Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF now available body only for $6995

The quest to provide more camera for less money continues, with Blackmagic Design announcing a new customizable version of the Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF for a body-only $6995.

The Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF is a camera that is increasingly turning heads. It looked good on paper and now it’s out in the wild and the reviews are coming in it is being revealed as a series piece of kit for a lot less outlay than would once have been expected.

The just announced Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF takes that even further. Rather than paying $14,995, prospective purchasers cannot pick up a Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF body-only for $6995. That’s under half price.

Okay, the company is jettisoning a lot of features to get it down to that price point. It excludes accessories such as shoulder mounts, handles, some lens mounts, battery plates, power supply, lenses, and the high capacity 8TB media module. 

But the company is eager to stress that it is a fully featured model without any limitations in quality or performance. All those elements can be purchased separately as needed to complete the total camera rig in the exact configuration that customers prefer.

Instead of the 8TB media module, there is a new CFexpress media module included that has dual CFexpress card slots. The camera also comes with an EF lens mount installed as standard.

So, what are we talking about price-wise when it comes to adding the modular components and building your Body into an all-singing, all-dancing URSA Cine 12K LF? The Media Module 8TB and the Cine EVF seem to be the most expensive add-ons, both coming in at $1695. Elsewhere the URSA Cine handle costs $199, an LPL Mount $415, a PL Mount $395, battery plates $99, and so on. 

It all mounts up. But the key is users can use what they already have in some cases, buy some other stuff pre-owned, use third party accessories, and more. It also gives owners of existing Blackmagic cameras a nice, ready-made upgrade path.

"When we launched URSA Cine 12K many people said they would like to purchase the body of the camera only because they already have accessories for feature film production. In fact URSA Cine was designed to work with all popular film production accessories" said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO, "But what's also exciting is we think customers who have been using our Blackmagic Design cameras will also have a great upgrade path. We didn't do this model as an upgrade because people don't like giving up their old cameras to trade in, so we just offered the body at a good affordable price so they can upgrade and get the quality and performance benefits of the URSA Cine platform!”

The Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF is available now from releasers worldwide. And, just to reiterate, will set you back just $6995.

Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF features

• Cinematic large format sensor with a massive 16 stops of dynamic range.
• Lightweight, robust camera body with industry standard connections.
• Locking EF mount included with optional LPL or PL mount available separately.
• Blackmagic RAW for real time 12K, 9K, 8K and 4K editing.
• Generation 5 Color Science with new film curve.
• High performance OLPF for reduced moire and aliasing.
• Built in ND filters for shooting in varying conditions.
• Shoot up to 80 fps in 12K, 144 fps at 8K and 240 fps at 4K.
• Includes CFexpress media module. 8TB module can be purchased separately.
• Recording media modules are compatible with the Blackmagic Media Dock.
• High speed wifi, 10G Ethernet or mobile data for network connections.
• Built-in RTMP and SRT live streaming.
• Optional Blackmagic URSA Cine EVF can be purchased separately.
• Accessories and EVF that match the URSA Cine design can be purchased separately.
• Includes full DaVinci Resolve Studio license for post production.

tl;dr

• The Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF is now available as a body-only option for $6,995, significantly lower than the original price of $14,995, while retaining quality and performance.
• Users have the flexibility to customize their setup, purchasing only the necessary accessories separately, such as handles, lens mounts, and the 8TB media module.
• The camera features a cinematic large format sensor with 16 stops of dynamic range, built-in ND filters, and supports recording up to 80 fps in 12K, 144 fps at 8K, and 240 fps at 4K.
• Included is a CFexpress media module with dual card slots, and the purchase comes with a full DaVinci Resolve Studio license for post-production.