Ursa Cine 12K now available as camera body only with option for recording to dual CF Express for only $7,000

[eatstoomuchjam]

It looks like today (or very recently, if not today), BMD announced a body-only version of the cine 12k for $7,000.  This camera just became a whole lot more interesting (and I'm now thinking about what I could sell/trade in toward one).

Compared with the $15k kit, it excludes the top handle, baseplate, power supply, battery plate and PL lens mount.  It also omits the 8tb BMD storage device for a module with dual CF Express slots.  It ships with an EF mount (which I think is just great, given how many of my lenses are EF).

Suddenly, the Ursa Cine 12K just became a lot more interesting to me.  I doubt that the dual CFE module can record in all (or even any?) of the 12k modes at any of the higher quality settings... but I'm even more doubtful that 12k is really that important to me (and a lot of other things about the UM12K are really interesting).

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicursacine

[Mr. Freeze]

Yeah, I saw that as well. Intersting decision, but a great deal for someone looking for those features. Even if you add the BMD Media Module with 8TB, still a great price for a very potent Camera.

[eatstoomuchjam]

Yeah.  The price is kind of crazy - adding back all the stuff that isn't included doesn't seem to equal the price difference.  It seems like there must be something else going on.

Battery plate - $99
PL mount - $395
Top handle - $199
Media module - $1,695
Base plate + power supply - prices not currently shown, but apparently about $5,600?

Even if the normal kit included the media dock (about $2,000) it doesn't all add up.  

[KnightsFan]

I saw that! What a deal--priced under the C400 even.

I wouldn't be surprised if the kits come down in price to match.

[KnightsFan]

I'll put my conspiracy hat on for a moment. Maybe BM knows about imminent competition, and want to get a few more sales out before that happens?

[MurtlandPhoto]

There’s been a few instances of Blackmagic doing a large price drop seemingly completely out of the blue. Their official reason has always been that they lower the sticker price when their cost of manufacturing drops, whether by economies of scale or something else. No idea if it’s true, but they’ve done this type of thing before and I love it.

 

P.S. They also have marginally raised prices on things recently due to supply chain shortages where many other manufacturers haven’t. To me, that points to some truth that they have strict profit margins to maintain without much wiggle room.

[IronFilm]

On 2/1/2025 at 10:49 AM, eatstoomuchjam said:

Yeah.  The price is kind of crazy - adding back all the stuff that isn't included doesn't seem to equal the price difference.  It seems like there must be something else going on.

Blackmagic made a bold attempt to appeal to the mid-market that sadly kinda doesn't exist. 

It's exceptionally hard in 2025 to sell any non-ARRI camera in any price bracket that's above US$10K. 

Sony with the VENICE is the only one who has been successful. 

RED kinda has their little niche. 

Panasonic? Gone. 

Canon? Only their sub $10K cameras are successful-ish.

Thus BMD made the decision to move their price back down into the sub $10K region, where I suspect/hope they'll find a lot more success. 

The URSA Cine 12K LF still has very high media costs, however there are ways to work around that, you could for instance record most formats directly to a connected USB drive over USB-C (like you can do with most other BMD cameras). 

  

On 2/2/2025 at 12:44 AM, MurtlandPhoto said:

but they’ve done this type of thing before and I love it.

Love how I got my OG BMPCC back in the day when it went on sale for just US$500! (plus the NZD was strong then too against the USD than it is today)