Blackmagic PYXIS 6K, Cinema Camera 6K get price cuts of up to 41%

Blackmagic Design has cut prices on the PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K by up to 41%, with the Cinema Camera 6K now starting at $1595.

Blackmagic Design has dramatically cut prices on the Blackmagic PYXIS 6K and Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K, with savings of over $1000 and up to 41% depending on the model. The company attributes the reduction to improved pricing on components, but given the scale of the decreases we suspect it has lowered its margins on the cameras as well.

New pricing:

• Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K: $2715 to $1595
• Blackmagic PYXIS 6K L: $3080 to $1995
• Blackmagic PYXIS 6K EF: $3070 to $1995
• Blackmagic PYXIS 6K PL: $3265 to $2195

Both cameras use a full-frame sensor with a native resolution of 6048 x 4032, dual native ISO up to 25,600, and can shoot up to 36 fps at full sensor resolution or 120 fps windowed.

The sensor supports multiple formats: open gate 3:2 for reframing in post, true 6:5 anamorphic without cropping, and a Super 35 crop window for close-up framing that matches open gate footage.

Lens mount options are L-Mount (compatible with full-frame lenses from Leica, Panasonic and Sigma, plus adapters), EF (for existing DSLR lenses), and PL (for cinema lenses from Zeiss, ARRI, Cooke and others, no adapter needed).

Recording spans HD to DCI 4K and 6K, with stills up to 24.6 megapixels. Maximum frame rates: 36 fps at 6048 x 4032 (3:2 open gate), 60 fps at 6048 x 2520 (2.4:1) and 4096 x 2160 (4K DCI), 100 fps at 2112 x 1184 (Super 16, windowed), 24 fps at 4832 x 4032 (4.8K anamorphic, 6:5), and 120 fps at 1080 HD.

“We have been working hard to secure improved pricing on some parts, so we can now pass that on to our customers through a lower price,” said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. “This price reduction allows even more customers to buy a professional full-frame cinema camera giving them a whole new way to tell their stories. This will be exciting!”

Reversing a trend

Blackmagic was actually the first manufacturer to raise camera prices as an explicit reaction to the (still ongoing) RAMageddon crisis back in May this year. So, given that the movement of most camera prices has been firmly in a similar upwards direction recently, today's price cut is welcome news.

As yet there is no talk of lower component prices affecting other cameras in the Blackmagic ecosystem, and, of course, there are other cameras in its range that feature a lot more onboard memory than these two. A year ago, the company slashed prices of theURSA Cine 12K LF and URSA Cine 17K 65 camera kits (though many of them rose back up again in the May rises). But we'll keep our ears open and our fingers crossed in the run-up to IBC for more of the same.