BMPCC 6K Review – Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K. Released in August 2019 by Blackmagic Design.

It’s a handheld digital film camera with a full Super 35 size 6K HDR image sensor, 13 stops of dynamic range, an EF lens mount and dual native ISO up to 25,600… 😱

Get BMPCC6K ➡ ORDER YOURS TODAY… Click here

I got my hands on the BMPCC 6K for a few days.

Basically, I tested it’s top 3 selling features, namely, recording videos in 6K resolution, shooting in extremely low light, and ease of use.

I will also be covering…

1. Sensor Size – Super 35 vs APS-C
2. EF Mount – Manual Lens vs Automatic Lens
3. Battery Life – Alternative Power Solutions
4. Using the BMPCC 6K – Buttons and Touchscreen
5. Memory Card – Storage Size and Recording Time
6. Blackmagic Raw – and other codec options
7. Maxing Out the ISO – 25600 in the dark!

I will cover these and more in part 2.

1. Selecting the frame rate. 24fps? 50fps? 60fps?
2. It gets hot quickly… is the cooling fan noisy?
3. It gets heavy handheld… stabilization solution?

…and a lot more. I will break the review into 3 parts.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the reviews…
→ https://www.youtube.com/c/videolane?sub_confirmation=1

BMPCC 6K vs BMPCC 4K

Just one year ago, I did a video review on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K! Watch the review here…
→ https://youtu.be/QfdVHrVLAJE

So what’s different in the 6K?

There are three BIG differences. (6k vs 4k)

• A larger image sensor (Super 35 vs MFT sensor)
• A bigger lens mount (EF lens mount vs MFT mount)
• Deeper body size (obviously for the above reasons)

One more thing… a higher price tag! (US$2495 vs US$1295)

THE REVIEW

Again, tune in to this page where I will update with the review shortly.

Or order your BMPCC 6K today!

BMPCC 6K REVIEW PART 1 – LOW LIGHT TEST

► https://youtu.be/P2tjeVIL5D8

Sensor Size – Super 35 vs APS-C

1. Super 35 – the standard sensor size for cinema cameras
2. It’s NOT the same the bigger 35mm found in still cameras
3. It’s about the same as APS-C sensors but packs more pixels

EF Mount – Manual Lens vs Automatic Lens

1. EF Lens Mount – The lens adaptor size found in most readily available lenses made for bigger photography cameras.
2. The Samyang 35mm Lens is an example of an EF mount lens made for cinema cameras and it’s totally manual.
3. Manual vs Automatic Lens. With an auto lens, you get to use the touch autofocus and auto iris exposure.

Battery Life – Alternative Power Solutions

1. Short battery life – The single LP-E6 battery in the battery compartment last less than 45 minutes.
2. 12V DC Power – When shooting indoors, I prefer to plug the camera into the AC all the time for continuous power.
3. USB charging – If I were to shoot outdoors, I would bring my Anker 10000mAH power bank to keep the camera fully charged all the time via the USB port.

Alternatively, we can use the Blackmagic Pocket Camera Battery Grip with 2 hours of power on a single charge.

Using the BMPCC 6K – Buttons and Touchscreen

1. Powering up – Turning on the BMPCC 6K is as easy as toggling the power switch on top.
2. Easy access buttons – the operational buttons are so conveniently placed for the right hand to control. The minimal number of control buttons makes me appreciate the simplicity of this camera over my other cameras.
3. Touchscreen – Being a smartphone video creator myself, I tend to use the touchscreen more than the physical buttons.

Memory Card – Storage Size and Recording Time

1. Three recording media options – SD Card slot, CFAST Card slot, SSD via USB-C port (oops, so I have to remove my power bank)
2. CFAST Card – In this review, I have only a 128GB CFAST Card
3. Recording time – 128GB records 7 minutes of 6K footage at the highest quality

Blackmagic Raw – and other codec options

1. Two codecs – Blackmagic RAW (records 6K) and ProRes (records 4k and HD)
2. Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate – Also known as CBR which records every frame in a video, hence creating a larger file size. To get smaller file sizes, we can choose to compress the video data by 5, 8, or 12 times.
3. Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality – Also known as Variable Bitrate (VBR), which records only when there are changes in the video, hence taking up less file space. Again we have options to compress further by selecting Q5.

Maxing Out the ISO – 25600 in the dark!

1. The minimum ISO setting is 100 and the maximum is a whopping 25600!
2. Does it really work? I tested it in the dark and I am amazed!
3. By the way, for beginners, ISO sets the camera sensitivity to light.

BMPCC 6K REVIEW PART 2 – vs 4K

In Part 1, I set up the BMPCC 6K to record in Blackmagic Raw 6K resolution. Then I was blown away when I tested the exceptional low light performance.

In Part 2, I continue checking out other impressive features.

BMPCC 6K vs BMPCC 4K

Just one year ago, I did a video review on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K! Watch the review here…
→ https://youtu.be/QfdVHrVLAJE

So what’s different in the 6K?

There are three BIG differences. (6k vs 4k)

• A larger image sensor (Super 35 vs MFT sensor)
• A bigger lens mount (EF lens mount vs MFT mount)
• Deeper body size (obviously for the above reasons)

One more thing… a higher price tag! (US$2495 vs US$1295)

Frame Rates – 24 fps / 50 fps / 60 fps…

1. At 6K 6144×3456 resolution, I can set the recording frame rate from 23.98 fps to 50 fps.
2. What about 60 fps? I have to set to a lower resolution like 6K 2.4:1 6144×2560. I will not explore any lower. If I am not shooting 6K, I might as well use the BMPCC 4K.
3. I understand cinematographers swear by 24 fps. So I will set to 24 fps.

Dynamic Range Setting – Video vs Film

1. I would say, since this is a cinema camera, choose Film. It records a flat “washed-out” look so that you can color grade later.
2. Since I want to get my videos out fast and skip the color grading process, I can choose Video, which records a standard video look.
3. I personally prefer the look of Extended Video, which is a balance between video and film… more dynamic range than video.

Off Speed Frame Rate? What’s that?

1. This is useful when you want to shoot at a higher frame rate, like 50 fps, for that slow-motion playback.
2. Then why have a separate frame rate setting? So if you shot a nice slow-mo in 50 fps, it will automatically playback in slow-mo without wasting time doing it in post. That’s a time saver!

Drop Frame – Stop Recording

1. By default, this setting is turned off.
2. I see no reason to use footage with drop frames.
3. So I prefer to turn this on. Stop recording on any dropped frame.

It Gets Hot… Thanks for the Silent Blower

BMPCC 6K Fan Noise – Is it a Problem… https://videolane.com/bmpcc-6-k-fan-noise/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkTJKMiBfIw

1. It gets burning hot at the bottom after about 10 minutes.
2. The ventilator fan is also situated at the bottom.
3. How’s the fan noise? Silent.

It Needs Stabilization… Use a Tripod or Gimbal

1. Just like the BMPCC 4K, there’s no built-in stabilizer.
2. No problem, that will force me to create a more professional looking video by e using a tripod.
3. I managed to fix it on my Feiyutech AK4000 Monster Gimbal.

More Essential Setups…

Just 3 more settings left, and I am ready to shoot.

1. White Balance – I love using AWB for quick white balance.
2. Shutter Speed – Just tap and select shutter speed (1/50).
3. ISO – Varies while opening the lens aperture to the max.

Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera BMPCC 6k User Manual

Feel free to reply with a comment or question.

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See you in the next one!

Adrian Lee
VIDEOLANE.COM

PS: Join the next Videography and Video Editing Class in Singapore…
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