Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

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Dan Turmik

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Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostSun Apr 30, 2017 10:54 am

Hello!

I have an URSA Min 4.6K and sometimes the screen goes black. The camera doesnt seem to shut off since the LED on the back of the flipout screen is still lighting up but the image disappears.
Gear i have attached to the camera are following:
- A video Assist 4k 7inch through the front sdi of the camera and the XLR Power Output of the camera
- A DJI Focus through the 12V of the camera plate
- I am using Maxoak 177 batteries

I was wondering if theres maybe a problem with the power. But when the screen goes black and i remove the battery and then put the same battery back on after a second the camera starts up again.

Also the video Assist goes black the same moment.

Anyone has the same problem?
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Dan Turmik

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Re: Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostThu May 04, 2017 12:20 pm

no one experienced this?
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rick.lang

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Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostThu May 04, 2017 4:46 pm

To get any advice on this, additional information may help:
What is the battery voltage claimed to be and the amp rating?
When the monitor does light up, what is the battery voltage you see on the monitor? You also want to be on firmware 4.3.1 that had some code improvements related to the battery.
How old is your battery? Any guess as to how many complete charging cycles the battery has had? If old, it may have a reasonable voltage at the beginning but fall off quickly.

Although I'm suspecting battery power is the issue, it may be more complicated than that. If the camera rig is fine running XLR power from your AC source through the power adapter, then it points to problems with the battery.

Edit:

What battery plate are you using on the URSA Mini?

I assume this is your battery: 500 charge cycles.
https://www.amazon.com/MAXOAK-12000mAh- ... M40SN9V357


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Michael Moore

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Re: Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostSat Jun 17, 2017 2:09 pm

My ursa mini 4K have big issues with power on/off. Random when I press the on/off button the camera LCD screen is black but I can hear the cooler work. In viewfinder i can see sometime just black imagines and sometime just the green audio like a line indicator with black imagines. If I press the power button to shut down the camera nothing happened, still I can hear the cooler work. I must to remove the v-mount battery to shut down the camera. This issues is random. After few minutes the camera work normal. I can on/off many time without issue but random this issues is happen. Please give me few advice to solve this problem.
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Petar Manov

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Re: Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostSat Jun 17, 2017 2:34 pm

Michael Moore wrote:My ursa mini 4K have big issues with power on/off. Random when I press the on/off button the camera LCD screen is black but I can hear the cooler work. In viewfinder i can see sometime just black imagines and sometime just the green audio like a line indicator with black imagines. If I press the power button to shut down the camera nothing happened, still I can hear the cooler work. I must to remove the v-mount battery to shut down the camera. This issues is random. After few minutes the camera work normal. I can on/off many time without issue but random this issues is happen. Please give me few advice to solve this problem.


Hi Michael,

i have the same issue with the ursa mini pro, did you find a solution?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=60460
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John Simpson

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Re: Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostSat Jun 17, 2017 2:37 pm

Dan I have had a similar problem as this using the 4KVA. It turned out to be an unshielded SDI cable...
JJ Simpson
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Michael Moore

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Re: Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostSat Jun 17, 2017 8:44 pm

Petar Manov wrote:
Hi Michael,

i have the same issue with the ursa mini pro, did you find a solution?

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=60460



I dont solved this issue. Its a difficult to solve this issue because ins not a permanent problem, can work very fine 10 times and could happen then.Any suggestion?
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David Regenthal

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Re: Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostThu Jun 22, 2017 7:59 am

Dan- the problem you describe sounds like what I experienced with my UMP last week.
Camera had probably one or two hours testing on it--worked great, and then . . .
LCD went black, so did the EVF.
Suspected a power problem, changed to a fresh battery, turned the camera on, picture showed for about a second and a half, flickered then went black.
Hmmm, okay let's eliminate the power source question (I use the BlackMagic v-mount), pulled the battery off and went A/C . . . Same exact result.
Just for the heck of it I tried different lenses (you never know), reversed my cfast2.0 cards, went to SD cards, still no go. While it may be obvious I should state the menu was not available during my "blackout."
So now I'm suspecting the video circuit or some near catastrophic failure with no way to test it.
Contacted BM Support in Fremont, CA by phone, got an RMA and FedEx'd out the next day.
My replacement UMP arrived yesterday afternoon . . . spent some time carefully evaluating it and found it to be without issues (I'd also requested they install the rainbow flare solution when I sent my cam in).
I have to say I appreciate BM's response both in timing and result because I'm pulling out of here on Saturday morning with a thousand mile drive in front of me before a shoot next week . . . they really saved my bacon!

I did have difficulty reaching them on subsequent phone calls but in fairness this was on a Friday afternoon so I can't hold that against them--particularly because I was able to satisfy all questions/needs with them via e-mail.

These type issues rarely cure themselves--contact support and get 'er fixed. Best!
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Shaun Wells

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Re: Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostSat Jul 08, 2017 4:55 am

Hey Dan, New UMp owner here. Having the same problem here on my first night with the new cam, and I might have something for ya! I'm also using a maxoak battery and was worried my cheap power source might be the cause (it's not). I am using 2 EgoDisk 256gb CF cards, and they both performed flawlessly in my first test at 4.6k full frame lossless in dual card mode. One of the cards may have become corrupt when a transfer was abruptly terminated.

From Egodisk -

"Problem could occur when using CR1 /CR2 Reader mostly on newer Windows based or Mac computers.
It appears that when ejecting a card from the reader it does not necessarily ejects it, especially on a newer model computers, so when inserting second CFast card CR1/CR2 Reader assumes it is still the first Cfast card and this process affects file allocation table on the card and corrupts media.
Solution: Every time before inserting a new card we highly recommend Ejecting the old one (Eject button on the toolbar) and unplugging cable from the reader for a few seconds."

The other card still records in all single card formats without any problems, but when I insert the corrupted card into my camera, the problem presents itself as a black screen when powered on and a long pause to shutdown after turning off. When I take the card out there is no problem. It might just be that the UMP will not allow functionality with a corrupt appendage? Be that a CFAST card, sdi cable or whatever. :|
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Dan Turmik

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Re: Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostMon Jan 22, 2018 7:14 pm

to clarify... i found the problem
I am (was) using the Maxoak Batteries for the URSA Mini. Unfortunately they dont seem to be build very precise so that everytime you would push them upwards a tiny bit on the vlock plate the camera would loose its power. So i guess the connectors of the battery are bit too big for the BMs VLock Plates pins. On any other Plate i tested them they seemed to work fine.

So just be cautios when buying Maxoak
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Brian Nager

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Re: Ursa Mini - Screen goes black

PostTue Aug 21, 2018 7:12 pm

Hi everyone!!

Hope everyone is having a great day!!

I had an issue where my UM4.6k would all of a sudden power off if any movement occurred with the camera.... lifting it up, holding it, if on tripod then when tripod moved. If not moved, all ok. The Vmount battery all of a sudden wasn’t seeming to hold good contact with the plate, even though everything looks old fine. Never had this happen out of hundreds of hours of shooting, and all of a sudden this was happening (with no damage to camera ... nothing happened). I narrowed it down to there being an issue with the v-mount plate on back of camera and found same exact type for sale and bought it on eBay. After switching it out, all works well. Just thought I’d add to this conversation in case anyone comes into similar problem. If already stated, apologies, I didn’t read all the posts. One might say there’s an issue with the plate, but it looks fine where the contacts, and wires are. I took it apart just to see. Nothing has come loose, everything is clean. So this is my “all of a sudden my camera would shut off in mid-use” story.

On another note, I have had my URSA Mini 4.6k shut off when using lenses that have EF functions like stabilize. The camera would just freeze, and crash in the middle of shooting. Not a fun a time :) Especially in documentary work, you just lose the shot/moment and it won’t happen again. Maybe this has always been an issue on my camera .... I’m not sure.... as i normally use non-electrical lenses.

Also had issues with both Lanc connectors not working reliably for several months now, maybe over a year. This makes things complicated!! You punch the record button and nothing happens! So you have to always have your other hand near the screen to trigger it from there if it doesn’t work.

Interesting where the issues seem to be reoccurring for me on this camera is with the electrical.

One might think I’m maybe rough with my gear, but I take really good care of everything. I’m the guy that has perfect looking gear even after years of use, minus maybe a really small scuff here or there.

Anyway, hope this is useful for anyone going through similar issues.

And, just to say, I love my camera, and it’s great even still with all these issues. Love the image! Happy to be a part of the Blackmagic Family!! We will work out all the kinks together! There will be issues with any camera and equipment, but regardless, blackmagic is the reason why my images look so stellar! I can’t complain, and am in fact totally grateful for everything they are trying to do to help us all out! Just saying, in case BM ever feels overwhelmed by complaints or issue troubleshooting. Love you guys! Thanks for everything! When people compliment me on my work my only thought is, “it’s because of my camera!” Lol


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