Ursa Mini Pro G2 not performing well

I am having some serious issues with my Ursa, especially when filming outside.

The camera has a massive struggle filming outdoors, even on a cloudy days when the light is even. The contrast difference between light and dark is awful. a lot of the footage is almost unusable.
I get much better footage off my phone. I have the pocket 6K as well and the pocket does really well.

I filmed in both raw film mode, Prores film mode and Prores video mode (this is mostly for clients which is the biggest issue of all modes)

A lot of work recently I am hired only to film and then I need to provide the footage to the client, this is adding alot of unpaid work as don't want to provide the footage looking so crap so I try to improve as best as I can and then render it improved.

I camera feels like it has the dynamic range of a potato. The pocket 6K outperforms it by miles and so my phone.

I filmed with so many cameras from canon, red, arri and sony. Out of all camera models I never encountered this issue. Especially on a camera that claims 15 stops of dynamic range. The pocket claims only 13 and yet it exposes everything great, even on the same location!

I can't share any of the footage examples.

One of my favorite aspects of the G1 and G2 UMP is how they handle ******* outdoor lighting, and I've found it better than the 6k generally. I've only ever used the film log color though. Perhaps the UMP being gen 4 film log is tripping you up? The standard video for gen 4 I don't really like, while extended video for gen 5 is pretty nice.

I can't share any of the footage examples.

Can you film some on your own time and share examples? This seems... unusual...

This sounds extremely odd. I've used my UMPG2 extensively outdoors and had stellar results. In general it performs far better than the Pocket 6K.

https://vimeo.com/showcase/3933302

There's a showcase of all the URSA Mini 4.6K footage I have shot over the years. Both the Original URSA Mini 4.6K and the URSA Mini Pro G2. The G2 will appear up top as all that footage is newer and the UM4.6K footage will appear towards the back of the showcase. But you'll see there was virtually no difference in how either performed outdoors.

I can’t hardly believe the OP’s complaints. The UMP 4.6K G2 is a very good cinema camera, great IQ and DR. Even at 4.6K resolution, when I do the same with the Pocket 6K, my preference is the URSA Mini G2; although I also like the pocket 6K. It’s also easy to match shots. The IQ is pretty creamy and skin tones are smoother. Shooting outdoor with the right setting and lenses give such adorable look at it.

Although I don’t even know if it’s possible but I wonder if the OP is unknowingly applying a LUT such as Rec.2020 to the recording which would appear to wash out most contrast.

After I sold my original Pocket 6K camera the person I sold to came to me for some advice. He was getting an extremely oversaturated and highly contrasted image on his monitor. Turns out he was trying to shoot in Video Mode with a Rec709 LUT applied on top. Although his footage was coming back in Video he was upset monitoring was all wrong.

I gave him the advice he needed to hear and all issues were resolved for him after that point because he understood what Film, Extended Video, and Video Mode did for the dynamic range of captured footage. Then he also understood what was happening with Display LUTs for on camera LCD Monitor and HDMI Monitors.

It's entirely possible the OP happens to be falling victim to the same issue. And, since you can apply a LUT to the file in ProRes it's possible to get a double video look from shooting Video and applying the Rec709 on top of it.

[quote="rick.lang"]Although I don’t even know if it’s possible but I wonder if the OP is unknowingly applying a LUT such as Rec.2020 to the recording which would appear to wash out most contrast.[/quote]

I believe it is possible to embed the LUT, I think the options exist on the 6K.
I haven't done that. I have to shoot in video mode Prores for some clients as they don 't want raw nor change any colours.

I am currently on holiday until the end of August so I haven't used the camera.

[quote="timbutt2"]After I sold my original Pocket 6K camera the person I sold to came to me for some advice. He was getting an extremely oversaturated and highly contrasted image on his monitor. Turns out he was trying to shoot in Video Mode with a Rec709 LUT applied on top. Although his footage was coming back in Video he was upset monitoring was all wrong.

I gave him the advice he needed to hear and all issues were resolved for him after that point because he understood what Film, Extended Video, and Video Mode did for the dynamic range of captured footage. Then he also understood what was happening with Display LUTs for on camera LCD Monitor and HDMI Monitors.

It's entirely possible the OP happens to be falling victim to the same issue. And, since you can apply a LUT to the file in ProRes it's possible to get a double video look from shooting Video and applying the Rec709 on top of it.[/quote]

Filming raw in film mode and changing to colour science 5 helps massively as expected, the issue is when I have to film in Video mode in ProRes. Some clients simply want it like that and don't want to deal with grading or working with the raw file. That's where my issue is as the camera struggles with it. The contrast is too much.

On the screen the image always looks darker and **** to be honest. I use the shinobi 7 for monitoring. I started to use the phantom colour luts as I use them as a base, They pride the colour science 4 and 5 alternatives for the Ursa Mini G2. I use the version 4 since you can view science 5 in camera.

I am always very throughout when filming. I setup and test the equipment before every shoot. I tested it before indoors as well with the video mode prores and it just get contrasty too easily.
Film mode always works better as expected, but the video mode should be better.

I have been using the pocket every time I can when forced to film in video as I am tired of getting stressed over this. Not to talk of the issue of 2 cameras interviews and handing off the footage to clients looking completely different. But that's a whole different topic.
Every time I am filming and editing I always film raw film, or prores film which gives me no issues.

It wasn't until G5 and "Blackmagic Video" that the 709 output from these cameras was very good. Most of the early color science had a very mathematical transform. The criticisms of the BM 709 LUTs vs LogC-709 was mostly because the LogC transform had a knee and used more aggressive tone mapping whereas the BM transform could be harsh.

Good Luck

[quote="Howard Roll"]It wasn't until G5 and "Blackmagic Video" that the 709 output from these cameras was very good. Most of the early color science had a very mathematical transform. The criticisms of the BM 709 LUTs vs LogC-709 was mostly because the LogC transform had a knee and used more aggressive tone mapping whereas the BM transform could be harsh.

Good Luck[/quote]

I bought the camera in 2019 but after they introduced the G5 I hoped they would naturally update the camera as well as it was relatively new back then but they never did.
This causes lots of issues if you have to give files to a client and whoever does the editing can't grade. Matching a G4 video mode with G5 video mode can be challenging if they don't know.

One way around this has been explain why Film mode is better and then I provide a LUT file that will match the ursa to the 6K. But some people don't want...

From the infos given in your posts it is very hard to follow what exactly you are doing.
If the footage looks crappy, then it is very likely you did setup something wrong.

But without any sample footage to see and screenshots of your settings it is impossible to find the issue.