Yesterday, Blackmagic unveiled the new URSA Mini Pro 12K: an 80 Mega Pixel cinema camera that can shoot 12K RAW at 60fps and the catch, it costs less than $10,000.
The announcement came during a livestream presentation with Blackmagic laying emphasis on the capabilities of the new 80 megapixel sensor inside the camera. According to them, at the core of the new URSA Mini Pro 12K is a 12,288 x 6480 Super 35 sensor with “equal amounts of red, green, and blue pixels,”, capable of a whopping 14 stops of dynamic range and native ISO of 800.
The sensor can be used to shoot full 12K RAW video at 60fps without crop, or you down it to shoot oversampled 8K and 4K RAW video at up to 110fps given the highest quality video in any frame and stretching the capabilities that are possible whilst creating.
Blackmagic really drives home this versatility argument in its announcement, lauding the URSA Mini Pro 12K as “multiple cameras in one.”
In their words; “With a massive 80 megapixels per frame at 60 fps in RAW, customers can capture perfect stills and motion shots in a single camera at the same time. Customers can shoot up to 60 fps in 12K 12,288 x 6480 17:9. For higher frame rates, customers can shoot 110 fps at 8192 x 4320, 140 fps at 8192 x 3408, and even window the sensor to Super 16 to capture 4K at an incredible 220 fps at 4096 x 2160 DCI.”
On the camera are dual CFast slots with 900MB/s limit, dual UHS-II SD slots with a 500MB/s limit, and a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 expansion port to record at up to 900MB/s to SATA or NVMe drives. The company suggests using an NVMe SSD if you’re going to be recording at 12K RAW.
According to BM CEO Grant Petty, “With Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K we have advanced imaging technology into a new generation where new styles of shooting will be possible. It’s not just the 12K sensor, there are so many other innovations in this camera. From the Generation 5 Color Science, the in sensor scaling, new symmetrical color pattern, full RGB quality, and of course the 12K resolution, it’s going to be exciting to see what DOPs do creatively with this technology!”
The Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K is currently available for pre-order here at $9,995.
__
