Blackmagic Design unveiled the update to their popular Pocket Cinema Camera at NAB Show 2018 this week, and the little camera looks like a winner.
The spec on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K looks fantastic on paper! 13 stops visual dynamic range, dual native ISO (400/3200), sensitivity up to ISO 25600, 5″ touchscreen (featuring the lovely user interface introduced with the Camera 4.0 OS update in October 2016), DCI 4K and UHD up to 60fps, windowed FHD up to 120fps, HDMI-A, USB-C, and 3D LUT support. It also supports ProRes from 422 HQ to 422 Proxy, as well as Cinema DNG and 3:1 and 4:1 lossless raw compression ratios.
And it’s pretty.
Powered by standard Canon LP-E6N batteries, Pocket 4K will accept SD/UHX II cards (which, I’m assuming, includes version 5 SDXC media with the new Video Speed Class), but you will need CFast 2.0 cards to enable all the camera’s frame rate and codec options. Also, it will ship with a full license for Davinci Resolve Studio which was recently updated to Version 15.
The only thing I’m not completely in love with is the sensor not being Super 35 (it’s Four Thirds with an active Micro Four Thirds lens mount), but that’s such a tiny quibble. Everything else is superb, especially if looking at it from the perspective of an independent freelance video producer wanting to graduate from their digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera, or mirrorless interchangeable lens camera (MILC) to a device that has a familiar form but has all the gooey insides of a proper digital film (read: video) camera.
Speaking of which the Pocket 4K will also capture stills like a traditional DSLR. This is a cute reverse of the stills camera that also shoots video being that the Pocket 4K closely resembles the form factor of a DSLR or ML body. At this point I can only imagine stills would be captured as Cinema DNG raw up to DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) at either 12 or 14 bits with hopefully a DPI of something better than 200.
It could be argued the Pocket 4K is the camera the original Blackmagic Cinema Camera 2.5K EF should have been (except that camera probably would have also been 2.5K in 2013). It’s definitely the camera I wish I’d bought from Blackmagic that year! I’m sure the image quality of Pocket 4K will be sublime; at least on par with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera or the original Pocket Cinema Camera. If it’s more like Ursa Mini Pro, that’d be terrific, too. Blackmagic Design says the camera will be embedded with all their color science.
I can see Pocket 4K being used for quite a lot of projects including stills, especially if it plays well with Canon L glass. I might just have to buy one of these for myself come end of the year! The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is expected to be released in September 2018.
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