- Posts: 84
- Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:58 am
A bit late for Australia, granted, but before midnight in the USofA's Hawaii coast may we suggest what we'd like to see in the Ursa Mini Pro? I'm thinking we can suggest stuff that might be possible without a hardware modification. This is all to improve a good thing. I purchased my UMP just this month and am loving it.
Who has suggestions? OK, I will offer a couple; Others please chime in with yours.
AUDIO INPUT CHANNELS 3 AND 4 - How to use the four channels
Rather than pad one XLR to the other (which as implemented does not appear to be useful at any rate), why not offer the option to pad XLR channels 1 and 2 at -20 dB to channels 3 and 4, respectively? That would be super useful to solo shooters in chaotic environments such as noisy cities, sports stadiums, etc. Given how inaccessible the input gain controls are during shoulder shooting, such a feature is nearly essential.
REPURPOSE THE "HFR" BUTTON
I really do not get the "HFR" button on the UMP. It is a button that is guaranteed to do the wrong thing. If you press it intentionally, it exposes the result incorrectly because it switches the mode to a different frame rate without regard to exposure control. If you press it by accident, it exposes incorrectly and in addition records at the wrong frame rate. Meanwhile, it would be nice to have more function keys on the camera body. So here is what I suggest:
A) Transform the "HFR" button into a programmable function key.
B) Make "HFR" one of the selectable functions. (For backwards compatibility, the default functionality of the "HFR" button can be to toggle HFR on and off).
C) Redefine the "HFR" feature to specify HFR to define frame rate plus whether to also adjust shutter or aperture (lens permitting) or both or neither to maintain exposure.
Even if (C) is impractical to implement, (A) and (B) by themselves would be very useful.
MITIGATE THE INACCESSIBLE INPUT GAIN ISSUE
When shoulder recording with a lens that weighs a couple or three kilos, it is hard to manipulate the input gain controls while shooting. Those knobs should have been on the forward control panel. But given where they are currently located, maybe there could be a software mitigation, such as making input gain up/down a set of function key options (master input up/down; or channel 1 input up/down; or channel 2 input up/down).
MAKE THE SIDE HANDLE BUTTONS MORE USEFUL
For those of us who shoot with non-EF or manual lenses, the auto iris and auto focus buttons on the side handle are useless. Why not make them into programmable function keys? During ENG single shooter situations, I would love to use those buttons to manipulate input gain (as suggested above).
That's it from me. Happy New Year, all!
Who has suggestions? OK, I will offer a couple; Others please chime in with yours.
AUDIO INPUT CHANNELS 3 AND 4 - How to use the four channels
Rather than pad one XLR to the other (which as implemented does not appear to be useful at any rate), why not offer the option to pad XLR channels 1 and 2 at -20 dB to channels 3 and 4, respectively? That would be super useful to solo shooters in chaotic environments such as noisy cities, sports stadiums, etc. Given how inaccessible the input gain controls are during shoulder shooting, such a feature is nearly essential.
REPURPOSE THE "HFR" BUTTON
I really do not get the "HFR" button on the UMP. It is a button that is guaranteed to do the wrong thing. If you press it intentionally, it exposes the result incorrectly because it switches the mode to a different frame rate without regard to exposure control. If you press it by accident, it exposes incorrectly and in addition records at the wrong frame rate. Meanwhile, it would be nice to have more function keys on the camera body. So here is what I suggest:
A) Transform the "HFR" button into a programmable function key.
B) Make "HFR" one of the selectable functions. (For backwards compatibility, the default functionality of the "HFR" button can be to toggle HFR on and off).
C) Redefine the "HFR" feature to specify HFR to define frame rate plus whether to also adjust shutter or aperture (lens permitting) or both or neither to maintain exposure.
Even if (C) is impractical to implement, (A) and (B) by themselves would be very useful.
MITIGATE THE INACCESSIBLE INPUT GAIN ISSUE
When shoulder recording with a lens that weighs a couple or three kilos, it is hard to manipulate the input gain controls while shooting. Those knobs should have been on the forward control panel. But given where they are currently located, maybe there could be a software mitigation, such as making input gain up/down a set of function key options (master input up/down; or channel 1 input up/down; or channel 2 input up/down).
MAKE THE SIDE HANDLE BUTTONS MORE USEFUL
For those of us who shoot with non-EF or manual lenses, the auto iris and auto focus buttons on the side handle are useless. Why not make them into programmable function keys? During ENG single shooter situations, I would love to use those buttons to manipulate input gain (as suggested above).
That's it from me. Happy New Year, all!