Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Review: Finally Full Frame Leave a comment

Few digital camera producers have managed to face out the way in which Blackmagic has in terms of capturing high-quality video on a mirrorless digital camera. The Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro (dubbed PCC6K Pro) impressed me once I reviewed it a couple of years in the past, however one way or the other the corporate’s new Cinema Camera 6K has managed to prime it. With a full-frame sensor, the brand new L mount, and the same $2,600 value, it’s turning my head once more.

The Cinema Digicam 6K is essentially just like its predecessor, with almost 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 favored within the PCC6K Professional, however the brand new options are well worth the trade-off.

The Full-Body Sensor Expertise

The largest improve to the Cinema Digicam 6K is the one so necessary 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 big improve.

Full-frame sensors are comparable in measurement to 35-mm movie. Essentially the most outstanding advantage of that is that there’s no crop issue when utilizing most lenses. Cropped sensors lead to a smaller field 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 good to be additional away, use shorter lenses, or each to get the identical picture. This will typically come on the expense of issues like a shallow depth of area or worse low-light efficiency.

Placing a full-frame sensor inside one among Blackmagic’s cameras might be the most effective improve I may’ve requested for. I typically shoot movies in my condo, and it may be troublesome to get pictures that look good as a result of there merely isn’t sufficient area 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 Digicam 6K; I stood in the identical spot in my tiny lounge. The complete-frame sensor can seize considerably extra of my residing area. For some folks like me who typically should shoot in cramped areas, that is nothing wanting a godsend.

The brand new mannequin feels simply as comfy to make use of as Blackmagic’s different cinema cameras. It may be slightly 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 helpful focus button subsequent to the left thumb, I discover it straightforward to land the main target straight on my topic. The entire thing could be heavy, particularly for those who use it with Blackmagic’s optional battery grip, however that is nonetheless my favourite design for every thing from the studio to run-and-gun shoots.

Low-Mild Efficiency

With an even bigger sensor comes bigger pixels that may seize extra gentle. In comparison with the sensor on the earlier 6K Professional, the full-frame sensor has almost thrice as a lot floor space, however the identical 6K decision. That implies that every pixel is capturing virtually thrice as a lot gentle for every pixel within the picture.

The result’s that the brand new Cinema Digicam 6K performs even higher in low-light situations than the already spectacular mannequin that got here earlier than it. Listed below are two images, one with the earlier 6K Professional, and one with the brand new Cinema Digicam 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.