Blackmagic URSA Unveiled At NAB 2014.

I was a little blown away by the new URSA from Blackmagic Design. I’m going to go over a few camera features that stand out and at the end of the post I have specifications.

The one thing that stands out is how the sensor is mounted. It lives inside the lens mount. Very different design. I asked Grant how much a different mount would cost and he said around $2k. I was taken back a bit but he explained the sensor is attached to it. This is interesting because that makes the URSA upgradeable if a improved sensor is engineered.

Grant mentioned how easy it was to swap out and it doesn’t take any technical ability to do so.

This image had the crowd laughing, but shows how the URSA can be used as a recorder with an HDMI mount in place rather than a lens mount. It’s a crazy idea but we have seen crazy ways people use cameras to get what they need. The URSA has lots of user functions. Grant mentioned feedback that they received and they tried to build a camera based around that. The larger body is one users wanted. Blackmagic took the larger approach to the extreme. Huge VU meters and a 10″ flip out monitor. It really is massive!

The URSA is using the same sensor as the S35 4K Production camera for now. I say now because it’s designed to be upgradable. Four models are available. EF and PL. The HDMI and B4 Broadcast are TBA. I know. I dont want to go into the delivery thing. The URSA uses CFast 2.0 media instead or SSD. Below are the full specs.

Camera Features

Effective Sensor Size

21.12mm x 11.88mm (Super 35)

Effective Resolution

3840 x 2160

Shooting Resolutions

3840 x 2160, 1920 x 1080

Frame Rates

3840 x 2160p23.98, 3840 x 2160p24, 3840 x 2160p25, 3840 x 2160p29.9, 3840 x 2160p30, 3840 x 2160p60, 1920 x 1080p23.98, 1920 x 1080p24, 1920 x 1080p25, 1920 x 1080p29.97, 1920 x 1080p30, 1920 x 1080p50, 1920 x 1080p59.94, 1920 x 1080p60, 1920 x 1080i50, 1920 x 1080i59.9 and 1920 x 1080i60

Sensor frame rate support

Up to 60 fps

Dynamic Range

12 stops

Focus

Focus button turns on peaking, focus bubbles, auto focus available on active lens mount.

Iris Control

Iris button automatically adjusts the lens iris settings so no pixel is clipped in film mode. Scene average auto exposure in video mode.

Lens Mount

EF Mount

Screen Dimensions

1 x 10.1” – 1920 x 1200
2 x 5” – 800 x 480

Screen Type

10.1” – TFT-LCD
5” – Integrated LCD capacitive touchscreen

Metadata Support

Automatic camera data and user data such as shot number, filenames and keywords.

Controls

Touch screen menus on 5” screen. Push button controls for navigating menus.

Microphone

Integrated mono microphone

Speaker

Integrated mono speaker

Mounting Options

Multiple 1/4”-20 UNC thread mounting on top of camera and on handle bar. Rosette on bottom. Integrated rods mounts compatible with 15mm Light Weight Support standard.

Storage Features

Storage Type

CFast 2.0

Storage Rates

Approx 880 Mbps using Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) at 3840 x 2160. Approx 220 Mbps using Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) at 1920 x 1080.

Compressed Recording Formats

Lossless compressed CinemaDNG RAW with film dynamic range at 3840 x 2160. Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) at 3840 x 2160 and 1920 x 1080 with either film or video dynamic range.

Connections

SDI Video Output

1 x 12G-SDI 10-bit 4:2:2. 1 x 3G-SDI down converted for external monitoring

SDI Video Input

1 x 12G-SDI

Ref Input

1 x Reference Input

Timecode Input

1 x Timecode Input

Timecode Output

1 x Timecode Output

Analog Audio Input

2 x XLR analog switchable between mic and line levels. Phantom power support.

Analog Audio Output

1/4” jack output for headphone monitoring

SDI Audio Output

2 channel

Remote Control

1 x 2.5mm LANC for Rec Start/Stop, Iris Control and Focus.

Computer Interface

USB 2.0 Mini-B port for software updates.

Standards

SDI Compliance

SMPTE 292M

SDI Audio Sampling

48 kHz and 24-bit

Software

Software Included

DaVinci Resolve grading software including Resolve USB dongle for Mac OS X and Windows.
Blackmagic Media Express software.
DiskSpeed Test.

Operating Systems

Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion or later.

Windows 7 or later.

Power Requirements

External Power Input

1 x 4-pin XLR port for external power or battery use.

External Power Ouput

1 x 12V output using 4-pin XLR for powering external accessories such as EVF.

Power

Rear camera mount compatible with industry standard V-mount or Gold Mount battery plates.

Accessories

Optional Accessories

Adapter plate with 15mm Light Weight Support and Rosettes.

Physical Specifications

Environmental Specifications

Operating Temperature

0° to 40° C (32° to 104° F)

Storage Temperature

-20° to 45° C (-4° to 113° F)

Relative Humidity

0% to 90% non-condensing

What’s Included

Blackmagic URSA

Active EF Mount turret

Turret Dust Cap

12V AC Adapter

Tripod mounting plate adapter

DaVinci Resolve

Warranty

Product Warranty

12 Month Limited Manufacturer’s Warranty.

So what do I think? I think it’s one crazy camera and I would love to try it out. It fits the bill as a more complete camera as opposed to the other ones that Blackmagic makes but it might be well. Too big. The flip out monitor really is huge. No viewfinder or EVF. You will need to adapt one to this camera. The 10″ monitor is a super bright version and Grant said they kept taking it outside to see if it was viewable while in development. He assured us it works very well in the bright sun so maybe no EVF is required. Blackmagic for the last three years has really shaken up the camera business and this new entry is going to do the same. The price makes it very affordable for what you get at $6000 for the EF and $6500 for the PL mount. Amazing price really.

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