Pocket Cinema Camera 4K: Blackmagic RAW bitrate & storage per hour
The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K records Blackmagic RAW. Maximum sustained write speed: 900 MB/s. Figures per sensor mode and compression level at 24 fps — video only.
Figures at 24 fps. Other frame rates scale linearly — open the calculator to change them.
4K DCI (4096×2160, max 60 fps)
| Compression | Ratio | Bitrate | Data rate | Storage / hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q0 | 3.3:1 | 976.0 Mbps | 122.00 MB/s | 439.2 GB |
| Q1 | 5:1 | 744.0 Mbps | 93.00 MB/s | 334.8 GB |
| Q3 | 8:1 | 520.0 Mbps | 65.00 MB/s | 234.0 GB |
| Q5 | 12:1 | 312.0 Mbps | 39.00 MB/s | 140.4 GB |
| 3:1 | 3:1 | 872.0 Mbps | 109.00 MB/s | 392.4 GB |
| 5:1 | 5:1 | 528.0 Mbps | 66.00 MB/s | 237.6 GB |
| 8:1 | 8:1 | 336.0 Mbps | 42.00 MB/s | 151.2 GB |
| 12:1 | 12:1 | 224.0 Mbps | 28.00 MB/s | 100.8 GB |
| 18:1 | 18:1 | 144.0 Mbps | 18.00 MB/s | 64.8 GB |
4K UHD (3840×2160, max 60 fps)
| Compression | Ratio | Bitrate | Data rate | Storage / hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q0 | 3.3:1 | 915.0 Mbps | 114.38 MB/s | 411.8 GB |
| Q1 | 5:1 | 697.5 Mbps | 87.19 MB/s | 313.9 GB |
| Q3 | 8:1 | 487.5 Mbps | 60.94 MB/s | 219.4 GB |
| Q5 | 12:1 | 292.5 Mbps | 36.56 MB/s | 131.6 GB |
| 3:1 | 3:1 | 817.5 Mbps | 102.19 MB/s | 367.9 GB |
| 5:1 | 5:1 | 495.0 Mbps | 61.87 MB/s | 222.7 GB |
| 8:1 | 8:1 | 315.0 Mbps | 39.38 MB/s | 141.8 GB |
| 12:1 | 12:1 | 210.0 Mbps | 26.25 MB/s | 94.5 GB |
| 18:1 | 18:1 | 135.0 Mbps | 16.88 MB/s | 60.8 GB |
2.6K 16:9 (windowed) (2688×1512, max 120 fps)
| Compression | Ratio | Bitrate | Data rate | Storage / hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q0 | 3.3:1 | 448.4 Mbps | 56.04 MB/s | 201.8 GB |
| Q1 | 5:1 | 341.8 Mbps | 42.72 MB/s | 153.8 GB |
| Q3 | 8:1 | 238.9 Mbps | 29.86 MB/s | 107.5 GB |
| Q5 | 12:1 | 143.3 Mbps | 17.92 MB/s | 64.5 GB |
| 3:1 | 3:1 | 400.6 Mbps | 50.07 MB/s | 180.3 GB |
| 5:1 | 5:1 | 242.5 Mbps | 30.32 MB/s | 109.1 GB |
| 8:1 | 8:1 | 154.4 Mbps | 19.29 MB/s | 69.5 GB |
| 12:1 | 12:1 | 102.9 Mbps | 12.86 MB/s | 46.3 GB |
| 18:1 | 18:1 | 66.2 Mbps | 8.27 MB/s | 29.8 GB |
Full HD 1080p (windowed) (1920×1080, max 120 fps)
| Compression | Ratio | Bitrate | Data rate | Storage / hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q0 | 3.3:1 | 228.8 Mbps | 28.59 MB/s | 102.9 GB |
| Q1 | 5:1 | 174.4 Mbps | 21.80 MB/s | 78.5 GB |
| Q3 | 8:1 | 121.9 Mbps | 15.23 MB/s | 54.8 GB |
| Q5 | 12:1 | 73.1 Mbps | 9.14 MB/s | 32.9 GB |
| 3:1 | 3:1 | 204.4 Mbps | 25.55 MB/s | 92.0 GB |
| 5:1 | 5:1 | 123.7 Mbps | 15.47 MB/s | 55.7 GB |
| 8:1 | 8:1 | 78.8 Mbps | 9.84 MB/s | 35.4 GB |
| 12:1 | 12:1 | 52.5 Mbps | 6.56 MB/s | 23.6 GB |
| 18:1 | 18:1 | 33.8 Mbps | 4.22 MB/s | 15.2 GB |
Content-dependent codecs (constant quality, VBR) vary their data rate with scene complexity — the figures above are typical values, and actual rates range around them.
Cards and recording time
The Pocket Cinema Camera 4K sustains up to 900 MB/s, so its media has to keep up with the mode you shoot. At the highest rate in the tables above (122 MB/s) the recording times per card are:
| Capacity | Recording time | Cards for 1 hour |
|---|---|---|
| 64 GB | 9 min | 7 |
| 128 GB | 17 min | 4 |
| 256 GB | 35 min | 2 |
| 512 GB | 1 h 10 min | 1 |
| 1 TB | 2 h 17 min | 1 |
Offloading a shooting day
90 minutes of takes come to about 658.8 GB. Over USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) that is 13 min for a single copy — double it if you verify with checksums, and multiply by the number of backups.
What hardware it needs
Playing this back in real time means sustaining 122.00 MB/s of reads. One hour of footage is 439.2 GB, and that is what has to travel every time you copy, back up or archive it.
Any card or drive rated below 122 MB/s sustained will drop frames on playback, whatever its peak speed says on the box.
| Interface | Sustained speed | Copying 1 hour |
|---|---|---|
| 1 GbE network (1 Gbps) | 110 MB/s | 1 h 7 min |
| USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) | 400 MB/s | 18 min |
| USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) | 850 MB/s | 9 min |
| Thunderbolt 3 / 4 (40 Gbps) | 2500 MB/s | 3 min |
Times are for a single copy without checksum verification. Verified offload reads back what it wrote, so it takes roughly twice as long.
Related guides
- Other Blackmagic cameras: URSA Cine 12K LF · URSA Mini Pro 12K · Cinema Camera 6K (Full Frame) · PYXIS 6K
- Other cameras recording Blackmagic RAW: Panasonic LUMIX S1H (Blackmagic RAW)
Figures use decimal units (1 GB = 1000 MB), the convention used by drive and camera manufacturers. Computed with the same calculation engine as the Workflow Data Calculator — open it to add audio, streams, backup copies, offload time and storage cost, or to export a PDF report.
Certified Adobe & Blackmagic training and postproduction workflow consulting by Jorge Mochón — jmochon.training