Blackmagic Forum

Posted: **Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:18 pm**

Darren Scott wrote:Hey BMD...any more news on the fix for this issue?

I spoke with BMD a couple of hours ago (while less severe than others, I still get some rainbow at 6 stops) and was told that a fix has been found and that it will be rolling out in the next week or two. He was not able to say whether this would be RMA or firmware, only that the fix is on its way.

Posted: **Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:41 pm**

Thanks for the info Cody.

Posted: **Wed Apr 12, 2017 9:15 am**

Just chiming in. I'm also getting the Rainbow Flare. Seems like it's probably on all cameras like others have said. Definitely hoping for a fix on this soon.

Posted: **Fri Apr 14, 2017 12:12 pm**

Hi,

I have same problem with my ursa mini pro...

Someone managed to contact people from Blackmagic? I do not, I called the phone number in England ... nobody answered for 30 minutes ... I will try.

Posted: **Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:24 pm**

Send them an email too. They will eventually respond.

Posted: **Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:18 am**

hi, what is the email adress?

Posted: **Mon Apr 17, 2017 11:14 am**

Amer Shanabli wrote:hi, what is the email adress?

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/contact/email

Posted: **Mon Apr 17, 2017 4:37 pm**

Has anyone heard if this is a software fix or if it's a physical issue with the ND filters in the body? Just curious before I order one this month...

Posted: **Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:01 pm**

Just guessing, but i'm assuming it will be a hardware fix. I'd prefer a hardware fix, because it's a hardware issue. Trying to fix it in software will just be more processing that will sometimes create some artifacts. I'd prefer having that processing be going to something like making the headphone audio be realtime and not the 1/2 second or 1 second delay that it is which is distracting.

I've done testing and it seems to be some light leakage around the ND and since we can remove the mount i'm hoping maybe there could be just a small plastic ring or something we can insert behind the mount that blocks the light from leaking

Edit: Here is a test I did tilting up with ND set to clear and a spot light in my office directed straight into the lens. You can see how the back reflection pops up before the light is in the frame and goes away also before the light enters the frame.

Posted: **Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:19 pm**

Concerning the audio delay. The delay is caused by the audio processing and being embedded in the video stream. The monitor is checking the quality of the signal at the point it is embedded, so yiu hear the desks caused by the foricessing snd recirding. But, monitoring at this point, you will hear any clipping or other audio,issues resulting from the processing, and hear what is actually being "recorded".

The only way to not have the latency, is to monitor pre-process/recorded audio as it leaves the output stage of the preamp, which will give you "real time" audio monitoring, but you will not be able to hear any clipping or other audio processing issues occurring in the camera audio processing.

Somit is either real time monitoring of the source audio no delay, or monitoring the audio post processed, but with a latency delay. You can not have it both ways. Most ENG camera have (had) a switch to choose pre or post audio monitoring. Sound recordist prefer monitoring audio post, hearing the recorded signal, and this is why they wear big earphones that will only allow them to hear the recorded signal, and not the direct audio from the talent. Camera operators mostly monitored pre-process (source) audio to hear what was going on and to make sure they have an audio signal to the camera, and used the camera meters to track clipping issues.

Would be nice if BM had given the camera operator a choice on the UM Pro camera.
Cheers

Posted: **Mon Apr 17, 2017 6:02 pm**

Hi,

I send an email an i receive:

"Thank you for contacting Blackmagic Support.
This email address, is only for Technical Support enquiries, relating to after sales product and customer service. If your question is about something else, your query may be forwarded onto another department." ....

What?

I try to call in UK but nobody respond...only the robot...

???

Posted: **Mon Apr 17, 2017 8:18 pm**

Amer Shanabli wrote:Hi,

I send an email an i receive:

"Thank you for contacting Blackmagic Support.
This email address, is only for Technical Support enquiries, relating to after sales product and customer service. If your question is about something else, your query may be forwarded onto another department." ....

What?

I try to call in UK but nobody respond...only the robot...

???

Were you writing to them about "Rainbow Flare" or anything related future fixes?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Posted: **Mon Apr 17, 2017 9:27 pm**

Amer Shanabli wrote:Hi,

I send an email an i receive:

"Thank you for contacting Blackmagic Support.
This email address, is only for Technical Support enquiries, relating to after sales product and customer service. If your question is about something else, your query may be forwarded onto another department." ....

What?

Seems like you did not read the whole text...

This is an auto-response email to tell you they have received your message and the next paragraph says that a support technician will get into contact with you as soon as possible.

Posted: **Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:02 pm**

Robert Niessner wrote:
Amer Shanabli wrote:Hi,

I send an email an i receive:

"Thank you for contacting Blackmagic Support.
This email address, is only for Technical Support enquiries, relating to after sales product and customer service. If your question is about something else, your query may be forwarded onto another department." ....

What?

Seems like you did not read the whole text...

This is an auto-response email to tell you they have received your message and the next paragraph says that a support technician will get into contact with you as soon as possible.

sigh

Posted: **Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:02 am**

Im with Jason R Johnston, I usually shoot through stuff to introduce more flare! My camera exhibits the rainbow flare too, at certain angles with certain focal lengths, its not been a deal breaker. If Im outside on the shoulder, I don't mind seeing the occasional soft flare and think it can add to the image. I have also seen the same thing on my F5. I have a set of vintage lomos, so I'm used to dealing with aberrant unpredictable flare but also have a set of cinealtas for when I want something clean, so can understand the frustration if you're in an interview set up.
I'd like a hardware fix that you can pop in or out, sometimes I might want the rainbows!

Posted: **Wed Apr 19, 2017 2:51 pm**

David Chapman wrote:Has anyone heard if this is a software fix or if it's a physical issue with the ND filters in the body? Just curious before I order one this month...

I suspect that a fix would most likely involve a mail-out replacement of the piece of glass that is in front of the rotating filters. This appears to be attached by 3 phillips-head screws which would make it user-replaceable, in keeping with @Tim Schumann's post that the fix will "hopefully not" require cameras to be sent back in for implementation.

(I am curious if this protective cover is the cause of the reflections or if it is the filters themselves. I would suspect that it is the actual filters, given their coating. That being said, if the protective cover were to be replaced with one that absorbed IR & UV light by absorption (as opposed to by reflection), perhaps that would go a ways towards solving the problem.)

Posted: **Wed Apr 19, 2017 10:05 pm**

It would be nice to know soon as I want to order one of these cameras once a fix in place. Perhaps they don't want to announce an RMA path right before NAB.

Posted: **Wed Apr 19, 2017 11:18 pm**

The NAB 2017 news media will be all over BMD about this issue if a correction is not in place by NAB. They made a big deal of the lack of built-in ND filters on my beloved URSA Mini 4.6K camera so several won't be reluctant to cite the much improved Mini Pro but you know they can't resist landing a jab when your guard is down.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted: **Thu Apr 20, 2017 5:02 pm**

Could these be Newton Rings? They were a common problem in film scanners and could be eliminated by using a film holder made with anti-Newton glass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_rings

"Newton's rings is a phenomenon in which an interference pattern is created by the reflection of light between two surfaces—a spherical surface and an adjacent touching flat surface. It is named for Isaac Newton, who first studied the effect in 1717. When viewed with monochromatic light, Newton's rings appear as a series of concentric, alternating bright and dark rings centered at the point of contact between the two surfaces. When viewed with white light, it forms a concentric ring pattern of rainbow colors, because the different wavelengths of light interfere at different thicknesses of the air layer between the surfaces."

Perhaps it is caused by the glass cover on the sensor and filter. They're sit parallel to each other at a close distance.

Posted: **Fri Apr 21, 2017 5:21 am**

HankCarter wrote:Could these be Newton Rings? They were a common problem in film scanners and could be eliminated by using a film holder made with anti-Newton glass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_rings

"Newton's rings is a phenomenon in which an interference pattern is created by the reflection of light between two surfaces—a spherical surface and an adjacent touching flat surface. It is named for Isaac Newton, who first studied the effect in 1717. When viewed with monochromatic light, Newton's rings appear as a series of concentric, alternating bright and dark rings centered at the point of contact between the two surfaces. When viewed with white light, it forms a concentric ring pattern of rainbow colors, because the different wavelengths of light interfere at different thicknesses of the air layer between the surfaces."

Perhaps it is caused by the glass cover on the sensor and filter. They're sit parallel to each other at a close distance.

No, the problem cannot be Newton rings. Newton rings appear only when two pieces of glass are in direct contact with each other. The rotating ND filters and glass cover on the sensor do not touch each other.

Posted: **Fri Apr 21, 2017 8:41 pm**

Having recently bought the Mini Ursa pro I've read with interest the issue with flare. I can recreate this issue if i try but as most of my work is under controlled conditions and it may not affect me.

I have been waiting for some time for the PL mount and wondered if when I get the mount the issue is still there. Has anyone lucky enough to have received the PL mount still have the problem?

I just wonder if this is a hardware issue to do with the internal position of the filter wheel.

Posted: **Mon Apr 24, 2017 5:06 am**

Someone sent in the camera and got it fixed?

Posted: **Mon Apr 24, 2017 7:30 am**

Definitely not Newton rings. I can reproduce the rainbow with quite a few of my lenses. I suppose it's the shiny edge of the protective glass, you can see with your naked eye how reflective it is. It will need some kind of cover or a replacement.

This will need an optical solution, not a firmware fix. If you can do it on your own? Only BM can tell. If the camera would be out of warranty, I'd do a very careful job with Japanese model paint in matte black, it has helped me a lot with less than perfect adapters for vintage glass ;-)

BTW, this whole issue with reflections from filters behind the lens is not a new one. Red had to struggle with it from day one, when the Red One came out and made regular patterns of red dots if you were shooting into the sun – or was it branding? ;-)

The problem raised it's ugly head again with the Dragon sensor and they needed more than a year to completely fix it with a new OLPF. Now, BM is pretty new into filters behind the lens. The whole issue is much more difficult with digital sensors than with film, I can provoke such artifacts even with an Arri Alexa under extreme conditions.

Posted: **Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:28 pm**

Just wanted to post another video showing the back reflections at it's worst. You can see how it clearly is the ND as it goes away when I spin the wheel. Sun is right above the frame. This is straight out of the camera, nothing done to the image.

Posted: **Mon Apr 24, 2017 3:43 pm**

I get that even in the "clear" position.

Posted: **Mon Apr 24, 2017 3:46 pm**

Uli Plank wrote:I get that even in the "clear" position.

Right me too i'm just showing worst case scenario and how it is clearly the filter wheel as it moves when the filter wheel is moving.

It is also a case of showing that it's not just a subtle little flare that adds some character.

Posted: **Mon Apr 24, 2017 4:40 pm**

Based on everything I've seen in the samples, my guess is that the frame holding the ND filters doesn't completely block the surrounding opening, and bright light in the periphery is getting around the frame and causing flare and/or reflections on the sensor side of the filter.

Posted: **Mon Apr 24, 2017 6:09 pm**

Any updates on a fix, coming from NAB Show?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Posted: **Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:59 am**

According to jonesyjones on bmcuser.com:

The Rainbow flare has an official fix. It will be released in two weeks. They call it a mask, but it looks like a filter that you'll just place over the ir. They have one on display. They will send them to current owners and will soon be preinstalled.

A little bit more info from John Brawley in the same thread:

Not a filter. Its a modified mask / light trap. Simple fix.

Full thread: http://www.bmcuser.com/showthread.php?2 ... s-from-NAB

Adam

Posted: **Wed Apr 26, 2017 3:57 pm**

A reminder to those viewing this thread or any others, keep to the topic of the thread or we will be locking them down. We've removed posts due to not being on topic and if it continues, we will issue warnings/bans.

Posted: **Wed Apr 26, 2017 5:35 pm**

Hey guys,

I messaged support on what the process of the fix would be and got this response:

Hello Nathan,

Thanks for getting in touch with us.

The camera team has developed an IR mask to alleviate any flaring issues across your ND filter. This part will be available after May 2nd. You'll have the option to send your camera in for us to perform installation, or we can send you the part for you to install. Either way, this will be available to you at no cost.

I'm still awaiting information on the specifics of sending out the IR mask, but I should have more on that in the next couple of days. Let me know what your preferred option is, and we'll proceed from there.

Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Looks like the fix will be happening relatively quickly

Posted: **Wed Apr 26, 2017 5:47 pm**

Thanks Nate for the update. That's great news. If it's easy to install myself, I'll probably have them send it to me.

Adam

Posted: **Thu Apr 27, 2017 1:01 am**

Any chance that a photographic or video guide showing what the mask installation process would be so users could decide whether they are up to the task as well as provide an instructional guide at the same time?

Posted: **Thu Apr 27, 2017 6:05 am**

This will be later than the week of 2nd May... Sorry I haven't updated yet... we have been very busy with preparing for and running the show at NAB.

On some lenses, under some conditions stray light can come into the camera on an acute angle and cause flare in the image. We have developed an IR filter mask for URSA Mini Pro that customers can add if they are having a problem with flare. Its a free upgrade that you can add yourself if you like, or you can come into our office and have one of our support team do it for you.

Let us know by contacting our support team in the second week of May if you think you need one of these IR filter masks and we can add it for you or send one out to you.

Posted: **Thu Apr 27, 2017 1:06 pm**

Tim Schumann wrote:This will be later than the week of 2nd May... Sorry I haven't updated yet... we have been very busy with preparing for and running the show at NAB.

On some lenses, under some conditions stray light can come into the camera on an acute angle and cause flare in the image. We have developed an IR filter mask for URSA Mini Pro that customers can add if they are having a problem with flare. Its a free upgrade that you can add yourself if you like, or you can come into our office and have one of our support team do it for you.

Let us know by contacting our support team in the second week of May if you think you need one of these IR filter masks and we can add if for you or send one out to you.

Tim

I plan on buying a Pro here in the next month or so.

Is there anyway to get a Pro with the IR filter mask preinstalled?

Thanks

Posted: **Thu Apr 27, 2017 4:11 pm**

The filter mask sounds like a great solution. Can't wait to hear user experience after the masks have been made available.

Posted: **Sun Apr 30, 2017 11:26 am**

Edward Chalupa wrote:
Tim

I plan on buying a Pro here in the next month or so.

Is there anyway to get a Pro with the IR filter mask preinstalled?

Thanks

+1

Posted: **Mon May 01, 2017 7:30 pm**

Definitely seeing this on my new camera - no surprise. Looking forward to the fix!

Posted: **Tue May 09, 2017 11:06 am**

We're also experiencing those flares. Please drop a line when the fix will be available. Thanks a lot!

Posted: **Wed May 10, 2017 10:08 am**

Hi

any update from BMD on this issue?

(we want to replace our 4.6k to pro, but we are worrying the product is going to have this issue, and then RMA rounds and we are loosing time and etcetc)

Posted: **Wed May 10, 2017 11:42 am**

Im waitign too, still only using the Ursa Mini 4.6k and having the Pro in the box waiting for the fix....

Posted: **Tue May 16, 2017 8:10 am**

We're waiting, too. I suppose adding the part won't change anything regarding warranty?

Posted: **Tue May 16, 2017 4:34 pm**

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I don't understand why people here are afraid to use the Pro? I took a few days to text and experiment with ways to shoot around the problem and used it for a week on a feature before I left for It Italy. I only saw the flare once and I actually thought it fit the scene so I left it in.

Leaving it in the box is a bit silly.

Example: All with the rainbow problem. I created custom mattes for all standard focal lengths to help reduce the problem.
Hopefully this format comes out correct. I'm doing this from my phone.

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Posted: **Tue May 16, 2017 5:58 pm**

Vic, do you mean mattes for the matte box or mattes that you inserted elsewhere?

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Posted: **Tue May 16, 2017 6:09 pm**

rick.lang wrote:Vic, do you mean mattes for the matte box or mattes that you inserted elsewhere?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Mattes for the mattebox. I custom cut some at every focal length as close as I could. Also shooting 2:40 let me block even more light.

Posted: **Tue May 16, 2017 6:11 pm**

Thanks, Vic. I'd throw in some Italian I know conversationally, but I would screw up the spelling for sure. Great experience you've been enjoying in Italy!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Posted: **Tue May 16, 2017 6:28 pm**

Does anyone know whether an Ursa Mini Pro purchased now will ship with the rainbow flare fix already implemented?

Posted: **Tue May 16, 2017 8:31 pm**

Not at this stage Jamie.

As quite a few people on here have said they would like to choose we are not installing it as mandatory.
It is a free accessory that people can add themselves. It is a very simple procedure and only takes a few minutes. As JB pointed out on another thread it is a very effective way to reduce that particular flare.

We will be sending these out shortly, there was a slight delay with the first batch so we will be getting these out shortly to our support offices.

Posted: **Tue May 16, 2017 9:52 pm**

Must an URSA Pro owner request this "accessory", or will they be shipped automatically to each owner?

Posted: **Tue May 16, 2017 11:32 pm**

cobydax wrote:Must an URSA Pro owner request this "accessory", or will they be shipped automatically to each owner?

As the cameras are purchased through resellers and not directly though us, we would not have addresses to be able to send to you unless you contact us. When they become available, we'll post more information and how to reach out to us.

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