BlackMagic - URSA Mini

It's just a camera. If you don't like the camera or the company, don't buy one. It's pretty simple.

I don't own a BM camera, but I used an URSA recently and thought it was pretty great. Except for that sensor issue, which I agree the company should be embarrassed about. I for one, would never sell a camera for $6k that you couldn't point towards a light source. Even a T2i can handle that.

But I appreciate their innovation and I think they're figuring it out as a company. They've stolen some market share with those techniques and I applaud them for that. Again, I don't own one of their cameras but I've been keeping my eye on them, waiting to see if they release something I might be interested in. The URSA mini is very intriguing. Can't wait to see the announcement tomorrow.
 
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BM has some issues actually building very usable cameras, but I'll sure give it to them if they can deliver a much smaller URSA (picture doesnt make it look that much smaller) that uses that Fairchild sCMOS 2.0 sensor and does 4k 120fps with a global shutter. The specs on the sensor list dual 11bit ADCs, so 15stops of DR is definitely a possibility! Then again their old sensor was capable of 300fps but they only ever got 80fps out of it. But the new software update does seem to imply that if this is the V2 sensor it will do 120fps 4k and could still be global shutter since that sensor can do 240fps 4k with rolling shutter or 120fps 4k with global! I only hope they also support adjustable gain in the new sensor and this might be a killer camera.

Signs point to it just having the same old EF/PL mounts since it's still an URSA, but it would be great if they support a short flange mount like E or m43 for use with speedboosters. I guess built in ND would be too much to ask for, too. In the end, if they still have the various processing issues they've always had and missing controls for run and gun and no ND or adaptable mounts and convergent design gets their prores up to 120fps 4k, my FS700+7Q package might still be a lot more practical for actual shooting than a new URSA.
 
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Blackmagic has come a very long way in like three years. Don't expect them to stop anytime soon. While they may not be perfect Blackmagic does a lot more than other companies to try to push the limits of what cameras can do at a certain price point. We really need to give them a lot of credit for taking on an entire industry and trying to push what they can build every year. They are a small(ish) company and building cameras is not easy. They have expanded their camera camera knowledge by leaps and bounds in just their first year alone and I don't see that stopping anytime soon. Some of us may not be tickled by their camera choices right now but all of us would be very wise to keep a very close eye on Blackmagic every year to see what voodoo they pull off.
 
If that price is correct, this camera will be everywhere in the following months. $2999? Looking forward to specs tomorrow
 
$2999?

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yoclay said:
Sure. Until they realize all the things which are wrong with it. It's Blackmagic after all.
Expect the fix to come on the next camera body, not for your camera.
But hey, don't worry. They are always sure that a third party will step in to solve whatever issues they are not willing to address.
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In fairness to BMD; it took a while, but they did add a ton of features on all of their cameras. The 2.5k camera I own is what I'd call complete now. I'd expect this wave of products to launch with much more complete features.
 
What I doing today? Searching for stores I can preorder the URSA Mini already.
Wow, it exactly what I hoped for. If it really is around 3000 I might order that BM small box camera on the side as B-cam/dashboard.

:) NAB started better than I could dream of.
 
+1. BM is fallible and so who isn't? Bottom line is they are doing more in the area of 'democratization' than anyone else I can find, or so it seems. Sony, Canon, Panasonic, JVC, RED, are juggling a lot trying to meet the needs of cosumers, prosumers, semi-pros, broadcasters, indies, major film cos, etc. The fact that their most expensive offering, the URSA, is $6K (or thereabouts) is fantastic, and if they had a more aggressive roadmap for their URSA sensor upgrades, their fixes of the white orb (or whatever it is called) and the other issues mentioned, maybe they'd be praised more for what is truly affordable gear. This new cam, at $3k, is killer and will mean many more emerging filmmakers will have something they can use to wow us all. Well done Mr. Grant Petty. You are making cameras at price points that will bring in the many, and that can help give some a leg up into spheres previously only available to the mighty few.
 
If all holds true, bmd is sending a strong statement through the market, and with 15 stops of Dr, prores recording, and raw at your fingertips, Bmd will grab a good portion of market share, providing they have addressed one of the main concerns which is the that black orb. But for $3000 I will still be one of the first guinea pigs. lol!
 
ryan brown said:
Everything you just mentioned, minus the third party suppliers fixing issues, sounds to me like growing pains from an inexperienced company. Like I said above.

I'm a professional DP, and I've never used a black magic camera on a pro set for reasons you said. But here's the thing... I've never considered that the cams they're putting out are on that level. Who's pretending? Were you, and then you were let down? They're sub 10K cameras, and there's plenty of issues to work out. If you're looking for a pro camera for a pro shoot, obviously you go with the tried and true cams out there.

Like I said above, again, it sounds like your expectations are/weren't realistic and you wanted it all right out of the gate. If you've used one of their cameras on a pro set, and it happened to fall apart and you lost a client, the person most at fault is you.
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Blackmagic is not only showing, but practically headlining their cameras at the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTORS. Has everyone forgotten what that means? Professional with a capitol P. It's Blackmagic which is pretending, not myself or anyone else.

We are probably actually on the same page. As a policy I never buy a camera just out the door. Too many things I don't know about it's implementation. I don't have any expectations, other than the fact that I interviewed them on several occasions, have tried out their products repeatedly (found immediate obvious issues) and followed other members/forums who also used them. I was blown away by their lack of reactivity (BM's) faced with the virtual anguish of many endusers. I think we have arrived at a new level of technology, but also a new low of industry professionalism with the belief that it is ok to release beta cameras before they have obviously even been properly tested.

I refer you to an enduser's post this morning:
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showth...-stops-of-DR&p=1494121&viewfull=1#post1494121

BM is not a new inexperienced company. They may be new to cameras, but not to the industry. They know better. This isn't just inexperience we are talking about. This is a conscious, chosen policy I am referring to. That is what I am reacting to. It goes something like this: Create a pre-order/headlining sensation, make em wait while creating buzz at the same time and hope to deliver within a hazy far off time frame, hopefully arriving more or less at what we stated we were going to do. Correct any errors later, or not at all. Repeat and rinse, moving on to making the next headlining sensation.

My attitude now towards BM - buyer beware. Pre-order at your own risk. Once you know what the bugs and issues are, make an informed decision.
 
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So I think this is the sensor that will be in the new Ursa Mini: http://www.fairchildimaging.com/catalog/focal-plane-arrays/scmos/ltn4625a

Fairchild made the sensor for the Pocket and the original BMCC which still has the best image of all the Blackmagic cameras in my opinion. They have had a lot of problems with the CMOSIS sensors in 4K Production and Ursa so I'm hoping that they are going with Fairchild from now on.

The specs seems to match up. The sensor has a resolution of 4608 x 2592 which seems to match up with the 4.6K claim seen on the banner. The specs also show only a slight improvement in dynamic range compared to the sensor used in the BMCC 2.5K so the 15 stop DR claim may be a bit exaggerated for marketing purposes but I think we are looking at a 13.5+ stop sensor for sure which should be fantastic.

The sensor can do both global shutter and rolling shutter. Not sure if Blackmagic will go back to Rolling Shutter since they like the tout the global shutter of their other cameras but the kicker is that the sensor can do up to 240fps with rolling shutter and 120fps with global shutter. I'm hoping they go with rolling shutter personally. Rolling shutter can be annoying but it doesnt seem to be too bad on the BMCC and I don't like the low light sensitivity and DR hit that comes with global. Plus 240fps would be killer.

I could be wrong though. They could have a CMOSIS sensor in there which would be a big disappointment.
 
Moment, Important question note to say: DIMENSIONS
Look at this pictures from E. Nasso, the camera seems too big too, I mean why the name of Mini if the camera seems like or bigger than FS7 ??

URSA-Mini-On-Sticks-1024x1024.jpg
URSA-Mini-On-Shoulder-1024x768.jpg
 
olindacat said:
+1. BM is fallible and so who isn't? Bottom line is they are doing more in the area of 'democratization' than anyone else I can find, or so it seems. Sony, Canon, Panasonic, JVC, RED, are juggling a lot trying to meet the needs of cosumers, prosumers, semi-pros, broadcasters, indies, major film cos, etc. The fact that their most expensive offering, the URSA, is $6K (or thereabouts) is fantastic, and if they had a more aggressive roadmap for their URSA sensor upgrades, their fixes of the white orb (or whatever it is called) and the other issues mentioned, maybe they'd be praised more for what is truly affordable gear. This new cam, at $3k, is killer and will mean many more emerging filmmakers will have something they can use to wow us all. Well done Mr. Grant Petty. You are making cameras at price points that will bring in the many, and that can help give some a leg up into spheres previously only available to the mighty few.
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I sit by what I said in the other thread... people can type all they want... tomorrow, we'll see how many put down pre-orders.

Some other companies are claiming to change the industry... I'm pretty sure only one of them will do it...

Don't even know the half of it...
 
I have the sensor specs
They put a draw of the sensor inside a circle that says APS-C but
SENSOR Actice area SIZE is: 25.3mm x 14.3 mm
Sony A7S is better: 35.8 x 23.9
But BM is yet S35, so thats a good point, it almost in the same size as F55, RED, Canon C100, 300, 500

Again, for me the dimensions of the camera is a very important thing that Im not sure if they have a smaller camera, as on the above photos seems bigger than FS7, F5, ..
Below credit photo to abelcine

35mm_DigitalSensors_13.jpg
 
Yes, this seems to be the Fairchild APS-C sCMOS 2.0 sensor (LTN4625A), which is basically the perfect sensor right now: same design as the sensor in the pocket, but APS-C and 4K.
The fps limit is probably on the processor, not the sensor (even the sensor in the original BM could do 150 fps or something like that, but the BM processor wasn't able to work that fast).

The Ursa Mini looks KILLER, at a price that makes the C300II seem laughable (even the FS7, actually). Eagerly awaiting more details (I need a m43 mount so I can put a speedbooster and make my FF lenses work as intended; and I can live with a much smaller camera, so I hope they'll have stripped down versions too: do we know the sensor size for the drone camera? edit: yes, we know: s16, 13 stops of DR)
 
Given the LTN4625A is rolling and global, I wonder if the camera will feature an option to switch between rolling or global (albeit at a DR performance hit)...
 
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