Blackmagic Forum

Firmware 1.2 is ready for download

Blackmagic Cinema Camera Utility 1.2

What's New?

• New option for time lapse recording in the Recorder settings
• exFAT file system support
• F-stop values are displayed when using compatible EF lenses
• SDI output now supports RP-188 timecode
• Support for Thunderbolt on Windows

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/

Frank

Very good, indeed.

Wonder what's in store for the next update. >=P

EDIT: I didn't see it on the list, but what happened to the adjustment in V1.2 that changed the naming conventions of files so that the roundtrip worked properly? Can anyone confirm that it's there? Might have to go and grab someone's camera.

Pity there's no audio monitoring yet or means to keep an eye on how full your SSD is.
Ho-hum.

Hey, one step at a time. There will be more; I got my camera two days ago, and this fast update is a great sign.

Thanks to the folks at Blackmagic Design for all their hard work.

[EDIT] For all of you wondering what the timelapse options are: (cackle, snort)

The time lapse options are... (in this order; only one of the options is available at a time; you can't combine more than one.)

Off

Frames: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Seconds: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60

Minutes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Off

So flexible, so wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Cam Macduff wrote:Pity there's no audio monitoring yet or means to keep an eye on how full your SSD is.
Ho-hum.

Yeah, the last two biggies in my book.

Well, I'm a little spoilt. Got mine on the 21st Dec, so had the Xmas break to play.
But I have to say that not having a clue how much footage / space I've used is a fairly major pain.
Consequently, I intend to plug in my Samurai and use it as both monitor and backup so if the internal SSD fills up and I miss the warning, the Samurai at least keeps recording.

Kholi wrote:EDIT: I didn't see it on the list, but what happened to the adjustment in V1.2 that changed the naming conventions of files so that the roundtrip worked properly? Can anyone confirm that it's there? Might have to go and grab someone's camera.

I can't find it on the camera either so i guess it didn't make it this round. I tested hitting record/stop on the camera and it was triggering my hyperdeck shuttle well but you already knew and posted that previously so nothing new here.

Thank God. I'm glad this dropped before my camera got to me. It would be a pain in the ---- shooting without knowing the f-stop.

Ok so Frank and others who have updated. There's no change to the image is there? I'm a little skittish since the fs100 update that changed the entire gamma curve of the camera.

There is no change to the color or image science to the camera in this update.

And yes, despite my bitching and moaning, thanks BM for getting this out. Kudos to you.
Now.... don't stop

Thx for the info!!!

Interesting to note that while the camera communicates with the chip on the 17-40mm 1:4 L lens it does not adjust the aperture.

It see the lenses as an f4.0 and adjusting the aperture with the arrow buttons on the back of the camera changes the aperture number displayed on screen (all the way up to f22) but the actual aperture on the lenses does not change.

Marvelous!

Great to have F-stop displayed. Plus ExFAT and Ultrascope for the PC!!

Installation of the new software and updating the camera firmware was quite easy.

I ran into a little trouble converting an SSD from MacDrive to ExFAT, although it was mostly a Windows thing. I had to use MacDrive to delete the partition, then format it with NTFS, then format it with ExFAT (in Windows 7). With a fresh SSD it is not so complex.

Ultrascope worked for me, although on my edit PC (which has the Thunderbolt), I had some issues with Thunderbolt. I hung my PC a few times, and it seems that it does not like to hot-plug. It seems to work OK if I have it plugged in before booting. This may be an issue with me getting the latest updates for my motherboard (ASUS) and Windows. I have heard of hot-plug problems with Thunderbolt elsewhere.

Even though Ultrascope is used mostly in the field (probably on a laptop), I found a use for it: it helps me calibrate my audio, in the absence of meters in the camera. Once I know what my knob setting is for a given mic and distance, I can fly with that. There may be some issues in the Ultrascope levels, according to Robert Rozak (JuicedLink), so I will keep an eye on this area.

Thanks, Blackmagic, for getting this firmware update out to us! Every improvement helps quite a bit.

I think what we need here is more than one beta tester? and more than one BMCC coder,
No offense Marco but I certainly hope you are not the only one doing all the firmware testing???
We need to see firmware updates in leaps and bounds... in weeks and months, not leaps and bounds in months and years.

Cheers for this release,
but there is much more needed,
please get busy and make this camera the #one contender for years to come.

Upon updating the camera, the LCD flickered like crazy (Just the viewable LCD not on the footage) now it seems to be back to what it used to be. Is that normal?

I'm loving the new features! Thank you Blackmagic Design!

Marcel it's normal for the flicker.

Marcel Beck wrote:Upon updating the camera, the LCD flickered like crazy (Just the viewable LCD not on the footage) now it seems to be back to what it used to be. Is that normal?

Yes this is normal as per the README notes.

DNomer wrote:Ultrascope worked for me, although on my edit PC (which has the Thunderbolt), I had some issues with Thunderbolt. I hung my PC a few times, and it seems that it does not like to hot-plug. It seems to work OK if I have it plugged in before booting. This may be an issue with me getting the latest updates for my motherboard (ASUS) and Windows. I have heard of hot-plug problems with Thunderbolt elsewhere.

Apple have always advised that you shut down the machine before connecting any Thunderbolt device. I'm sure the same applies on the PC. You will toast the cables if you dont.

Darryl Gregory wrote:I think what we need here is more than one beta tester? and more than one BMCC coder,
No offense Marco but I certainly hope you are not the only one doing all the firmware testing???
We need to see firmware updates in leaps and bounds... in weeks and months, not leaps and bounds in months and years.

Cheers for this release,
but there is much more needed,
please get busy and make this camera the #one contender for years to come.

There are more than one tester and I'm pretty sure there are more that one coder... I'm pretty sure the camera does what it said it would do in the original release.

Kristian Lam wrote:

Marcel Beck wrote:Upon updating the camera, the LCD flickered like crazy (Just the viewable LCD not on the footage) now it seems to be back to what it used to be. Is that normal?

Yes this is normal as per the README notes.

Thanks!

adamroberts wrote:

Darryl Gregory wrote:I think what we need here is more than one beta tester? and more than one BMCC coder,
No offense Marco but I certainly hope you are not the only one doing all the firmware testing???
We need to see firmware updates in leaps and bounds... in weeks and months, not leaps and bounds in months and years.

Cheers for this release,
but there is much more needed,
please get busy and make this camera the #one contender for years to come.

There are more than one tester and I'm pretty sure there are more that one coder... I'm pretty sure the camera does what it said it would do in the original release.

Yeah I knew this, or I figured as much, but with all the waiting to receive the camera I guess bitching about firmware updates is all I have left to bitch about...?
and as serious as firmware updates are, my post is a valid concern and will be for many,
many months, It will make or break this camera over the next few years,
This is a fact.

Yea, I really, really want BM to totally knock this one out of the park, with fast updates and features that continue to evolve this camera's capabilities.
I love its output to bits, but the majors for me are audio and SSD monitoring.
The other stuff will just be icing on the cake.

I'm hoping that an upcoming update will make more lenses compatible with the f-stop control on the camera. My favorite Canon 24-70 is still not working.

LDS wrote:I'm hoping that an upcoming update will make more lenses compatible with the f-stop control on the camera. My favorite Canon 24-70 is still not working.

this raises a question. my 24-70 is working. but if i do this firmware update and it no longer works, that would be a major bummer. if this happens, is it possible to go back to 1.1?

cheezweezl wrote:this raises a question. my 24-70 is working. but if i do this firmware update and it no longer works, that would be a major bummer. if this happens, is it possible to go back to 1.1?

To go back to the older firmware, simply uninstall the current one, install the previous version which you can download from our website and then connect your camera to the computer via USB and run the Blackmagic Cinema Camera Utility.

Kristian Lam wrote:

cheezweezl wrote:this raises a question. my 24-70 is working. but if i do this firmware update and it no longer works, that would be a major bummer. if this happens, is it possible to go back to 1.1?

To go back to the older firmware, simply uninstall the current one, install the previous version which you can download from our website and then connect your camera to the computer via USB and run the Blackmagic Cinema Camera Utility.

...and THAT is why you are awesome.

Argggh! I just updated to 1.2 and the screen is now flickering! (All the time, also when displaying the menus). I am shooting a project on Saturday morning, what should I do? Can I downgrade?!

EDIT: Just read the post above. I'll try to downgrade and see what happens...

Christian Schmeer wrote:Argggh! I just updated to 1.2 and the screen is now flickering! (All the time, also when displaying the menus). I am shooting a project on Saturday morning, what should I do? Can I downgrade?!

EDIT: Just read the post above. I'll try to downgrade and see what happens...

Leave it for a few minutes. The flickering will go away. This is documented in the README notes.

Kristian Lam wrote:

Christian Schmeer wrote:Argggh! I just updated to 1.2 and the screen is now flickering! (All the time, also when displaying the menus). I am shooting a project on Saturday morning, what should I do? Can I downgrade?!

EDIT: Just read the post above. I'll try to downgrade and see what happens...

Leave it for a few minutes. The flickering will go away. This is documented in the README notes.

Oops, I should really start reading README files Thanks for your quick reply!

I turned the camera off and on several times. The camera seems to be fine now, but it went through weird stages. Massive flickering, then left / right image split, then flicker only in the top of the image, and then it was gone. What in the new firmware caused this flicker, if I may ask?

Just as general advice, without trying to be obnoxious...

Whenever downloading or installing any software from anyone, always read the included READ ME file first.

It's there to clue you in on any procedures or consequences you need to be aware of. If I hadn't read it, I would have been just as freaked about the flickering screen as those of you who - um, are.

cheezweezl wrote:this raises a question. my 24-70 is working.

Is this a V1? USM? Mine doesn't work.. would love to know the difference!

Randy Walters wrote:Just as general advice, without trying to be obnoxious...

Whenever downloading or installing any software from anyone, always read the included READ ME file first.

It's there to clue you in on any procedures or consequences you need to be aware of. If I hadn't read it, I would have been just as freaked about the flickering screen as those of you who - um, are.

The README file shouldn't be in a folder called "Documents", but rather in the root of the DMG... and maybe call it "README FIRST".

Mine updated fine. My 16-35 still doesn't work. Shows up as 2.8 and when updating to higher fstop, image on screen or record doesn't change.

Was hoping for time left to record. Guess that might make next update.

I'm contemplating selling my 6 day old camera. Stay tuned if interested.

CaptainHook wrote:

cheezweezl wrote:this raises a question. my 24-70 is working.

Is this a V1? USM? Mine doesn't work.. would love to know the difference!

who knows what the difference is? it's a mystery. mine is also a v1. i did buy mine new but as a factory refurb. but that shouldn't make a diff.

Christian Schmeer wrote:What in the new firmware caused this flicker, if I may ask?

Nothing to do with 1.2, it does that after every firmware update.
It's just a cosmetic thing, nothing to worry about. Leave it on till the flicker goes away.

Let us know jfro!

jfro wrote:Mine updated fine. My 16-35 still doesn't work. Shows up as 2.8 and when updating to higher fstop, image on screen or record doesn't change.

Was hoping for time left to record. Guess that might make next update.

I'm contemplating selling my 6 day old camera. Stay tuned if interested.

Hey jfro. My 16-35 2.8 ll is working great on it. Is your version two of the lens? Only complaint with mine is that focus peaking takes a sec to start working.

My 16-35 is version 1.

Question about updating for BMD:

When you go to download the update it asks you to register your camera/software. I was curious, I might be getting the MFT down the road and if I registered my EF mount (and then try to later sell it when I get the MFT), will the new user be able to re-register the camera/resolve so they can get updates?

How would that work?

Thanks!

MikeC wrote:When you go to download the update it asks you to register your camera/software. I was curious, I might be getting the MFT down the road and if I registered my EF mount (and then try to later sell it when I get the MFT), will the new user be able to re-register the camera/resolve so they can get updates?

No need to register. Just click on the Download button below the register button.

Oh cool.... Thanks man! I'll give it a shot!

Does the camera have a Lanc signal when the shutter starts? We would love to connect this to motorized time sync timelapse dolly systems.. =)

Everytime i start installing the 1.2 version on my Windows PC it stops in the middle and doesn't move at all, until you turn it off using the Task Manager. There was no problem with the 1.1 version update. I'm confused. Any thoughts?

Irina wrote:Everytime i start installing the 1.2 version on my Windows PC it stops in the middle and doesn't move at all, until you turn it off using the Task Manager. There was no problem with the 1.1 version update. I'm confused. Any thoughts?

Did you de-install version 1.1 of the software before you installed 1.2?

Or just de-install 1.2 and try installing version 1.3 (if you can live with an 50i-output on SDI).

gmf wrote:

Irina wrote:Everytime i start installing the 1.2 version on my Windows PC it stops in the middle and doesn't move at all, until you turn it off using the Task Manager. There was no problem with the 1.1 version update. I'm confused. Any thoughts?

Did you de-install version 1.1 of the software before you installed 1.2?

Or just de-install 1.2 and try installing version 1.3 (if you can live with an 50i-output on SDI).

Thanks for the reply.
Yes, i did de-install version 1.1 of the software before upgrading to the 1.2 version.

Fortunately, the problem has been solved. Just used my Acer One for the firmware upgrade. Shame on the powerful monster i've prepared for the post production workflow, that wasn't able to deal with the firmware installing process.

Haha, good to hear it worked on the laptop. Maybe your monster was underechallenged.