Firmware 6.6 BMPC4K BMPCC6K Feedback

I thought a thread might be appropriate to collect our responses to this much anticipated firmware update for the BMPCC4K and BMPCC6K cameras.

Much appreciate the efforts that BMD have put into this update and it certainly exceeds my expectations. This makes the updated Pocket cameras even more appealing. To have the feature set that the BMPCC4K now boasts makes this camera in particular an incredible value.

Although the flagship cameras will continue to improve and have several advantages, this little camera is going to continue to amaze anyone who wants to take a BMD camera for a spin and no doubt will attract new devotees accustomed to using cameras from other manufacturers. It can’t do everything of course, but what it can do is more than enough to help content creators realize their cinematic goals.

The timing of this works well for me as I hope to use the 2.8K/2.6K option for a client shoot this Sunday to deliver anamorphic 2K/HD.

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My first bit of feedback is wow what an awesome sack of early Christmas presents

Plan for the day set then and I am on my way to dig into the update. I wonder if the gimbal control feature is included or not. Could not see it in the overview?

Plan for the day set then and I am on my way to dig into the update. I wonder if the gimbal control feature is included or not. Could not see it in the overview?

I think that's the USB PTP note

[Kristian Lam]

Plan for the day set then and I am on my way to dig into the update. I wonder if the gimbal control feature is included or not. Could not see it in the overview?

The USB PTP additional now allows gimbal manufacturers to control the camera so there's still work to be done from their end.

Good news is that we have already been in touch with a lot of them during the beta phase of this release so I hope to see some support announced soon.

Plan for the day set then and I am on my way to dig into the update. I wonder if the gimbal control feature is included or not. Could not see it in the overview?

I think that's the USB PTP note

thanks.

Plan for the day set then and I am on my way to dig into the update. I wonder if the gimbal control feature is included or not. Could not see it in the overview?

The USB PTP additional now allows gimbal manufacturers to control the camera so there's still work to be done from their end.

Good news is that we have already been in touch with a lot of them during the beta phase of this release so I hope to see some support announced soon.

Looking forward to it for the Moza Air 2.

Just successfully updated. Couple of quirks I'd be interested if other people see. The update took a very long time. Much longer than any previous updates. I was worried something was wrong because it progressed so slowly. Strangely, it also completed at 70%. It would only work on a USB 2.0 port and not a 3.0 port, which is how some of the previous updates have behaved as well, however when I hit update, it immediately failed, and the screen turned off. I hit update a second time and it proceeded and succeeded.

I looked through all the menus and all the new frame rates and resolutions are there. Very excited to go out shooting soon. The horizon will be useful but also take some getting used to as it's very different than other cameras I have used with a similar feature.

Thank you BMD for continuing to support and add more features to this awesome camera.

A very nice surprise to see all the new stuff that's been added!

The only things I didn't see were :

No bugs fixed, really?

No additional refinements to BRAW?

I have updated via an USB 3 port and it was not significantly slower than on the P4K.

I doubt they'd tell us about details on BRAW.

Just successfully updated. Couple of quirks I'd be interested if other people see. The update took a very long time. Much longer than any previous updates. I was worried something was wrong because it progressed so slowly. Strangely, it also completed at 70%. It would only work on a USB 2.0 port and not a 3.0 port, which is how some of the previous updates have behaved as well, however when I hit update, it immediately failed, and the screen turned off. I hit update a second time and it proceeded and succeeded.

I looked through all the menus and all the new frame rates and resolutions are there. Very excited to go out shooting soon. The horizon will be useful but also take some getting used to as it's very different than other cameras I have used with a similar feature.

Thank you BMD for continuing to support and add more features to this awesome camera.

Mine took about 90 seconds on a MacBook Pro it did stick at 70 but not for very long.

Just having a play love the new 2.6k option, a very nice feature and not much of a push in on the 4K.

Also love the insta guides and the 2.4:1 frame it gives so much more per card.

In short bravo and thanks bmd now to just get those features on to the ump! And maybe the um....

The USB PTP additional now allows gimbal manufacturers to control the camera so there's still work to be done from their end.

Good news is that we have already been in touch with a lot of them during the beta phase of this release so I hope to see some support announced soon.

This is fantastic news, I've been waiting paitently for Ronin-S support so I can trigger recording whilst keeping hands-on.

What an incredible update, so much good stuff. You guys are the dogs danglers

How do I get the camera horizon tool to appear? (p4k)

[Kristian Lam]

It’s in the same menu as the crosshair / grids.

It’s in the same menu as the crosshair / grids.

not for me unfortunately

edit : yes..yes it is. thanks!!

Its a fantastic update to be sure, but why is 1920x1080 now a windowed sensor mode all the time? Braw has so much of a crop on it, ProRes doesn't crop in but it still says its a windowed sensor... one of my favorite things about the 4k was the 1080p quality with the down-sampled sensor.

I'm assuming its to allow seamless transitions between HFR and normal becasue the windowed sensor tab is missing now

[Kristian Lam]

Its a fantastic update to be sure, but why is 1920x1080 now a windowed sensor mode all the time? Braw has so much of a crop on it, ProRes doesn't crop in but it still says its a windowed sensor... one of my favorite things about the 4k was the 1080p quality with the down-sampled sensor.

I'm assuming its to allow seamless transitions between HFR and normal becasue the windowed sensor tab is missing now

Just select the sensor area you want to use for 1080 in the option where it used to say window sensor.

Due to the new 2.6k mode, you can now record 120 fps using the 2.6k window down sampled to 1080 instead of cropping straight down to 1080. This gives you the same 120 fps high speed, but with a large field of view. Of course, this only applies to ProRes. Blackmagic RAW will always be cropped.

Its a fantastic update to be sure, but why is 1920x1080 now a windowed sensor mode all the time? Braw has so much of a crop on it, ProRes doesn't crop in but it still says its a windowed sensor... one of my favorite things about the 4k was the 1080p quality with the down-sampled sensor.

I'm assuming its to allow seamless transitions between HFR and normal becasue the windowed sensor tab is missing now

Just select the sensor area you want to use for 1080 in the option where it used to say window sensor.

Due to the new 2.6k mode, you can now record 120 fps using the 2.6k window down sampled to 1080 instead of cropping straight down to 1080. This gives you the same 120 fps high speed, but with a large field of view. Of course, this only applies to ProRes. Blackmagic RAW will always be cropped.

Love it! thanks for the info, I'll give it a play tonight

The update is very much appreciated, thanks.

Is there or will there be a Windows / MAC application to control the camera via USB PTP and a laptop e.g.?

Dear BMD,

is there a reason why the implemented 2,39:1 res is 4096x1712, even though the standard DCI spec is 4096x1716?

And what's the reasoning behind going 4:3 on the Pocket 4K, while every other cam (Ursa Mini Pro, Pocket 6K) does 2x-pleasing 6:5? Is it because of that single Vazen lens that destretches properly to 2,39:1 in 4:3? Because the destretch only seems to allow 2x, which it more suited for 6:5 aspect ratio to land in the DCI spec.
Really confusing here :/

Best,
Lucas

Wow, great update, thanks! I wish we had that 6:1 zoom in function on the Ursa mini Pro!

It would make the horizon cross-hairs better readable and more useful during a hectic shoot, if they had 4 different colors:
Color 1 - both horizon and tilt are in perfect alignment.
Color 2 - tilt is aligned, horizon not.
Color 3 - horizon is aligned, tilt not.
Color 4 - both horizon and tilt are not aligned.

Updated successfully, thanks BM

Update done, anamorphic 2.8 is squeezed in height in my unit, looks really wierd :-S

Wrote a messages to Zhiyun (Crane and weebill) to make an update and I sent them the parameters from the manual for the USB PTP

Did anyone try if the new 2.6K mode can be used with S-16 lenses?

AWESOME UPDATE! been waiting for the anamorphic setting for a while. Also the 2:40 @ 75 is great. Only thing is if i shoot 75fps (only works in off speed rec) then if i want to reconform back to 24 in resolve i cant. In clip attributes i only see 72fps and not 75. Am i missing something or is there another way.

EDIT: Aaah, nevermind, i forgot that there is a "custom" option in resolve.

New firm ware can detect 256G sumgsung duo plus. thank!

New firm ware can detect 256G sumgsung duo plus. thank!

That's pretty sick

Can someone please give a refresh on how to update the firmware?

Thank you
Ricardo Marty

Just install the Blackmagic Camera Setup software, connect the camera to your computer via USB and run the Camera Setup.
The rest is self-explanatory on screen.

I updated a few hours ago and like someone else here mentioned, the camera screen got dark, as it should be, but the Setup program crashed.
I just restarted Camera Setup and started the update again without touching anything else.

All went fine, updated to firmware 6.6.

What a great surprise to wake up to! Once again, many thanks to everyone at BMD.

The 75fps at 2.4:1 was a huge surprise; I do a lot of shooting for 2.39:1 projects … I can’t wait to compare results between shooting at 2.4:1 for 2.4:1 projects, and pushing in on 2.39:1 projects to fill that four pixel difference.

No complaints here; I’m working on a long-term (three year) personal project that’s now in 2.39:1; it may be worth my while to bite the bullet and switch the whole thing over to 2.4:1 to avoid always scaling the video (I really don’t like the increased processing time, and mostly imagined quality hit) and save some storage space.

This new option really delivers some unexpected benefits! Gotta save for an anamorphic lens …

Since it’s been discussed, I timed the update on my 5K iMac. It took 24 seconds to get to the expected 70% pause, where it sat for just over two more minutes. The update was complete by 2' 30" or so.

when I updated my first BMPCC4K it got to 70% then the camera setup program just crashed out. I restarted it.... but nothing. After 20 minutes I tried switching on and off and nothing .... it's a brick I thought! YIKES!!

Another 5 mins and tried taking out the USB cable - a sound from the computer -signs of life - plugged it back in and...... nothing. another 10 minutes - removed power supply and battery. As Boris would say this is now "Do or Die".

Unlike Brexit however the camera rebooted in 6.6 when the power was returned... all good.

Wiping the sweat off my brow I started on second camera..... 90 seconds later all good!

<phew>

Mine paused on 70% for a very long time, then went straight to 'finished updating'.
I wasn't tempted to turn it off or stop the update.

Thank you “Blackmagic Team!” Great camera!!!

How do I get the camera horizon tool to appear? (p4k)

Is this only on the p4k? What about the p6k?

Same on the 6K.

The vertical swipe, to remove and restore screen data, is not working well at all. Requires multiple attempts, and invoking other unwanted menus in the attempts.

Autofocus continues to require tap and hold, as opposed to tap only, as in the first version of the firmware. As many others expressed at the time, the original design is preferred by most users.

Just some additional feedback for BM on future updates:

Since a lot of people always end up posting about it getting stuck at 70%, I think you should post something on the setup screen to indicate progress. Either redo the % counter or show a progress bar that actually moves or show the actual files being upgraded. Anything to alleviate the 'this thing is frozen' feeling.

Thanks Blackmagic!

New firm ware can detect 256G sumgsung duo plus. thank!

Oh! Nice! It is limited to 300MB per sec... real world???? Well... the write speeds are listed at 30-50MB So maybe 12:1 should work?

Thank you BMD for a wonderful update!

I'm especially happy to see USB control. Bluetooth is just too flaky, and few manufacturers are even planning to support. Hopefully this will open the floodgates.

The horizon tool can be improved. It would be better if the lines were thin-gray when not aligned and are strong white lines (as now) only when you are in perfect balance.
Also, when you zoom in, it would be good, if the horizon-tool would also be enlarged.

What is still missing is the possibility to zoom in for focus 4x.
I would be perfect and very easy: tapping once: 2x, tapping twice 4x, tapping again normal screen.

Thank you BMD for a wonderful update!

I'm especially happy to see USB control. Bluetooth is just too flaky, and few manufacturers are even planning to support. Hopefully this will open the floodgates.

How is USB control vs blue tooth? How is it Better?

Ricardo Marty

Dear BMD,

is there a reason why the implemented 2,39:1 res is 4096x1712, even though the standard DCI spec is 4096x1716?

You’re absolutely correct Lucas; it should be DCI 4K Widescreen 4096x1716. And that will also support downscaling in post to DCI 2K Widescreen 2048x858! I hope BMD will issue a quick 6.6.1 revision to correct this as 4096x1712 is problematic.

And what's the reasoning behind going 4:3 on the Pocket 4K...

Why? Although I’ve several times reminded folks that 2x anamorphic squeezes should begin with a 6:5 aspect ratio window as you suggest but those posts have been drowned out with a near universal request here for a 4:3 aspect ratio window like their favourite Panasonic camera. You know BMD listens and gave people what they were asking for on the Pocket4K. Still agree that 6:5 is better, but I’m not faulting BMD in this.



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... What is still missing is the possibility to zoom in for focus 4x.
I would be perfect and very easy: tapping once: 2x, tapping twice 4x, tapping again normal screen.

You can pinch to get 2x or 4x or 8x I believe. After you make that selection, the Zoom button gives you the preference you pinch previously.


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Thanks Rick Lang for the hint.
Very good feature!
Unfortunately when you turn the camera off and on again it resets to 2x.
It would be even better if you could choose a permanent value. But still, being able to zoom in more than 2x is a great improvement!

Hi All,
I'm on a souped up 2017 Imac that runs on OS High Sierra (and prefer to keep it that way for a variety of speed and software reasons).

Will the Firmware updater run on that system?

I saw the preferred OS was either Catalina or Mojave but hoping not to have to upgrade to those bulky slow OS upgrades.

UPDATE: I answered my own question by running the updater to see what happens. It connected and updated my BMPCC4K in about a minute. So yes, it works fine with MacOS High Sierra.

PS: Great Update, BM!

My camera update went til 70%, once there all the usb devices disconnected and windows showed a "can't recognize the usb device" it was stuck and it wouldn't show any activity. Now, the camera doesn't power on and the front recording led is blinkg in white. ¿Is there any way to reset the camera? or it is a brick now

EDIT: I sent a mail to BM support and they answered right away with the solution: copy of the response, in case anyone needs it:

Confirm that the camera is still connected via USB, switch the power to OFF then back ON.
Immediately after powering ON, hold down the Focus Button (the one with the crosshairs) for about 10 seconds.
This should put the camera into recovery mode and allow it to show up in the software and allow you to run the update again.

Dear BMD,

is there a reason why the implemented 2,39:1 res is 4096x1712, even though the standard DCI spec is 4096x1716?

You’re absolutely correct Lucas; it should be DCI 4K Widescreen 4096x1716. And that will also support downscaling in post to DCI 2K Widescreen 2048x858! I hope BMD will issue a quick 6.6.1 revision to correct this as 4096x1712 is problematic.

Out of curiosity, why would you want to record in 2.39:1 instead of full DCI and just crop out what you don't want?

If you are absolutely certain that your project is 2.40 you can save some disk space with less pixels. That's the only use i see.

Dear BMD,

is there a reason why the implemented 2,39:1 res is 4096x1712, even though the standard DCI spec is 4096x1716?

You’re absolutely correct Lucas; it should be DCI 4K Widescreen 4096x1716. And that will also support downscaling in post to DCI 2K Widescreen 2048x858! I hope BMD will issue a quick 6.6.1 revision to correct this as 4096x1712 is problematic.

Out of curiosity, why would you want to record in 2.39:1 instead of full DCI and just crop out what you don't want?