by James Mathers
Cinematographer and Founder of the Digital Cinema Society
(Excerpted from the April 2025 Digital Cinema Society eNewsletter)

DCS Road Test 2025: Lights, Camera, Action, Plus All The Support Gear to Make it Happen

As regular followers of my reviews know, I like to put the gear I test in real world shooting situations, what I call “DCS Road Tests.”  Since my day job as a DP has lately been lacking meaningful assignments, but there is a growing list of companies asking me to weigh in on their latest products, I decided to gather some friends, (who were also not as busy as they would like to be,) and shoot some content for DCS. Following in alphabetical order are some of the companies whose gear we were able to utilize, and for which I’ll share brief observations:

BB&S Reflect Color — Blackmagic URSA 12K LF — Blackmagic URSA 12K w/ OLPF option — Canon C80 and RF 24-105mm f/2.8 Lens — Cartoni Maxima 30 Fluid Head — Cooke S8 and Anamorphic Prime Lenses — DoPchoice Softbox — Kondor Blue Accessories — Laowa Ranger FF Zooms — Leitz Prime Lenses — Litepanels Astra — OWC 8TB ThunderBlade NVMe RAID SSD and 512GB Atlas Pro High-Performance SDXC Memory Card — SIGMA High Speed FF Prime Lenses

As longtime DCS members and followers of my trade journalism may recall, I was an early adopter and quite active in the rollout of the RED One, followed by the Panasonic VariCam V35, and a few years later, the Blackmagic URSA 12K, sharing my experience and test footage with the community.  In fact, I’m a big fan and owner of the original URSA 12K with the Super35 sensor, and it is still my go-to camera for many assignments. Although I don’t often have the need to capture 12K, having the ability is something I find desirable and down-rezzing in camera to 8K or 4K offers really great results. I have also found BRAW, Blackmagic Design’s RAW format, to be a really solid and flexible codec, and another plus is being able to take advantage of the significant investment I already have in S35 format glass.

However, I’m always eager to give new technology a spin, so when Blackmagic offered, I jumped at the chance to evaluate their new URSA 12K LF with the Large Format sensor. Since I don’t own lenses to cover the full sensor, this also provided the opportunity to test some lenses I don’t always get the chance to use. I pulled together glass from Cooke, Sigma, Leitz, and Laowa and put them all to work on various DCS projects I have been long planning to do. And as long as I’m testing cameras and lenses, why not work in a new light from BB&S as well as Cartoni camera support.

Before we dig too much into our main test subject, the Large Format version of the URSA 12K, let me tell you about a project I needed to finish on the original URSA 12K. A year or so ago, Blackmagic started offering an OLPF as an option in this camera. They asked if I could demonstrate why this might be desirable for an URSA 12K user like myself and sent me an identical camera to the one I own, but with an OLPF installed.

With the help of Director/DP Jody Eldred, we shot comparison tests on a Virtual Production stage at Sam Nicholson, ASC’s Stargate Studios. We sought out the sharpest lens we could find, a Leitz 25mm prime, since using very high MTF lenses is when moire tends to show up. Sure enough, the shot with the OLPF was fine, but my original camera, without the OLPF, showed significant issues with moire. While we were there, we shot an interview with Sam, who is probably the best authority I can think of in the area of Virtual Production.

I remembered from our DCS screenings of the HBO Camera Assessment series that my friend Suny Behar, who served as Director and Co-EP on the series, mentioned that he had been advocating for many years for Blackmagic to add an OLPF to their cinema cameras. In case you’re unfamiliar, the Camera Assessment Series, or “CAS” compares various cinema cameras, which may be in consideration by filmmakers working with HBO. It is important to understand that it is not a “shootout” to crown the overall winner, but instead a means to see which of these tools are best suited to various imaging scenarios so that filmmakers can choose the right tool for the job at hand. The latest edition included a 35mm film camera along with an ARRI ALEXA Mini, a Sony VENICE 2, a RED V-Raptor, a Blackmagic URSA 12K, and an ARRI ALEXA 35. I finally had a chance to have Suny sit down for an interview to explain why he advocated for Blackmagic to add an OLPF and how the project has become as valuable to manufacturers as it is to filmmakers. As a further point of comparison, we shot this interview with the new LF version of the URSA 12K and a Cooke S8 spherical prime. It was recorded in 8K with the closeup derived from a digital zoom. If you want to find out what the heck an OLPF is, or why it can be helpful, here’s a link to the short test and interviews: https://vimeo.com/1075500934

Speaking of digital zooms, we tested the viability even further with a short interview we recorded with three USC Cinema Grad Students sharing their first experience with Virtual Production for their thesis film. In this case we recorded a three shot of Miranda Montenegro, Adam Yuster, and Lan Yang in 12K on the LF camera and a SIGMA High Speed prime, then pushed in digitally for their singles. Shooting against a black duvetyne background is surely the ultimate test to show any noise, and the image seemed to hold up, (although in retrospect, I wish I had allowed a little more exposure).

Trying to throw a splash of light on a jet black background is a tall order, but the BB&S Reflect Color rose to the challenge. It has a great range of color and very high output from such a compact unit. I also liked the fact that I could sit back in front of the monitor and adjust the color with my phone. This allowed me the option to quickly change the background for another interview in the same location with noted VFX Producer and USC Professor Habib Zargarpour.

While we were at the Cooke Optics Burbank office with the URSA 12K LF for the previously mentioned interview with Suny Behar, I thought we should take advantage of our access to Cooke anamorphic lenses. We asked the Cooke Burbank Office General Manager, Chris D’Anna to share a lens manufacturer’s perspective on the URSA 12K LF. He was pleased to see the camera take advantage of the option to shoot 1.8x anamorphic open gate, (which was, of course, what we used for his interview.) He also liked the fact that the camera has integrated lens metadata which it displays as realtime readouts of focus, iris, and focal length on the camera’s two included monitors, a feature that can be a real boon to focus pullers. That very short piece can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/1076755134

I agree with Chris D’Anna that the option to frame and de-squeeze for 1.8x anamorphic is desirable, as well as many other formatting options I found valuable. The large format RGBW 36 x 24mm image sensor uses a symmetrical RGBW design for better scaling without aliasing and the full sensor area gives customers an optional 3:2 open gate image area allowing extensive reframe in post production. Anamorphic aspect ratios of 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 1.66, 1.8 and 2x with de-squeeze factors are available in the menus. The camera can also shoot in 4K, 8K or 12K using the entire sensor without cropping, and there are even 9K Super 35 4-perf, 3-perf and 2-perf modes for full compatibility with classic cinema lenses.

What I find appealing is that I can use my Cabrio 19-90mm without any vignetting to shoot 9K 16×9, which the camera can record at up to 120 fps. As previously mentioned, I don’t often need to shoot full 12K resolution, but I’m increasingly being asked for some of the promo work I do, to record in 8K. This allows an extraction in both 16×9 horizontal and a vertical 9×16 aspect ratio for social media to still be 4K, (and then some.) I’m not a fan of these dual divergent aspect ratios, which are fairly impossible to frame for, but I like to give the customer what they want. Being able to use my legacy lenses and still capture 8K+ on a large sensor camera is a big plus for me.

Still, the ability to use more of the sensor is always a benefit, and that is well served by the Laowa Ranger Compact Cine Zoom Series. The series now includes a 16-30mm, a 28-75mm and a 75-180mm all at T2.9 and weighs less than 2 lbs each. The combination of the three lenses offers an extensive zoom range from 16mm to 180mm which is more than an 11x zoom ratio. They are parfocal designed with good color rendition, controlled focus breathing, and low distortion, and they’re an extremely good value at less than $9K US for the set of three in a variety of mounts. Between those and the gorgeous SIGMA T1.5 FF Cine Prime lenses which have full-frame 43.3mm image circle coverage and Cooke /i technology, we were very well covered.

Some other things I like about the URSA 12K LF, compared to my current 12K S35 URSA, are the increased dynamic range, (easily 15 stops,) the beautiful 5” HDR touch screen dual monitors on both sides of the camera body, (which also have the ability to display focus scales using lenses with i/Data technology,) and 8TB solid state media modules. I was literally able to record 12K for days on the single module they sent with the test unit. In fact, it is a little too easy to record, and I ran into challenges trying to efficiently handle all that data I recorded for post. They also sent along a 4-bay rack mountable transfer dock, which is incredibly fast and capable, but quite bulky for the kinds of field production work I do. The real challenge, however, was to find drives to keep up with it.

Luckily, another longtime DCS sponsor is OWC, and they came to the rescue by providing one of their ThunderBlade Portable SSDs capable of speeds up to 2949MB/s. I got a hold of an 8TB model, but OWC can now pack up to eight NVMe M.2 SSDs offering up to 32TB in the same svelte body. I was able to easily process, edit, and backup all the 12K BRAW files using this combination. Blackmagic is said to be coming up with a more location friendly transfer dock to handle their massive on-camera drives, but they will also soon be releasing a 16TB media module which is kind of scary. It reminds me of the way I was feeling when 4K first came on the scene, but the march toward higher and higher resolutions is not looking to slow down anytime soon, so I suppose I’ll need to keep adapting.

The camera is a little heavier than the S35 12K URSA, (the body is 8.72 lbs compared to 5.62 lbs for the original,) but it was still effortless to handhold, and very easily handled by the beautiful Cartoni Maxima 30 Fluid Head and sticks that were loaned for our tests.

Another thing I found attractive about the 12K LF, like all Blackmagic cameras, is the value proposition. There is a big jump in price from the original 12K URSA that I own, but for all the new professional features and capabilities they have added, it seems well worth it. The URSA Cine 12K LF “Camera Kit” runs $18,145.00US, and includes an 8TB Media Module, a beautifully updated USB-C EVF, a well designed accessory package of handle, shoulder mount/base plate, EVF mount , and a custom cut pelican case; basically everything except the lens and batteries that you need to start shooting. And, if you don’t want to go with the accessory package and are happy recording to CFexpress cards instead of the media modules, you can opt for just the URSA Cine 12K LF Body which retails for only $6,995.00US.

We always try to work in new gear when shooting our NAB Camera-to-Cloud streaming interviews, and this year we used the Canon C80 and RF 24-105mm f/2.8 IS USM Z Lens fitted out with Kondor Blue accessories. Litepanels was kind enough to provide their latest Astra powered by Anton/Bauer batteries which we pushed through a DoPchoice soft box. Although we use the Teradek Prism with bonded cellular for camera-to-cloud, it only efficiently handles a light HD codec, so we also like to record in-camera to 4K for backup and archive. We were able to use a single 512GB Atlas Pro High-Performance SDXC Memory Card courtesy of OWC capable of recording all of our camera originals for the interviews at the show this year.

Our NAB post production takes advantage of a Frame.io Camera-to-Cloud workflow and we cut on Adobe Premiere Pro. This year our Executive Director Charlene Mathers got a little extra help from Strada as she explains here:

First of all, let me say that Strada is a proud sponsor of the Digital Cinema Society, and I was genuinely excited to finally try out their transcription and AI enabled summary tool for our annual DCS coverage of NAB. The point of our coverage is to highlight what’s new at NAB and quickly turn around videos so that those who can’t attend the convention can still see the latest technology. With over 40 videos to record in a short amount of time, speed and efficiency are key. Over the past few years, we’ve been using a Camera-to-Cloud workflow via frame.io and Teradek to accelerate the post process—but the bottleneck has always been writing the summaries, which is one of my jobs. Now, honestly, I don’t come from a technical background, so it used to take me quite a while to watch each video, take notes, and write accurate descriptions. But with Strada that changed completely.

Before the NAB Show, we connected Strada to frame.io, and our editor created a bin labeled “NAB 2025.” Then, during the show, as each video was edited and uploaded, I opened Strada, clicked on the video, which was now in my “NAB 2025” bin, and ran a transcription. Once the transcription was complete, I clicked on “summary”, and chose “regenerate.” Here, Strada gave me four summary templates to choose from: “Custom” “Youtube Description” “Meeting/Interview” and “Storyline”. I chose “Custom,” then entered my own prompt, which was usually something like, “write a 40 word synopsis starting with James Mathers interviews….” I clicked “generate” and within seconds, Strada had written an accurate synopsis. I still double-checked names and product spellings, and made sure that the synopis included everything that we wanted to cover, but Strada got me 90% of the way there in a fraction of the time. Strada truly simplified my workflow and helped us get our NAB coverage out faster than ever.

Of course, you can find all our NAB2025 coverage here: https://dcsonline.org/dcs-coverage-of-nab-2025/

Special thanks to all supporters of DCS who loaned gear for this effort, the interviewees, and especially to the wonderful friends and colleagues who volunteered their time and expertise to serve as crew including cinematographers Cameron Cannon, Omar Gaieck, Jody Eldred, and Nathan Reiland-Smith. Our fearless NAB crew also includes Producer David Mahlmann with Website Integration handled by Meghan Mathers and post production by Christopher Scott Knell of Fireline Studios.