Sony FX3 Vs Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6K Pro Vs Panasonic S1H

All three cameras are good enough for cinematic short or feature films on a low budget. What else do we go by?

Hopefully this article will help you decide which of these cameras is the better investment for you. There will only be one winner!

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Comparison of sensors and video features

Here’s what you get:

Camera	Best Possible Resolution	Max FPS	Max FPS in 4K	Video ISO Range
Sony FX3	3840 x 2160 (4264 x 2408 RAW externally)	120 fps	120 fps	80-102,400
BMPCC 6K Pro	6144 x 3456	50 fps*	60 fps	100-25,600
Panasonic S1H	5952×3968	30 fps	60 fps	640-51,200

The Sony FX3 (Amazon, B&H) can only shoot up to 4K UHD, whereas the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro (Amazon, B&H) and Panasonic S1H (Amazon, B&H) go up to 6K and 5.9K respectively.

However, the frame rate in 6K is limited to 30p with the S1H.

The BMPCC 6K Pro is decent in low light, but is nowhere in the league of the Sony FX3. The S1H would sit in between.

Should you care for 6K or higher fps at 4K?

For the low budget indie filmmaker, the higher fps will help you get more shots than the 6K sensor. In fact, handling 6K footage later in post production isn’t easy on the wallet.

Camera	Dynamic Range	Max fps at 1080p
Sony FX3	15+ stops	240 fps
BMPCC 6K Pro	13 stops	120 fps
Panasonic S1H	14+ stops	180 fps

Sony claims to have better dynamic range than the rest, though in my review as tested I’m not so sure it makes a practical difference.

I would pick either of these cameras for image quality. They’re all good and get the job done. You’ll be the limitation here, in terms of low budget production design, poor lighting, etc.

All have similar codecs and upgrades:

Camera	RAW and Codec in 4K	Color Information for 4K
Sony FX3	16-bit RAW* | XAVC S-I 4K, XAVC HS 4K	RAW* | 10-bit 4:2:2/8-bit 4:2:0
BMPCC 6K	12-bit RAW | Prores HQ	RAW | 10-bit 4:2:2/8-bit 4:2:0
Panasonic S1H	12-bit RAW^* | H.264 (H.265) ALL-I	RAW* | 8-bit 4:2:0 | 10-bit 4:2:2 with DMW-SFU2 Upgrade

For the FX3, RAW isn’t truly 16-bit, and neither is the sensor.

You need the Atomos Ninja V for recording Prores RAW for the FX3 and S1H. The Blackmagic Pocket 6K Pro (Amazon, B&H) shoots RAW internally.

With the Panasonic S1H, you get 8-bit 4:2:o. If you want the 10-bit 4:2:2 you will have to get DMW-SFU2. This becomes another added expense.

Focus and exposure aids, and ergonomics

What’s the point of RAW if you can’t expose it correctly? The little things make all the difference:

Camera	Exposure
Sony FX3	Zebras, histogram and in-camera meter
BMPCC 6K Pro	False Color, Zebras
Panasonic S1H	Histogram, Waveform, Vectorscope, Zebras

Sony FX3 (Amazon, B&H) lacks far behind the others here. The Panasonic S1H (Amazon, B&H) has a slight edge over the BMPCC 6K Pro (Amazon, B&H) due to the inclusion of the Waveform in its in camera exposure tools.

As far as size and weight are concerned:

Camera	Ergonomics	Weight
Sony FX3	Swivel monitor, tally lights, XLR grip with mounting threads	640g
BMPCC 6K Pro	Tilt and swivel LCD monitor	1238g
Panasonic S1H	Tilt and swivel LCD monitor	1164g

You get an XLR module, tally lights and mounting points extra with the FX3. The mounting points are not always in a place that you’ll find useful. It is also almost half of the weight of the other two. This makes the Sony FX3 perfect for run and gun shoots and is a more “Pocket Cinema Camera” than the one who claims to be a pocket camera.

All three cameras have fans. I’ve worked with the original BMPCC 6K and it was okay. The FX3 is supposedly silent but I’ve yet to test it. The S1H was too loud for quiet moments.

Here’s how the differences make sense monetarily:

Camera	XLR Adapter	Cage and Top Handle	Combined Weight^
Sony FX3	$0	$0	1,015g
BMPCC 6K Pro	$39	$106 (about 300g)	1,538g
Panasonic S1H	$397 (about 300g)	$106 (about 300g)	1,760g

To know more about the cage, read here:

The Best Universal Cage for Mirrorless and DSLR Cameras

Price-wise, you can opt for cheaper XLR adapters like the ones from Wooden Camera or Beachtek. This gives you advantages not only in additional features, but you can also rig them the way you want. With Sony’s XLR hot shoe adapter and top handle, there’s only one way to go.

Weather sealing is not guaranteed on any of the cameras. Sony claims they have tried to make the cameras good enough to handle tough conditions. I don’t expect these cameras to be pushovers, and this is par for the course.

ND Filters

Out of these three cameras, only the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Pro 6K (Amazon, B&H) has in built ND Filters with 2,6 and 8 stops. This is a huge advantage.

Audio Features

Camera	Audio
Sony FX3	2 x XLR/TRS 1 x 3.5 mm jack (2ch)
BMPCC 6K Pro	2 x mini XLR analog1 x 3.5mm stereo jack
Panasonic S1H	1 x 3.5mm jack

The Sony FX3 (Amazon, B&H) comes with an XLR grip which can be attached to the top of the camera and be used as a top handle. The 2 XLR/TRS inputs with 4 channel 16-bit Linear PCM easily outclasses S1H’s single stereo minijack.

With the BMPCC 6K Pro (Amazon, B&H) you will have to get mini XLR to XLR adapters.

The FX3 is clearly better here.

Image Stabilization

Both the Panasonic S1H (Amazon, B&H) and Sony FX3 (Amazon, B&H) have internal image stabilization (IBIS).

Now Panasonic claims that the S1H has 6 stops of IBIS whereas Sony claims that the FX3 has 5.5 stops of IBIS. Both the companies use their own standards of testing IBIS so you cannot be absolutely sure unless you test it out for yourself. In practice, I would be surprised if either was inadequate when paired with the right lenses.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro (Amazon, B&H) has omitted IBIS entirely. This is a huge let down, but then again, there’s a reason why it’s cheaper.

The Sony FX3 also has gyro information, but to stabilize the footage you will have to use the Sony Catalyst software.

Timecode

The Sony FX3 (Amazon, B&H) does not have timecode in built into the camera, whereas Panasonic S1H (Amazon, B&H) has it but it requires a BNC-F to a locking flash sync connector for it to function. You will also need sync box to connect to.

BMPCC 6K Pro claims it has an accurate timecode clock. They claim it has less than a 1 frame drift every 8 seconds. All cameras should be okay enough for fiction work.

Batteries and media cards

Here’s a look at the media:

Camera	Dual card slots
Sony FX3	Yes, CFexpress Type A or UHS-II SD Cards
BMPCC 6K Pro	No, 1 CFast 2.0 and 1 UHS-II SD Card slot
Panasonic S1H	No, 1 XQD card slot and 1 UHS-II SD Card Slot

You can get the job done with any of these cameras, but in a head to head comparison the FX3 wins for its dual card feature.

What about battery life?

Camera	Battery life	Cost of one battery	Cost of 6 hours of operation
Sony FX3	95 minutes	$78	$312
BMPCC 6K Pro	45 minutes	$55	$440
Panasonic S1H	60 minutes	$88	$528

The Sony FX3 (Amazon, B&H) outshines the rest without much effort when it comes to battery life and cost of 6 hours of operation. You can improve the BMPCC 6K pro’s performance if you get the battery grip, which will admittedly be an added expense. And to be fair you can add a battery grip to the S1H as well.

Which is cheaper to own?

Let’s just add up the costs:

Camera	BMPCC 6K Pro	Panasonic S1H	Sony FX3
Camera body	$2,495	$3,697	$3,898
XLR, Cage and Top Handle	$145	$503	$0
Zacuto Kameleon EVF Pro	$0	$0	$1,950 (!!!)*
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Pro EVF	$495*	$0	$0
Total	$2,640	$4,200	$3,898

The BMPCC 6K Pro (Amazon, B&H) is your cheapest option here. You do lose out on IBIS and Continuous Autofocus but you get 6K RAW internally and ND filters. Panasonic is the pricey one here, mainly due to the XLR adapter. Sony is the only one with no added expense but it does suffer when it comes to resolution compared to others. And, it doesn’t have an EVF.

So, what do you really get?

A recap:

First, a recap:

Feature	Winner
Resolution	BMPCC 6K Pro
4K 120fps	Sony FX3
DR and Color	Tie
RAW and Codecs	BMPCC 6K Pro
Internal ND filters	BMPCC 6K Pro
Low Light Performance	Sony FX3
Exposure Aids	Panasonic S1H
Media	Sony FX3
Lenses	Sony FX3
Ergonomics	Sony FX3
IBIS	Sony FX3
Ports and Monitoring	BMPCC 6K Pro
Audio	Sony FX3
Autofocus and Manual Focus	Sony FX3
Battery life	Sony FX3
Overheating	Panasonic S1H

Before we take our final decision, we’ll let the cameras tell us what they offer that the other doesn’t:

Camera	USP	Major Cons
Sony FX3	Lightweight, tally lights, IBIS, 120p in 4K, Low light, world-class AF	Overheating in 120p? Only 4K UHD internally
BMPCC 6K Pro	6K RAW, ND filters	Poor battery life, No IBIS, No continuous AF
Panasonic S1H	5.9K, EVF, Waveform, IBIS	Loud Fan, No XLR adapter, No Internal RAW, unreliable continuous AF

My Verdict

For cinematic short films, features and web series I’d pick the Sony FX3 (Amazon, B&H), and it is the champion of this comparison.

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