Does Atomos' free CinemaDNG RAW upgrade mean trouble for the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro?

Looks like the $5995 Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro is no longer the only way to get 4K RAW (with built-in ND filters) for less than $6000.

As of March 27th, 2017, when the free Atomos Shogun RAW upgrade becomes available for download, shooters can also record 4K RAW with a $3999 Sony FS700 and a $1795 Atomos Shogun Inferno.

Nice run-through of Atomos CinemaDNG RAW workflow with Resolve and Adobe CC in this video from Atomos and Sony:


For a total cost of $5794, the FS700/Inferno combination not only costs less than the URSA Mini Pro - it also delivers 240 fps RAW slow motion at 1080p (the Blackmagic maxes out at 120 fps).  

Plus, the FS700's base ISO is 2000 (S-Log2), compared to the URSA Mini 4.6K's ISO 800.

The FS700 also includes a battery - and the Inferno provides an SSD storage solution - which means no expensive external battery solution, CFast 2.0 cards or $599 SSD adapter required.

To be fair, adding in the $945 price of DaVinci Resolve Studio (included with the URSA) makes the total price of the two alternatives about the same - but doesn't erase the FS700's low light and slow motion advantages.

For current FS700 owners, this is almost a no-brainer - and for shooters thinking about stepping up to 4K RAW, this is a great new option.

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First Hands-On with the Panasonic GH4! [CORRECTED]

The great review site, "What Digital Camera?" in the UK, has the first hands-on review of the new Panasonic GH4 (published before the official rollout, pulled, and now re-posted).

Their bottom line? "For videographers the GH4 is currently peerless..."

Here's why: 4K at a maximum frame rate of 96fps (!) [EDIT: I was wrong about this - the 96fps frame rate is only available at 1080p], a 200mbps non-AVCHD codec, an OEM Interface Unit (pictured below) with 2 XLR inputs, 4 (!) SDI outputs, color bars, an audio tone and TBC. But for the lack of RAW, a shoulder mount and a built-in ND, this camera has everything on my list.

The new Panasonic microP2 UHS-II card makes these insane bitrates possible. It transfers files at up to 2.0Gbps (!) and is available now at Adorama and Amazon.


If the price point for this camera is really $2000, the 4K/30p cameras on the market, the $2K Sony AX100, the $4K Blackmagic Production Camera, the $4.5K Sony AX1 and especially the $12K Canon 1D C all seem suddenly overpriced.

That said, if you need a 4K camera now, and can't wait for the the GH4, please order it from the links above or the display ads below - it won't cost anything extra, and it will help keep these blog posts coming. Thanks so much!