I usually use Canon or Panasonic cameras to create videos for my YouTube channel but in this video I borrowed a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro (more commonly referred to as the BMPCC6K) to see how far I can push the production on my channel. The video certainly has a different, more cinematic look to it than I’m normally able to achieve, but it was my first time using the camera -- or producing in DaVinci Resolve -- and I’ve learned a lot in a short space of time. These are my key findings.
The footage looks amazing
I shot everything in Blackmagic raw at 5.7K resolution and I love how everything looks. The raw files let me push colours and exposure in post in ways I simply haven’t done with any footage before now. Sure, I might have gone way too far with the grading and it might not be to your taste, but I intentionally wanted to see what sort of looks I could manage with the footage I shot and I’m impressed.
The details are superb and the dynamic range is exceptional. I understand why this camera is so beloved by filmmakers.
It’s slower to use, and that’s good
The camera lacks some features that I’ve become quite reliant on in my vlogging, most notably tracking autofocus and image stabilisation. While hand-holding the BMPCC is doable, you’ll need a steady grip and ideally a shoulder rig or at least side or top handles if you want steadier-looking shots.
My R5 has up to 8-stops of stabilisation which means I can comfortably shoot hand-held while walking or attempt more complex camera movements without a gimbal without worrying too much about violent camera shakes. That’s not the case with the BMPCC. I shot almost all of my footage with the camera locked down on a tripod to ensure it remained steady and holding it up to face height to talk into the camera was out of the question.
I also used manual focus for the whole film, using focus peaking to ensure I got it right, and had to pre-focus on certain zones when I was setting up shots where I’d be in front of the camera. This wasn’t always 100% accurate.
But this also forced a slower, more methodical approach to my filming that meant I spent more time considering every shot before I pressed record. I often have a ‘rough and ready’ approach where I focus more on getting the shot quickly rather than trying to get the best-looking shot. The BMPCC forces the latter and while I certainly spent longer getting all my footage, the result is a much better-looking video.
It’s bigger than I’m used to
I usually shoot on small mirrorless cameras and while I can easily get two cameras and other accessories in a small backpack, the BMPCC requires a much bigger setup for working on location. I used a Smallrig cage and top handle along with a PolarPro Recon mattebox on this shoot, but I will also be using a PolarPro Pivot shoulder rig and rails system, Smallrig V-Mount battery, Smallrig follow focus system and Godox monitor. That’s a lot of gear to carry.
Do I need all of it? Not necessarily, but I’ll be choosing to use the BMPCC only on shoots where I know I want to achieve the best-looking footage and that taking the additional hardware will help me achieve that.
It also means I won’t be using the camera for hand-held vlogging style shots where I hold the camera up and talk into it while I walk. The stabilisation and focus and sheer size of it means it definitely isn’t feasible. However, those shots, while quite classic of quick YouTube vlogs, aren’t exactly the sort of cinematic footage I’m hoping to achieve so I’m happy to exclude those from my shot lists, instead finding more ways to appear within the scenes I’m shooting as I’ve done in the above video.
Battery life is short
In shooting a 15 minute YouTube video I burned through five fully-charged NP F550 batteries, which was all of the ones I took with me and I was concerned I wasn’t going to get all the footage I needed. I was hitting them hard, shooting raw and using the LCD display on full brightness but even so I was surprised at quite how power hungry it is.
I’ve got a Smallrig V-mount battery and have bought a D-Tap power cable to run the camera which will hopefully give me more peace of mind when working on location, but it does mean carrying yet more things around with me.
DaVinci Resolve has taken some getting used to but I’m excited to learn more
I’ve spent the last few years trying to learn everything I can about Adobe Premiere and have only just gotten to a point where I’m happy with the speeds at which I can turn round an edit. So moving over to an entirely different piece of software was a big step.
Resolve seemed quite daunting at first, especially the colour editing and nodes section. The company does have some useful video resources, but I also spent a number of hours on various YouTube tutorials trying to understand the basics and how to replicate my workflow (and keyboard shortcuts) that I’m used to from Premiere.
Once I’d spent some time in the colour editor it did start to make a lot more sense and I quickly found myself enjoying playing around with the colour wheels, creating looks exactly like I’m used to in Lightroom with still images. I’m not quick and I keep making a lot of basic errors I need to fix but I’m looking forward to spending more time with it.
I won’t be using it all the time (but I’d like to)
My YouTube channel is still fundamentally a fun side project for me that I try and do on the side of my actual job. Yet each video takes anywhere between 8 and 15 hours from start to finish which is a huge amount of time to commit to every single week. So sometimes I have to rely on quick shooting and more rough ‘vlogging’ styles of shooting where I can throw a video camera (or even my phone) in my bag and head out.
Other times though I’ll have a certain video in mind that I know I want to commit more time to in order to achieve a better result. And it’s on those videos that I’ll reach for the BMPCC6K and the cinematic quality it offers.