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
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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