One thing Blackmagic is known for is shipping perfect, bug-free products with incredible features and price points. Wait, no, I think I got that mixed up.
What Blackmagic is infamous for is odd bugs or production issues that usually require a firmware update shortly after launch or a statement and then better quality control. It seems the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro has not yet bucked this trend with its own “blue tint” issue.
If you aren’t yet familiar with this problem, the summary is that the 6K Pro’s rear screen can have an unfortunate blueish cast. Filmmaker Michael Tobin got his camera in and came across it for himself, putting together a video on the subject.
It does not seem to be an isolated issue as other YouTube videos have reported similar findings. And if it’s noticeable after unboxing it is off enough to be a problem. To be fair though, this only affects the look of the screen and has absolutely no impact on the footage itself. It can make it difficult if not impossible to just color in this state.
At the time of video release, there isn’t much official response from Blackmagic, however, there does seem to be some news floating around that it is a software issue – not hardware – and a future firmware update can hopefully address the problem.
For now, if you use a secondary monitor then you won’t even have any issues. You are also generally going to be shooting raw and these types of color shifts should be super simple to correct in DaVinci Resolve.
Image Credit: Blackmagic Design
Minimal rigs will probably find a slight issue or at least might have to think in their head on how to correct for the blue tint. As long as it doesn’t impact the footage and the camera offers the other features you need the camera is usable.
If you can, you might want to hold off until an official message is sent out by Blackmagic. It’s still a new product so things like this happen on early batches. Best practice is to hold off so that general bugs and kinks in the production can be smoothed over.
Is this a dealbreaker for you right now? Or are you still planning to pick up a 6K Pro?
[source: michael tobin]
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