After URSA Model?

Since the URSA was introduced in 2014, and the URSA Mini and URSA Mini Pro continued its legacy in name brand and build design, I'm curious what is next for after the URSA? Could we see a new camera design? Will there be a new naming convention?

There's a lot of good questions for what is next. I know everyone asks for a "box" camera. That's fine as a B-Cam. But obviously you need to have a "Flagship" that is the A-Cam design and then the B-Cam design for under that Flagship.

I firmly believe Blackmagic is working on a new lineup of camera designs. The Flagship big camera for A-Cam, and then the smaller B-Cam type of design off that Flagship. Similar to the URSA and URSA Mini, but now it will be more UMP size and design for Flagship. With the Broadcast cameras I think that this will take more Cinema Camera uses into account and no longer be meant to function for both cinema and broadcast.

Again, I'll go with a temp name for the purposes of giving an idea:
Blackmagic Design Vega Cinema Camera
Blackmagic Design Vega Mini Cinema Camera
Blackmagic Design Vega Micro Cinema Camera

Each serving a purpose in the lineup, and each having features specific to that build design. For example Vega would probably get the highest frame rates due to cooling and processor size. Vega Mini would get mid-rage frame rates, and the Vega Micro would get the lowest possible HFR rates of the group.

The most important aspect for all these is universal sensor. Say for example the VistaVision 12K RGBW Sensor. Or, if it must be then, 16K because that's how the 12K reaches the physical size of Full Frame. Either way, the whole camera lineup would be consistent in sensor tech and making it so they can all be used fluidly on set for their specific purpose.

What do you guys think? Do you think this is the future path for Blackmagic Design after the URSA lineup?

Not Vega!

Neuron
Omni
Jupiter
Excelsior

Not Vega!
Okay maybe Vega..

No no no Goldrake, Goldorak, Grendizer in Japan fight against Vegan from 1975.
Vega is an excluded name


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Agree with Tom’s ‘anything but Vega.’ They named URSA after a constellation and an animal, not a star. So perhaps the new camera line will be called Canis, a constellation and an animaI. I don’t think that’s a brand name already so may be good from the brand perspective.

From Wikipedia:

The 88 constellations depict 42 animals, 29 inanimate objects, and 17 humans or mythological characters.

I don’t know if the human race will be buying cinema cameras say 400 years from now, but there’s a lot of sense in continuing with animal constellation names for a family of cameras.

Ignore the "Vega" as that was an aspect. Focus on the other points in my thesis.

Also, technically the URSA name came from one of their Cintel Scanners as JB has pointed out in the past.

err...

You all know that "Ursa" isn't visible from the souther hemisphere right?

Just asking those who might think it's automatically named for a constellation to consider that those of us in the southern hemisphere don't have the same association with a constellation.

For the Ursa the constellation crowd check how you respond to the Southern Cross, which would be would be our equivalent. Can you draw it without looking it up? (it's on the Australian flag)

There are other interpretations and you can maybe work it out with a bit more research.....

JB

Thank you JB for weighing in. Curious, what are your thoughts on my Thesis that after the URSA line the next lineup will have a three body family servicing distinct purposes in the lineup?

err...

You all know that "Ursa" isn't visible…There are other interpretations and you can maybe work it out with a ..

JB

Thanks, John. I wasn’t thinking this through, but I drop my suggestion of Canis for the next camera family.

In honor of John Oliver getting the pūteketeke to win the New Zealand Bird of the Century Contest, maybe we should look at some Australian Birds to name the next camera after.

The Blackmagic Design Brolga Cinema Camera certainly has a nice ring to it.


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Brolga is awesome.

My old mentor John Bowring ACS had this as a nickname.

https://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/2011/ ... wring-acs/

He was my friend and literally taught me everything I know. He passed away quite young and indirectly was there at the beginning of Blackmagic making cameras.

I was asked to speak at his service and it was afterwards that I bumped into Grant. BMD had just bought Resolve and we started joking about how John Bowring was famously very harsh with manufacturers and we imagined what he would say if Blackmagic started making cameras. With a twinkle in his eye Grant said he would be in touch.

I sent Grant some emails about what I thought was was important to cinematographers and a short while later I got my first invite to go down and get my private presentation in the manner of Steve jobs “there’s one more thing”

So really Brolga was there at the beginning of all this. Even today I imagine him chewing out everything that’s wrong with the cameras

JB

Thanks for sharing that, John. Excellent choice for the next camera family.

Brolga might sound great for English natives, but unfortunately sounds quite silly in German, like a combination of Prolet (= redneck) and Olga.

Whatever the name, make it small.
I'm fine with an early 2024 release, thank you very much!

Brolga might sound great for English natives, but unfortunately sounds quite silly in German, like a combination of Prolet (= redneck) and Olga.

I can assure you, it sounds silly in English as well.

Good Luck

Sony Venice makes any sense as a camera? URSA seems ‘normal’ but it used to sound strange. Personally I find a name that has a history much more appealing than a Canon R6 or an a7III or even a Ford F150, and so on ad nauseum. Of course the Pocket made sense when it was possible to put the first BMPCC in the pocket of cargo pants; today, Pocket is absurd but we don’t mind it because it’s familiar. I think if we find the Brolga camera fascinating and compelling, the name won’t hold it back.

But you are a wise and thoughful person, so I know you could be right about the Brolga that may turn away a buyer. Need a familiar name, let BMD match the camera competition, trading punches, with their new Brawler!

When I see the name BMPCC and Ursa (bear), it reminds me of the Soviet Union. In youtube its seems BMD cameras are popular in Russia.

Why not name after famous Australian animals like Koala, Wombat, Dingo, Tasmanian Devil?

Well, one competitor used that early communist imagery style intentionally. The Tasmanian devil may appeal to their clientele, with all those Raptors, a bomb EVF and skulls around

I like the fact that there's an Ursa Major and an Ursa Minor in the sky, BM must have planned the Minis when choosing the name.

As You are into Astronomy , do not forget CORIOLIS , Because it's a FORCE .. Relative to the Velocity Vector , that Force goes to the RIght in the Northern Hemisphere , and to the Left in the Southern Hemisphere .. Important to know , if you operate a Steadycam .... That's why it's always easier to operate a Steadycam at the Equator .. Incredible , No ?
It reminds me of When I made a Parabolic mirror for Astronomy .. digging a Spherical Mirror is relatively Easy , but when you want to make it Parabolic .. with the help of a Foucault Meter , it's another story .. knowing it's impossible to get a perfect parabolic shape .. But , being within some limits , the mirror may be considered as good , very good , or super good .. Maybe I could produce Lenses .. but it's another Thing ..

Space and TIme .. are the same Entity .. not easy to really understand , Anyway .. And both are distorted by Gravity .. the speed of the running time depends of the Gravity .. incredible .. but True .. Space .. with some Dollars in your Pocket ans some Kerozene , you can move in it , but Time .. I strongly believe Time is the most representative value in our Lives ..

Going into Philosophy , as always .. Any Joke aside , for the Fun , you'll find here a Picture I received from a Noaa Weather Sat , several years ago .. The sensor is not a " Camera " sensor , it's an Avhrr , " Advanced very high resolution radiometer " .. kind of a Scanner working in the Visible and the Infrared Spectrum .. The colors are False Colors produced by the Software .. Resolution at Vertical is a bit more than one Kilometer ..

Life is going On .. Take it Easy .. just my Two Euros .. / Mike ..

Well, one competitor used that early communist imagery style intentionally. The Tasmanian devil may appeal to their clientele, with all those Raptors, a bomb EVF and skulls around

I like the fact that there's an Ursa Major and an Ursa Minor in the sky, BM must have planned the Minis when choosing the name.

Fun travelling with gear with Bomb in the name. And we all know airport officials are such funny guys. Always appreciating a good joke .

You know, the Big Sky Sphere camera and Achtel 9x7 are 18K so 16K would not be unexpected knowing those options are out there. I'd be all for it too as the 12K already looks so great but a Full Frame version would be outstanding and with the Pocket 6K CC now, I think Full Frame is on the table.

As for size, I really miss the nice big fold out screen from the original URSA and if it is 16K then you definitely will need to see what you're doing as well as being able to punch in more and more for focus accuracy.

I also think going forward all the cameras should have an OLPF because of virtual production needs.

Otherwise, aside from the sensor upgrade, I think the camera is pretty solid as it is and I too have heard many calls for the box form factor. The box form factor can work for some but having a nice all around body design can be really beneficial for packing and unpacking as well as general ease of use. Otherwise you're using up a good deal of time unscrewing and dismantling all the accessories bolted to the camera cage rig once the shoot is over.

Call me crazy but I'd like to see uncompressed CinemaDNG make a comeback. Or uncompressed RAW of any flavor. Just as an option alongside the rest.

… As for size, I really miss the nice big fold out screen from the original URSA and if it is 16K then you definitely will need to see what you're doing as well as being able to punch in more and more for focus accuracy...

Interesting idea there. If the sensor is 16K, you might have 2K monitor for a complete representation of the frame, but as you double tap, the 2K monitor might represent 8K, then 4K, then 2K of the sensor pixel for pixel). Would be nice.

Call me crazy but I'd like to see uncompressed CinemaDNG make a comeback. Or uncompressed RAW of any flavor. Just as an option alongside the rest.

I'd be all for an uncompressed version of BRAW. But I'm sure those VistaVision 16K Uncompressed BRAW files will be pretty massive. Finally gonna need a Yottabyte of storage.

Blackmagic Design Yottabyte Pro

Blackmagic Design Yottabyte Pro

I mean, you can get a Petabyte worth of Blackmagic Cloud Storage for $30K/month. So, why not get a Yottabyte for $100M/month.

You know Apple should do it. Start doing their movies in Digital 32K 15-Perf IMAX Uncompressed RAW. Give Nolan a blank check and buy 1 YB worth of storage in Blackmagic Cloud for the Resolve edit workflow.

As for the URSA and that large screen. Well, I liked the original URSA Mini 5" screen. So maybe a larger URSA with 6-7" flip-out screen.

In fact, I never really use those buttons and dials on the side too much. So going back to a 5" screen, keeping the external status display, the internal ND, and just having the buttons on the back of the flip-out LCD would be good. With the newer 12G 5" VA screen or the 5" Pocket 6K Pro screen you could really have a much better 5" screen on the URSA Mini Pro.

Call me crazy but I'd like to see uncompressed CinemaDNG make a comeback. Or uncompressed RAW of any flavor. Just as an option alongside the rest.

I'd be all for an uncompressed version of BRAW. But I'm sure those VistaVision 16K Uncompressed BRAW files will be pretty massive. Finally gonna need a Yottabyte of storage.

Blackmagic Design THANOS Cinema Camera 16K

Back to that ‘next’ camera screen. Could we agree on a thin 4K 7” screen?