Ursa Mini Pro unlucky owner - looking for advice

Hi,

First of all I want to acknowledge that I love Blackmagic Cameras and everything I've learnt from using them. But right now I'm frustrated and quite sad.

Yesterday, out of the blue, my UMP (First Gen) failed on me. First an almost imperceptible flickering on the LCD. I checked around to see if maybe a light was flickering... but soon I realized that the only light that was on at the moment was the sun. Then some horizontal lines appeared on the screen. The fan kicked in. I turned the camera off. Waited for a while; maybe the whole thing could be attributed to a temporary insanity. Turned it back on. Same problem: flickering and then the lines. I power cycled the camera one more time. Now the lines appeared immediately. The issue (I'm no camera technician) appears to be the sensor. I asume that because I tried recording something and after ingesting the footage to DaVinci, the lines were there. (you can download the footage —in MP4— and a pic here: https://we.tl/t-oS1Mv8VHqn).

I have to point out the the camera has never been dropped or hit by anything. It has been operate only by me. And, exaggerating, it has operated for no more that 70 hours in total. It's practically new.
Now, this is my second UMP. The first one had LCD problems but after a terrible experience with the RMA (Not Blackmagic's fault, but a local distributor's) this second one worked perfectly... till last week. It lasted me 1 year and 7 months.

Right now I'm torn. I really don't know what to do. The camera is out of warranty. Blackmagic support tells me to send it in to their US offices in order for them to check it out and see if it can be fixed. I live in Perú (we are currently in lockdown because of COVID-19). I have no way of knowing how much money a repair could cost, Blackmagic can't give me an estimate without looking at the camera, obviously. Sending the camera from Perú is going to be expensive as well. So... is it worth it? Will I end up expending more money on an outdated camera than the money I could invest in a new one? What would you do in my place?

As I said at the beginning of this message, I still have faith in Blackmagic. I had the original pocket for years and it is still working perfectly for it's new owner. Maybe I'll be better of purchasing a new Pocket 6K (it makes sense since all of my lenses are canon and it has native EF... the S35 sensor size is also welcome). Is it reliable? I was planning on shooting a feature film with the UMP next summer (we are currently in preproduction) now, even if it is fixed, I'm not sure I can trust it. I need a reliable camera.

Please let me know what you think. I'm lost here.

I hope every one of you are safe and well.

Cheers,

Diego

Contact your regional BMD Support Office, it appears you have some sort of hardware failure.
Cheers

Hi Deny,

I did. But they can't provide any estimates. That is important for me since I would have to send the camera to the US (that's expensive) to see if it can be fixed. Only then I'd know the price for the repair. What if they have to change the Sensor and it cost US$3000 (i don't know... worst case scenario) and on top of that the US$500 for shipping. Is it worth it? I don't know. I guess I just want to minimize losses.

Maybe someone here has had a sensor replaced and know how much it costs?

Thank you very much for your reply, Deny.

Cheers,

It could also be an issue with the video processing board, like a bad capacitor, which would require replacing the entire board, since BMD does not do this level of repair.
Cheers

Diego,
Sorry to hear this. This might not be much help but in this thread from last November:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92989

...Joshua Helling, Director of Worldwide Support for BMD, mentioned that some repair capabilities in South America do exist. But you have heard differently, obviously.

This issue comes up periodically and it seems to be one area where BMD could improve. I don't know how modular the cameras are but serviceability is an important design consideration. Presumably, there is some modularity with a finite number of parts whose replacement could be shown on a price list.

Repair/extended warranties are important profit centers for many companies and provide benefits and insurance for customers. I'm not sure where BMD are at the moment on these things.

Good luck.
Steve

Repair/extended warranties are important profit centers for many companies and provide benefits and insurance for customers. I'm not sure where BMD are at the moment on these things.
Steve

You are absolutely correct that it is a profit center for many companies. I have asked if BMD would sell extended warranties but never got an answer and to date I don't even think they have such program. Usually these types of warranties are sold to customers within the first 30 days of ownership which won't do any good for customers that have their camera for a while.

It could also be an issue with the video processing board, like a bad capacitor, which would require replacing the entire board, since BMD does not do this level of repair.
Cheers

Thanks Denny, definitely that can also be the issue, but to be able to make a decision i find it easier to put myself in the worst case scenario and I think that the sensor assembly (which I'm pretty sure comes with it's cooling system) might be the most expensive part... maybe I'm wrong. I'll try again with Blackmagic to see If they maybe can give quotes for the "usual suspects".

Diego,
Sorry to hear this. This might not be much help but in this thread from last November:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92989

...Joshua Helling, Director of Worldwide Support for BMD, mentioned that some repair capabilities in South America do exist. But you have heard differently, obviously.

This issue comes up periodically and it seems to be one area where BMD could improve. I don't know how modular the cameras are but serviceability is an important design consideration. Presumably, there is some modularity with a finite number of parts whose replacement could be shown on a price list.

Repair/extended warranties are important profit centers for many companies and provide benefits and insurance for customers. I'm not sure where BMD are at the moment on these things.

Good luck.
Steve

Hi Steve!

I'll try to look into those facilities in south america. I'll take a look at that thread as well!

Thank you very much!

Repair/extended warranties are important profit centers for many companies and provide benefits and insurance for customers. I'm not sure where BMD are at the moment on these things.
Steve

You are absolutely correct that it is a profit center for many companies. I have asked if BMD would sell extended warranties but never got an answer and to date I don't even think they have such program. Usually these types of warranties are sold to customers within the first 30 days of ownership which won't do any good for customers that have their camera for a while.

I love Blackmagic but there are some things about how the run their business that I can't really understand.

Thanks Ellory!

Hi, has anybody had to deal with a similar issue with their UMP G1? Thanks for your replies!

UPDATES:
1. I'm still waiting for our local Blackmagic Distributor to answer my e-mail (still in lockdown here in Perú).
2. I tried posting a reply quoting Joshua Helling (Blackmagic's Director of World Wide Support) because on his post in a different thread (viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92989), he said that Blackmagic has repair facilities in South America... still no answer.