Now we don’t usually do write-ups every time a camera drops in price because, well, it happens a lot, especially in today’s fast-moving camera market where brands are cranking out newer generations almost every quarter. However, when a camera as quality as the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 reduces its price by nearly half, it’s hard not to take notice.
This also comes on the heels of Blackmagic Design offering a nearly 40% price drop to their Cinema Camera 6K a few weeks ago. This makes us wonder what BMD might ultimately be cooking up as well.
Still, if you’ve ever been interested in considering the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2, now might be a time to give it a very intense look as its price has been reduced from $5,995 a day ago to just under $3,000 today.
Revisiting the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2
Announced back in 2019 the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 was Blackmagic’s obvious follow-up to their popular URSA Mini 4.6K, which we reviewed favorably back in 2017. The G2 introduced an updated Super 35 4.6K sensor which features 15 stops of dynamic range at 3200 ISO, as well as high frame rate recording up to 300 fps and additional updated recording functionality.
The G2 version also saw the addition of external camera controls which allow menus to be accessed to change exposure settings, activate slow/fast motion, or engage focus assist or other functions. The exterior of the camera also gained a monochrome LCD panel which displays essential shooting data at a glance. Another welcomed pro feature is the built-in ND (neutral density) filter wheel.
Overall, at the heart of the G2’s Super 35mm 4.6K sensor block was the ability to capture 4.6K footage at 120 fps, 4K DCI at 150 fps, or even 1080p footage at 300 fps, all great specs at the time and very much still today.
Why the Price Drops
Now, as mentioned above, the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 is five years old at this point, so a price drop is not entirely surprising. Cameras get older, newer models come out (which in this case would be the highly impressive URSA Cine 12K LF) and it just makes sense to drop prices accordingly.
Still, with basically a 50% price drop, this one’s a bit extreme. When coupled with the price reduction to the Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K as well, BMD is certainly opening itself up to rumors of even newer cameras perhaps being on the way.
We’ll see though as it’s hard to even imagine what new cameras could come out to compete with the URSA Cine 12K as that camera was such a giant step forward for the brand and felt fast-moving even in this extremely fast-moving camera market itself.
Blackmagic URSA Mini 4.6K G2
Blackmagic Design
Price and Availability
All that said, any film or video pro worth their weight will know that cameras depreciate with age so any investment would have to be carefully considered against the competition and against how long they’d plan to use it.
Still, the URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 is a very useful digital cinema camera today and, with this price drop, it’s much more in line with its competition and one of the more affordable, yet still quality, cinema cameras now on the market.
Here are the full specs and purchase options.
- 4.6K Super 35 HDR CMOS Sensor
- 4.6K up to 120 fps, 300 fps at 1080p
- 15 Stops of Dynamic Range at 3200 ISO
- USB-C Expansion Port for External Disks
- Blackmagic RAW & ProRes 444/422 Support
- Dual CFast 2.0 and SD Memory Card Slots
- 12G-SDI Output, Timecode and REF Input
- 2 XLR Audio Inputs with Phantom Power
- 2-/4-/6-Stop ND Filter, Magnesium Body
- Interchangeable Lens Mount
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2
Upping the electronics and recording capabilities of its Mini Pro predecessor, the Blackmagic Design's URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 Digital Cinema Camera brings expanded control set and even more functionality.
