Just as you’re getting excited about finally upgrading to an 8K camera, here comes Blackmagic to make you feel just a little bad about it by introducing one that can shoot in 12K. That’s right, the new Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 12K will let you shoot in resolutions no consumer TVs can even play at the moment.
Sadly, this isn’t a mirrorless camera like Canon’s 8K-capable EOS R5. Instead, it takes on a classic camcorder form factor, which, truth be told, certainly feels more intuitive for filmmaking, albeit more difficult to use for the selfie-shooting content creator. So yeah, this is predominantly geared towards pros than the YouTube and Snapchat crowd.
The Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 12K is equipped with an 80-megapixel (12288 x 6480 pixels) Super 35 sensor with 14 stops of dynamic range and a native ISO of 800. It can capture 12K footage at 60 fps, 8K at 110 fps, and cropped 4K Super 16 at 220 fps, so you get a ridiculous amount of high-res shooting options for your video footage, complete with 4K slo-mo if you need it. According to the outfit, the camera shoots in a format called Blackmagic RAW, which can be easily transferred to a laptop and edited in native form using the included DaVinci Resolve Studio, giving you maximum flexibility during post-production when it comes to reframing shots for delivery in either 8K or 4K.
It offers four types of constant bitrate encoding options, namely 5:1, 8:1, 12:1, and 18:1, making it easier to manage file sizes while still getting the best possible video in every scene. You can even record to two cards simultaneously, allowing you to keep instant backups to make sure no unwanted incidents ever happen to your valuable footage. It supports CFast and UHS-II cards, along with USB-C support for recording to SATA and NVMe drives.
The Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 12K has a 4-inch fold-out touchscreen for monitoring shots on set, serving as a HUD during shoots, or fiddling with the settings, although those with more professional predilections can opt for an optional OLED viewfinder, so you can feel like a legit filmmaker. It comes with a PL mount, so you can use a wide range of cinema lenses, although it can be swapped out for Canon EF and Nikon F mounts, in case you’re more invested in those types of lenses. For power, it uses an industry-standard 4-pin XLR connector that should allow it to work with any 12V to 18V battery or external power supply.
Other features include built-in ND filters with a precision dial for controlling the amount of light that enters the camera, a backlit external LCD status display for critical information, wireless control over Bluetooth (either with their apps, third-party apps, or your own custom code), and a whole host of connections and ports, so you can plug in any accessory or device that you need. Construction, by the way, is magnesium alloy for the body, with a design that facilitates convection cooling and heat dissipation to keep the camera cool during longer shoots.
The Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 12K is priced starting at $9,995.