Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras go vertical, and a whole lot more

It’s been a typically busy NAB for Blackmagic, so we’re rounding up all the company’s stories below. We start with the new vertical mode for its Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras.

We’ve already covered some of the Blackmagic news from NAB, namely the launch of DaVinci Resolve 18.5 and the new URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF. So, straight onto the new stuff.

We know vertical is a divisive topic, but being able to shoot it when required is better than not. Blackmagic agrees, and so the Blackmagic Camera 8.1 update adds support for vertical aspect ratio video to Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras, allowing users to create cinematic vertical video for the likes of TikTok. This update adds automatic rotation of the camera’s on screen HUD and automatically tags files as vertical so they display correctly when imported into Resolve for editing, making it much easier to both shoot and edit vertical content. 

Critical information, such as framerate, shutter angle and frame guides, are easy to view, even when the camera’s turned upside down. And users can even switch on frame guides so important details stay in shot for different aspect ratios. 

Blackmagic Camera 8.1 update is available for download now from the Blackmagic Design website.

Moving on, the new ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K (above), is an Ultra HD model joining the ATEM Constellation family with 40x 12G-SDI standards converted inputs and support for standards up to Ultra HD 2160p60. Featuring the same powerful features as the ATEM 4 M/E Constellation HD, this new 4K model has 24x 12G-SDI aux outputs, 16 upstream ATEM advanced chroma keyers, 4 downstream keyers, 4 Ultra HD media players, 2 SuperSource processors and more. ATEM 4 M/E Constellation 4K will be available in June for $8995.

DeckLink IP is a new family of PCIe cards that capture and playback 10-bit uncompressed, broadcast quality video directly into 2110 IP-based broadcast systems. They support multiple video channels, plus rather usefully each channel can capture and playback at the same time. DeckLink IP provides total IP network security as all video is captured and played back using the DeckLink IP’s frame buffers, which act like a video based firewall isolating the ethernet port from anything other than video and audio. DeckLink IP will be available in June starting at $345.

Talking of IP, the Blackmagic 2110 IP Converter 3x3G is a new rack mount converter which converts 3G-SDI devices to 2110 IP broadcast systems. It features 10G Ethernet which means it can support up to 3 separate 3G-SDI video channels at the same time. Each channel has independent inputs and outputs, for connecting up to 6 different SDI devices. It includes an ‘elegant’ front panel with a colour LCD for monitoring, menus and diagnostics, and is also shipping in June for $595.

And lastly, the URSA Mini Pro 12K digital cinema camera was recently added to the Netflix Approved Camera List, jointing the company’s URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 amongst its approved kit.