Blackmagic Forum

Hi there,
its been a while since I posted in this forum. But I am really happy about the new camera that was announced and already ordered it last week.
However, it would be so great to have a 6k 16:9 and a Super 35 16:9 aspect ratio shooting resolution.
I do get that this is a cinema camera, but I want to use this camera for my clients, which often require the 16:9 aspect ratio as it is the standard anyways. They take the footage with them and want to edit it fast. Sure, they could crop in from the 17:9 DCI aspect ratios with high resolutions, but thats an extra step in post, which many of them wouldnt like at all.
Is there a chance to get some new recording options which feature the 16:9 aspect in higher resolutions?
In my opinion that should be a nobrainer as this aspect is still the horizontal standard to this date and how most of the TV's are made for.
With cropping a bit into the sensor it should improve the readout speed and there even might be a chance to get some extra fps without the problem of overheating.
Or is it just me which loves/requires to have the option for 16:9? Please tell me

Thank you anyway blackmagic for putting out another amazing camera!

Second this motion! The 16:9 ratio is more friendly for those shooting with 1.33x anamorphic lenses or the SLR Magic 1.33x-65 Anamorphot to deliver widescreen.

Clearly BMD needs to release the Blackmagic Pocket Videography Camera 6K.

Andreas Kaufmann1 wrote:Hi there,
its been a while since I posted in this forum. But I am really happy about the new camera that was announced and already ordered it last week.
However, it would be so great to have a 6k 16:9 and a Super 35 16:9 aspect ratio shooting resolution.

You know it has both 6K and 4K DCI options? That's 17:9 which is very close to 16:9 and is also the standard for a lot of people shooting to deliver 16:9.

When you deliver for 16:9 that means the sides don't change and you loose a teeny amount at the top and bottom. It's usually considered good for slight re-framing or stabilising.

JB

Thanks for the answers!
@ John Brawley: First of all I really admire and respect your work! Really outstanding images since the BMCC 2,5k. Great stuff.
Yes, I know. I already wrote that in my first comment if you read closely:
"I do get that this is a cinema camera, but I want to use this camera for my clients, which often require the 16:9 aspect ratio as it is the standard anyways. They take the footage with them and want to edit it fast. Sure, they could crop in from the 17:9 DCI aspect ratios with high resolutions, but thats an extra step in post, which many of them wouldnt like at all."

For myself the 17:9 is totally fine and has the benefits you already mentioned. Some clients of mine though (the ones who dont care for technical stuff), don't like to or dont have the time to reframe and scale up the image. So for this scenario the 16:9 would come in really handy. Hope that clears that up.

Andreas Kaufmann1 wrote:Thanks for the answers!
@ John Brawley: First of all I really admire and respect your work! Really outstanding images since the BMCC 2,5k. Great stuff.
Yes, I know. I already wrote that in my first comment if you read closely:
"I do get that this is a cinema camera, but I want to use this camera for my clients, which often require the 16:9 aspect ratio as it is the standard anyways. They take the footage with them and want to edit it fast. Sure, they could crop in from the 17:9 DCI aspect ratios with high resolutions, but thats an extra step in post, which many of them wouldnt like at all."

For myself the 17:9 is totally fine and has the benefits you already mentioned. Some clients of mine though (the ones who dont care for technical stuff), don't like to or dont have the time to reframe and scale up the image. So for this scenario the 16:9 would come in really handy. Hope that clears that up.

100% agree.

I guess BMD think that people who buy the 6KFF only shoot for themselves? I too would like to be able to hand clients 16x9 10bit footage (like I did with the Pocket6K pro) but neither of these is possible on this camera for some strange reason. Sure you can convert BRAW to 10bit and 17:9 to 16:9 but when you need to work within other peoples workflows post conversion isn’t an option.

Sure, these are ‘Cinema Cameras’ but let’s face it, in this day and age people shooting for cinema release is less than ever and really shouldn’t be used as an excuse for some pretty basic omissions.

Blackmagic has always surprised with new firmwares. So lets hope there will be some 16:9 aspect ratios coming soon.

I suspect that BMD may have anticipated a calm mild manageable response to the introduction of the BMCAMAP similar to what their other Apps generated, nice but nothing special. Well, the response to the BMCAMAP has been over the moon with some folks who live and breathe BMD feeling it’s the best of the recent announcements.

That’s good news for us and for BMD as that app, with some promotion, is possibly going to become the number one app in the App Store for its category. Many people with prior knowledge of BMD cameras will take notice due to its huge increase in functionality and ease of use compared to Photos and most other third-party camera apps. It does seem to have a few areas to address, but the enthusiastic response should translate into new BMCAMAP releases sooner than later.

Andreas Kaufmann1 wrote:Blackmagic has always surprised with new firmwares. So lets hope there will be some 16:9 aspect ratios coming soon.

I think it’s a bit of an issue of UI.

Right now the page is full with 8 recording options. You’d need a second page once you start adding 16:9 options. And they have to be coded too. You don’t just add the option on a menu. It’s extra code in the camera as well

JB

Or utilize the space where one would normally select between BRAW and ProRes?

John Brawley wrote:

Andreas Kaufmann1 wrote:Blackmagic has always surprised with new firmwares. So lets hope there will be some 16:9 aspect ratios coming soon.

I think it’s a bit of an issue of UI.

Right now the page is full with 8 recording options. You’d need a second page once you start adding 16:9 options. And they have to be coded too. You don’t just add the option on a menu. It’s extra code in the camera as well

JB

Please tell me that BMD didn’t leave out any 10bit option because they couldn’t find space for them in the menu.

+1 for this request.
Since the only HDMI output can only produced 1080p at the moment (Even the Micro G2 can go higher) and there is no 16:9 ratio for the full sensor width, this makes it very complicated to live stream - the output has to be cropped/stretched even from 17:9 which means lowering the resolution (effectively a digital zoom) even if the sensor is 6k - pretty ridiculous, please Blackmagic add a native full width 16:9 output to the system.

I will say, I’ve been filming cyc videos this week and the native 3:2 ratio of the 6kFF has been something the client really liked and that’s what we’re framing for with the B and C cams.
It is fun to utilize all these different formats when framing up a shot, as sometimes inspiration can lean into the tech.

Adam Langdon wrote:I will say, I’ve been filming cyc videos this week and the native 3:2 ratio of the 6kFF has been something the client really liked and that’s what we’re framing for with the B and C cams.
It is fun to utilize all these different formats when framing up a shot, as sometimes inspiration can lean into the tech.

Thats amazing - yes, as a run and gun camera, recording everything to full frame, open gate, is fantastic, hands down!

The problem starts only when you decide that you want to stream OR record everything externally through the HDMI output.
As of is now the HDMI only allows 1080p60 output.
With the exception of two super cropped (=zoomed in) output formats, every single ratio has a black bar on the top or the sides (or both).

Sure, yes, this can be corrected, but during correction, we have to zoom in to the middle of the image - digitally, on a 1080p canvas. Which will result in a less sharp, more pixelated, blurry image.

Yes, the BMCC6K Full Frame is an amazing run&gun cinema camera for the price/value as it is now.

it just cannot be used for streaming as of it is right now, because it doesn't supports 16:9 output at full width. Sure, you can use a 1:1 scan for HD but it's like looking into a tube in the middle of the sensor, cropping off 90% of the image. Or you have to digitally get rid of the black bars. It can do 17:9, which is close enough, but you still get black bars on top & bottom. It wouldn't take much, I'd imagine, to add 16:9 full width as well.

Every other BMD camera can do 16:9 output on HDMI (and also on SDI where its available), even the micro studio G2. I'm surprised their latest, and first full frame, most advanced sensor camera cannot do such a basic task, to support one of the most widespread format in real time.

If you are making offline movies, then its not a concern though, for that purpose its great as it is now.

+1 for this request. Much needed feature

blackvoid wrote:+1 for this request.
Since the only HDMI output can only produced 1080p at the moment (Even the Micro G2 can go higher) and there is no 16:9 ratio for the full sensor width, this makes it very complicated to live stream - the output has to be cropped/stretched even from 17:9 which means lowering the resolution (effectively a digital zoom) even if the sensor is 6k - pretty ridiculous, please Blackmagic add a native full width 16:9 output to the system.

BUMP! Blackmagic, please add a 4K 16x9 support. This camera is now useless in a setup with any atem mini because of the black bars! OR make the output only 1920x1080, right now you cannot set a recording resolution different than an HDMI output resolution. Useless!

Effectively forcing 17:9 by prohibiting 16:9 sounds a bit pedantic to me.

Unless there is some grave technical difficulty here it should be made available in a firmware update.

I have similar feature request. In my feature request I suggested that it get Ursa 12K-style crop selection UI which would give it 3:2, 16:9, 17:9, 2.4:1, and 6:5 crops for every resolution.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=202745

John Brawley wrote:I think it’s a bit of an issue of UI.

Right now the page is full with 8 recording options. You’d need a second page once you start adding 16:9 options. And they have to be coded too. You don’t just add the option on a menu. It’s extra code in the camera as well

JB

The Ursa 12K style crop selection UI would fix that. You can handle 25 crops in two rows of 5 buttons.

Tony Spiraletti wrote:Please tell me that BMD didn’t leave out any 10bit option because they couldn’t find space for them in the menu.

Nah, there's a huge gap right next to Blackmagic RAW option were the ProRes option would be. It's likely so they don't need to pay ProRes licensing fees. Also they said they have different plans for the BMCC6K than the Pocket cameras.

Technically they could allow a 10-bit option in BRAW to save space but I don't think they'd do that.

Cary Knoop wrote:Unless there is some grave technical difficulty here it should be made available in a firmware update.

There definitely isn't a technical difficult for adding a 16:9 crop.

I got 4 BMCC6k cameras which I use for multi camera purposes. I use the ATEM Television Studio HD8 ISO as a switcher. Most often I record everything in the switcher, but occasionally I livestream. I experience the same issue with the black borders on the top and bottom when I livestream. Since the switcher only record in 1920x1080 I loose resolution as I have to zoom in in post.
I use sigma 60-600 lenses and I really can't use the cameras in HD because lenses gets too zoomed in.

I could really use a setting that allows me to use the cameras in 6k or 4k with 16:9 crop instead of 17:9.
Do you think we will ever get such an update?

kallas wrote:I could really use a setting that allows me to use the cameras in 6k or 4k with 16:9 crop instead of 17:9.
Do you think we will ever get such an update?

BMD is pretty opaque about the decisions they make behind the scenes, so no one can say for sure, but I can't think of a reason they wouldn't implement the same 6K/4K 16:9 modes that the Pyxis has. I would wager that you'll see those implemented eventually.

+1

The Pyxis has this exact feature (full-sensor-width 16x9) so there's absolutely no reason it can't be brought to the BMCC6k. Currently, the only way to shoot full-width 16x9 on the BMCC6k is with open gate and that impacts both card space and frame rate options.

Also, I end every feature request reply by begging for custom anamorphic desqueeze options in every resolution. The current options are so arbitrarily limiting when using the built-in screen/monitor on the BMCC6k.

housejacket wrote:+1

The Pyxis has this exact feature (full-sensor-width 16x9) so there's absolutely no reason it can't be brought to the BMCC6k. Currently, the only way to shoot full-width 16x9 on the BMCC6k is with open gate and that impacts both card space and frame rate options.

Also, I end every feature request reply by begging for custom anamorphic desqueeze options in every resolution. The current options are so arbitrarily limiting when using the built-in screen/monitor on the BMCC6k.

Yeah, what he said.