Blackmagic Design elaborates on the cinema lenses that can be paired with the mighty sensor of the URSA Cine 17K 65. In the list are medium format lenses like Leitz Thalia, Tribe7 Blackwing7, TLS Mamiya 645, White Point Optics WPO TS70, and of course the ARRI Rental DNA designed for the ALEXA 65.
Cinema lenses for the URSA 65
The Blackmagic URSA Cine 17K 65 has an enormous sensor of 55.9mm diagonal, hence if you want to utilize all of it, you need the right glass for the job. Here’s what Blackmagic says about the recommended cinema lenses to be paired with the URSA 65: “The full active pixel area of the 17K 65 sensor has a 55.9mm diagonal so if you want to use the full sensor area then you will need to use a lens that covers this or an optical adapter like a focal expander. Multiple manual medium format stills lenses cover this area and can be adapted. For cinema lenses currently available the Leitz Thalias are PL cine lenses will cover that area, as will most of the Tribe7 Blackwing7 primes from the 27mm upwards, the TLS Mamiya 645 primes, White Point Optics WPO TS70 primes, any of the ARRI Rental Prime DNA, Prime 65, Prime 65 S, Vintage 765 and there are multiple sets of Panavision 65 and 70 lenses that will also cover”.
The full active pixel area of the 17K 65 sensor has a 55.9mm diagonal so if you want to use the full sensor area then you will need to use a lens that covers this or an optical adapter like a focal expander. Multiple manual medium format stills lenses cover this area and can be adapted. For cinema lenses currently available the Leitz Thalias are PL cine lenses will cover that area, as will most of the Tribe7 Blackwing7 primes from the 27mm upwards, the TLS Mamiya 645 primes, White Point Optics WPO TS70 primes, any of the ARRI Rental Prime DNA, Prime 65, Prime 65 S, Vintage 765 and there are multiple sets of Panavision 65 and 70 lenses that will also cover.
Blackmagic Design
“Optical adapters to be available soon”
According to Blackmagic, they want to expand the options of medium-format cinematography: “There has been a lot of interest in this camera and we are expecting more lens options and optical adapters to be available soon. There will also be some recording formats on URSA Cine 17K 65 that crop the sensor down slightly to suit formats larger than full frame 43mm but less than 55.9mm” the company says. Furthermore, the Blackmagic Design URSA Cine 17K 65 will be available with LPL and Hasselblad lens mounts. The mount system is the same as URSA Cine 12K LF. It will support PL, locking EF, LPL and a Hasselblad HC mount.Talking about Hasselblad mount, the sensor size of the Blackmagic Design URSA Cine 17K 65 will be smaller than the IMAX 70mm 15-perf size. As explained, the diameter of the URSA Cine 17K sensor will be 55.9mm with a resolution of 17,520 x 8,040 pixels. Here’s just a reminder of key features and price:
- 17K 65mm RGBW 17,520 x 8040 CMOS Sensor
- PL, LPL, EF & Hasselblad Lens Options
- 16-Stop Dynamic Range Built-In 8TB Module & Cloud Storage
- 5″ Foldout HDR Touchscreen & LCD
- LEMO/Fisher for Power/Remote Control
- 12G-SDI Output, XLR Audio Inputs, USB-C
- Ethernet/Wi-Fi/Optional Mobile Streaming
- B-Mount Battery Plate & Power Supply
- Carbon Fiber & Magnesium Alloy Body
- Price (announced lately): $30,000 USD
We think that the Blackmagic Design URSA Cine 17K 65 (let’s call it URSA 65 for short), will be one of the most fascinating cinema camera on the market for the next years. Can’t wait for some more footage.
