Firmware Friday: Several Blackmagic cameras and Studio Viewfinder get new features and bugfixes
posted Friday, June 23, 2017 at 11:34 PM EDT
Our Firmware Friday roundup this week is a rather abbreviated one, featuring as it does only four updates from a single manufacturer. This time around it's Blackmagic Design making firmware news, as updates land for three Blackmagic URSA Mini-series cameras and the company's Studio Viewfinder accessory.
Let's get right down to it!
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K, URSA Mini 4.6K, URSA Mini 4K and URSA Studio Viewfinder
A number of new features in Blackmagic Design's Camera Setup version 4.4 update are applicable to all three of the URSA Mini-series cameras mentioned above. Specifically, all three cameras get improved EF, PL and B4 lens support including support for image stabilization and iris control with the Canon 18-80mm T4.4 lens, plus record start/stop control for the same optic if using the ZSG-C10 hand grip. (The URSA Mini Pro 4.6K also gets focus and zoom control for the same optic, although these aren't mentioned for the non-Pro variants.) In addition, the trio share improvements to slate functionality, status / card door LED functionality, and a fix for ProRes 422 color being misinterpreted by some apps. The company has also updated manuals for all three cameras.
On top of this, the URSA Mini 4.6K and 4K both receive new safe area guides and false color options, and automatic f-stop and T-stop detection for PL and B4 lenses. The URSA Mini 4K also gets improved zebra-striping at lower sensitivities. The URSA Mini Pro 4.6K, meanwhile, gets many other updates on top of those mentioned above. Most significantly, a low-power Bluetooth LE wireless communiciations module has been enabled, including support for remote camera / lens settings, color correction and metadata control. All of this is configured thru a new Bluetooth page in the menu, and preset record run timecode has also been added. There are also bug fixes for the focus peaking button not functioning in playback, and for a variety of display and user interface bugs.\
And finally, the URSA Studio Viewfinder update resolves an issue with the device attempting to update itself to an incorrect firmware version. All of these updates can be downloaded through the Blackmagic Camera 4.4 update app, available here for Windows machines, and here for Mac OS devices. And that's all for this week. Be sure to check back next time for more firmware news!
(Camera parts image courtesy of Kelly Hofer / Flickr; used under a Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0 license. Image has been modified from the original.)