Other: I am no longer a Sony fanboi
- Thread starter eddavid
- Start date
Gary Senda
Well-known member
According my seller (a serious one) the 4.6k sensor of BMD Ursa mini 4.6k is made by Altasens
http://www.altasens.com/images/AL41410C-PF0476-10.1.pdf
and it's the same sensor mounted on JVC LS300.
Does someone know if this is true?
Regards
Gary
Dafilman21
Carbonite Member
Check the footage on there site, black hole has been fixed. As far as firmware updates BMD has done a great job of updating their cameras. You can now delete clips in and you have audio meters. I can't disagree with the fact that there early cameras lacked some features when they first released, but they do a good job of adding them in later. As for the mini I believe it will ship a little more finished than the others before it and what it lacks I am sure with BMD's track record they will add more later. Something that the other camera makers do as well, ship and then add promised features a few months later.
BMD is not perfect but it seems like people have a hard time giving them credit for some of the things they do or have improved on. I don't know if its because of brand loyalty or just plain ole ignorance. remember they are less than 5 years in and they produce cameras that make great images. For a price no one else is willing to offer.
Dafilman21
Carbonite Member
I don't think that is true, BMD claims to have designed this sensor from the ground up.
benjaminreece
Active member
Brand/design matters. Do it! :shocked:
Gary Senda
Well-known member
The Altasens sensor is mounted on LS300, for sure. According sensor specifications, resolution and framerates are compatible. Additionally, who builds Ursa mini sensor? Surely not blackmagic. Finally, my seller have not any interest to say me this, I've already bought LS300. I want to investigate this.
Regards
Gary
steve phillipps
Veteran
...Oh make your mind up!!! :;
steve phillipps
Veteran
Get your facts straight - it's a MAGENTA sun on the URSA!
rogar-Happy(DBG): ...so that's OK then! rogar-Shock(DBG):I don't see why it's not an easy thing to fix - I don't know if this is right but it seems to me that when the sensor registers clipping in all 3 colour channels it turns them purple??? That's why if you lower your exposure eventually the sun looks normal again. Surely if this is the case a simple couple of lines of code could tell the processor - if 3 channels = clipped, make pixels white, or make same as neighbouring pixels that are not clipped?
Presumably much more to it than that then?
Steve
DPStewart
Veteran
It's a weird day when "you can now delete clips in-camera" and "you can now format a card in-camera" are examples of a company dedicated to cutting-edge development.
That's not an accurate way of framing that.
They ARE cutting edge with the Image Quality they deliver at the price point.
Those 2 issues were present only in their first cameras' early firmware. I've been shooting with folks using various Blackmagic cameras for a year and I've never even seen a unit with those old issues. To say those fixes are a new thing isn't accurate.
Also, those issues were only present on their first 3 of the 8 cameras they offer.
And the Black Hole Sun - as has been shown in clips posted on this forum - the ARRI ALEXA does that too.
basspig
Veteran
I was very interested in the URSA for a while in March, but after spending a couple of nights on their forums, reading the numerous nightmarish accounts of cameras that crash, cameras that boot up at random with no user contact, sensor pattern noise, and poor ISO sensitivity, I decided to back away from it and look toward the Sony FS7 again. I still like the Sony picture the best of all the cams whose sample footage I've downloaded or seen online.
I was also considering a used RED ONE, mainly because Adobe CS6 has good support for editing REDcode. But again, low ISO sensitivity and the unknown cost of outfitting the camera to working state with used accessories.
FS7 appears not to be a CineAlta product though, which gives me pause. The CineAlta cams have good audio. But the other Sonys are awful, in my experience with a few of them.
I was also considering a used RED ONE, mainly because Adobe CS6 has good support for editing REDcode. But again, low ISO sensitivity and the unknown cost of outfitting the camera to working state with used accessories.
FS7 appears not to be a CineAlta product though, which gives me pause. The CineAlta cams have good audio. But the other Sonys are awful, in my experience with a few of them.
thorn
Active member
Well, according to BMD's website, formatting was added in 1.9.7 about 7 months ago.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/press/release/20141008-01
But perhaps I'm missing something.
Andrew Stone
Veteran
It's an 8 thousand dollar camera. Given what is packed into it, the value proposition is excellent. If certain things aren't up to your standard look at a different camera. The Alexa Mini apparently has good audio although you will have to spend money on additional cabling.
Last edited:
eddavid
Carbonite Member
I'm back to loving Sony - for now
waiting on test - fs7 and f55 and ursa mini raw and canon c300 mark II - motion, skin color, base iso level
wait, no actually I'm fine
i'll just keep using my cameras I already own - they are good enough for me. Better learn lighting, composition, grading, lenses, filtration - things that can actually improve my skills, not just wasting endless time speculating on the latest sensor etc
waiting on test - fs7 and f55 and ursa mini raw and canon c300 mark II - motion, skin color, base iso level
wait, no actually I'm fine
i'll just keep using my cameras I already own - they are good enough for me. Better learn lighting, composition, grading, lenses, filtration - things that can actually improve my skills, not just wasting endless time speculating on the latest sensor etc
basspig
Veteran
My EX1 was a $6300 camera and has flawless audio. The components to produce good quality digital audio cost about $20, probably far less in the quantities that Sony buys them in, so there is no cost benefit to dumbing down the audio circuits, except to force customers to another model (similar to the way Amazon delays shipments for a week now, in an attempt to force you over to Amazon Prime account signup.)
I trust the CineAlta line. And the Fujinon lenses that they used were too good for the price. As I look at footage I shot downtown with my EX3 and the stock lens, to an Atomos Samurai, displayed on my 4K monitor, I am stunned at how clean and free of chromatic aberration that lens is at most focal lengths, as well as the sheer detail in the picture. Even after looking at 4K material, it still looks very nice, like 65mm film projected on ground glass. I've captured amazing sound & picture with those EX series cameras and for run & gun, a Rode NT4, or studio/church/concert work, a pair of Neumann U87s. The lowest organ pedal tones shake the foundation when I play back some of those videos here. 2/3 of my clients use my services BECAUSE the audio is so realistic to their ears. Even Dizzy Gillespie's manager loves my audio for his instructional video series that we've been producing over the past couple of years. It's all thanks to the fact that Sony used normal grade digital audio components and didn't spend extra on filters to narrow the frequency range to voice only, like they do with many of the non CineAlta cams.
BMD 4.6 sensor is 4608x2592.
JVC LS 300 is a 13.5 MPX sensor.
Each is S35 in size.
So, it could be true.
Which doesn't mean two cameras will perform similarly.
Lenilenapi
Carbonite Member
Who is Altasens?
JPNola
Veteran
I need to spend less time fretting over what camera and lenses I should own and more time getting my career to the place where I am able to demand that the production rent whatever camera and glass I request. There is something I find admirable in the DP's who really don't know much about all the technical side because they don't have to and they can instead put more time and attention into lighting, framing, camera movement. They spend more time on actual "cinematography" part than on all this codec, LUT, histogram, compression, gamma curve stuff which is more on the electronics or DIT end of things. Too many of use get caught up in all the engine specs when some of that time would be better spent on improving our driving skills.
benjaminreece
Active member
But that's why I love this board. Technical dissection of camera gear is what this community is primarily focused on and that's why I come to this board for that topic. If I want something more lighting focused I'll go to roger deakins forum.
basspig
Veteran
But that's why I love this board. Technical dissection of camera gear is what this community is primarily focused on and that's why I come to this board for that topic. If I want something more lighting focused I'll go to roger deakins forum.
But there is a curious dichotomy between the video and the audio halves of people's interest in cameras. It's like one exists but the other does not and nobody cares.