Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 12K – Interview with Craig Heffernan

by Jeff LochOctober 22^nd, 2020

The Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 12K was announced a couple of months ago, and it is now starting to ship. In this Gear News video, we caught up with Craig Heffernan from Blackmagic Design to talk about all the features of this camera and who it’s aimed at.

Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 12K – Features

During a live stream in July 2020, Blackmagic Design announced a surprisingly high-resolution camera: the Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 12K.

This camera is capable of shooting in an incredible 12,288 x 6,480 resolution in DCI 17:9 aspect ratio. In September 2020, Blackmagic Camera Setup 7.0 was released, and it allows the camera to capture footage in 12K at up to 75fps.

Here is a quick reminder of all the camera highlights:

• The BMD URSA Mini Pro 12K features a Super35 sensor.
• You can shoot in BRAW format in various resolutions and framerates:
  • 12K 2,4:1 at up to 75 fps.
  • 8K DCI, 16:9, and 6:5 Anamorphic at 120 fps
  • 8K 2.4:1, and 4K 2.4:1 at 160 fps.
  • 4K DCI, 16:9, and 6:5 Anamorphic at 120 fps.
  • 4K Super 16 at up to 240 fps.
• The form factor is the same as the URSA Mini Pro, so all accessories are backward compatible with this camera.

• It now features a USB Type-C port at the back of the camera so you can record directly onto external SSD/flash drives. The camera records internally onto dual CFast and SD UHS-II cards.
• The camera is compatible with the Blackmagic URSA Mini Recorder that lets you record 12-bit Blackmagic RAW files onto 2.5″ SSDs.
• The camera comes with a PL-mount but offers an interchangeable lens mount to Canon EF mount or Nikon F mount.

Who is it for?

One of the main questions about this camera was, “who is it for”? We discussed with Craig about user cases and all the camera features during this Gear News video. The increase in resolution looks interesting if you’re doing a lot of VFX work or if you need to zoom in digitally in post.

Surprisingly, compared to other recording formats, thanks to deep integration with DaVinci Resolve, 12K BRAW footage looks fairly manageable, and you can edit your footage on a laptop.

Pricing and Availability

The Blackmagic Design URSA Mini Pro 12K is already available and starting to ship for a price of $9,995.

We will have more content around the URSA Mini Pro 12K soon on CineD – stay tuned. We are currently working on our lab test and also a hands-on experience.

What do you think about this URSA Mini Pro 12K? Do you think all the extra resolution would useful for you? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!