How many times does Corey over at Faymus Media call the Blackmagic URSA “a monster?” We dare you to watch the video and post your answers below — and then answer this question: does it matter?

You already know that we think Blackmagic is an interesting company. But when Faymus Media got their hands on their new URSA and took it out to Union Square and Times Square – my old haunting grounds – well, I just had to watch all 27 minutes of their video review on YouTube.

The URSA became more interesting to me the farther into the video I watched, although all I really member is Corey’s hair; how often he called it a monster and said it was heavy (at one point it looked like he might snap his monopod in half, and in fact felt compelled to switch to a Davis & Sanford tripod); how much I miss living in Greenwich Village; how suddenly that A7s footage I saw last week taken at Times Square seems a lot less impressive now that Corey showed us how well the URSA did in the same place; and that he thinks the URSA is better than the RED Scarlet.

I’ve never seen a RED Scarlet in the metal, and I’m still recovering from my initial poking and prodding of the Sony FS7, but I figure dems is fighting words to some.

Regardless — with a list price of $5,995 with EF mount, 4K (well, UHD actually), a global shutter, and three LCD’s, this is one VERY interesting camera.

Shout out to Corey for serving up an informative and provocative first look. We may just need to get that monster in house for a closer look-see ourselves.

Blackmagic URSA Full Review

[Source: BMCC.TV]

Blackmagic URSA 4K Digital Cinema Camera

The URSA 4K Digital Cinema Camera with active EF Mount from Blackmagic Design features a form factor that is designed to make it flexible enough to use on productions of all sizes. From a single operator all the way up to a full camera crew. At the heart of the imaging system, URSA features a 3840 x 2160 resolution, global shutter CMOS sensor with 12 stops of dynamic range. The camera records and outputs in the 2160p format, a 16:9 standard with precisely four times the resolution of 1080p, often referred to as UltraHD.

Internally, URSA can record in the two formats. The first is 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW, a losslessly compressed RAW codec designed to give you the greatest latitude for image manipulation in post production. The second is Apple Pro Res 422 (HQ), a debayered codec for easier playback and editing in a wide range of video editing applications. Additionally, ProRes also requires less storage space for extended recording times. Video is recorded to CFast 2.0 memory cards, and the camera features two slots allowing you to hot swap media for continuous, uninterrupted recording.

URSA features a 10.1″, 1080p resolution flip-out LCD screen so that you won’t necessarily need an on-camera monitor. Additionally, there are two 5″ capacitive touchscreens, one on either side of the body. These allow you to access the menu system and can display data such as timecode and audio waveforms.

So you can edit and color correct your footage, especially footage shot in the CinemaDNG RAW format, URSA includes DaVinci Resolve 11 software dongle for OS X and Windows.