Blackmagic Design introduced its URSA Mini Pro camera to 12K in 2020 and just about three years later the URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF was announced this spring. Utilizing a 12K (12,228 x 6480) Super 35mm sensor with 14 stops of dynamic range, you can punch in and still have more than enough resolution.
As I usually do when asked to review a camera, I like to put it through a range of tests. One of my colleagues, Stephen Furry, was instrumental is testing the USRA Mini Pro 12K OLPF with our new Virtual Production Studio’s 3-meter by 8-meter AOTO RM2.33, 4.5 million pixels LED wall. More on that later.
Features
Our review URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF arrived ready to accept our EF Mount lenses. Coming standard with a PL mount and we not having any PL Mount glass, the EF Mount was an easier option. What makes this camera unique?
We all know that capturing information on 4K and possibly 6K has become the norm. Some have even flirted with 8K. But shooting in 12K, in Raw, records up to 80MP per frame. While in 12K, you can capture in frame rates of up to 60fps in 12,288 x 6480 and 75fps in 12,288 x 5112; up to 160fps in 8K (8192 x 4320); and up to 240fps in 4K.
A built-in ND Filter wheel is in front of an electronic rolling shutter that saves your footage to either a dual slot CFast 2.0, a dual slot SDXC, or an approved SSD drive using either Constant Quality (Q0, Q1, Q3, or Q5) or Constant Bitrate (5:1, 8:1. 12:1, or 18:1) encoding. You have 8 shooting options in full sensor 12K (12,288 x 6480) at 24p, an additional 8 options in 8K (8192 x 4320) at 24p, and the same number of options in 6K Super 16 (6144 x 3240) and Full Sensor 4K (4096 x 2160).
The left side of the URSA Mini Pro 12K camera feature an on/off switch at the top; controls for the dial menu; ISO, shutter, and white balance; info/data display; media playback and audio level adjustments, as well as two customizable function buttons and a HFR (high frame rate) button that can also be configured as a third function button.
Opening the four-inch monitor reveals more features – most appearing when the monitor is closed. The rear of the camera features the “MAIN” SDI output (12G) and the right-side features the second SDI outpit (3G) usually reserved for the URSA EVF.
The URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF includes all the same features as the URSA Mini Pro 12K with the added high performance optical low pass filter built in for cinematic virtual production needs. It combats moiré, which can occur with interference patterns that you would find with certain fabrics, computer displays or any highly detailed repeating patterns.
In Use
With the addition of our new 3 meter by 8-meter AOTO RM2.33, 4.5 million pixels LED wall housed in our Virtual Production Studio, we wanted to use the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF as the camera that captures the actors in front of our LED wall monitors to see if the resolution would stand up.
Hollywood uses this technology for “The Mandalorian” and “Picard.” The tripod mounted camera was positioned in front of our AOTO 2.33mm pixel pitch LED wall and compared to the footage of a 4K HDR handheld camera.
To make sure we were comparing apples with apples, it should be noted that both cameras have a Super 35 sensor, with the handheld capable of filming up to 4K. Using the Cinema Series Canon CN-E 35mm T1.5 LF lens on both cameras, Stephen Furry, our technician, ran a series of tests to see how both cameras performed. Both cameras worked well when filming at 4K with the LED wall out of focus with a shallow depth of field.
When focusing on the LED wall, the moiré was apparent, making the footage unusable on the handheld. Focusing on the LED wall with the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K, ULPF, the highlights and shadows were unaffected, but unfortunately some subtle waves were found in the midtones. This was visible with a static video image on the wall, and unnoticeable with a moving image.
Raising the resolution to 12K and focusing on the wall still produced a subtle moiré. With the handheld, shooting is best at a T2.8 or wider to keep the wall completely out of focus and keeping the camera farther from the LED wall. The Blackmagic camera, however, handles a larger depth of field without moiré, keeping the background just slightly out of focus.
For our use (and the student’s) this is a superior feature. If you’re locked into a very narrow depth of field, that limits your options—something we’ve lived with using the other cameras. The Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF will allow a larger variety of shots with fewer limitations.
Being the only camera capable of 12K, the popular selling point is the ability to “punch-in” and keep a high resolution. In the LED volume filming in 12K and “punching-in” by 3x, the image stayed clean losing just a little bit of sharpness, but the LED wall showed no signs of pixelation. “Punching-in” with any lower resolution, and one can see the pixels behind the subject even when out of focus.
Overall, the Blackmagic outperforms handheld, giving one the ability to keep all the action in front of the wall in focus, and the flexibility to move the camera towards the wall. This makes it an ideal camera when filming in a small LED volume.
We did notice some other small issues. If using the 6K resolution on the URSA Mini Pro 12K, the sensor is cropped to Super 16 – losing some sensor space. Secondly, the skin tones appeared greenish when the camera and our Virtual Production Studio’s Aputure fixtures were white balanced to the same color temp. Stephen added magenta into the camera’s white balance to create a pleasing skin tone.
Obviously, we could be shooting everything in RAW. However, when shooting against an LED wall in a learning environment like a university, white balancing the camera with the lights and LCDs is more immediate because of the image on the display monitor.
Application
Anywhere a high-resolution camera is needed. You don’t always need to shoot in 12K unless that specific feature is needed. Knowing it’s there along with 4K and 8K makes the camera far more versatile.
Key Features
- Super 35mm sensor
- Built-in ND filters
- Electronic rolling shutter
- Multiple recording modes including 12-bit RAW
- SDI and HDMI outputs
- Variable frame rates
- Internal and external recording media options, and
- Generation 5 Color Science
Price – Available through Blackmagic Design authorized resellers
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K & Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPF body
$6,385 street price
