Few digital camera producers have managed to face out the way in which Blackmagic has on the subject of capturing high-quality video on a mirrorless digital camera. The Pocket Cinema Digital camera 6K Professional (dubbed PCC6K Professional) impressed me after I reviewed it just a few years in the past, however by some means the corporate’s new Cinema Digital camera 6K has managed to prime it. With a full-frame sensor, the brand new L mount, and an identical $2,600 worth, it’s turning my head once more.
The Cinema Digital camera 6K is essentially just like its predecessor, with practically an identical battery life (about an hour on one 3,500-mAh battery), and it retains the intuitive controls in comparison with what you will discover on {most professional} cameras. It lacks the built-in impartial density filters I preferred within the PCC6K Professional, however the brand new options are well worth the trade-off.
The Full-Body Sensor Expertise
The most important improve to the Cinema Digital camera 6K is the one so essential they put it proper on the entrance of the casing: a full-frame, 36 x 24-millimeter sensor. In comparison with the Tremendous 35-mm sensor on the earlier fashions–which, regardless of its title, measures 23 x 13 mm–the brand new mannequin’s sensor is a major improve.
Full-frame sensors are comparable in dimension to 35-mm movie. Probably the most distinguished good thing about that is that there’s no crop issue when utilizing most lenses. Cropped sensors end in a smaller subject of view, that means you’ll be able to match much less of a scene right into a body in comparison with a digital camera with a full-frame sensor. Put merely, it’s essential to be additional away, use shorter lenses, or each to get the identical picture. This may usually come on the expense of issues like a shallow depth of subject or worse low-light efficiency.
Placing a full-frame sensor inside one in every of Blackmagic’s cameras might be the most effective improve I might’ve requested for. I usually shoot movies in my condominium, and it may be troublesome to get pictures that look good as a result of there merely isn’t sufficient house within the body to get the scene that I need. For instance, beneath are two images taken with a 50-mm lens, first with the PCC6K Professional and the second with the brand new Cinema Digital camera 6K; I stood in the identical spot in my tiny front room. The total-frame sensor can seize considerably extra of my residing house. For some folks like me who usually must shoot in cramped areas, that is nothing wanting a godsend.
{Photograph}: Eric Ravenscraft
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Digital camera 6K Professional
The brand new mannequin feels simply as comfy to make use of as Blackmagic’s different cinema cameras. It is perhaps a little bit cumbersome, however its chassis feels glorious whether or not you are holding it with one or two fingers. The autofocus is impeccable; there’s nonetheless no autofocus monitoring nor in-body picture stabilization (IBIS), however with the useful focus button subsequent to the left thumb, I discover it straightforward to land the main focus instantly on my topic. The entire thing might be heavy, particularly when you use it with Blackmagic’s non-compulsory battery grip, however that is nonetheless my favourite design for all the pieces from the studio to run-and-gun shoots.
Low-Mild Efficiency
With a much bigger sensor comes bigger pixels that may seize extra mild. In comparison with the sensor on the earlier 6K Professional, the full-frame sensor has practically thrice as a lot floor space, however the identical 6K decision. That implies that every pixel is capturing virtually thrice as a lot mild for every pixel within the picture.
The result’s that the brand new Cinema Digital camera 6K performs even higher in low-light situations than the already spectacular mannequin that got here earlier than it. Listed here are two images, one with the earlier 6K Professional, and one with the brand new Cinema Digital camera 6K. Each cameras have been set to an ISO of 400, at an ƒ/3 aperture, and 1/30 shutter pace. They have been additionally captured from the identical place, though I cropped the full-frame picture to a comparable space of the 6K Professional.
