New DJI FOCUS PRO | Autofocus for the BMPCC6K & BMCC6K

Hey everyone,

Thought I would post this here as I used it with the BMPCC6K Pro and BMCC6K.

Getting solid autofocus with cine and vintage lenses was really great on these cameras and something I hadn’t tested before.

For the past couple of weeks I have been lucky to test and use the Focus Pro kit so in this video I talk about my experience with it what I like and don’t like about it and whether or not I would recommend it.

I was also lucky to get my hands on the new Ronin RS4 Pro so I will talk about it as well, and it did work very well with both cameras!

Hope you enjoy this video!
Let me know if you have any questions .

Cheers,
Flo

Finally! This is what I've been waiting for.

Combine with their transmission system and the AC will get 3D Waveform for perfect manual focusing.

Finally! This is what I've been waiting for.

Combine with their transmission system and the AC will get 3D Waveform for perfect manual focusing.

Totally! Even just with the Hand Unit as a team of two we found this combo to be super useful!

I need something that will work with the Tilta Nucleus Nano.

Thanks for the helpful review.
In your video you said the BMCC6k is not having a sensor mark - that is wrong. It is to the right of the top mounting point. Probably it was blocked by your cage?

Thanks for review.
In your video you said the BMCC6k is not having a sensor mark - that is wrong. It is to the right of the top mounting point. Probably it was blocked by your cage?

Thanks for watching!
Yes, haha, it is there next to the vent! It is more of a design flaw from Tilta and Smallrig as I think the cages should probably have it since they cover it. I never shoot without a cage with the Pocket line or the 6K FF.

Love it. just 999.00. In time maybe this could make AF cameras lose some appeal and manual lenses gain appeal. maybe Ill keep my p4k. Ill know in a couple of days. This looks like good news for BMD.


Ricardo Marty

That’s great. I hope you’re able to exercise the tracking of multiple subjects. Can you track person A and then switch to track person B in the same clip? That would be a treat. Lots of times one might want to rack focus back and forth between two characters so that would be great if the DJI Focus Pro handled it nicely.

I wonder if this will work with the Nucleus Nano 2?

Love it. just 999.00. In time maybe this could make AF cameras lose some appeal and manual lenses gain appeal. maybe Ill keep my p4k. Ill know in a couple of days. This looks like good news for BMD.


Ricardo Marty

I agree, like I was saying in the video 'not having autofocus' isn't such a big deal anymore. I personally prefer manual focusing but in some cases AF is just much easier and a necessity. It was very reliable using my Contax Zeiss on the 6K Pro.

That’s great. I hope you’re able to exercise the tracking of multiple subjects. Can you track person A and then switch to track person B in the same clip? That would be a treat. Lots of times one might want to rack focus back and forth between two characters so that would be great if the DJI Focus Pro handled it nicely.

You can jump from one subject to the other if I remember correctly. I only tested this case scenario once and it does show 2 boxes to go back and from to. Overall it's a pretty sweet and versatile combo. It feels great to use too!

Florent, thanks for the additional information and the quality of your gear reviews. Being able to control focus on two subjects like that is a very useful feature.

I think I commented this somewhere else, but this probably the first time I've seriously considered buying a gimbal-- or at least the Focus Pro.

I've never desired autofocus for video, but there's times when tracking a subject that's moving a lot can be very difficult for a solo shooter. That's why this package seems so enticing, is that it offers the solo shooter the ability to 'focus' on framing and lighting, rather than realtime focus pulling (at least on certain shots).

bravo with your review!

I think I commented this somewhere else, but this probably the first time I've seriously considered buying a gimbal-- or at least the Focus Pro.

I've never desired autofocus for video, but there's times when tracking a subject that's moving a lot can be very difficult for a solo shooter. That's why this package seems so enticing, is that it offers the solo shooter the ability to 'focus' on framing and lighting, rather than realtime focus pulling (at least on certain shots).

bravo with your review!

Thank you!!
And I totally agree. I am not a big gimbal / autofocus user as well, as you probably know, but this setup is actually useful and flexible! As solo operator / run and gun filmmaker it's a pretty sweet combo!
Definitely keen to use it on future projects!

… I've never desired autofocus for video, but there's times when tracking a subject that's moving a lot can be very difficult for a solo shooter. That's why this package seems so enticing, is that it offers the solo shooter the ability to 'focus' on framing and lighting, rather than realtime focus pulling…

To me the DJI Focus Pro may be the most important component for a tentative documentary project on the horizon.

This is more disruptive than what I initially thought. You can buy any AF camera and use it with any manual lens and your in business. Wonder if this will open up the closed AF lenses?


Ricardo Marty

This is more disruptive than what I initially thought. You can buy any AF camera and use it with any manual lens and your in business. Wonder if this will open up the closed AF lenses?


Ricardo Marty

It takes a while to really think about all the applications and situations this can be used in! To be completely honest I didn't think it would be as good or versatile when they first told me what it was but we were pleasantly surprised .

And I totally agree. I am not a big gimbal / autofocus user as well, as you probably know, but this setup is actually useful and flexible! As solo operator / run and gun filmmaker it's a pretty sweet combo!
Definitely keen to use it on future projects!

I had bought a complete DJI RS2 Pro rig including the Tilta Float and Tilta Ring Grip - but for my type of work as mostly a solo operator (I work together with a journalist) it turned out to be too cumbersome and takes too much time. I see other camera people using gimbals all the time but when you watch the final results it is just a sequence of gimbal wide angle moves - because they don't bother changing lenses.

Watched this the other day Flo, thanks for the tests, quite exciting. I held off getting their G1 lidar a few weeks ago and am pleased I did. Looking forward to seeing what gets released this afternoon and gauging compatibility with tools like the Focus Pro or whether they've got anything else up their sleeve.

And I totally agree. I am not a big gimbal / autofocus user as well, as you probably know, but this setup is actually useful and flexible! As solo operator / run and gun filmmaker it's a pretty sweet combo!
Definitely keen to use it on future projects!

I had bought a complete DJI RS2 Pro rig including the Tilta Float and Tilta Ring Grip - but for my type of work as mostly a solo operator (I work together with a journalist) it turned out to be too cumbersome and takes too much time. I see other camera people using gimbals all the time but when you watch the final results it is just a sequence of gimbal wide angle moves - because they don't bother changing lenses.

yes, the dreaded wide-angle gimbal reel. It was ALL anyone could figure out, it seemed, in the early and even current days. I've shied away from gimbal use because most of my movement is either and forward push or a backward pull on a dolly. The thing that I've wanted to get down is the walking tracking shot with either a gimbal or a steadicam. The latter being too much of a learning curve and the former being too 'gimmicky' for me. But now that I've seen tasteful use of gimbals, I need to treat them like the tool that they are.

Wonder if this system can ve used for photography especially for dark places and nighttime.


Ricardo Marty

Cinematic shots in the near dark have been a dramatic staple for a long time. With LiDAR infrared doing the focusing or at least displaying the distance to the subject, this becomes a shot everyone can attempt. With the addition of the DJI Focus Pro, everyone can afford to achieve the shot.

Hi Florent,

a few questions as I am looking to use the Focus Pro on the 6KPro.

- Does the Nato Rail of the grip attach directly to the nato rail of the cage?
- Does the screw of the cold shoe mount on lidar come loose? Can it be switched for a 1/4" screw to screw directly into the cage? Can you flip mount so instead of point up it points down? I am asking since this technology seems to be better the closer it is in the direct optical axis and the blackmagic pockets are already taller than many DSLR style cameras.
- Any issues you have encountered in further use? How does the new firmware update work?

Thank you!

Even the medium and large format still camera users are looking at Focus Pro as well as it would give their advanced systems an AF option!

Hi Florent,

a few questions as I am looking to use the Focus Pro on the 6KPro.

- Does the Nato Rail of the grip attach directly to the nato rail of the cage?
- Does the screw of the cold shoe mount on lidar come loose? Can it be switched for a 1/4" screw to screw directly into the cage? Can you flip mount so instead of point up it points down? I am asking since this technology seems to be better the closer it is in the direct optical axis and the blackmagic pockets are already taller than many DSLR style cameras.
- Any issues you have encountered in further use? How does the new firmware update work?

Thank you!

Hey,
- You have to attach the rail they give you on the side of the camera to use the Grip. But it also works on my standard small rig nato rail on top of my camera cage.
- So far it hasn't come loose. And not you can't flip it. Bets would be to place it underneath the lens.
- Haven't encountered any issues so far . And I need to keep updating them as I haven't for a few days

Even the medium and large format still camera users are looking at Focus Pro as well as it would give their advanced systems an AF option!

Totally! I am thinking about it for the Pyxis as well which I'll try to pair with asap

I'm getting a DJI Focus Pro. Is the RS 4 gimble worth consdering for the BMPCC or does it not balance well?

I'm getting a DJI Focus Pro. Is the RS 4 gimble worth consdering for the BMPCC or does it not balance well?

I balanced the PCC 6K G1 on a regular Ronin S. You probably want the RS4 Pro. Also, if you are using a gimbal you only need the Lidar and the motor, I believe.

I'm getting a DJI Focus Pro. Is the RS 4 gimble worth consdering for the BMPCC or does it not balance well?

I have only balanced the Pocket line on the RS3 Pro and RS4 Pro so unfortunately I can't help you

"Ly-dar" or " Lee-dar"?
Not a fan of American way of saying things which is usually wrong, ie "Ny-kon" when its really "Nik-on".

Lidar is short for "Light Detection and Ranging" so english pronunciation makes sense.

The English rules of pronunciation are the cause of the differences in saying Nikon. This bad habit goes back many decades when Nikon was the preeminent photography 135 film camera manufacturer in North America.

In English, if a vowel is followed by a single consonant followed by a vowel, the first vowel phonetic is the ‘long’ form. So the letter “i” is the long form “eye”. However because Nikon is a name, it should be pronounced in the short form as it is intended by the owner of the name, “nik-on.”

In English, if a vowel is followed by a double consonant, it is pronounced with the ‘short’ form.

In English, there are rules or habitual ways of putting stress on a multisyllabic word that are different in different languages which can lead to mispronunciation as well.

In English, there are many spelling of words that bear no resemblance to how the word is pronounced. There’s a famous example given in an old spy-thriller movie because the foreign agent mispronounced the name Tucson on a ship (referring to the city in the state of Arizona). I can’t tell you the correct pronunciation; that’s classified as it’s the only way we naïve Canadians have of identifying foreign agents! If a generative AI program is based on a foreign language, it’s likely going to be revealed by its failure to read back English properly that it correctly spells.

There are many words that fall into this category. My favourite university class was Linguistics, not because it was so valuable, but because it was fascinating.

Does the American call Nissan "Ny-san"? If not then they have their tongue tied or making it up as they go along and hope everyone accept their version

Does the American call Nissan "Ny-san"?

Excellent observation!

That could be a short “i” as it’s a vowel followed by a double consonant and a vowel, but it’s an exception to that rule. North Americans say “knee-san” but Japanese correctly say “knee-sahn” so there’s a slight variation in the second syllable.

The ultimate rule for confounding English pronunciation is that for every rule there is an exception. So again if we heard this pronounced with a short “i” as “niss-san”, we would recognize a foreign agent (or a poorly trained AI bot) and call the CIA or CSIS.

it is remarkable that mounting kits for Lidar underneath the lens haven't appeared yet. Mounting the Lidar on the hot shoe of the camera results in focusing slightly above the center. Which is something that can be disturbing in short range shots, pointing the camera down to engage the autofocus, and not exactly how one wanted to frame the image. Of course there are clamps for Manfrotto plates (or the slit in the plate itself) where one can attach things underneath the lens.

Another observation is that when you attach the Lidar slightly to the right on a cage, the system tends to focus on the right hand third of the frame, which can be quite suitable for certain shots. It really looks good when the subject is not in the middle of the frame, but near the 'thirds' line.

This laser focusing system can indeed have a significant influence on the way we work. I would say, for the better. It enables us to 'focus' more on the framing and the flow.

Do we know the angle of view of the LiDAR?

Do we know the angle of view of the LiDAR?

Yes.

Image Sensor
Resolution: 1920×1440
FOV:
‌57.4° (horizontal), 44.6° (vertical), 70.1° (diagonal)
Frame Rate: 30fps
Equivalent Focal Length: 30 mm


ToF Sensor
Ranging Points: 76,800
Sensing Range: 0.5-20 m
FOV:
Wide-Angle Mode: 65° (horizontal), 40° (vertical), 76.1° (diagonal)
Telephoto Mode: 20° (horizontal), 20° (vertical), 28.3° (diagonal)
Frame Rate: 30fps
Equivalent Focal Length: 30 mm (wide-angle mode)
Ranging Accuracy: ±1% to 3% (affected by the distance)

Good to know. Thank you very much. Would be nice to have that added to the database for that Lens Toolkit f8 app I use somehow so the LiDAR FOV would appear superimposed over the FOV of the shooting lens.

I don’t know if my thinking is correct, but if the Focus Pro has 57 degree horizontal coverage, then the focus field is wider than using an 18mm taking lens on the BMPCC4K which has a 56 degree horizontal AOV when shooting 4K DCI.

Do folks agree with that with the provision that there is an offset of the LiDAR determined by how it’s mounted?

With Lumix cameras, my understanding is the DJI Focus Pro will be able to control the l-mount lenses for auto focus directly. I wonder if the l-mount BMD cameras will also be able to do that? I hope so. I'm already think of selling all those lenses because of the linear/non-linear focus issue with them.

it is remarkable that mounting kits for Lidar underneath the lens haven't appeared yet.

In a video from CVP they (a retailer!) said they were launching their own soon to address this.

it is remarkable that mounting kits for Lidar underneath the lens haven't appeared yet.

In a video from CVP they (a retailer!) said they were launching their own soon to address this.

I saw that too, I would definitely recommend it!

All dji needs to do is make the angle lower in their lidar or colapsable.


Ricardo Marty

Does the American call Nissan "Ny-san"? If not then they have their tongue tied or making it up as they go along and hope everyone accept their version

Née-San. But Lidar is an American word so the American pronunciation applies here.

This is more disruptive than what I initially thought. You can buy any AF camera and use it with any manual lens and your in business. Wonder if this will open up the closed AF lenses?


Ricardo Marty

Lumix AF lenses work fine with Lumix cameras.

https://www.panasonic.com/global/consum ... ation.html

This is more disruptive than what I initially thought. You can buy any AF camera and use it with any manual lens and your in business. Wonder if this will open up the closed AF lenses?


Ricardo Marty

Lumix AF lenses work fine with Lumix cameras.

https://www.panasonic.com/global/consum ... ation.html

If the af lens also has hard stops yes but if it doesn't then that's a problem

Ric Marty

Does the American call Nissan "Ny-san"? If not then they have their tongue tied or making it up as they go along and hope everyone accept their version

Née-San. But Lidar is an American word so the American pronunciation applies here.

LIDAR is an acrynom for "Light Detection and Ranging", not an American word. I suppose it might be correct to call it "Ly-dar" coming from how you pronounce "Light" in both British and American English.

Have you tried controlling the camera through cable not Bluetooth? Mine isn’t working with cable only Bluetooth. I didn’t update to latest camera’s firmware.

The gimbal maybe defective…