Andrew Reid

Blackmagic are launching not none, not one but TWO new cameras at NAB 2014. One as you can see packs quite a punch with a quite revolutionary design. The aim of the URSA is to take all the accessories you'd normally rig onto a Blackmagic Cinema Camera and integrate them. That is a sensible idea. However the execution looks to have produced a 7.5KG monster. There's even an HDMI version of the URSA which has no sensor block or lens mount but a cradle on the front for any camera with HDMI output, such as the tiny Sony A7R. That would give you a full frame 4K URSA recording to CFast cards. However the URSA is aimed at a large crew, large scale productions and in doing so completely turns its back on Blackmagic's existing indie filmmaking user base. To make matters worse Blackmagic show no sign of any significant firmware update for the 3 existing cameras at NAB, which is what people REALLY wanted them to announce. Read the full article here

Some more pics here '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>   Discussion continues on that thread :)   This announcement fills me with dread.

I can guarantee this announcement will not please any of Blackmagic's existing user base, unless backed up by some really good news in the form of significant firmware updates for the Cinema, Production and Pocket cameras plus Resolve 11. The latter is definitely coming and takes Resolve's editing capabilities up a notch. Read the full article here

Many in same boat as you, simply edit in 4K and deliver as 2K. Many benefits to it.   Difference is a click of a button and that is it.

  Not quite as clean as FS100 in low light but with some post processing you can get them pretty close to each other.   Shoot 4K on GH4, add noise reduction plugin, downscale to 1080p.

  It's currently so slow as to be of limited use but it does work.

I can guarantee that the internal XAVC-S 1080p from the A7S will not look as good as getting 1080p from the 4K output and doing your scaling in post with all that processing power available on your desktop.   8bit 4K 4:2:0 = 10bit 1080p 4444 remember. If the maths have complications and gotchas, the image to my eyes does not. The GH4's 4K looks like 10bit when you grade it and when you look at it on a 2K display. Gradations are smooth. Colour is fantastic. Sampling shows no signs of pixilation or jaggedness at 2K. At 1:1 at 4K you do see some aliasing and jaggies from 4:2:0 sampling. They disappear when scaled correctly to 1080p or 2K.

  4K = good 1080p.   So therefore you should care a lot Brian!

Raw or ProRes / Pocket Camera vs GH4 and A7S 4K is definitely a topic for a future blog post.   My feeling so far (based on the GH4) is that this compressed 8bit 4K stuff makes for very nice 2K and 1080p indeed, which looks every bit as good colour and dynamic range wise as the Blackmagics or raw on 5D Mark III.   Also GH4 in 4K has far less moire & aliasing than the Pocket Cinema Camera and BMCC, especially when downscaled to 2K.

Atomos have just sent me some info on their upcoming 4K recorder, primarily for use with the A7S and GH4. Read the full article here

A good idea to separate output and recording when speaking of HDMI and the external recorders.   So 8bit out to 10bit is still 8bit.

  Den or the Sony spec sheet? Who is right?   3840 × 2160(30p/24p) / 1920 × 1080(60p/24p) / 1920 × 1080(60i),YCbCr 4:2:2 8bit/ RGB 8bit

  Where's the source of the info please?   Good news if true.

  It will be as moire free as a JPEG still at full resolution. It reads out every pixel from the sensor in 4K video mode.

Looks impressive at high ISOs. Remember the HDMI output in 4K is uncompressed... YouTube does not give you the full image quality.Read the full article here

I am not disappointed in the S-lightest :)   Just picture the full frame 4K image out of the HDMI on this thing... going to look AMAZING.

Breaking news... The Sony A7S has been announced at NAB 2014. It records 1080p internally in XAVC-S format at 50Mbit but the big news is the support for full 4K output via HDMI to an external recorder. Unfortunately it does NOT have an internal 4K recording codec like the Panasonic GH4. Read the full article here

Sony is making some 4K related camera announcements at NAB Watch the live announcement here or scroll down on the home page Here are my running thoughts as we watch the Sony presentations... Read the full article here

As we get closer to the press conference, more unconfirmed rumours on the A7S have come in from NAB. Read the full article here

NAB 2014 kicks off today (Sunday) with the first major announcements. Here's a look at what could be in store for filmmakers at the biggest video and broadcast trade show of the year... Read the full article here

No poetry on the forums ;)

  For video it definitely does.   For stills, depends on print size. 36MP loses some low light performance but the oversampling makes up for it. Like going 4k to 1080p.   Other thing that matters is the pixel design, micro lenses and gaps between pixels. For example Blackmagic Production Camera has only 8MP but tiny pixels because most of the space on the sensor is taken up by global shutter circuitry.

You know what I mean.   A one shot AF confirm to grab focus quickly is fine, then AF lock, I have used that myself. But the hunting and electronic buzzing of AF is not suitable for cinema. Photojournalists if aesthetics don't matter, then yeah, grab the shot whichever way you can.

First I mentioned 4K (look at the date of the article) then after they say 4K too.   Then I mention XAVC-S, which 5 hours later appears there too.   Forgive me for the paranoia :)   Next I may mention BS-detection mode and XABCXYZ codec and see if it ends up on any other sites too.