Ursa mini pro and shutter sync.

Hello everyone,

I'd be surprised if this hasn't come up before, though I have searched the boards.

I'm staring down the barrel of needing a new camera. As part of my due diligence before I commit to the capital outlay I am researching the operational differences between the Ursa MP and the FS7.

I've looked at the specs and can't see any mention of a 'sync' shutter systems on the Ursa MP. Sony have ECS which allows you to tune the shutter speed to sync with among other things, a monitor screen you need to film. Also useful when shooting practicals that would otherwise flicker.

I've recently returned from the mobile world congress in Barcelona where I was constantly 'tuning out' flicker form monitors and other kinds of displays in shot.

My other query is how clients perceive a black magic versus (what they may view as) the safe reliable brand of Sony. One client has already expressed concerns at replacing the use of a hired-in FS7 with the BM UMP. This is due to him reading of BM's (not always fantastic) reliability and customer service record.

It feels to me that if a FS7 went down on one of his shoots he would see that as 'one of those things', but if the same happened to a BM camera product then that would be my fault for buying it in the first place.

Best,


Chris.

I've never used it but you can "sync" the camera using the reference input, but you're asking a slightly different question.
Sony call that feature syncro scan.

The short answer is not really, but kind of...

You can adjust the shutter angle / shutter speed. But you don't typically have the range of fine controls to eliminate a monitor roll bar completely.

JB

Thanks John - that's as I feared.

The term I was looking for was indeed 'Syncro scan'.

Not sure I could live without it now ! That's a huge tick for the FS7.

John, you might have missed this feature then:
When you are in the shutter settings you can double tap the current shutter: <180°>

This opens a setting where you can type in any shutter setting you want.

You can even define the shutter up to two decimal places.

The fastest shutter you can set is 5°, that is 1/1800 for 25fps, 1/1728 for 24fps, and 1/2160 for 30fps.

Formula for converting shutter angle to shutter speed:

shutter speed = 1 / (360 x fps : shutter angle)