Blackmagic URSA camera and packaging spotted. Not shipping yet though.

URSA Packaging

It's not shipping yet, but there are encouraging signs!

Blackmagic's URSA camera, which is at the opposite end of the pocketability scale to the Pocket Cinema Camera, has been spotted in the wild, complete with production-ready packaging.

Now, the first thing that you learn when you work for a manufacturer is that the availability of packaging has very little to do with the readiness of the product that it's designed for. But in this case, the fact that the camera's in the hands of Australian Cinematographer John Brawley must mean several things. At the very least it must mean that it boots up and records a picture, and very probably, that picture will be a good one, if there's to be any point at all in giving it to an expert in the field.

It's possible, too, that the camera will be in a more advanced state than Blackmagic's previous offerings, because they have now "unified" their software across their increasing range of cameras. So any developments on one should apply across the range, except where there are significant differences between the devices. The thing is, though, that there may well be significant differences with the URSA. The screen is obviously much bigger and it has a much bigger range of features than the other cameras. And Grant Petty told us at NAB that the it has reserves of unused (FPGA) processing, which means that it will be upgradable to new functionality in the future.

All of which adds up to a lot of testing to be done before it can ship. And, of course, the manufacturing has to be in place as well.

Nevertheless, while we don't know this, we think the signs are that it won't be too much longer before we see it on the dealer's shelves. Between IBC in September and Christmas would be our guess!