Blackmagic Design announces Pocket Cinema Camera 4K for $1295

Launched in 2013, the original Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera became a success for bringing professional grade quality and control to a compact, pocketable design. Five years and many requests later, the company has finally announced the successor - Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K.

The new 4K model is completely redesigned and although it's probably not pocketable anymore, it's still a relatively compact camera that promises big things. The biggest upgrade is the new 4/3 HDR sensor with a native 4096x2160 DCI 4K resolution. The camera now boasts 13 stops of dynamic range and an ISO range of up to 25600. It's compatible with Micro Four Thirds lenses.

The camera records in 10-bit ProRes and 12-bit RAW format with support for 3D LUTS. You can record in 4K 60fps or 1080p 120fps (cropped). It has four microphones built-in along with a mini XLR input with 48V of phantom power. Other connections include a full sized HDMI with HDR and clean 10-bit video feed with optional on-screen overlay, headphone jack, microphone jack, locking DC 12V power and USB-C. The last one is the most interesting because you can now directly plug in a USB-C hard drive into the camera and record directly on to the drive. Alternatively, you can record on internal SD, UHS-II or CFast cards.

The camera uses a new carbon fiber polycarbonate composite body for added rigidity. On the back is a new 5-inch touchscreen with Blackmagic OS for simple operation. There is also support for remote operation via Bluetooth.

The best part of all this is the price. The new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is priced at $1295, which is about half that of the new Panasonic GH5S. The price also includes full license for DaVinci Resolve Studio, Blackmagic's video editing application. The camera is expected to go on sale some time later this year.

Source