VITAL STATS
MANUFACTURER: Blackmagic Design
PRODUCT: Micro Color Panel
PRICE: $509
WEBSITE: www.blackmagicdesign.com
I’m reviewing Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve Micro Color Panel — second of its name — from the point of view of a colorist working on the road. While I did actually own the OG DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel (now discontinued), it was too heavy to lug around. So when BMD announced this svelt replacement at NAB 2024, I was eager to see if it would fulfill my portability needs, allowing me to sneak in some remote grading work while away from Dungeon Beach, my Brooklyn post house. After test driving this panel for a few weeks — both poolside and lakeside — I can confirm that, yes, this is the ‘grab-and-go’ color panel I’ve been looking for. But what ended up delighting me far more than the small form factor was the incredible amount of pro functionality packed into the new Micro Color Panel, thanks to a thoughtful mapping that often triples the use of each dial, ball and button.
Before I nerd out about shift modifiers, let me say a few words about the Micro Color Panel’s physique. It’s plastic-y, but somehow doesn’t feel cheap. The three main wheels and balls are smaller than the retired Micro (or current Mini). When I first saw the press release photo, I worried I’d be fingerpainting with this thing. In practice, however, I can easily palm the balls and grade comfortably throughout a long session. But the biggest improvements over the old Micro are the new buttons. I found the old buttons were too gummy and hard to press. In contrast, these new buttons require little force to actuate, and are closer in feel to a classy mechanical keyboard.
In my road testing, I was actually able to ditch the keyboard and control DaVinci Resolve exclusively with the new Micro Color Panel, thanks to its dense mapping and multiple shift-key modifiers. Even when I use my big control surface at the studio, I still find myself reaching inefficiently for certain keyboard shortcut staples: equal and minus to copy grades from previous shots; semicolon and apostrophe to jump to first and last frame; shift-tilde to hide Power Window wireframes; etc. As it turns out, all of the above can be triggered from the new Micro Color Panel by holding either shift “up” or shift “down” and pressing a particular button. As I worked my way through discovering these extra layers of functionality, I couldn’t help but think that an extremely-seasoned colorist had been consulted in the design of this panel.
Perhaps the most impressive party trick of the new Micro Color Panel is the ability to manipulate Power Windows with the rings and trackballs. It’s a satisfyingly-tactile way to dodge and burn, saving you the need to reach for a mouse. But the responsiveness here could use some tuning. If you move a Power Window diagonally, it stutters in jagged, stair-steppy fashion. Rotation as well is oddly slow, requiring quite a few spins of the gamma ring to turn a window 90 degrees. These niggles are hopefully something Blackmagic Design can address via a firmware update in the future.
My biggest question mark with the new Micro Color Panel is why DaVinci Resolve’s most advanced primary grading tool — the HDR wheels — have been seemingly forgotten. For starters, there is no button that takes you to the HDR wheels in the GUI, as there are for primary and log. Second, there are no buttons to move the wheel banks left and right, meaning you need to take your hands off the panel to change which tonal zones are being targeted by the three wheels. Most disappointingly, there is no way to control the range and falloff of each zone, which is critical to finesse in any given shot. For this review, I did have a chance to speak with a Blackmagic representative and suggested that the 12 dials atop the Micro panel get a “shift” mapping that allows them to control the range and falloff of each of the six zones.
With fingers crossed for expanded HDR wheels support, I do plan to purchase the new Micro Color Panel after I return my review unit. At $500, it’s an absurdly-good value. The new Micro Color Panel is half the price of the old one, with triple the functionality — and it fulfills that portability need. As I looked to escape the hot New York summer and travel across New England and upstate with my family, the Micro Color Panel helped me get real work done on the road. I graded both a VR concert and a skincare commercial. I’m not sure which was the bigger pleasure — the feel of using the device — or the feeling of satisfaction every time I discovered a clever “shift” for one of the buttons that meant I could keep both hands on the Micro Color Panel, grading faster and more efficiently.
Jeff Sousa is Supervising Colorist/Partner at Dungeon Beach (www.dungeonbeach.com) in Brooklyn, NY.