Blackmagic URSA : full Fledged Camera

At a time when every other significant manufacturer is releasing cameras with high sensitivity, sometimes ridiculously high sensitivity, I'm not sure how this camera fits in if it's the same chip at 400 ISO. It would have to be at least 800 ISO with no fixed pattern noise.
 
looks very interesting, like their lessons learned from all their other cameras are paying off in this one. I like the replaceable sensors but I wonder how long before the back end processing can't keep up with the new sensors and potential frame rates and resolution. don't mind the size love the form factor, the screen is a little overboard, as well as the redundant control screens though if you can deal with extra size and wait(unintended play on words...should be weight) how can you complain about more options?

One thing I wonder about is why the global shutter and loss of some DR, at this size and form factor I can't imagine it will be used in many run and guns situations and even when it is the pure weight will reduce most jitters and skew to the point that a global shutter would not be necessary.

I assume they had the 4k sensor and needed to put the cam out with a 4k sensor to compete, so hopefully they will announce a 4k non global shutter 13-14 stop sensor mount replacement soon, heck maybe even a 2.5k m43 sensor and mount.

I'm also curious if the hdmi and the other bodies are fundamentally different, can I mount an ef 4k sensor on the hdmi after purchase? If the hdmi is released with the capability to use sensor mounts as well as be the back end recorder I assume a lot would be pissed and would prefer to be informed now so they can wait to purchase until the hdmi is ready.

though really like the sensor mount combo and the potential down the road for switching between formats on the fly, low light, speed, mono... etc and all the while never having to expose delicate internals of the camera to this harsh and unforgiving world we operate in.

I would assume they will have some sort of incremental update to the firmware of the old cams... at the very least I would hold off on the pitch forks until the end of NAB.

interesting times!
 
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Looks great, love the design for large productions, but for single shooting, It's just to big for my needs. The gh4 still seems like a better choice for me. Maybe down the road, we'll see.
 
This is not a single operator camera.
On the other note, where is the promised firmware for existing cameras? Instead of pumping half baked products BM would have been better off finishing firmware for existing models. Cinema Camera is on the market for a year and a half. Where are the audio meters? Where is the usage of media or in camera media formatting? These things were promised 2 years ago. For people, who already purchased new cams this should be unacceptable. I think on part of BM this is a horrible PR and undermines their trust in commitment to existing customers.
 
Exactly why I cancelled my order last year for one...
I'd rather have something I can trust 99% than something that looks great on specs.
 
snowblindfilm said:
This is not a single operator camera.
On the other note, where is the promised firmware for existing cameras? Instead of pumping half baked products BM would have been better off finishing firmware for existing models. Cinema Camera is on the market for a year and a half. Where are the audio meters? Where is the usage of media or in camera media formatting? These things were promised 2 years ago. For people, who already purchased new cams this should be unacceptable. I think on part of BM this is a horrible PR and undermines their trust in commitment to existing customers.
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BMD never promised any of that stuff. For the love of all fruits and vegetables stop posting this.
 
Hmm, looks interesting. But for all I've read and seen about the production camera, it seems less than convincing. This seems like a beast. Had it only had at least 13 stops of dynamic range it would have been really interesting. Favourite feature: the integrated slots for 15mm rods! No need to buy overpriced plates just to mount a follow focus.

All the pictures of it look really 3D generated. If this thing actually ships in July, I'll eat my hat ;)
 
Kholi said:
BMD never promised any of that stuff. For the love of all fruits and vegetables stop posting this.
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True, but they do (continue) to promise that the original and pocket cams can record "professional" quality audio, which really isn't true, even if you use an external preamp. The BMPC-4K is a bit better, if you use an external preamp.

I hope they address this ASAP in a firmware update. Or, if the hardware isn't capable of it: Remove those words from the product descriptions on their website, and offer a substantial rebate to customers who ask for it.

Meanwhile, any word on the actual audio specs for the new URSA? Bit depth, sampling rate, S/N?
 
Folks. This is a Blackmagic camera.
What have you learned so far about Blackmagic as a camera company?

1) Promise now for a certain date before it may even exist.
2) Get enough pre-orders to back the production run.
3) Deliver late.
4) Deal with the mess of unfinished business at some later uncertain date.

Here is my advice. Take all of this with a very large pinch of salt.
Wait until July, before even considering pre-ordering.
Get a low down on the unfinished business once it does and then jump if you still want it.

Personally, I plan on shuffling back into the kitchen to make some popcorn, so that I can watch another kind of fantasy film this evening instead.
 
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Personally, I'm skeptical of BMD. I never messed with their cameras until my friend recently got the 4K BMC. The test footage had serious issues. Granted it was LA at night (not BMC strong point), but there were sensor issues - Vertical banding, white pixels and black hole sun in many of the car head lights - as also noted by many other users. My friend sold the camera pretty quickly after getting it because of the sensor issues which would be risky on a paid production.

Believe me, I really want to believe in BMD as they are a true indy camera company and I really hope they do well. It's great the BMD offers great specs, but they really need to fix the glaring issues and quality control of their camera offerings.
 
Nice camera when it gets out there...global shutter great. Form factor, size & weight no problems with, this is meant to be a pro camera.

12 stops DR is behind the times but with a upgradeable sensor this should only improve.

People bitching about media costs should maybe go out and shoot film to gain perspective.

My main concern regards that 10 inch screen & it's usability on location. It will definitely need some form of ambient light protection to be useable. If this camera is going to be used on ENG then there is no way that 10inch screen will survive a "media scrum" etc. The current screens on the BM's are craptacular so hopefully this isn't a bigger version of them. I suspect people who buy these will fork out for EVF instead of a rig, but hey you make your choices.

Possibly a great camera for it's price point lets see when it starts shipping.

P.S. At Vanvideo no they aren't good enough for 4K they're HD.
 
Peter J. DeCrescenzo said:
True, but they do (continue) to promise that the original and pocket cams can record "professional" quality audio, which really isn't true, even if you use an external preamp. The BMPC-4K is a bit better, if you use an external preamp.

I hope they address this ASAP in a firmware update. Or, if the hardware isn't capable of it: Remove those words from the product descriptions on their website, and offer a substantial rebate to customers who ask for it.

Meanwhile, any word on the actual audio specs for the new URSA? Bit depth, sampling rate, S/N?
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Yeah, I did a major project with the BMCC. Most of it was interviews. I used a Zoom recorder for audio.
The video quality was great. The syncing was not to bad. I would roll video and audio all the way through
each interview. After that I picked up a Sony RX10 and have used that for several projects. The internal audio
is much better than the BMCC. Even if Black Magic "fixed" the audio problems……
I am ready to go 4K but not with Black Magic.
 
I like the ability to change the lens mount and the sensor module so that you can trade out one bad sensor for another bad sensor.
 
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