GEAR BLACKMAGIC URSAMINI PRO 12K
doesn’t mean you can get away with boshing on some old EF zooms – or even photo primes – on it and expect decent quality. If you’re a techy type, you can work out the resolving power a lens should have to work with a 12K sensor, which is around 228 λ /mm. That really means you need good-quality primes and zooms to take advantage of the sensor resolution. We used a trio of Canon CN-E cine primes and they worked perfectly, but of course they are manual focus and need precise focusing. With a 12K sensor, there is nowhere to hide if you don’t get the images sharp. There is no continuous AF and certainly no face detection, however, there is a push-to-focus button. Using an AF lens, the camera focuses on the central subject, then locks focus at that point and so we only used it with manual lenses for that reason. The camera itself is pretty much identical to the old 4.6K Ursa Mini Pro G2, except the USB-C socket has been moved to the back, and that camera was a development of the earlier Ursa Mini Pro. The body is solid and well built, with lots of buttons to access all the main features that a professional cameraman will get used to. However, the design is starting to feel a bit old-school. The built-in ND filters have IR compensation, in the two-, four- and six-stop range, but there is no electronically variable ND like there is on newer Sony cameras. However, the touchscreen is decent and the menu system is very easy to use and navigate. There are tabs at the top of the screen to let you select which group of settings you want. Then just tap and you
“It’s a camera built for people who knowwhat they are doing and how to use it for the best results”
The Ursa Mini Pro’s 12K Blackmagic Raw gives amazing quality, with 14 stops of dynamic range and beautiful, filmic colours. In 8K and 4K the quality is staggering, and you can shoot at fast frame rates, too, which no other camera else can. If the idea of shooting 12K Raw in 60fps or 8K Raw in 110fps excites you, it’s worth the price – and you won’t be disappointed. and feel of a cinema camera. There’s no IBIS, no continuous AF and no non-Raw codecs. It’s a camera built for people who know what they are doing professionally and how to use it for the best results. And, of course, for anyone who wants to boast they have the highest-resolving camera on the market. monitoring out, two LANC inputs, time code in and reference input to record continuous incoming time code. It’s spec like this that shows the 12K camera is aimed at the sort of shooter who values quality and needs all the traditional controls
THE VERDICT We’ve always been fans of the Ursa Mini Pro range, and in the past we said that, for the money, there’s nothing on the market close to it in terms of spec, usability and quality of the footage, especially in good light. And the G2 model added insane frame rates to make it even more of a great camera. The new 12K version is almost identical in body style and usability, with a similarly poor AF system. You have to use it as a manual focus camera with push- assist AF to help you get focus more easily. It adds a 12K sensor of Blackmagic’s own design that gives stunning results, especially when downscaled or recorded in 4K. But the price to pay is that you must shoot in Blackmagic Raw, as there are no other options, and you’ll need to invest money in fast flash memory to record for more than just a fewminutes. For some shooters, that’s a very small price to pay, as the filmic look from the all-new sensor is worth the extra cost and time to get the very best out of the camera. But as a do-it-all camera with more options, then the older Ursa Mini Pro G2 is still a great tool with more straight- from-camera codecs, as well as the option to shoot Raw when you want the ultimate. And that camera is significantly cheaper. can adjust settings. There is a histogram, zebra, false colours and peaking, but no large waveform. The camera can be completely controlled via a tablet or smartphone using a dedicated free app, too. Just like on the G2 version, the left of the camera has a backlit LCD screen showing record time code, frame rate, shutter angle, aperture, white-balance, ISO and iris along with a battery indicator, card recording status and audio meters for monitoring levels. There are professional connections like XLR audio, a 12G-SDI out connector, HD-SDI
More information blackmagicdesign.com/uk
BELOW The menus are very obvious and easy to use. Blackmagic Design leads the way in simple menu systems
HOW IT RATES Feature: 9 No continuous autofocus or IBIS. But it shoots 12K Raw! Performance: 9 Themost filmic 4K footage out of a sub-£10k camera Handling: 8 Great menus, solid build quality, but a bit bulky Value formoney: 8 Yes, it’s 12K but it’s still pricey for a Super 35 cam PROMOVIEMAKER OVERALL RATING: 8/10 Great filmic quality and 12K, if you really want it Pros: 12K of course, stunning 8K and 4K, great menus Cons: Autofocus is old school, poor ISO range
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