Blackmagic announce new 4K pocket cinema camera

Arriving five years after the original Pocket Camera release, Blackmagic Design has just unveiled its long awaited successor, which offers 4K 60 fps internal recording at a very aggressive price point.

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K features a full size 4/3 HDR sensor with native 4096 x 2160 resolution and 13 stops of dynamic range. The full size of the 4/3 sensor is designed to match MFT lenses so the crop factor is greatly reduced and should allow, with adaptors, PL, C, and Canon EF mount lenses to be used.

Video options include 10-bit ProRes and 12-bit RAW recording along with 3D LUTs. It also features dual native ISO with up to 25600 ISO.

Also included is a large 5 inch touchscreen monitor, 4 built in microphones, mini XLR audio input with phantom power, Bluetooth wireless camera control, and HDMI on set monitoring output.

Images can be recorded onto standard SD cards, faster UHS-II cards or CFast 2.0 cards in either ProRes or RAW formats. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K can record 4K images at up to 60 frames per second and windowed HD at up to 120 frames per second. 

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K also includes a full size HDMI connector which can output HDR video as well as a clean 10-bit video feed with optional on screen overlays. There’s also a high speed USB-C Expansion Port for adding external accessories such as flash drives and an SSD for external recording.

The camera uses standard LP-E6 batteries and can be charged via USB-C or the locking DC power connector, which protects the camera from being accidentally unplugged during a shoot.

For audio, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K features multiple built in microphones with an extremely low noise floor, a mini XLR input with 48 volts of phantom power to connect professional lapel and boom mics, and a 3.5mm stereo audio jack for connecting different types of video camera microphones. The high quality built in audio recording means customers don’t have to carry around a separate recorder.

The body of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera consists of a high strength polymer that’s reinforced with carbon fibers. The handheld design features a multi function grip which has the usual buttons and dials that allow access to shooting functions such as recording start/stop, still photos, ISO, shutter, aperture, white balance, power and more.

“Customers love the original Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and have been asking us for a 4K version,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO.

“We’ve listened and built a camera that combines all of our newest ideas and customer feedback from the previous model! The new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is exciting because it packs so much technology into an incredibly small design. We feel it will go well beyond what customers expected. It’s perfect for anyone that needs a truly professional ultra compact digital film camera. This is not a consumer camera that's trying to do high end work, it’s a true high end camera designed for high end work.”

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K Features

• Full size 4/3 sized sensor with native 4096 x 2160 resolution sized sensor.
• Compatible with extremely high quality Micro Four Thirds lenses.
• Super wide 13 stops of dynamic range allows capture for high end feature film look.
• Up to 25600 ISO for incredible low light performance.
• Carbon fiber polycarbonate composite body which makes it lightweight, portable and durable.
• Multi function grip for quick access to recording start/stop, still photos, ISO, shutter, aperture,white balance, power and more.
• Built in SD, UHS-II and CFast card recorders.
• USB-C expansion port allows longer duration recording directly to an external SSD or flash disk.
• Standard open file formats compatible with popular NLE software such as 10-bit ProRes and 12 bit RAW.
• Features full size HDMI output for monitoring with camera status graphic overlay.
• Professional mini XLR input with 48 volts of phantom power for connecting to pro microphones.
• 3.5mm audio jack, headphone jack, and locking DC 12 volt power connection.
• Built in 5” LCD touchscreen allows accurate focus when shooting 4K.
• LCD supports on screen overlays including status, histogram, focus peaking, and transport controls.
• Records 4K images at up to 60 frames per second and windowed HD at up to 120 frames per second.
• 3D LUTs can be applied for both monitoring and recording.
• Blackmagic OS as used in URSA Mini and URSA Broadcast cameras.
• 4th generation Blackmagic color science.
• Supports remote camera control via Bluetooth.
• Includes full license for DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, color, visual effects and audio post production.

Availability and Price

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K will be available later this year for US$1,295 from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide. We've reached out to Blackmagic to confirm local pricing.

Final thoughts

There's still a lot of unknowns with Blackmagic's new pocket cinema camera. We don't know what the autofocus will be like, how it will manage noise and dynamic range, or whether it will share the same software as the original pocket camera. But even with these caveats, its hard to argue that some of the features in this new camera are only usually found on high-end professional products with much bigger price tags.