Blackmagic PDAF (Autofocus)

BMD spent 2 years developing AF tracking on an old Sony sensor that are seen on just 2 of their cameras and likely not any more on new cameras going forward (readout speed is poor). I believe what they say when it said they want to us the BMCC6K for testing their PDAF and we will see this feature in future cameras with new sensor if not on their current RGBW sensor cameras.

I hope that we won't have to wait too long for this on the URSA Cine 12K:

Scoop: Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF to Get Autofocus in Upcoming Months

https://ymcinema.com/2025/04/10/scoop-b ... ng-months/

BMD spent 2 years developing AF tracking on an old Sony sensor that are seen on just 2 of their cameras and likely not any more on new cameras going forward (readout speed is poor). I believe what they say when it said they want to us the BMCC6K for testing their PDAF and we will see this feature in future cameras with new sensor if not on their current RGBW sensor cameras.

I hope that we won't have to wait too long for this on the URSA Cine 12K:

Scoop: Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF to Get Autofocus in Upcoming Months

https://ymcinema.com/2025/04/10/scoop-b ... ng-months/

Yes I think YMCinema got their news from this forum including my link of the interview. They are lazy most likely using AI for their content.

Some cameras which have PDAF capabilities actually combine these by using PDAF to perform initial focusing then switch to contrast detection to refine it from there for greater precision.

I'm hoping this is something they do. It reminds me of a thought I had about their face detection vs object detection. I don't have an AF lens to tests this but, based on the tests I've watched, it feels like their face detection and object detection are separate. If it's tracking someone's face and they turn, the tracking box will tend to still lock to their head but it will rack to behind that person. So clearly it is falling back to some form of object tracking, but it's feels like it's making different decisions on what to focus on than the object tracking mode.

The face detection is a challenge for self-shooters.

The first time I tied it, I was behind the camera and it immediately focused on a Chewbacca mask hanging on my wall because it felt it was the closest thing to a face. Then I walked around to the front of the camera and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get it to stop focusing on that silly mask hanging on my wall.

So, it seems like the best advice for self-shooting is to hit the record button in the front and make sure your own face is the first thing it sees.


I wish it had some sort of gesture control to tell it you are the main subject.

So I tried this with an L-mount 28-70 Sigma and autofocus is completely unusable unfortunately. One-shot works ... okay (pretty snappy 75% hitrate I'd say), but af-c and face recognition just do not lock on at all, and tend to go to infinity and stay there within 10 seconds. I don't use autofocus currently so I'm not too bothered, but I wouldn't be able to use this if I needed to.

So I tried this with an L-mount 28-70 Sigma and autofocus is completely unusable unfortunately. One-shot works ... okay (pretty snappy 75% hitrate I'd say), but af-c and face recognition just do not lock on at all, and tend to go to infinity and stay there within 10 seconds. I don't use autofocus currently so I'm not too bothered, but I wouldn't be able to use this if I needed to.

Is this the new Sigma Art 24-70 DG DN II?

I've used a Sigma 24-70mm with an Viltrox EF to L Mount adapter and it seems to work. I won't trust it yet, but it seems to work ok.

So I tried this with an L-mount 28-70 Sigma and autofocus is completely unusable unfortunately. One-shot works ... okay (pretty snappy 75% hitrate I'd say), but af-c and face recognition just do not lock on at all, and tend to go to infinity and stay there within 10 seconds. I don't use autofocus currently so I'm not too bothered, but I wouldn't be able to use this if I needed to.

Is this the new Sigma Art 24-70 DG DN II?

No this is the 28-70, mind the 8 instead of a 4 there.

Lumix just announced a 24-60mm f2.8 L Mount lens, that's part of the L Mount Alliance.
SO hopefully that will work natively on the 6kFF to great success.
It would be nice to have a travel zoom that's small and without the need for EF adapters.

Definitely a step in the right direction if this lens doesn’t require lens corrections only provided by a compatible Panasonic camera. The description implies that is doesn’t need in-camera lens correction.

Hybrid zoom only on 5 Panasonic cameras, but still appears to be a good travel lens.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1892234-REG