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The Blackmagic Design URSA Broadcast Camera

Brian Hallett

In their new camera announcement, Blackmagic Design dropped the “Mini” in the URSA Broadcast camera name. Read into it if you want. The URSA Broadcast, and the URSA Mini camera body design, are hardly Mini cameras. The features found in these cameras offer up big help to creatives and broadcasters who use them. Now, Blackmagic has squarely turned its attention to the specific needs of Broadcasters.

The new URSA Broadcast is a professional broadcast camera designed for both studio programming and live production. URSA Broadcast will work with existing B4 broadcast HD lenses, can be used for both HD and Ultra HD production, features a 4K sensor, extended video dynamic range, traditional external controls and buttons, built in optical ND filters, dual CFast and dual SD card recorders. The price for the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast is only US$3,495 for the camera body alone. Adding the EVF, Should mount, Mic mount, and recording media will likely push the overall cost close to $7,000

Blackmagic is saying the URSA Broadcast is like two cameras in one, a field camera for ENG and programming work, as well as a professional studio camera. The big key will be the color and look of the video files because broadcasters usually don’t have time for any type of color correction. The URSA Broadcast camera will come with a new extended video mode to help capture accurate skin tones and vibrant colors. Now, the URSA Mini Pro and 4.6K also have great color and skin tones in their Rec709 files so I am interested to see this new extended video mode and how different it actually looks to the eye.

Blackmagic is trying their best to work with Broadcasters who already have a bunch of equipment sitting around. This new camera will accept readily available B4 HD and Ultra HD lenses and records onto inexpensive SD cards, more expensive CFast 2.0 cards or even onto an SSD. The camera, as it should, records 1080i or 2160p video into standard .mov files, with .mxf to be added in future updates. “URSA Broadcast records using DNx145, DNx220X or ProRes, so video doesn’t need to be copied or transcoded” according to Blackmagic. This is a little bit of a problem for broadcasters who have already adopted Sony or Panasonic equipment and workflow because they typically work with a chosen codec that best works for their Sony or Panasonic equipment which their on-air server is set to read. This is especially true with newsrooms who use Avid for its airplay. While the Blackmagic URSA Broadcast can record news friendly codecs it is the edit systems and how they are set up which will likely require users to have to transcode the camera’s footage.

The lens mount features high performance optics with spherical aberration correction specifically designed to match the camera’s sensor. If this is a broadcast camera then why not make the B4 lens mount without light reducing glass optics? That’s because the sensor on the URSA Broadcast is actually slightly bigger than 2/3″ and requires B4 lenses image circle to be enlarged a touch. Because B4 lenses are par-focal and have an extremely wide depth of field, images stay in focus when zoomed in and out. A B4 lens does allow shooters to work faster because they don’t need to change lenses or refocus between close up, medium and wide shots. URSA Broadcast also supports full electronic B4 lens control so users can adjust focus, iris and zoom using the camera’s controls, or remotely from an ATEM switcher or ATEM Camera Control Panel. In addition, the standard B4 lens mount can be swapped with optional EF, F and PL mount so operators can use everything from inexpensive high-quality photographic lenses all the way up to massive cinema lenses.

URSA Broadcast also features built-in neutral density (ND) filters with IR compensation for quickly reducing the amount of light that enters the camera. The ¼, 1/16th and 1/64th stop filters are specifically designed to match the colorimetry of the camera and provide additional latitude, even under harsh lighting conditions. The IR filters evenly compensate for both far red and infrared wavelengths to eliminate IR contamination. The ND filters are true optical filters with a precision mechanism that quickly moves them into place when the ND filter dial is turned.

The URSA Broadcast can record 10‑bit broadcast quality DNxHD 220X, DNxHD 145 or ProRes files with metadata. URSA Broadcast can even record lossless 12‑bit CinemaDNG RAW files for high-quality programming and post-production. With dual slots for each media type, URSA Broadcast gives customers non-stop recording. When the first card is full, recording automatically continues onto the next card so the full card can be swapped while recording continues on the other.

The camera features multi-rate 12G‑SDI connections for video output and return program feed input. Both connections automatically switch speed so they work with all HD and Ultra HD formats up to 2160p60 over a single cable. In addition, URSA Broadcast features HD-SDI monitoring out, 2 LANC inputs, balanced XLR audio with phantom power, and timecode/reference input. A 12 pin Hirose connector provides analog and digital broadcast lens control for powering and controlling SD, HD and Ultra HD lenses. There’s also a 4 pin XLR 12V DC power output and HD-SDI monitor output that can be used with Blackmagic viewfinders or any third party viewfinders and monitors.

Blackmagic URSA Broadcast Key Features

Availability and Price

Blackmagic URSA Broadcast is available now from Blackmagic Design resellers worldwide for US$3,495.

Blackmagic URSA Broadcast Accessories

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