Blackmagic Design unveils its first full-frame model, the Cinema Camera 6K
It's also the company's first L-Mount camera as part of an alliance with Leica and Panasonic.
Blackmagic Design has unveiled the Cinema Camera 6K, its debut model with the L-Mount alliance and first full-frame camera. It comes with an all-new 24.6-megapixel sensor (6,048 x 4,032), shoots up to 6K and has dual native ISO for "incredible low-light performance," the company said. Instead of using Canon's EF mount as it has in the past, it will work with L-mount lenses from Panasonic, Leica, Sigma and other partners in the L-mount alliance. As with other Blackmagic Design cameras, it's designed for cinema shooting so it lacks basic features like continuous autofocus and built-in stabilization.
"With the new Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K, we wanted to create the most portable camera possible for high end, large format cinematography," said CEO Grant Petty. "That’s why we took the Pocket Cinema Camera platform but completely re-engineered the electronics inside around a full frame sensor and L-Mount."
The new sensor offers a number of advantages for film shooters, namely shallower depth of field and better performance in low light. To that end, the company is promising 13 stops of dynamic range and dual ISO performance up to 25,600. With the L-mount, it's also Blackmagic Design's first mirrorless style mount, with a relatively short flange distance that makes it slimmer than past models. The disadvantage to that, though, is that there's no room for the built-in ND filter found on past models.
The Cinema Camera 6K can shoot in all standard resolutions and frame rates up to DCI 4K and 6K, and stills at up to 24.6 megapixels. 6K open gate (3:2) is available at up to 36fps, or 60fps at 6,048 x 2,520 (2.4:1) and 60fps at 4,096 x 2,160 (4K DCI). "Customers can even work in true anamorphic 6:5 at much higher resolutions than other cameras using anamorphic lenses in 4.8K 24fps at 4,838 x 4,032," the company said. The maximum 120fps frame rate is available in HD.
It comes with a very bright 1,500 nit 5-inch tilting (but not fully articulating) HDR touchscreen that makes it possible to check HDR video straight from the camera, even in bright conditions. Blackmagic offers the usual shooting aids like histogram, focus peaking, levels, frame guides and more. You can also apply your own 3D LUTs for monitoring. It has the Blackmagic's touch interface that's intuitive and pleasant to use.
Video is recorded in the 12-bit Blackmagic RAW (BRAW) or H.264 proxy formats, either to CFexpress B or an SSD via the USB-C port. Other features include a wide range of audio ports, including a locking XLR port, an HDMI output, NP-F570 batteries (along with a locking DC power connector) and an optional BMPCC Pro Grip. The Cinema Camera 6K is now on sale for $2,595 — making it the lowest-price full-frame cinema-specific camera out there.
Along with the Cinema Camera 6K, Blackmagic Design debuted the Blackmagic Camera iPhone app that gives users cinema-like camera controls and looks. "Customers can adjust settings such as frame rate, shutter angle, white balance and ISO all in a single tap. Or record directly to Blackmagic Cloud in industry standard 10-bit Apple ProRes files up to 4K," the company wrote. It also works with Blackmagic Cloud, letting creators collaborate with other users. It's now available on the App Store as a free download.
