"Customers love the flexibility of the original URSA Broadcast and have been asking for a camera that also delivered the quality of digital film quality for broadcast use," said Grant Petty, Blackmagic Design CEO. "We’ve listened and the new URSA Broadcast G2 means that customers now don’t have to choose between a broadcast focused camera design or digital film images. With URSA Broadcast G2, they get both. URSA Broadcast G2 can be used as a production camera, a studio camera or a digital film camera, so it’s really 3 cameras in 1. We think both traditional and online broadcast customers are going to really enjoy the creativity of being able to shoot Hollywood quality digital film."

The ‘3 cameras in 1 design’ means you can use the G2 to work as a 4K production camera, a 4K studio camera or a 6K digital film camera. Customers can record to common SD cards, UHS-II cards, CFast 2.0 cards or external USB disks, using file formats such as H.265, Apple ProRes and Blackmagic RAW. This means it's compatible with all video software and broadcast media management systems. Customers can even change the lens mount. According to BMD, no other broadcast camera is so flexible.

The 6K sensor combined with Blackmagic color science gives customers the same imaging technology used in digital film cameras, BMD claim. The 6K sensor has a resolution of 6144 x 3456 so it's flexible enough for broadcast and digital film work. When using B4 lenses, customers get a 4K window of the sensor for Ultra HD broadcast use. Then if customers change to a PL or EF lens mount, they can use the full 6K resolution of the sensor for digital film. With 13 stops of dynamic range, customers get darker blacks and brighter whites, “so it's perfect for color correction,” it is claimed.

The G2 features gain from -12dB (100 ISO) up to +36dB (25,600 ISO) so it's optimized to reduce grain and noise in images, while maintaining the full dynamic range of the sensor. The gain can be set via a camera switch, the LCD menu or remotely using the SDI remote camera control protocol.

It also features high quality neutral density (ND) filters that let customers quickly reduce the amount of light entering the camera. The 1/4, 1/16th and 1/64th stop filters have been specifically designed to match the image sensor and color science of URSA Broadcast G2, providing customers with additional latitude and better colorimetry. This lets customers use different combinations of aperture and shutter angle, in a wider range of situations. The IR filters have been designed to evenly filter both optical and IR wavelengths, eliminating IR contamination.

URSA Broadcast is designed to work with standard file formats that are used by all broadcast systems and editing software. Customers can record in ProRes 422 HQ and ProRes 422 into QuickTime files. The new Blackmagic URSA Broadcast G2 model can even record into H.265 for incredibly small files at 60:1 to 285:1 compression ratios, in 10-bit broadcast quality. Plus customers can record to Blackmagic RAW files, a format designed to capture and preserve the quality of the sensor data from the camera.

The model features a high speed USB-C expansion port on the rear of the camera that allows customers to record to external disks or connect to a wide range of accessories. If customers plug in a large and low cost external USB flash disk, they can record ProRes, H.265 or 12-bit Blackmagic RAW files. That means customers can just move the disk to a computer to work, and don't need to waste time with file copying. Plus the USB port will power the disk that’s plugged in.

There’s an interchangeable lens mount for swapping the included B4 lens mount for an EF, PL or F mount. The optional zoom and focus demands allow customers to use photography lenses for live production. According to BMD, the design has an incredibly precise feel so customers get very fine lens control, and customers can frame and adjust the lens without taking their hands off the tripod handles.