Blackmagic Design Releases Studio Camera 6K Pro
Last Thursday evening (23.02.23) during a live stream, Grant Petty, the founder and CEO of Blackmagic Design presented a new camera that joins the family of Studio Cameras – the Blackmagic Studio Camera 6K Pro.
What are studio cameras?
Not quite broadcast nor production cameras, and definitely not film cameras, Studio Camera 4K Plus and Studio Camera 4K Pro seemed quite odd when they were first released. Oddly shaped body, limited frame rates and aspect ratio options, no battery slot and very little space for mounting accessories were the biggest concerns voiced by critics when the cameras were first presented to the world at the end of 2021.
But Grant's vision quickly became clear and those cameras turned out to be hugely popular amongst small to medium-sized live production studios, houses of worship, educational institutions, corporations, podcast studios, YouTubers and even virtual production studios.
All thanks to the great image quality, affordable price and most importantly – great connectivity.
Anyone who's ever had a chance to dip their toes in broadcast or live productions will appreciate the convenience that these cameras bring to any production. Specifically:
• The humongous screen at the back of the body negates the need of an additional, external studio viewfinder – in fact those cameras very closely resemble a studio viewfinder with a sensor and a lens mount attached.
• Large tally light at top of the body – perfect for multi-camera podcast productions and talk-shows
• Broadcast-style physical function buttons and knobs to recall and adjust most used features such as LUT preview, false colour, focus peaking, audio settings and more
• Included quick release plate and 15 AND 19mm studio rail mounts
• Connectivity – which deserves its own paragraph; so, let’s dive in…
Connectivity
It’s definitely one of if not the strongest aspect of this camera. As it’s geared towards live production this camera will get you cover for 95% of scenarios that you may face in the applications listed above.
We’ll start with the Studio Camera 4K Plus.
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Blackmagic likes to remind you about the live production pedigree of this camera whenever it can and as such you will not find any recording media slots. No SD card slot. No CFast card slot. No SSD slot. What you get instead is not one, but two USB-C ports. You can use it to connect an external SSD drive to record Blackmagic RAW clips. But make sure that you use a drive that is approved by the manufacturer. You can find the full list of approved media here.
For many, a USB-C drive may not be an ideal choice for a reliable recording media, but chances are that if you’re looking at this camera then you will more likely record into something like a Hyperdeck, or internally onto your production switcher; as the newest Atem Television Studio switcher released by Blackmagic on the same day, allows you to do just that.
The second USB-C port can be used to connect Blackmagic’s own Zoom Demand and/or Focus Demand. By the way – you can daisy chain them if your second USB-C port is already occupied by the external drive.
You also get a 3.5mm microphone and headphone jacks as well as 12v barrel connector.
These cameras are a perfect addition for all Atem switchers - starting from Atem Mini through to the Atem Constellation 8K. As such they couldn't miss a full-size HDMI port which is used for outputting live video (and audio) signal and for accepting Blackmagic Camera Control protocol used for remote control of many camera features such as shading, gain, shutter speed and lens control.
The real magic begins when we look at the Studio Camera 4K Pro G2.
It features the same UHD micro four-thirds sensor and lens mount as its more affordable sibling, but you get access to a larger number of more professional connectors.
On top of what you get with the Studio Camera 4K Plus, the Pro model gives additional two full-size XLR connectors with built-in phantom power for condenser microphones.
Speaking of audio – the camera has a dedicated connector for professional talkback headsets.
On top of the HDMI output, you also get dedicated SDI input and SDI output connectors. This opens up a whole lot of potential scenarios. For example – you can send a UHD camera feed to a vision mixer via the SDI output and return signal via the SDI input. Pretty standard. The return signal also includes Blackmagic Camera Control protocol if you are using any of the Blackmagic Atem switchers – from the smallest to the biggest one.
When you double-press the PGM button on the back of the camera then the large screen will display your program feed. This is not only useful for the operator to check what is currently displayed on air but it can also be used to composite images back to the camera when working in a green screen studio – so instead of staring at a plain green background, the camera operator can see what the viewers see – pair this with a 3rd party camera tracking hardware and Unreal Engine scene and you have a nice green screen based virtual production studio. Oh, and speaking of virtual production, or in fact any live production, you will need a reference signal – the SDI input connector doubles up as a ref in so the camera will automatically lock to the same signal that an Atem switcher sends – both time code and sync.
Another addition that the Pro model comes with, is a second XLR power connector.
Finally, the more expensive variant features an ethernet connector. This is utilised to connect a Blackmagic Studio Converter.
This device allows you to drop all the SDI and power cables and use a CAT6a ethernet cable for power over ethernet, video and audio signals. This is very handy when you're working in a large studio or venue with limited access to power outlets. The converter also expands the list of connectors by giving you an additional SDI output and inputs and dedicated genlock, timecode and tally connectors. The additional SDI input on the converter can be used to connect a teleprompter feed which, on the camera's end, can be fed through the HDMI output.
This way, you get video output, two video inputs, two audio outputs, tally, camera control and power, all via a single CAT6a ethernet cable. Blackmagic uses lossless TICO compression to pack all that data into one cable.
What’s the difference between Studio Camera 4K Pro and the 4K Pro G2?
With the other newest releases, the G2 replaces the base model by adding a built-in RTMP encoder for direct streaming to Atem switchers, Atem Streaming Bridge or online platforms such as YouTube, Twitch and many more. This means that for the most basic streaming setup all you need is the camera and internet connection. And you can even use your Apple or Android phone for tethering via USB-C!
So, what about the new 6K Pro model?
The single biggest feedback we have had from the camera users was related to the use of the Micro Four Thirds lens mount which posed some limitations on the selection of lenses that you could use. After all, Blackmagic released the fantastic Zoom and Focus Demands, but you will have a hard time finding compatible MFT lenses with a zoom motor that can be controlled by the Zoom Demand (or Atem Camera Control).
There are only a couple of compatible lens models - the list is here.
Luckily, Grant Petty listened, and on Thursday 23 February 2023 announced a brand-new Studio Camera that borrows its internal organs from its older cousin – Pocket Cinema 6K Pro. That is:
• Super 35mm image sensor
• Canon EF lens mount
• Built-in ND filters
This means that you can now use a wide range of high-quality EF lenses including the very popular Canon CN-E zoom lenses.
But please note that although the camera features the 6K sensor, the outputs still conform the 12G SMPTE standard and as such the live output is capped at 2160p60. The full 6K resolution is only utilised for Blackmagic RAW recordings via USB-C.
Another little caveat is that all Blackmagic Studio Cameras use gain instead of ISO to denominate sensor’s sensitivity, but we’ve made this conversion chart for you to make your life a bit easier.
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So, there you have it – Blackmagic being Blackmagic listened to its customer's feedback and made this great and unique camera system even more compelling. It may seem like a niche product, but due to lack of competition in its market sector, amazing connectivity, professional features and great image quality, those cameras are one of, if not the best choice for small to medium live production and podcast studios, live events and even entry-level virtual production.
The Blackmagic Studio Cameras are available to order from Scan Pro Video today.
Please contact our experienced staff if you need advice about products or workflows around film production, live production and virtual production, and we will be more than happy to help!