This is the third NAB in a row that the little Australian-company-that-could, Blackmagic, has blown away the competition with new camera models that feature innovations that shame the big boy players. The one getting the most attention is the 4K Ursa, which will be available in EF, PL, B4 mounts, and a "no sensor" version. Starting at US$6000, the Ursa is a much larger camera than the previous models, and by going big, solve many of the problems that have plagued the Blackmagic cameras since day one. So it is nice to see they've figured this camera thing out so quickly.
The big attention getter for the Ursa is the absolutely mammoth 10" flip-out LCD screen. Radical! And the image quality of the LCD screen is very good.
What isn't getting as much attention, and certainly isn't the sexiest looking camera ever, is the new Studio Camera. At first this seems a bit of a head scratcher, but once you figure it out, it is going to be a sleeper of a camera. It is like the big studio broadcast cameras for those on a budget. It can't record any thing - it has no recording mechanism, but it has SDI and optical fibre out, so it is meant to send a signal to a switcher. Blackmagic hopes it will go to a ATEM switcher, but the SDI signal is clean, so the signal will feed to any switcher out there. The ATEMs will have special features so it can do some controls over the camera.
It features the same mammoth 10" LCD in the Ursa, which makes a lot of sense in this camera. In the end, this camera will be perfect for live streaming, sports, churches, and any other venue that needs multiple cameras feeding a switcher. Pricing starts at US$1999. Shipping - well, we've learned with Blackmagic never to say when it is shipping. It will ship - sometime.
