When can I order an Ursa Mini 4.6K??

[Tristan Pemberton]

I've been shooting with a factory built 4.6k PL for six weeks now, and have not seen any of the magenta problems some have experienced. Even after doing the "white wall" test with 35mm & 50mm lenses at f5.6, 8, 11, and 16.

My only issue is an audio hardware one - a know issue with some early builds - to which BM immediately asked me to send it in for the hardware upgrade no questions asked. Turnaround expected under one week. That's much speedier service than for many RED camera owners based in Australia. One DP friend has only had her RED functioning for about one week in the last three months - it's currently back in US again, after a long trip away failed to successfully fix the initial problem. The financial loss to her has been most disappointing. She's had enough of RED, and can't trust her livelihood on it.

My two pocket cameras are great, reliable machines that have never failed to successfully deliver projects to my clients. Not once in two years. I stake my livelihood on them.

Are Blackmagic Design cameras perfect? No. But let's be honest, neither are RED.

Anyway, I agree with post #3 by Cameron, this is a strange place to post a question about ordering a BM camera.

 

[Zeb B]

Anyway, I agree with post #3 by Cameron, this is a strange place to post a question about ordering a BM camera.

Yeah but . . . this thread has been of the front page since the OP. Says something about the lack of news and energy coming out of RED HQ for us little folk. Cool and all that the Hollywood 1% is getting custom cams made but would like to see some movement on the 8K cams for us peasants ;-)

 

[Wayne Morellini]

There's a few overlapping issues here.

There's sensor shading and then there's what was originally a magenta bias (white point) plus a few users are reporting what BM call asymmetric magenta, usually a magenta tinge on the right hand side of the frame. These three separate issues get all thrown together into a "magenta" issue, but they are all discrete problems that present similar magenta symptoms.

The first two issues are what the recent firmware update attempts to improve on and for some it does seem to have done that. I personally have three cameras, one a hand made prototype which shot the first publicly downloadable footage. No one seems to have found any magenta issues with that footage. I also have two factory made PL mount cameras that were sourced from the local distributor for the show I'm currently shooting on right now. They also seem to be fine and we're using them every day. I haven't even updated to the more magenta free version because I'd have to re-do a whole bunch of LUT's mid-shoot for the show I'm doing and it's not been a problem for me.

I do think that there's an unfortunate issue with some sensors having the so called asymmetric magenta and that shouldn't be happening. As far as I've seen, anyone with a genuine issue gets dealt with fairly by BM. BM have been here before too. Beta cameras and proto cameras performing great and then once they go into production there's hiccups. There was the white orbs with the pocket for example. But they also seemed to turn that around very quickly (it was a couple of months from memory) but at the time everyone started seeing white orbs in all their footage even months after it was addressed. Once there's an idea of a problem users go looking for it, and that's fair enough. And in most real world situations, even pre-firmware update, many users didn't find that there was a magenta problem. On the FB page a while ago, where the magenta issue is discussed a lot, there was a poll and something like 40 users said they had no problem and 2 said they did.

Also it's incredibly naive to say that the original BMCC should have been able to do higher frame rates because the sensor could do it and that BM somehow held that camera back from doing it as a choice. The backend infrastructure to support RAW at higher frames and high bit depth made it impossible with the form factor, cooling and power requirements that it would have taken to do so. Feel free to have a go at BM all you like but at least keep it in the real world. At the time they launched that camera, no other camera at ANY price could do what they did in their very first camera. They designed it very specifically to have a max frame rate of 30fps and a data pipe internally that would support that. Any higher frame rates would have meant an entirely different camera.

jb

John, who said the original camera doing 50fps? Maybe now in raw uncompressed, with new memory types, if the rest of the system is set up for it, as you say. It would be a bit ... to not allow natural left over capacity in a design in case it is needed. I'll guess the bottle neck then is either external adc or fpga interface related. But overclock 30-48 or 50fps is a second option. But I'll open up a few eyes, 2.31:1 50fps, even if 1080p without overclock. Would be an interesting thank you update. Don't you agree.

Never lay down and give up without looking for a convenient solution, type attitude. If I was BM, I would try it for the users. Whoever I communicated with at BM years ago, after the initial launch, I suggested various raw compression techniques to improve the recording situation on future cameras.

The camera could have been done much cheaper, differently.

I suspect that the magenta issue will be upto one sensor batch involving the issue. So, not onlt might it affect a limited amount of usroers, it could even be gone for good by now from cameras using a new sensor batch. But we just dont know how long that will be.

Im sorry for those people. Certainly not good for those going for it instead of a Sony or Panasonic prosumer just to get a little more thet they didnt need for the jobs they do. But thats lifroe. I would have likely gone for the panasonic if the price, bit rate, and bit depth/format had been more realistic (200-300mbs 4:2:2 12 bit half the price) . Oanasoniv is sooting themselves in the face. All it requires is that bm and other small companies get more realistic about fast turnover local video work, and panasonic may wish they had already exited the prosumer/eng segment.


Tristan,

Another reason I didn't buy a Red One. There should be local repair and temp replacement cameras under warranty by now (too much, think about it from the customer's side).

 

[Tristan Pemberton]

Another reason I didn't buy a Red One. There should be local repair and temp replacement cameras under warranty by now.

Are you based in Australia? And did you end up getting a RED camera released after RED One?

 

[Wayne Morellini]

Yeah, still waiting for a camera right for me, at the right price. But I've had such a shit load of bad health, it hasn't been important to jump in, and I've switched away from my filming ambitions. For the last three days I've woken with major swelling, out of it for hours until I can bring the swelling down, but with energy to push myself around, like I used to have before Red when I used to get up wobbling around to keep balance, bouncing off of furniture and walls traveling accross the house, like in a pinball machine. Some major things caused more down turns, like zolpidern sleeping tablets, which didn't give me any sleep issues, but suffered all the previously unknown dysfunctions it gives. That on top of all the autism related health issues, and tourettes, and another mystery virus, which eventually tanked me out to more often bed ridden. The investigations into the issues is coming to an end, and I'm doing significantly better then 8 years ago, still a lot to go. Any way, the reason, that when you have to force yourself with all your might to think right and do stuff and really struggle when weak and sick, you become much better at it and stronger when well. Being a RG, rather than just somebody with a high IQ that just has a naturally high performance from it, rather than any more skill. Explains a lot, plenty of reasons.