Blackmagic Design has announced the price of its upcoming URSA Cine 17K. The new large format 65mm digital film camera with RGBW sensor, 16 stops of dynamic range, and Blackmagic RAW syncing to DaVinci Resolve will be priced from $29,995 USD and is it now available to order, with shipments starting later this year.
At the time it was announced I speculated that I thought the price may be between $20-25K USD, so I wasn’t far off. While this is a specialized camera in many ways, I still think the price of just under $30K is very competitive given its capabilities.
Key features
- Cinematic ultra large format 2.2:1 aspect sensor with a massive 16 stops of dynamic range.
- Lightweight, robust camera body with industry standard connections.
- Blackmagic RAW for real time 17K editing.
- Generation 5 Color Science with new film curve.
- High performance OLPF for reduced moire and aliasing.
- High performance Blackmagic Media Module 8TB for recording included.
- Recording media compatible with the Blackmagic Media Dock.
- High speed wifi, 10G Ethernet or mobile data for network connections.
- Built-in RTMP and SRT live streaming.
- Optional Blackmagic URSA Cine EVF.
- Includes DaVinci Resolve Studio for post production.
The URSA Cine 17K features a whopping 65mm sensor. With a horizontal size of 55.9mm and a vertical size of 23.32mm. It is smaller than the IMAX 70mm 15-perf size. The diameter of the URSA Cine 17K sensor is 55.9mm with a resolution of 17,520 x 8,040 pixels.
The camera looks physically pretty much the same as the URSA Cine.
Because the sensor is so large, the camera utilizes either LPL or Hasselblad lens mounts. The Hasselblad mount that has been announced for URSA Cine is a Hasselblad HC mount so it will work with Hasselblad HC lenses.
The full active pixel area of the 17K 65 sensor has a 55.9mm diagonal so if you want to use the full sensor area then you will need to use a lens that covers this or an optical adapter like a focal expander. Multiple manual medium format stills lenses cover this area and can be adapted. For cinema lenses currently available the Leitz Thalias are PL cine lenses will cover that area, as will most of the Tribe7 Blackwing7 primes from the 27mm upwards, the TLS Mamiya 645 primes, White Point Optics WPO TS70 primes, any of the Arri Rental Prime DNA, Prime 65, Prime 65 S, Vintage 765 and there are multiple sets of Panavision 65 and 70 lenses that will also cover. As there has been a lot of interest in this camera Blackmagic Design is expecting more lens options and optical adapters to be available soon. There will also be some recording formats on URSA Cine 17K 65 that crop the sensor down slightly to suit formats larger than full frame 43mm but less than 55.9mm.
URSA Cine features a revolutionary new sensor designed for incredible quality images at all resolutions from 4K to a massive 17K. The larger sensor builds on the technology of URSA Mini Pro 12K with larger photo-sites leading to an astounding 16 stops of dynamic range. The unique RGBW architecture provides equal amounts of red, green and blue pixels. This means it is optimized to deliver incredibly rich colors at all resolutions and provide the ultimate in image quality and flexibility.
URSA Cine is designed to meet the demands of any high end production. The evenly weighted camera body is built with a robust magnesium alloy chassis and lightweight carbon fiber polycarbonate composite skin to help customers move quickly on set. Standard Lemo and Fischer connectors let customers control the camera remotely while providing power for lens motors and other accessories. Customers also get 12G‑SDI out, 10G Ethernet, USB-C, XLR audio and more.
Different projects require different lenses which is why URSA Cine features an interchangeable lens mount. Customers can quickly switch between PL, LPL, EF and Hasselblad mounts. Plus, each mount has contact pins to read lens metadata for monitoring and for use in post production.
URSA Cine lets crews work faster on set with multiple monitoring options. The fold out monitor has a large 5″ HDR touchscreen on one side and an external color status LCD on the other. On the right side of the camera, there’s a dedicated assist station with a second 5″ HDR touchscreen which allows crew to work around the camera without needing external monitors. There’s even a dedicated focus puller’s mode to help customers get perfect focus.
The wide range of industry-standard connections on URSA Cine make it perfect for high-end cinema production. The 7-pin Lemo and 3-pin Fischer connectors at the front provide record start/stop and 24V power so are ideal for onboard accessories such as focus motors. Camera power is provided by a standard 24V 8-pin Lemo connection, plus there’s an additional 2-pin Lemo 12V connection at the rear for lower voltage accessories.
Blackmagic RAW files store camera metadata, lens data, white balance, digital slate information and custom LUTs to ensure consistency of image on set and through post production. URSA Cine records to the included Blackmagic Media Module 8TB, allowing customers to capture over 4 hours of Blackmagic RAW in 17K using the full 65mm sensor aperture or a massive 20 hours in 4K.
URSA Cine includes a high-performance, optical low-pass filter that is precisely matched to the sensor. The OLPF also incorporates updated IR filtering that improves far red color response which, when combined with Blackmagic RAW processing for the URSA Cine, preserves color and critical image detail for new levels of image fidelity.
URSA Cine is the first digital film camera with ultra-fast high capability Cloud Store technology built in. Blackmagic Media Module is fast, rugged and includes a massive 8TB of storage. The high-speed storage lets customers record at the highest resolutions and frame rates for hours and access their files directly over high-speed 10G Ethernet. Or customers can use the media customers already own with the optional Blackmagic Media Module CF, which has dual CFexpress slots.
Blackmagic Media Dock accelerates post production workflow by making it faster and simpler to start editing and color correction. Mount up to three Blackmagic Media Modules for high-speed access to media from multiple URSA Cine cameras all at the same time. The four high-speed 10G Ethernet ports allow up to four separate edit workstations to connect directly and it is extremely fast, even when a lot of users are connected at the same time.
URSA Cine supports creating a small H.264 proxy file in addition to the camera original media when recording. This means the small proxy file can upload to Blackmagic Cloud in seconds so their media is available back at the studio in real time. The ability to transfer media directly into the DaVinci Resolve media bin as editors are working is revolutionary and has never before been possible.
Now customers can live stream from film sets. URSA Cine features a built hardware streaming engine that supports RTMP and SRT streaming to major platforms or directly to clients. Simply connect to the internet via Ethernet, high-speed wifi or even connect a 4G or 5G phone for mobile data.
URSA Cine supports the optional Blackmagic URSA Cine EVF to make outdoors and handheld shooting accurate and easy. Customers get an integrated high-quality 1920 x 1080 color OLED display with built-in proximity sensor, 4 element glass diopter for incredible accuracy with a wide focus adjustment. A built in digital focus chart ensures customers get perfect viewfinder focus setup.
URSA Cine includes an 8-pin Lemo power connector at the back of the camera that works with 24V and 12V power supplies. That means it’s easy to use the camera with existing power supplies, batteries and accessories. URSA Cine comes with a massive 250W power supply and B Mount battery plate so customers can use a wide range of high-voltage batteries from manufacturers such as IDX, Blueshape, Core SWX, BEBOB and more.
URSA Cine comes with everything customers need to get started on set. Every camera comes in a rugged Pelican case with custom foam cutouts that precisely and securely fit the camera and its accessories. The PL lens mount comes preinstalled on the camera body, plus customers get an active Hasselblad HC lens mount for use with amazing medium format stills lenses. Customers even get a massive 8TB Media Module preinstalled, formatted and ready to record. Customers also get a top handle, antennas for high speed wifi, baseplate, 24V power supply and high voltage B mount battery plate for quick set up.
