Pre-orders Open for Blackmagic’s Latest 8K Camera Designed for Apple Immersive Video at $30,000

Blackmagic Design has just unveiled their highly anticipated URSA Cine Immersive camera, crafted specifically to deliver stunning 8K VR180 footage tailored for the Apple Immersive Video format. Priced at $30,000, this camera is now available for pre-order, with shipments expected in the first quarter of 2025. The camera’s capabilities are further enhanced by an upcoming update to Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve Studio, which will introduce new editing tools tailored to the Apple Immersive Video format, including integration with calibration data from the camera itself.

For those unfamiliar, Apple’s Immersive Video is a 180-degree 3D video format designed to work seamlessly with the Apple Vision Pro headset. The early iterations of Blackmagic’s URSA Cine Immersive camera have likely been instrumental in producing the VR content currently available for the headset. Now, Blackmagic is bringing this technology to a wider audience, offering it up for anyone willing to invest in a top-tier cinematic tool.

At first glance, $30,000 might seem like quite the investment, but this price point is standard when it comes to high-end digital cinema cameras. What sets the URSA Cine Immersive apart is its dual 180° stereo lenses, which capture stunning 59MP (8,160 x 7,200) images, and deliver an impressive 16 stops of dynamic range. Moreover, it’s capable of shooting up to 90 frames per second in the Blackmagic RAW format, embedding unique calibration data specific to each camera for precision and stability in post-production.

The forthcoming DaVinci Resolve Studio update will introduce features catered to this camera, enhancing the editing experience significantly. Users can expect:

• Immersive Video Viewer: This feature will allow filmmakers to pan, tilt, and roll clips on 2D displays or directly on the Apple Vision Pro headset.

• Seamless Transitions: This tool will enable clean edits using metadata-driven bypasses specifically for Apple Vision Pro transitions.

• Export Presets: Streamlined packaging for Vision Pro compatibility will simplify the workflow and delivery of finished projects.

With the launch of the URSA Cine Immersive camera and the associated editing enhancements, both Blackmagic and Apple anticipate a smoother path for creators looking to produce and distribute content in the Apple Immersive Video format.

However, the question remains: will this cutting-edge camera and its editing suite be versatile enough to capture VR180 content for other devices and platforms? Or is there something uniquely Apple here that restricts compatibility and multi-platform releases? Only time will tell as filmmakers start to explore the potential of this new technology.