Japanese cinematographer Takashi Chiba has been testing out the new Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K and has posted up some test footage that he shot in RAW 1:3 4.6K / Film mode and graded in Davinci Resolve 12. Takeshi shoots a lot of TVCs here in Japan and usually on his RED Epic, so I was interested to get his thoughts on the URSA Mini 4.6K.
Takashi used Zeiss Milvus EF 21mm f2.8, 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.4 lenses for the test. All the shots were taken at 60p in the camera’s highest setting – 4608×2592, CinemaDNG Raw 3:1. As far as usability goes, Takashi told me that “Compared to other cameras, the design is very simple and the the menus were very easy to operate… The camera will be good to film with in situations where you have limited time.” On the negative side he said that “There are minor aspects of the camera that can be improved, but the quality of the vision is good enough to overlook them.”
Takashi was also impressed with the low cost of the camera and the performance you could obtain with it. He went on to tell me that “This would be the first camera I would recommend to shooters who want to shoot in high quality on a budget.”
I also wanted to ask Takeshi how he would compare the URSA Mini 4.6K to other cameras he has used. He told me that “The body is robust and well-built. Compared to other cameras with a similar price tag, it stands out as being strong and well-built. It resembles the quality of cameras that are one rank above URSA. The usage is stress free, and I can concentrate 100% on the images that I am shooting. That kind of camera is quite rare.”
You can check out more of Takashi Chiba’s work above.
