The Directors Duo Christopher Schlierf and Benjamin Kratzin are well known for their big cinematic shots and commercials. Both are self confessed ‘pixel freaks’ who are totally into their image quality. Their camera test of Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K includes sixteen scenes, which they cut as a trailer for a pretend Sci‑Fi movie.
“Blackmagic Design sent us one of the very first Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K to test before it was launched. Because this camera is for both professionals and filmmakers who are starting out, we wanted to create something that would empower both of them to do their own films.”
Production Company
Directors Duo
Filmmakers
Christopher Schlierf and Benjamin Kratzin
Cinematography
Benjamin Kratzin
Location
Munich, Germany
“Shooting the girl in the bath of milk was a really difficult decision, because we were trying to maintain the color variance but we still wanted to reduce the color palette so it had its own ‘Blade Runner-esk' feel. When you look at the source footage for this shot, there is still so much color variance and it’s incredibly sharp. In fact, we were really surprised that the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K could make such a crisp clear image given we were shooting on anamorphic lenses.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q0, ISO 3200, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Atlas Orion Anamorphic T2 32mm @ T4, EF mount
“In shooting the close up scene of the eye we had to use a spherical lens with a macro adapter, so we could get really close up. For this shot we went with a Canon 70‑200 @ f2.8. We closed the aperture as much as we could to get the image as sharp as possible. We first tested this lens open at f8 but the depth of field was still too small, so we eventually closed it down to f22.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q0, ISO 1250, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Canon 70-200 @ f22, EF mount
“These big architectural night shots are where the dynamic range of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K is really paying off. We didn’t need any big lights just by using the available practicals to keep this shot alive. You still get all of the highlight details in the background, but you can also see we have the shadow details on the un‑lit surfaces to the left and right of the scene.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q0, ISO 3200, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Atlas Orion Anamorphic T2 50mm @ T3, EF mount
“We spent a lot of time in preproduction thinking about each shot, and for this shot, we ordered the same white wig twice to make each girl look like clones. We also ordered these crazy headphones with lights attached to them, so that we could use them as practicals. This location also had a neon sign in a store window that gave us this blue‑ish look with an Asian looking red light to the right of shot.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q0, ISO 3200, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Atlas Orion Anamorphic T2, EF mount
“We shot this scene in a beautiful bar in Munich that has a roof full of Asian umbrellas. The bar was actually having a celebration the night we needed to shoot, so the owners let us sneak in for just 30mins to get all shots done in that location; so the setup time was really critical in this shot.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q0, ISO 3200, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Atlas Orion Anamorphic T2, EF mount
“The hacker scene was actually shot in Chris’ living room, which we filled with computers and any other stuff we could find to fill the space. We then stacked all of these different cables all over the place and tried to make the walls look a little more interesting.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Quality Q0, ISO 3200, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Atlas Orion Anamorphic T2 32mm @ T4, EF mount
Manchester based DP and camera operator, Dima Kalenda talks about using the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K and Blackmagic RAW for the first time. Dima wanted to use the camera with only one light source, relying totally on practicals for his late night shots.
“When Blackmagic gave me this new camera to test, I wasn’t asked to use any specific features of the camera. I had total freedom to do what I wanted. My task was to play with the camera and try to push it to its limits. I thought with a project like this, it was better to show how a camera of this calibre and flexibility can be so forgiving to work with. Even though this was probably the only beta camera in Europe, I still decided to try it in all of these extreme conditions. To my surprise it had no errors at all.”
Filmmaker
Dima Kalenda
Cinematography
Dima Kalenda
Colorist
Tom Majerski, Tetragrade
Location
Formby, Manchester, London, United Kingdom
“All of the beach shots were at Formby near Blackpool and shot at golden hour, which was about 9pm. Because I wanted more detail between the girl and the sand dunes and grasses, I kept the aperture at T8. The silhouette shots I really liked because they are so easy to setup and they just look so cool.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate 5:1, ISO 400, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Atlas Orion Anamorphic T2 32mm @ T8 ‑ T4, EF mount
“This scene in the rain was actually shot at 2am after we returned to Manchester from shooting that day in London. As we started shooting it began to rain heavily, which I then had to make a rain cover out of three bin bags. I wrapped it around the camera and a custom lens hood I had made.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate 5:1, ISO 3200, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Atlas Orion Anamorphic T2 32mm @ T4, EF mount
“This was shot at Castlefield Bridge near Deansgate in Manchester at 10.30pm. A lot of people know this bridge in Manchester so I wanted to use a different angle so it wasn’t so obvious. There is so much going on in this shot from the texture of the concrete to the orange light in the boat to the red and tungsten light that comes through the shot.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate 5:1, ISO 3200, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Atlas Orion Anamorphic T2 32mm @ T4, EF mount
“These shots in Camden’s Alexandra housing estate, were shot between 7pm and 8pm. We had a really nice sunset which then became pretty overcast, so we decided to try shooting in the underground car park. By the time we were in the garages it was 8pm and the sky had closed over, so the light was incredibly soft.”
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K
Blackmagic RAW Constant Bitrate 5:1, ISO 3200, 6K (6144 x 3456) 50 fps, Atlas Orion Anamorphic T2 32mm @ T4, EF mount
Pulitzer Prize winning filmmaker and photographer, Vincent Laforet talks about capturing the extreme conditions of the Wyoming wilderness with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.
“What’s impressive about this package is the micro four thirds sensor. This sensor has an incredible roll off of highlights that I seldom see which really opens up your ability to capture an incredible dynamic range, from the deep shadows to extremely high highlights all the way to the sunlight”.
Filmmaker
Vincent Laforet
Production Company
Laforet Productions and Moai Films
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Blackmagic Video Assist, Fujinon MK Lenses 18‑55, 50‑135, Tokina 11-16 Cine Lens, Olympus Lenses 7-14, 12-40, Sennheiser AVX Lav System, Freefly Alta 8 Drone with Movi Pro
Filmmaker Georgios "Jun Areia" Tryfonas had great fun shooting ‘Bubble Gum’, an aesthetic focus fashion shoot with Korean model, Bonnie Lee in Seoul. Always painting his videos with strong colour palettes in fun recognizable organic environments, the Greek filmmaker, based in Korea, chose an abandoned theme park to test the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. During the shoot a wide range of ISO settings were used and shots in dark environments were attempted specifically to test how the dynamic range is retained during low light scenes.
Filmmaker
Georgios "Jun Areia" Tryfonas
Production Company
Areia Creations Global Entertainment LTD
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
3:1 RAW 4K DCI, 24fps Project / 60fps Off-Speed frame rate, ISO 400/1250/3200/5000,
DJI Ronin-S, Samsung T5 SSD, Metabones Speed Booster XL 0.64x, Contax Zeiss MM 35/f2.8, 50/f1.4, 85/f1.4, 135/f2.8, Hoya Pro ND
Mark Wyatt talks about using the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. ‘Nature’ is Mark’s test of the camera’s 4K performance in the extreme lighting conditions of rainforests and ravines.
“The camera tests I wanted to do were in the forests located on the outer West Coast of Canada. This area has one of the warmest yet rainiest climates in Canada and has some extremely rare temperate rainforests.”
DOP
Mark Wyatt
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Apple ProRes 422
ISO400, 1250 and 2500
Sigma 18-35mm, Rokinon Cine 50mm EF lenses
Metabones Speed Booster to micro four thirds
Joey Knox talks about using the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. ‘Mountain Bike’ is Joey’s test of the camera’s high speed performance.
“I really wanted to mix my shots up as much as possible, because it can look pretty boring when you shoot mountain bikes all in slow mo. The direction I went with was to break up the slow motion tests with as much life as I could to juxtapose into the flow. I wanted it to look like I was running along with the rider with as much variety as possible.”
“I went into this camera test with an open mind. I had checked out the specs of the camera and thought it was pretty amazing to get all of that into something that small. But because of the price, it all seemed a little too good to be true. It was incredible to see all of these proper filmmaking features like false color, that I rely on with the bigger cameras also included. Having all of this in a package that small, was truly amazing. Also the ability to shoot a Log image and drop a LUT straight onto it in the camera, was super handy. You expect all of this from big cameras, but not something this small with that little of a price!”
DOP
Joey Knox
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
RAW
ISO 400 and 800
Veydra cine primes 12, 16, 25, 35 and 50mm micro four thirds
Peter Nearhos talks about using the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and the Laowa probe lens for the first time. ‘Bugs is a unique project where Peter could try out the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K in the world of macro filmmaking.
“This was the first time I had shot with the Laowa probe or the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. The great thing about the probe is it will cover all of the 4K sensor. Larger 4K sensors tend to play havoc with your depth of field with this sort of work. So the smaller micro four thirds sized 4K sensor used by Blackmagic Design, is much better for this kind of shooting.”
“I have to say the 13 stops of latitude was also really great, because you can see into all of the dark spots. Which is very good when you are using hard lights, because you have detail well into the shadows under leaves and things. The other great thing about this camera is the really high native ISO. I tended to stay around ISO 2500 but you can go as high as 25,600. There are other cameras with insane ISO levels, but they become incredibly grainy which means a lot of work in post. I think Blackmagic have their ISO at a sensible level. Given that for most macro filming you will be using lights, the 25,600 ISO with this camera is all you’ll ever need.”
DOP
Peter Nearhos
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Apple ProRes 422 HQ
ISO 2500
Laowa Probe 24mm, 60mm Macro 2:1, 15mm Wide Macro 1:1, 25mm Ultra Macro 5:1 EF mount, Canon 100mm 1:1, 65mm f/2.8 5:1 EF mount.
Laowa 7.5mm Micro Four Thirds mount.
Metabones Speed Booster Ultra
Aputure LS C300d and LS-mini20 daylight LEDs
John Brawley talks about the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for the first time. ‘Models Walking in Daylight’ is his first camera test where he checked out the camera’s ability to handle different skin tones.
“The whole point to this daylight test was to see how the camera handled skin tones. We were shooting these scenes later in the afternoon, so I was at ISO1000 or 1250, so it was at the lower ISO for this camera. I understand this gives more in dynamic range, so you have a little bit more highlight-headroom there. When I look at those shots now, I am really impressed at how good the dynamic range is. It is great to see all of that detail I was seeing was actually captured in those shots.”
“I don’t think people realize how easy it is to make things look cinematic with micro four thirds! I know that there are a lot of people who like that 35mm full frame look, but it’s still very easy to get images with an out of focus background with the micro four thirds sensor. I found it a great 4K sensor and really good compromise for a small camera that still gets really, really good looking pictures.”
DOP
John Brawley
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Apple ProRes 422 HQ
ISO1000 and 1250
Olympus Pro 25, 45, 1.2 micro and Olympus Pro 12-100 F4 zoom micro four thirds lenses
John Brawley shares his experiences with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. ‘Models Walking at Night’ is his second camera test where he was checking out the camera’s higher dynamic range and color accuracy.
“What I wanted to achieve was to test the dynamic range, but to still come up with some really great looking images. Having that higher dynamic range and a high bit depth file, means you have a lot of wriggle-room to correct anything that needs to be balanced. This extra range lets you manage and massage the image to get you into a really nice place. You’re not fighting the codec or the dynamic range of the camera.”
“The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K gives you a ton of options. If you want to take it warmer, darker or cooler, you now have so much latitude in terms of dynamic range and depth of color. With this camera you just have so much extra choice, because you can take the image where ever you want. And that’s the truly great thing about have such a vibrant and high precision image!”
DOP
John Brawley
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Apple ProRes 422 HQ
ISO1000 and 1200
Olympus Pro F4 zoom 12-100 micro four thirds lens
Andreas Neumann talks about using the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for the first time. ‘Balloons’ is Andreas’ extreme lighting test as he constantly shoots directly into the sun, wide open. ‘Balloons’ documents the camera’s performance from 5am in the morning into the height of the midday sun.
“I shot this test at Temecula in California, shooting from dawn until midday. This was a challenging environment for any camera, because I was constantly shooting into the light, or with the sun directly behind people’s faces. The detail I got was incredible. You can see everything reflecting in my wife’s Chanel glasses. You can actually see reflections off the ground, the balloon above, and the sky in the background. The camera really did capture everything I was seeing. I love shooting directly into the light wide open, and with this camera you could safely do that. I was totally amazed at what the micro four thirds sensor could handle. It seemed like the same quality as the URSA Mini Pro with the full sensor. I was also very surprised at how well the back-screen performed in bright sunlight, where I could truly see every detail.”
DOP
Andreas Neumann
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Apple ProRes 422 HQ
ISO 800
Rokinon 25, 50, 80 T1.5 prime lenses
John Brawley talks about the new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. ‘Models Close up at Night’ is his third camera test where he checked out the camera’s ability to handle different skin tones in very low light conditions.
“This camera test was about shooting different skin tones in different low light conditions, so we wanted to keep it simple using the least amount of artificial lighting. We had a hotel room in Atlanta where we shot from 3pm until 11pm and got through about 70-80 shots cycling through different lighting and skin conditions. When you can get really great pictures at ISO3200 and above, things suddenly get very interesting. In this test, we were shooting two hours after sunset and you can still see blue sky around the buildings in the background! This camera can really read a long way into the shadows, which was a big surprise.”
“I see this camera as continuing the evolution that Blackmagic started with the Pocket Cinema Camera by now making it 4K. Having something that we can work with in really low light like this, means you can still get really great results with any type of ambient light.”
DOP
John Brawley
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K
Apple ProRes 422 HQ
ISO 1000 and 3200
Olympus Pro 17, 25, 45, 1.2 micro four thirds lenses
Portable digital film camera with wide dynamic range 4096 x 2160 resolution image sensor, MFT lens mount, large touchscreen, 3D LUTs and Blackmagic RAW, so you can capture Hollywood quality images.
$1,295
More advanced 6K model featuring a larger 6144 x 3456 Super 35 wide dynamic range sensor and EF lens mount. Use larger EF photographic lenses to create cinematic images with shallower depth of field!
$1,995
Most advanced digital film camera features 6K sensor with EF lens mount, built in motorized ND filters at 0, 2, 4 and 6 stops, tilt adjustable 1500 nit LCD and a larger battery. Supports optional EVF.
$2,495
Order Code: CINECAMPOCHDXBT
Battery extender and hand grip for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera lets you shoot for over 2 hours on a single charge!
$245
Order Code: CINECAMPOCHDXBT2
Battery extender and hand grip for Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro lets you shoot continuously for over 3 hours!
$145
Order Code: CINECAMPOCHDMFTEVF
High quality viewfinder with built in proximity sensor, 4 element glass diopter, built in status information, and a digital focus chart.
$495
Order Code: BATT-NPF570/CAM
3,500 mAh NP-F570 compatible lithium-Ion rechargeable battery compatible with Blackmagic Pocket Camera Battery Grip.
$55
Order Code: BATT-LPE6M/CAM
LP-E6 compatible Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery. For use with Blackmagic Micro cameras and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera.
$45
Order Code: HYPERD/AXLRMINI2
Adapter cable for connecting to professional audio equipment which use full size XLR connectors.
$39
Order Code: CABLE-CCPOC4K/DC
Now you can conveniently power your Pocket Cinema Camera from a variety of different power sources. Pack includes D-tap to 2-pin, 2.5mm barrel to 2-pin and 2-pin to fly lead to create your own custom cables. All cables are 650mm long.
$69
Order Code: BMUMCA/LENSCAP58
The 58mm lens cap easily snaps on to protect your camera’s lens from scratches, dust, moisture, and fingerprints when the camera is not in use.
$15
Order Code: BMUMCA/LENSCAP77
The 77mm lens cap easily snaps on to protect your camera’s lens from scratches, dust, moisture, and fingerprints when the camera is not in use.
$15
Order Code: BMUMCA/LENSCAP82
The 82mm lens cap easily snaps on to protect your camera’s lens from scratches, dust, moisture, and fingerprints when the camera is not in use.
$15