that celluloid film look, you need grain, a high dynamic range, smooth skin tones and an image not too sharp. The 6K Pro offers all of this, which is why it looks cinematic. The 6K Pro benefits from exposure to the right instead of the left. Use the onscreen zebra to not lose any highlights but keep the camera slightly overexposed for the best results.
Camera settings
The camera can shoot in 1080 and 4K ProRes. To shoot in 6K, you should change your camera settings to b raw. There you will have a couple of compression settings, with different bit rates. To access higher frame rates such as 120, you should go into the camera's sensor settings and crop it to 2K. You will only be using half of the sensor size, but you can film in 120 frames per second. In the setting tab, you can also select any overlays you want. On the LUTs tab, you can select a couple of LUTs or load yours on LUTs.
Corry Raymond
Director, videographer, scriptwriter, and filmmaker
London, United Kingdom
“The 6K Pro features can be tricky for a beginner to unlock, but if you like a challenge, learning this camera from scratch will give you the skills to work with any camera.”
Do you want to learn more about the Blackmagic 6K Pro? Check out our article where we go into more detail on the features of the gear here.
