Blackmagic Forum

Hi,

We have just released Camera v9.5. This release is for the Cinema Camera 6K and contains the following features:

• Adds beta support for PDAF autofocus
• Adds beta support for continuous autofocus
• Adds beta support object tracking autofocus
• Adds beta support for facial recognition and tracking autofocus
• Adds support for using camera as a webcam or UVC device.
• Adds media pool file browser.
• Adds clip deletion support.
• Adds Blackmagic Cloud clip uploads.
• Adds direct uploads to DaVinci Resolve projects.
• Adds ability to update and manage camera via ethernet.
• Adds REST control API for remote control.
• Adds login and secure certificate support.
• Adds network time protocol support.
• Adds web media manager support.
• Adds file transfer protocol support.
• Adds SMB file sharing support.
• Adds mobile phone tethering support.
• Improves gyro metadata reliability.
• Improves USB-C drive detection reliability.

We consider the autofocus feature to be a beta feature but all other features the GM version of what was introduced in 8.6/8.7 beta.

The Cinema Camera 6k G2 will be compatible with autofocus update soon?

Hi everyone,

After updating my Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Full Frame to Camera OS 9.5, both of my Angelbird AV PRO CFexpress SE Type B 1TB cards stopped working. The camera no longer recognizes them — they simply don’t mount.

I reverted back to Camera OS 8.3.2, and both cards are working perfectly again.

Just sharing this in case anyone else is having the same issue. Hopefully Blackmagic can look into this and bring back compatibility in a future update.

Thanks!

I have some anglebird cards, too. The AV Pro SE type B with 1TB works perfectly fine. Have you updated your cards to the latest firmware?

Will the continous autofocus feature also get its way to the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro?
Would be a really nice feature and reduce the needed rigging.

Fantastic update, can't wait to test the auto focus. Only thing that's left is to add the anamorphic desqueeze options the Pyxis has.

QUESTION:
Is there a list which shows all BMD camera models and the firmware versions which pertain to them? If not can one be made? Even just the latest version for each would be helpful.

Kristian Lam wrote:We have just released Camera v9.5. This release is for the Cinema Camera 6K and contains the following features:
.

Will these features be made available for the 6k Pro? Especially autofocus?

Hi,

9,4 beta and 9,5 released on same day

Last one include include beta ? Supersedes ?

I have not updated my BMPCC6K for 2 years.

I have downloaded the latest Camera 9.5, connect to my BMPCC6K, and got it updated. But I can't see the PDAF option under 'setup' in the menu. And the software is now 8.1.

Did i do something wrong, or I should update previous version before updating it to the latest version 9.5?

Thank you very much for your help and advice

AmeDSL wrote:Hi everyone,

After updating my Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Full Frame to Camera OS 9.5, both of my Angelbird AV PRO CFexpress SE Type B 1TB cards stopped working. The camera no longer recognizes them — they simply don’t mount.

I reverted back to Camera OS 8.3.2, and both cards are working perfectly again.

Just sharing this in case anyone else is having the same issue. Hopefully Blackmagic can look into this and bring back compatibility in a future update.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I also use a BMPCC 6K FF (L-mount) and after updating to OS 9.5 my Transcend CFexpress 256GB card (TS256GCFE820) stopped working. The camera does not recognize the card. Formatting does not help. Firmware update for the card - None. How to fix this?

Just awesome! Still has the card reader bug/issue!

Updated to new firmware 9.5 and the issues with the camera not reading the CF Express card still persists. This was reported months ago by multiple owners! Honesty would rather having a fully functional working firmware update that does not break the camera, then have auto focus, come on Blackmagic get it together! This has been a issues been going on for more months and months now, what gives? Support are no help, other then it will be noted and logged for the team.

Card I am using is the Angelbird AV PRO CFexpress SE Type B 512GB.

Now I have to mess about down grading the firmware to the one that works.

Massively disappointed.......

kontrakatze wrote:I have some anglebird cards, too. The AV Pro SE type B with 1TB works perfectly fine. Have you updated your cards to the latest firmware?

Should'nt really have to if it worked perfectly well with old firmware. Also how out of curiosity how many people update the firmware of their memory cards.

Since I've been using cameras over the last 30 years, I've never had to update the firmware of a memory card. I really hope this doesn't become another thing to keep track of, can you imagine, having to flash different firmware on memory cards for different cameras based on the current camera firmware .

I understand you perfectly. My external ssd still doesn't get formatted although I can read and write to it.
I just tried to help. So you may look at your cards firmware anyways.
Mine is: AVX2.15

No matter how many times I update, it shows completed. However, on the camera it still says my version is 8.1!
Help

Great to see the new features announced for the BMPCC6K camera, so I jumped in and downloaded the update.
Deleted the old version on my mac and installed V9.5
My BMPCC6K cameras are on 8.6, updated to the new version and now they are on version.....
9.5?
No
Version 8.1
How can an update to a new version roll back your camera to a later version?
Had to download 8.6 again and install.
Cameras back to 8.6

kontrakatze wrote:I understand you perfectly. My external ssd still doesn't get formatted although I can read and write to it.
I just tried to help. So you may look at your cards firmware anyways.
Mine is: AVX2.15

Unfortunately I do not have official angel bird card reader, I would rather put the money towards more memory cards £99-120 for the reader it a little bit to steep. I only use my reader for transferring, which works great, transfer files quickly without any fuss.

I appreciate the suggestion and thank your sharing which firmware you are on, that is more information then BM support provided.

kontrakatze wrote:I understand you perfectly. My external ssd still doesn't get formatted although I can read and write to it.
I just tried to help. So you may look at your cards firmware anyways.
Mine is: AVX2.15

So I just downloaded CrystalDiskInfo and my card firmware is AVX2.15. So I guess back to BM for answers.

By the way, I have tried to install the firmware updates with different cables, different PC's every time the card reader breaks.

I just hope there not a batch of dodgy 6K FF out there (got mine during that great sale).

Just update 9.5. I do not see any way to activate the new focus features. My 6K full frame seems to operate same as before, nothing seems to be updated in terms of autofocus>

Carlos Hervas wrote:Just update 9.5. I do not see any way to activate the new focus features. My 6K full frame seems to operate same as before, nothing seems to be updated in terms of autofocus>

Have you enabled it? Page two in the setup menu, you need to change the auto focus from "Contrast" based to "PDAF". I believe you also need a native L-mount lens.

There is no native l-mount lens needed. I get surprisingly good results with my Canon ef 24-70 and a viltrox adapter.

MetalMonkey wrote:

Carlos Hervas wrote:Just update 9.5. I do not see any way to activate the new focus features. My 6K full frame seems to operate same as before, nothing seems to be updated in terms of autofocus>

Have you enabled it? Page two in the setup menu, you need to change the auto focus from "Contrast" based to "PDAF". I believe you also need a native L-mount lens.

Thanks

kontrakatze wrote:There is no native l-mount lens needed. I get surprisingly good results with my Canon ef 24-70 and a viltrox adapter.

Really! I watched a video today when some one used a viltrox adapter with canon glass and it didnt work. Lol - guess its going to be like the wild west for a while as people work out what combinations of lens and adaptors work.

I still need to test my sigma to EF adaptor with the auto focus.

On first try it did not work with my adapter. On closer look I found that there are different firmware versions available for different situations. So I took the one with an "AF" in the naming, which I guess means autofocus, installed it and it works (within limits) well.

nictau wrote:

Kristian Lam wrote:We have just released Camera v9.5. This release is for the Cinema Camera 6K and contains the following features:
.

Will these features be made available for the 6k Pro? Especially autofocus?

Hope they remember us, the 6kpro owners.

Is there a list of lenses that are compatible with this feature? I'm using a Sigma 24-70 (Mark I) and it just can't hold focus in any of the four modes.

TOOK MINE TO 8.1!!!!!

clarker wrote:Great to see the new features announced for the BMPCC6K camera, so I jumped in and downloaded the update.
Deleted the old version on my mac and installed V9.5
My BMPCC6K cameras are on 8.6, updated to the new version and now they are on version.....
9.5?
No
Version 8.1
How can an update to a new version roll back your camera to a later version?
Had to download 8.6 again and install.
Cameras back to 8.6

I’m a little confused by this (as seen on the Support page):

This software update is for Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and adds support for cloud workflows and direct uploads to DaVinci Resolve projects on Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and Cinema Camera 6K. In addition, this update adds support for USB-C webcam output, adds a media pool file browser, support for login and secure certificate, REST control API and network time protocol. Also included in this update is the beta release of new PDAF based autofocus with support for continuous, object and face tracking autofocus.

Basically, what about the Pockets? AFAIK, the latest available version is still v8.6 beta. Or has there been a newer one that I missed?

MetalMonkey wrote:Just awesome! Still has the card reader bug/issue!

Updated to new firmware 9.5 and the issues with the camera not reading the CF Express card still persists. This was reported months ago by multiple owners! Honesty would rather having a fully functional working firmware update that does not break the camera, then have auto focus, come on Blackmagic get it together! This has been a issues been going on for more months and months now, what gives? Support are no help, other then it will be noted and logged for the team.

Card I am using is the Angelbird AV PRO CFexpress SE Type B 512GB.

Now I have to mess about down grading the firmware to the one that works.

Massively disappointed.......

Hi,
I checked my flash cards Angelbird AV PRO CFexpress SE Type B 512GB 1785mb/s. All cards work with the camera 6KFF and record video and the video is copied to the MacBook.

it kicked my PCC 6K Pro back to 8.1

Alan D Brown wrote:it kicked my PCC 6K Pro back to 8.1

Confirmed!

Alan D Brown wrote:it kicked my PCC 6K Pro back to 8.1

Yea, because it's not for the BMPCC6K. This is only for BMCC6K.

Alan D Brown wrote:<font style="vertical-align: inherit;"><font style="vertical-align: inherit;">он вернул мой PCC 6K Pro к 8.1</font></font>

I have the same! How to update to 9.5? Please help!!

It turns out that firmware 9.5 only works with the full-frame camera. This is very sad, since this was not mentioned anywhere, and I was really looking forward to this firmware because of the autofocus.

To roll back to version 8.6, you need to download "Blackmagic Camera 9.2 Update" and update again.

Just great, Cinema camera 6K gets updates, 6K pro gets garbage with 9.4. WTF.

I think there’s mention of a couple more camera firmware updates in the pipeline to deliver shortly.

I also can confirm that the CC 6K wont recognize my CFexpress Cards after the 9.5 Update.
I tried it with Angelbird, Lexar and a DIY one (M2 2230 SSD to CF), all of them have 2TB of storage each. none of them were recognized.
Only by inserting the cards into a CFexpress to USB C reader and plugging it into the cam makes them visible.

No problems before the update and after downgrading to Camera OS 8.6, all work fine again, so there is some problem with the new OS unfortunately.

nuclearheli wrote:Just great, Cinema camera 6K gets updates, 6K pro gets garbage with 9.4. WTF.

The autofocus system in the BMCC6K uses a PDAF (Phase Detection Auto Focus) sensor as well as a neural network (for detecting faces and objects). Probably the 6K Pro doesn't have those.

roger.magnusson wrote:

nuclearheli wrote:Just great, Cinema camera 6K gets updates, 6K pro gets garbage with 9.4. WTF.

The autofocus system in the BMCC6K uses a PDAF (Phase Detection Auto Focus) sensor as well as a neural network (for detecting faces and objects). Probably the 6K Pro doesn't have those.

Could someone from BMD give some insight in this? 6k Pro auto focus in future update? Yes or No?

Will this update be available for Pocket? I have a Pocket 6K Pro, and it won't let me update to 9.5.

nictau wrote:Could someone from BMD give some insight in this? 6k Pro auto focus in future update? Yes or No?

Unfortunately no. There is single shot contrast based autofocus in the 6K Pro, but it won't be possible to implement continuous autofocus since the sensor has no PDAF pixels.

Any chance we are getting the auto focus on the 6K Pro ?

Kristian Lam wrote:

nictau wrote:Could someone from BMD give some insight in this? 6k Pro auto focus in future update? Yes or No?

Unfortunately no. There is single shot contrast based autofocus in the 6K Pro, but it won't be possible to implement continuous autofocus since the sensor has no PDAF pixels.

Thank you for the clarification Kristian. If I understood it correctly the Pyxis 12k and the Ursa Cine 12k also dont have pdaf pixels on the sensor, right? Does that mean that autofocus won't be possible on those cameras? Thanks anyways for those cool new camera announcements!

It seems Google's AI Gemini is confused as to whether the Pyxis 12K sensor has PDAF, LOL
I asked two different times and got two different answers...



I guess I will go and do a little more digging, LOL!

Andreas Kaufmann1 wrote:

Kristian Lam wrote:

nictau wrote:Could someone from BMD give some insight in this? 6k Pro auto focus in future update? Yes or No?

Unfortunately no. There is single shot contrast based autofocus in the 6K Pro, but it won't be possible to implement continuous autofocus since the sensor has no PDAF pixels.

Thank you for the clarification Kristian. If I understood it correctly the Pyxis 12k and the Ursa Cine 12k also dont have pdaf pixels on the sensor, right? Does that mean that autofocus won't be possible on those cameras? Thanks anyways for those cool new camera announcements!

Kristian, would love clarification on this too. Obviously, no PDAF on the 12k sensor means no potential for continuous autofocus on the Pyxis 12K.

If there is PDAF on the 12k sensor, I understand that it would still take a while to implement into the Pyxis 12K L-mount. But is the necessary hardware for continuous autofocus there and engineers just need time to work things out software-wise?

Kingdombuilder wrote:It seems Google's AI Gemini is confused as to whether the Pyxis 12K sensor has PDAF, LOL
I asked two different times and got two different answers...
I guess I will go and do a little more digging, LOL!

I don't understand why you would do this when you can literally just ask BMD questions directly by email...

First of all thank you blackmagic for updating the BMCC6K. i never thought that there will be such a update and surely not at nab or close to it... (there was literally a discussion on the 9.3 page about when and if there will be a update, and then...you left us with our mouths open)

Now: is there a list of lenses that the autofocus works best with?

I have a sigma 24-70 (first version) with a L-mount, and the autofocus is jumping and doesn't stay on objects, faces, etc.

If anyone can assist me, maybe it is because the af is in its early stages? and i am ok with it. i just want to make sure if it has anything to do with my lenses.

Thanks again!

Best bet for now is keeping up with the findings in this thread:

Blackmagic PDAF (Autofocus)
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic? ... source=app

i want to know wrote:First of all thank you blackmagic for updating the BMCC6K. i never thought that there will be such a update and surely not at nab or close to it... (there was literally a discussion on the 9.3 page about when and if there will be a update, and then...you left us with our mouths open)

Now: is there a list of lenses that the autofocus works best with?

I have a sigma 24-70 (first version) with a L-mount, and the autofocus is jumping and doesn't stay on objects, faces, etc.

If anyone can assist me, maybe it is because the af is in its early stages? and i am ok with it. i just want to make sure if it has anything to do with my lenses.

Thanks again!

It's still in beta and could be some situation we haven't dealt with. Best way is to provide as much details as possible, even a video to show the problem. Perhaps a YouTube link if you're shy and email our support team so that they can get this to engineering.

PDAF looks very rudimentary at this stage and doesn't look like it is matched to the lens it is using yet that is why you get mixed result with different lens.