Blackmagic Forum

Hello,

First post here. Long time reader though.

I couldn’t find any info on this, but does the 6K have the option to view stills that have been taken? The 21.2 Megapixel sensor should be very usable for stills and making use of the dedicated still capture button.

Thank you!

Currently Unknown, but probably not. Someone who has receive the camera or BMD needs to answer this.

Sorry. It doesn’t at the point. One of those thing we would like to fix but have to deal with petitions for other formats

Kristian Lam wrote:Sorry. It doesn’t at the point. One of those thing we would like to fix but have to deal with petitions for other formats

Is it really hard to add a stills preview on both the 4K and 6K??

Thanks to everyone who replied.

The answer is pretty disappointing. I know people have been wanting this with the 4K, but it makes even more sense with the larger sensor. At least to me.

Preview of stills has been asked for since they were first implemented, so it will come at some time. Working with different windows may be a higher priority, but I agree it would be nice. Think of the camera as a real ‘film’ camera for stills. You just need to develop your picture later. And take several stills just as you would normally to make sure one is perfect!

I need to give it a go on the BMPCC4K next week with its paltry stills dimensions. Even the 4.6K sensor still is under 12K pixels.

You know with that 6K camera you can make beautiful borderless prints 13”x19” at 300dpi. I have the paper and the 10ink printer but no BMPCC6K!

With the BMPCC4K, I would have to settle for 150 DPI prints 166 dpi but don’t know if any printer does custom dpi. My computer screen is 209 dpi so that 150 dpi is just so “ yesterday.” Not magazine quality as Rakesh might say.

When I do the theatrical performance videos, I also do the cast and crew stills after the premier. I’m gonna use the BMPCC4K in October for that. They print the pictures on their large Thank You cards and the print size is small of course, so it will work well there at 600 or 900 dpi and allow for reframing.

Every dark cloud has a silver lining.




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That’s a good way to look at it at least. I actually shoot film as well.

I have the Pocket 4K and was hoping to sell it and upgrade to the 6K, but I am in need of a camera that can do stills as well. A6500 was recently stolen. Minimum requirement that I be able view the pictures taken. I know these are not meant to be hybrids, but with the 6K’s sensor it would have been able to cover my needs for stills as well. They do advertise its ability for stills as well.

I think I may have to hold off on the 6K for now in favor of an EOS R ( I run all EF glass).I’m probably the only sale BlackMagic will lose over the Stills Preview function. For now at least, until I can both afford and justify another camera.

True when I use my still Canon camera, I take a quick peak at the image, but cast and crew are anxious to get off the stage and out to greet the audience after the show so I just snap a dozen quick shots and cross my fingers I get a good one. Once you have more than a dozen people in frame, it’s about one in ten chance that you will get everyone looking to the camera, eyes open, visible faces, decent expressions. Zero time for being careful and not making decisions until I’m post.

Again film photographers never had anything to check. Just know your camera and watch the subject. How can lack of stills review kill a sale?


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I am really disappointed that the new 6k does not have a bottle opener.

rick.lang wrote:Again film photographers never had anything to check. Just know your camera and watch the subject. How can lack of stills review kill a sale?

Well said, all around. I'd rather have a BMPCC 6K and not be able to preview stills than use a Canon dSLR for filmmaking.

No contest, really...

Rakesh Malik wrote:

rick.lang wrote:Again film photographers never had anything to check. Just know your camera and watch the subject. How can lack of stills review kill a sale?

Well said, all around. I'd rather have a BMPCC 6K and not be able to preview stills than use a Canon dSLR for filmmaking.

No contest, really...

rick.lang wrote:True when I use my still Canon camera, I take a quick peak at the image, but cast and crew are anxious to get off the stage and out to greet the audience after the show so I just snap a dozen quick shots and cross my fingers I get a good one. Once you have more than a dozen people in frame, it’s about one in ten chance that you will get everyone looking to the camera, eyes open, visible faces, decent expressions. Zero time for being careful and not making decisions until I’m post.

Again film photographers never had anything to check. Just know your camera and watch the subject. How can lack of stills review kill a sale?


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I would never argue that a Canon DSLR or Mirrorless is going to be a better tool for filmmaking than one of BlackMagic’s cinema cameras. I’ve owned the BMCC and the Pocket 4K. I understand that there is a difference between a cinema camera and a hybrid camera and that a hybrid will not replace a dedicated cinema camera. I also said that I still plan on getting the 6K, but since it didn’t meet my minimum needs in stills capturing I’m going to replace my hybrid camera first.

I guess hoping for BlackMagic to add the software fix to take advantage hardware’s design makes me unreasonable to the cool guy that wants a can opener with his. And everyone else who wanted the same thing are unreasonable as well.

I wanted to justify holding off on replacing my hybrid camera by convincing myself that The Pocket 6K could cover all my bases. Why does a cinema camera have a Stills button?

I chimp because I’m a pleb. Why else?

Your smartphone probably takes better pictures.
I gave my partner a Fuji XF10 for her birthday and it takes absolutely outstanding pictures. It's the size of a music cassette (analog technology reference).

I briefly tried the stills button on my Pocket 4K, but the film settings are not great for stills - shutter speed 50, ISO 400. For me, changing all the settings to grab decent looking photos is an accident waiting to happen - when I switch back to shooting film mode only to find my shutter angle is 45 degrees and my frames per second is 120 by accident or confusion.

Leon Benzakein wrote:I am really disappointed that the new 6k does not have a bottle opener.

You can always add one Leon. But make sure nobody shakes the beer first.

theundeadkennedy wrote:... Why does a cinema camera have a Stills button?

It’s an option that has been requested for years by many users. It’s not intended to replace your quality SLR, DSLR or phone. Just an option that can be useful and may produce a marketable magazine image.

It also gives you a still that will be close to the colour of your video if you wanted to use it for a poster or advertisement. That said, I am not sure if I’d use it for a film poster. At this time we are using frames from the actual video for posters.

Not sure about the comment regarding a 1/50” shot. When shooting a still I think it’s often better to go to very small shutter angles with wide apertures and that could be similar to DSLR in that regard. Set the project frame rate to 50p, set the shutter angle to 11.25 degrees and your shutter will be 1/1600”.


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rick.lang wrote:It’s an option that has been requested for years by many users. It’s not intended to replace your quality SLR, DSLR or phone. Just an option that can be useful and may produce a marketable magazine image.

And take advantage of the fact that these cameras can deliver great color...

It also gives you a still that will be close to the colour of your video if you wanted to use it for a poster or advertisement. That said, I am not sure if I’d use it for a film poster. At this time we are using frames from the actual video for posters.

For the most part, same here -- though we sometimes use posed shots instead of frame grabs, the frame grab approach has been a lot more common.

Not sure about the comment regarding a 1/50” shot. When shooting a still I think it’s often better to go to very small shutter angles with wide apertures and that could be similar to DSLR in that regard. Set the project frame rate to 50p, set the shutter angle to 11.25 degrees and your shutter will be 1/1600”.

The film settings are rarely ideal for a photograph; that's both true and obvious, so it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

Ideal would be that when you switch to stills mode, the camera loads your last stills settings (which might well be your current film settings), and when you switch back to motion mode, it saves the stills settings off and re-loads your last film settings.

rick.lang wrote:Not sure about the comment regarding a 1/50” shot. When shooting a still I think it’s often better to go to very small shutter angles with wide apertures and that could be similar to DSLR in that regard. Set the project frame rate to 50p, set the shutter angle to 11.25 degrees and your shutter will be 1/1600”.

That was my point. There is then an opportunity to screw up, especially if you are on a hectic job.
Remembering to change all your camera settings to shoot a still, then remembering to change them all back when it's time to shoot film again.
On my stills camera I try and shoot ISO 100-200, shutter 125 at least, not too wide open or too stopped down as both adversely effect lens sharpness.
None of the above is applicable to general Pocket4K filming.

I suppose if you did this often, you capture a preset of your current video settings, then switch to a Preset for Still. After the still shot, switch back to the Current Video Preset.

If it would be rather a rare event then you might possibly remove ND, open the iris a stop or two, close the shutter angle two or three stops. And then reverse.

Always a chance you’ll forget exactly what you changed so capturing that Current Video Preset might be prudent. Whichever you find works best.




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That's why I say carrying a small camera is a better option.
Used Fuji, Ricoh GR or Sony RX. They are all tiny but high quality.

OK, I'll buy in. The following will solve some issues:

A dedicated still mode with a selection of user presets.

A motion mode where the stills button can be assigned one if the presets through a dynamic function dial etc. Also selection of still presets that work as offsets and overrides from the current filming mode setting (to get your current frame look ready to publish, a mini grade). Each preset can have a user loadable lut/look which is dynamic for exposure levels and color of the image (yes, user definable WB and exposure auto correction). All frames use the look virtually, with changes in meta data only, so it can be regraded as desired.