If you own one of the $6K Apple Vision Pro systems, you might soon find more movies coming for your headset.
A new camera is on the way, and it comes with a blistering price, as well as a focus that few of us will really get to experience just yet.
Australia’s Blackmagic has announced its latest camera for film production is coming, a special bit of hardware literally made for the production of VR videos in the Apple Immersive Video format on the Apple Vision Pro.
More than just a compact VR camera — Samsung has offered those before — Blackmagic’s Ursa Cine Immersive is a different beast altogether, offering 58 megapixels of resolution at 8160×7200 and 90 frames per second of 3D capability for filmmakers keen to capture a virtual reality video.
It’ll capture in RAW to 8 terabytes of storage built in, handling over two hours of 8K 3D video, and focused squarely on the professional filmmaking market, because it’s a $30K USD camera. You read that right: priced at $29,995 USD, the Blackmagic Ursa Cine Immersive isn’t going to be on the Christmas lists for most people, except maybe a filmmaker who wouldn’t blink twice at the cost of the camera.
The hardware isn’t expected until next year, but its announcement suggests more VR video is on the way, initially compatible with Apple’s Vision Pro, but that could also be made for subsequent VR standards, such as the upcoming Google Android XR platform, as well as Meta’s own Quest hardware.
Given the cost of the Vision Pro and its subsequent limited use, it would seem likely that VR and 3D filmmakers would release immersive videos on more platforms than just the Apple Vision Pro. Blackmagic isn’t technically alone with VR-ready camera gear, either, as Canon offers similar approaches in its lenses.
VR movies aren’t exactly new, either, but the release of titles has largely paused over the past few years, as the VR headset world has very much been niched. This could change things, though given the cost and availability of the cameras, may take some time, as well.
