I preferred to control everything with the touchscreen, but rest assured there are manual controls as well. Blackmagic doesn't include one, so the only way to juice up is via the camera.

You can find knock-off versions cheaply on Amazon and carry a bunch, but remember to get a charger. Luckily, the BMPCC 4K takes standard Canon LP-E6 batteries (I happened to have four for my Canon 7D). It also draws significant power, but battery life is not amazing, giving you from 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the screen brightness and video resolution. The display is fixed in place and doesn't flip around, unfortunately, so the BMPCC 4K won't be ideal for YouTubers. Perhaps Blackmagic Design's small size is an advantage here, as there are fewer managers that need to sign off. The menu system is probably the most intuitive I've ever used, which makes me wonder why much larger companies (ahem, Sony and Nikon) can't do better. The new display is bright and has responsive touch controls, so you can use it outside in bright sunlight and quickly change functions and settings. Touching the hamburger menu button on the right lets you adjust record, monitor, audio, setup, presets and color LUTs. For instance, tapping on the frame rate, shutter speed, iris, ISO or white balance opens up mini-menus to change those settings with slider controls. The BMPCC 4K has an all-new 5-inch touchscreen, and you can control every function of the camera from there.

The extra heft also makes it more stable for hand-held work, yet it's still light enough to fit on stabilizers designed for DSLR and mirrorless cameras, like DJI's Ronin-S. It has a decent-sized handle that gives you plenty of grip and stability, particularly with larger lenses. I'm so used to shooting mirrorless now that I found its camera-like profile preferable.

In that sense, its rivals aren't consumer cameras but the RED Raven and Sony FS5 II, both of which are far heavier (and more expensive). That said, it's the smallest camera in the world - by far - that can record RAW Cinema 4K video. By subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy.

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