One of the most anticipated camera releases of the year, Blackmagic Design's Pocket Cinema Camera 4k has filmmakers all over the world sweating in astonishment over the low price and high end features that the PCC4k has to offer. I myself have waited all year to get my greasy mitts on this camera, and today was the day I finally got the opportunity to try one out and wow was I impressed.
Because of my job, I'm lucky enough to hire lot a of high end camera gear, and for someone like me who is gear obsessed, it's an absolute dream. For the past year I've mainly been shooting on the Arri Alexa Mini or the Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro, so I'm basing all of my judgements compared to those two cameras, and if you're sceptical and think the tiny little PCC4k isn't going to hold up, you're going to be seriously impressed.
First Impressions
So I didn't go into testing this camera completely blind, the release of this camera is something I've followed quite closely, so I've already seen a tonne of videos on it. But one thing that instantly jumped out to me as soon as I picked the camera up, was how well it fits in the hand and how nicely weighted it is. The ergonomic design of this camera is astonishing, and it rides a fine line of being very nicely weighted. I usually really dislike small form factor cameras, the lightness usually leads to way to much shake when going handheld, but I felt oddly comfortable holding this, the feel of the camera gives the impression you're holding something a lot bigger than it actually is, but at the same time not feeling bulky and intrusive.
Dynamic Range
For someone who's primary work is run and gun documentary work, this means I'm constantly working in less than desirable and sometimes pretty harsh lighting conditions, without the time to set up lights a lot of the time. So good dynamic range is really a necessary, and this is where this camera really outshines absolutely any other camera even close to this price point. I was shooting in RAW, using Blackmagic's "Film" colour profile, and was absolutely blown away by the amount of detail maintained in the shadows without completely blowing out the sky, leaving the highlights nice and creamy without being overwhelming and unpleasant, a very filmic quality to the whole image. For a camera at this price point to be performing at that level is an absolute game changer.
Low Light Performance
This was the area I was most worried about, I haven't been a fan of smaller sensors in the past, typically camera's with small sensors don't perform very well in low light, getting grainy without having to crank the ISO that high. And being loaded with tiny micro four thirds sensor (the same size as the previous Pocket Cinema Camera which I really didn't like), I thought this was where the PCC4k would fall flat, but I was really pleasantly surprised with it's low light capability. Thanks to the camera's intuitive dual native ISO at the PCC4k rules miles above the previous version of the camera. I was able to crank the ISO up to around 12800 with an aperture of f2.8, and still have a really clean image that I'd be happy enough using. Obviously raising the ISO that high isn't ideal at all, but sometimes it's the only option and it wouldn't be something I'd avoid with this camera.Footage
Sadly I'm not able to show any of the footage I filmed myself, just because I was using the camera for a TV documentary and I'd be voiding my contract if I shared any of it. But here's a selection of clips that really showcase what the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k is capable of.
Conclusion
Want to know how impressed I was with this camera? I bought one of these with my own money an hour after using this one. Blown away was an understatement, the sheer value for money is impossible to ignore. Is it as good as an Alexa? Certainly not. But it doesn't cost the same amount of money as a BMW like an Alexa does. There's so much quality packed into this camera, I seriously can't comprehend how Blackmagic managed to do this in such an affordable package is an absolute steal. If you're a filmmaker who's really looking to step up their game and doesn't have a tonne of money to spend, this is absolutely the camera for you.
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