Blackmagic’s New Pocket Pro 6K Cinema Camera Adds the Tilt Screen the Original Needed

Blackmagic is releasing a new “Pro” version of its Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, which seeks to address many of the issues we found in the original. It adds a tilting, brighter screen (and optional electronic viewfinder), bigger battery, and built-in ND. The camera falls into the Blackmagic lineup above the regular 6K, at $ 2,495, about $ 500 more than the non-Pro version.

While the new features still don’t make the camera ideal for consumers, they will provide quality of life improvements for filmmakers and low-budget video production houses – especially that tilting screen. I’ve used a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera before, and it’s a tripod-mounted dream at eye level, but an ergonomic nightmare when trying to take a handheld or high or low angle shot. Being able to tilt the screen up or down will help make the camera easier to use, and might even eliminate the need for an external monitor, depending on your shooting style.

Image: Blackmagic

In our review, we also found that the original Pocket Cinema 6K’s screen was difficult to see outdoors, but the Pro has two different solutions for this. The first is that the screen is now operating at 1,500 nits, which is as bright or brighter than most of SmallHD’s dedicated camera monitors, and should improve the visibility of the monitor in direct sunlight. The second is an optional $ 500 OLED electronic viewfinder, which uses a dedicated (but apparently proprietary) connector instead of taking the camera’s single HDMI port like a Zacuto EVF would.

To power all this it uses a bigger battery than the original, but Blackmagic only cites an hour of shooting with the screen at 50% brightness (although that’s an improvement over the estimated 45 minutes). of the original).

Built-in ND filters are more exciting, especially for those who shoot outdoors a lot. The camera has four built-in filters that reduce the light by two, four and six stops when the sun is shining a little too bright. Of course, I would have liked to see an electronically variable ND filter like on Sony’s cameras, which offer continuous range instead of discrete stops, but at this price point I can understand why Blackmagic didn’t go this route. .

Add an extra mini-XLR jack for a total of two, and the Pro is a nice upgrade from the original Pocket 6K. It also makes the camera more competitive with Canon’s C100 Mark II, which has a similar Super-35 sensor, EF mount, and built-in ND. Cameras can appeal to different types of shooters, but I know I’ve found myself cross-shopping with offerings from Canon and Blackmagic, especially when I’m not sure what kind of projects I want to work on.

If, like me, you were put off by some of the asterisks and caveats of the original version, perhaps the Pro version deserves another look – especially since all the extra features are on offer at one. relatively low price.