Blackmagic introduces Ursa broadcast camera

Blackmagic has launched a range of products for broadcast including an Ursa broadcast camera.

There’s also Blackmagic Fiber Converters for SMPTE fiber, the ATEM 4 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K switcher, ATEM 1 M/E Advanced Panel, a free upgrade for ATEM 2 M/E Broadcast Studio 4K switchers and the ATEM Camera Control Panel.

Blackmagic says the products have been designed to “help broadcasters upgrade to Ultra HD and they include higher levels of features and industrial design. Broadcasters have dramatically reduced budgets these days, and so are finding it difficult to update to Ultra HD, so we believe these products will help. Plus, web broadcasters also want the same professional features that high end broadcasters use, so these new products will help them move up to true professional products.”

The new URSA Broadcast is a very affordable Ultra HD professional broadcast camera (£2.5k). It’s based on the URSA Mini Pro design with traditional camera controls and features and it can also use URSA Mini Pro accessories. The sensor size is designed for URSA Broadcast’s B4 lens mount so it has a very wide depth of field. It also has wide dynamic range for better images and to integrate into HDR workflows.

Blackmagic is touting the camera as “two cameras in one” – a regular shooting camera and also a studio camera. It uses regular SD and CFast cards and its file formats are regular DNx145, DNx220X, ProRes and even RAW so it integrates into editing and media management workflows without any file transcoding.

Blackmagic URSA Broadcast also includes studio camera features so it can be moved between shooting and live production workflows.

The camera is available now.

Here’s Blackmagic’s list of key features for the new camera

Blackmagic URSA Broadcast Key Features
    •    4K sensor, extended video dynamic range, traditional external controls and buttons, built in optical ND filters, dual CFast and dual SD card recorders,
    •    Advanced HD and Ultra HD broadcast camera with ⅔” B4 mount.
    •    New extended video mode with better dynamic range and color fidelity producing images with amazing texture and detail, accurate skin tones, vibrant color and high dynamic range.
    •    Full electronic B4 lens control support for adjusting focus, iris and zoom using the camera’s controls, or remotely from an ATEM switcher or ATEM Camera Control Panel.
    •    Built in dual SD/UHS-II and CFast card recorders allow unlimited duration recording in high quality.
    •    Records 1080i or 2160p video into standard .mov files using DNx145, DNx220X or ProRes for compatibility with existing broadcast systems and workflows. Standard .mxf will be added in future updates.
    •    Support for DNxHD 220X, DNxHD 145, Apple ProRes 4444 XQ QuickTime, ProRes 4444 QuickTime, ProRes 422 HQ QuickTime, ProRes 422 QuickTime, ProRes 422 LT QuickTime and ProRes 422 Proxy QuickTime, CinemaDNG RAW, CinemaDNG RAW 3:1, CinemaDNG RAW 4:1.
    •    High quality clear, 1/4, 1/16th and 1/64th stop neutral density (ND) filters with IR compensation designed to specifically match the colorimetry and color science of URSA Broadcast.
    •    Fully redundant controls including external broadcast controls which allow direct access to the most important camera settings such as external power switch, ND filter wheel, ISO, shutter, white balance, record button, audio gain controls, lens and transport control, high frame rate button and more.
    •    Interchangeable lens mount with B4 mount included as standard. Optional EF, PL and F mount available separately.
    •    Status display for quickly checking timecode, shutter and lens settings, battery, recording status, and audio levels.
    •    Features all standard connections, including dual XLR mic/line audio inputs with phantom power, 12G‑SDI output for monitoring with camera status graphic overlay and separate XLR 4 pin power output for viewfinder power, headphone jack, LANC remote control and standard 4 pin 12V DC power connection.
    •    Built in high quality stereo microphones for recording sound.
    •    4 inch foldout touchscreen for on-set monitoring and menu settings.
    •    Blackmagic SDI Control Protocol for external control or iPad control via Bluetooth®, 2 x 2.5mm LANC for lens and record control.