USER REVI EW | URSA MI N I PRO G2
The 4in touchscreen is bright and useable outdoors, although not great when viewed from oblique angles. Its relatively large size means you can get away without an external monitor a lot of the time. For studio use, Blackmagic sells a 7in studio monitor or you could use one of the many aftermarket options. The touchscreen has tabs at the top of the screen to let you select what group of settings you want. Then just tap and you can adjust settings like white balance, shutter angle and audio levels using sliders so you can tweak them easily. It’s a shame the screen doesn’t give the option for large waveforms to help you nail exposure. A histogram, zebra, false colours and peaking are available, but it’s not the same experience as the full suite of viewing tools on external monitors. Blackmagic says the internal audio circuitry has been improved and sound quality is definitely excellent. Some users thought the Ursa Mini Pro was not the best for audio as there could be a minor delay and the amps were not optimal. We had no issues with the new G2 version. There is a 12G-SDI out connector, HD-SDI monitoring out, two LANC inputs, timecode in and reference input; it will record continuous incoming timecode. There is a D-Tap connection to get power to the camera but we used Blackmagic’s V-lock adapter plate. We also added the optional OLED viewfinder; for use on the shoulder as an ENG camera, it’s an essential buy, as are the shoulder mount kit and handgrip which feature a shoulder pad, 15mm rail attachments, a quick-release tripod mount and rosettes on both sides.
“BUILD QUALITY IS BURLY, RUGGED – THE SAME AS THE PREVIOUS URSA MINI PRO”
ABOVE Menus are the usual very helpful Blackmagic kind, accessed
some camera manufacturers insist on using. The left of the camera has a backlit LCD screen showing record timecode, frame rate, shutter angle, aperture, white-balance, ISO and iris along with a battery indicator, card recording status and audio meters for monitoring levels. The left control panel has lots of separate control switches including a high frame rate button. When we tested the pre-G2 model we said our only niggle is that when the LCD screen is folded out, it does hinder access to some of the controls. Unfortunately, this is still the same.
body, so you can plug in a large- capacity SSD for external recording. If you are just using an SSD via a cable, this means the screen on the left side has to be open, and the SSD just dangles from its cable unless you concoct some sort of cage and rig. A more elegant solution is a Blackmagic SSD Mini Recorder which clips onto the rear of the camera. We didn’t get to try one, but it looks like a sensible option although it does add a bit of bulk. If you want to record internally, there are dual CFast 2.0 recorders and dual SD UHS-II card recorders, which you select with a small toggle switch. CFast cards are essential for full resolution Blackmagic Raw 12-bit recording, while UHS-II SD cards are can record Blackmagic Raw 8:1 or 12:1 for Ultra HD and regular HD files. Fast SD cards are obviously cheaper, but CFast 2.0 cards are dropping in price all the time as more cameras are starting to use them. IN USE In terms of build quality and using the camera, the rest is the same as the older-generation Ursa Mini Pro. Which means it’s burly, rugged, well- designed and has a great touchscreen and menu system that’s easy to use and navigate. It’s a world apart from the complex and convoluted menus
through the touchscreen
RIGHT Recording internally is to CFast 2.0 cards and SD UHS-II cards
56 DEF I N I T ION | AUGUST 20 1 9
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