Most unoriginal joke today. Congrats. =P Just ribbing

And lol JP

I think the form factor is great. Perhaps more screens than necessary, but I don't count that as a real issue. The specs are nice too. Cards might not be cheap, but that's the price of playing in the 4K games.

The only downside I can find is that it's highly probable it will be another BlackMagic prototype/beta. Someone on the BMD forum used the term "shell game" with their unfinished products, followed by an annual drool-inducing announcement of a new "coming soon"... and it's really looking accurate. Edit: Pyramid Scheme might be more accurate, I think.

Again, nice(!!) looking camera and nice spec sheet. But one can't ignore the history of the manufacturer. You'd be insane to buy this and believe it's going to be 95% solid out of the box.

I actually agreed about the screens until I found out that you could mirror the video out to them.

Takes care of assistant side, and operator. Kinda weird, but interesting.

Relax fellas, I was joking about the size. I'm strictly an amateur video enthusiast and am in no way in the demographic for this camera.

Hitler isn't happy.

I hate to say it, but those Hitler videos never get old for me.

hmm I am not sure where is the big benefit over the 4K BMPC? URSA has XLR audio, PL mount option, audio levels and audio meters, 50/60p, new form factor with a huge display.

but.. you will need still a raw recorder. I am not sure also whether the display will be useful in sun light. The sensor is (still) the same and adding 1,000$ for a recorder lifts the price difference over 4.000$.

@peaceonearth what do you mean you will still need a raw recorder? the URSA has a built in (dual) RAW/ProRes-recorder, no..?

EDIT: Curious about one thing though: Do you only get HDMI-in for the recorder if you go for the no-sensor version..?

EDIT2: Never mind, I suppose the HDMI is just part of the sensorless module, so you only have to switch the modules.. Should have looked more at the photos before asking..

Really, you think that the budgets of films are ballooning because of unions?

Not all of it (there is just as much to blame at the executive level as well)... but it's no secret that allot many wages are calculated and justified on the physical expenditure that is exerted due to the size of rigs, grip, ect. When cameras can be shrunk to the size of a directors view finder (i.e. Pocket Cine Camera and the like), allot of the wages and costs aren't justifiable anymore... and rightfully so, as this is the nature of technology and progress. Do you really expect these people to just lay down their hammers and walk away? No. Obviously they're going to spread FUD rhetoric about the new gear/methods being "unprofessional" and justify the use of old (heavier, harder to rig, ect) as much as possible.

I remember reading literature in a friend's local-600 newsletter about fighting AGAINST automatic-focusing tools... because they take away the job of focus pullers. They fight these battle (and win) all the time from what I can gather. This is exactly the kind of mindset that leads to movies still (in general) being made like they were in the 70's... when Lucas and friends made the last schism. We're due for a new one soon...

Sorry, it's a bit off-topic, but I wanted to explain that I'm not bashing things for no reason...

@peaceonearth From specs regarding recorder: "Lossless compressed CinemaDNG RAW with film dynamic range at 3840 x 2160"...

@bhwitz - plenty of people are making indie films and local cinem thanks to new tools and widespread interest in new and different content. Hollywood movies are unionized because this is our way of life, our careers for many of us. It's not a luxury hobby like it is for many non-Hollywood film makers. I think independence is wonderful, and it's great to have new tools, but honestly, the reason Hollywood movies look good, and sometimes ;) tell a good story is that a lot of people put in a lot of hard work, and they need to be paid properly for it. It's a crafts person lifestyle - we can't just go get a job at Starbucks after making a film for someone for no money. Just saying - I've done plenty of work in union and non union films. Like vitaliy often points out - the real schism we face is a collapse of planet earth due to our pillaging it, and the potential societal breakdown or police-state in a mad-Max future. In the meantime, I don't want to work 18 hour days on someone's puff-piece indie for $8/hour - and that's where unions come in to protect us.