Nauticam housing for the URSA Mini Pro 12K

Hi all

I am new to the forum, but have searched from one end to the other and I am not sure if this thead will mind, but I will try.

Not sure if it is acceptable to rally for support to get a housing into production, so just shoot me if I am out of line. Small caliber only please

We are Stock footage shooters and, to make our product as future proof as possible, are wanting to upgrade from our 4K BMPCC, that I am still VERY impressed with and our 6K RED Dragon, to the amazing Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 12K. BUT! We need an industry leading underwater housing for it, Nauticam. Nauticam China have un-officialy agreed, through our local supplier in Cape Town, to put this housing into R&D and production if they get at least 10 orders.

Therefore, my post.

As you all know, Blackmagic have just slashed the price of their 12K Flagship, from $9995 to $5995. This will result in a big boost in sales and possibly also the number of users who want to take it underwater, so my timing is hopefully spot on. What I am trying to achieve with this post is to test the waters, as it were, to see just how close we will be able to get to Nauticam's 10 order threshold. The plan would be to get each interested cinematographer to place their order with their own preferred Nauticam supplier/stockist, wherever they may be, but to keep Nauticam in the loop when we place our orders. It is my understanding that the URSA Mini Pro 4K, the 4.6K, 4.6K G2 and the 12K should all fit into the same housing, but maybe one of the camera pro's can confirm that.

Why bother moving to 12K? I see this question in so many forums. Well, if you are a stock footage shooter like us, 12K makes your product a lot more future-proof. Even if you are not concerned about future-proofing your work, the 12K image quality is even more mind blowing when you down scale to an 8K or 4K output. Furthermore, with frame rates like 4K @240fps, 8K @120fps and even 12K @60fps are industry leading speeds and take out all those underwater bumps and shakes, especially with that Super macro lens attached. Another major bonus is the digital cropping that can be done in post, which allows for a 9X zoom crop into the 12K frame and still produces a tack sharp TRUE 4K output. While working on a 4K or 8K production, having the ability to Zoom, pan and scan inside the 12K frame, gives one the ability to render any number of shots from the same single 12K clip. Lastly, the new Davinci Resolve 17.3 software update, with a ".. completely new processing engine.." now ".. work up to 3 times faster on Apple Mac models with the M1 chip", sorts out almost all those speed issues that Apple users were having with processing the BRAW files on their laptops. Get it now? A bit of a no-brainer.

SO. If we are permitted to do this and anyone is seriously interested in getting the housing into production, then please let me know, and we can start the ball rolling.

Thanks for your time

Any luck on this?

Hi UnixMover
Sorry for the delayed responce, but I never received a notification of your message.
No luck what so ever at this point. I am flat out of ideas. Even tried to get an email through the Grant himself, but it gets blocked every time by PR.
Just do not know where to turn next. There must be a way to get this 12K beast underwater, and not just in the splash bag, but a housing rated to at least 130feet.
Any ideas?
Regards

You might want to reach out to Vance Burberry. He's an un-offical BMD ambassador and he has done many 12K under water shoots with it.

I'm not sure what housing he uses, but he's a good person to connect with.

JB

That kind of housing would be interesting to see. It somehow needs to solve the cooling problem. If the camera could be permanently modified, it could be water cooled with secondary circulation.

What cooling problem?

As I mentioned Vance has shot with the 12K's a lot underwater (and the G2s) in Hydroflex housings.

https://www.vanceburberry.com

JB

You might want to reach out to Vance Burberry. He's an un-offical BMD ambassador and he has done many 12K under water shoots with it.

I'm not sure what housing he uses, but he's a good person to connect with.

JB

Hi John Brawley

Sorry for my delayed responce, was on location with no connectivity. Thanks for the link to Vance's website, I will try again. Iave had no luck at all in the past months, when trying to get a responce from Hydrofex, I will try through Vance Burberry on his website. Do you know if he has a BMD profile?

Regards
Russ

Well, no responce at all from Hydrofex or Vance Burberry on this subject. I just find it so hard to understand the lack of interest in this amazing Netfix approved camera.
Russ

Russ, have you considered reaching out to Matt Hipsley at Salty Surf Housings? They currently offer housings for the 4K and 6K BMD cameras, as well as many other manufacturers including RED and ARRI. The BMD Salty housings have a 20 meter maximum depth, so that might be a nonstarter for your applications.

Best,

Fabián

Hi Fabian
Thank you for the suggestion I will reach out to them and ask if they can produce a housing that can go to 40 to 50 meters.
Love your showreel
Kindest regards
Russ

With the 12k full frame and the upcoming 65mm having similar form factors, wondering if this is something folks are still thinking about?

I could be part of a group order if that's still a thing people might be into.

Ch:H

If you still haven't had any luck ordering a manufactured housing, you might want to consider building your own? I wrote about this option sometime ago on this forum. Over the course of years, I have built several of my own housings. Here is the title to my post if you want to check it out:

Underwater custom housing for BMPCC 4K

Hi oceanus

Thanks, but the risk of the loss of a camera is so high, and I do not have access to the required hardware for milling the housing or pressure testing it to 6Bar.

Yes, Russ, I totally understand,

It would be nerve wracking to put such a valuable camera in a "dubious" housing. Definitely, if you could buy a manufactured housing from a reputable source that would be the way to go.

That being said, for anyone's information who might be contemplating a DIY: In my own case, I substantially reduced the risk by having a double o-ring system for the back plate, as well as for the faceplate. Additionally, unlike so many manufactured housings that can have literally dozens of thru-hull controls, each of which are potential points of leakage, my housing has only one- to control on-off. All of the rest of the controls are done wirelessly. I also test my housings to working depth before ever putting a camera inside them to shoot with. Also, anyone near a qualified machinist can get the milling work done for the o-rings at a reasonable cost, prior to the machined back and front plates being welded to the main camera body.

All the best in your work and I hope that you are able to get the housing you need.