URSA Broadcast + Fibre system success in 2020

Hi all, long time BMD user (ATEM, Videohubs, multi views, bunch of other things). I am looking at upgrading my camera systems used for IMAG in live concerts, We currently own Sony HD ENG cameras with our own system doing comms/tally/etc all via fibre/IP.

While we are looking at more high-end options (Panasonic/Sony camera chains) we are interested in understanding what the go with the BMD URSA broadcast and fibre system is. On paper the system looks like it has great functionality at an amazing price, but certainly forum posts when this first came out show there were quite a few issues with the system including quality/usability of comms/tally with external interfaces at the truck end.

Is anyone able to provide a bit of a 2020 update of the system including whether coms/tally works well with external comms/tally on the truck end and if these system is now any 'good'?

Does anyone have any examples of what kind of shows these camera systems are being used on at the moment to maybe help the case that these are acceptable for more high-end productions now?

I've been using the URSA Broadcast camera chains for about a year now with the SFC and CFC SMPTE units. Long story short. If you're used to working with Hitachi, Panasonic, or Sony professional camera chains, you will be disappointed with many of the compromises made to make these cameras operate. I'll briefly cover the bases. Up to 12G camera chains are nice, 3 returns makes it even better. 4wire intercom was fixed in the latest update to work how you would expect, but push to talk via the zoom demand or servo still doesn't work. Bars/tone generation with camera ID is only possible when the camera is actively hooked up and cannot just output when no camera signal is present, instead the SFCs spit out 1080p23.98 with a gray bar on the left third. Tally is not fun. For some reason instead of interfacing via contact closure the way every other tally system in the world does, the SFC requires active DC voltage to trigger the tally. Required the custom build of a tally conversion box in the builds we've used these cameras in (most commonly interfacing with Carbonites). Color control operates via an atem or more specifically the return ancillary data, requiring an atem or skaarhoj device to paint cameras. Pix output does not exist for the cameras, all settings have to be taken care of at the camera head.

We implemented these cameras at a daily house racing track, and for a espn+ college flypack, as well as a couple remote flypacks. The biggest noticible short coming has been poor low light performance compared to 3CCD cameras, though I hear the 4.6k with the B4 mount is much better than the broadcast in this area. These cameras will do you great and affordable if your ecosystem is blackmagic, more specifically having an atem at the heart of the show. Proceed with caution. DM me if you want more info than what I can type on my phone.