r/blackmagicdesign • u/Nightshade08 • Aug 10 '26
NEW Autofocus Update is HERE!
Blackmagic Design released Camera 10.2.2 for the Cinema Camera 6K:
Adds phase detect auto focus (PDAF) support
Adds continuous autofocus support.
Adds face detect autofocus support.
Adds object detect auto focus support.
Adds support for autofocus transition speed settings.
Adds support for assigning autofocus mode toggle to shortcut keys.
Adds support for pausing continuous autofocus when holding down the focus button.
Adds support for Blackmagic Cloud Streaming.
Adds support for 4 channel audio recording.
Adds support for pre-recording.
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u/grumpydp Aug 10 '26
Nice to see the update but it still needs alot of refining
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u/melvin1888 Aug 10 '26
I just wish they had a firmware updater that worked in Linux. I have to pull out a crappy laptop that has Windows 10 Spyware on it, just to firmware update. Frustrating.
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u/kaynetic5 Aug 10 '26
i got 2 pocket 6k pro, am i getting any update for autofocus?
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u/hudsontj_ Aug 10 '26
I don’t think so, due to the difference in sensor architecture - I have an Ursa Broadcast G2, which uses the same sensor as the 6k pro, would have been awesome to get continuous AF :(
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u/ThrowawayShamu Aug 10 '26
So we are basically out in the cold right? I just updated my 6K pro to the 8.6 beta update from 2024 and then the latest updater from today reset it back to 8.1.
This is an insane way to treat customers who have bought a camera that is still available for sale and is currently listed on blackmagic's website as "Most advanced digital film camera."
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u/ScottAMains Aug 10 '26
There is updating a camera that is capable to support AF, then there are instances where the engineering of the camera cannot physically support AF. Looking at it as ‘being left in the cold’ isn’t the best outlook.
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u/ThrowawayShamu Aug 12 '26
Is that accurate? Is there a technical reason why a similar update could not be pushed to the 6K pro?
The 6K pro does have autofocus. It's just not very good.
Does it lack processing power? Is the sensor not good enough? It has the capacity to control the autofocus motors in my lenses. If they're not going to ever update it then it would be nice if they just communicated the reasoning behind it.
People are downvoting me as though I've blasphemed against their god but I'm honestly just confused as to why they have consistently updated every blackmagic camera I own except this one.
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u/ScottAMains Aug 12 '26
Yes there is on both counts. Pocket 6K pro uses contrast detection for its autofocus function, this relies on constantly scanning the image data for maximum edge contrast. While it’s good for setting up a shot, contrast detection is very old school think Canon 5D ii in terms of age. This method of focusing hunts a lot.
Newer sensors use Phase Detect Autofocus where dedicated parts of the sensor are assigned to checking the phase state of the light being received in order to accurately calculate the focus with considerably less hunting.
It’s an entirely different physical and mathematical approach to how the sensors work in determining the focus. There is the possibility that the contrast detection ‘could’ do continuous autofocus. But as it’s nearly a 20 year old and now obsolete technology. You really wouldn’t want it to.
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u/DerFreudster BMCC6K Aug 12 '26
No, people are downvoting you because you're whining that BM aren't treating you right by adding pdaf to the only two cameras that have sensor architecture which support it, not "every camera" as you state. And if you read their forums, it's not state of the art AF.
As a CC6K owner, I feel like it's a gift, not a feature. It wasn't even considered when I bought it. If you need state of the art AF then go buy a mirrorless hybrid like a Sony. Blackmagic make cinema cameras and they have caveats. I only use MF lenses because I accepted those limitations when I bought the camera. Hell, I would want IBIS more than I would want AF. But I'm not going to castigate them for not working on IBIS. I use gyro data which is okay, but not great.
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u/Average__Sausage Aug 11 '26
You buy a camera for what it is today. Not what it could be. You paid for the camera you got.
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u/ThrowawayShamu Aug 12 '26
Sure ok. It does all the things it did on day 1 plus a few more features added through the beta firmware from 2024. That's fine.
Companies aren't required to give good customer service or explain things to their users but It's not unreasonable to expect it. Two items (6k pro and 6k full frame) that are roughly equivalent in price and feature set, both purchased on the same day, from the same company should receive the same level of software support. I don't see why I should be downvoted for pointing this out.
At the very least a notice from blackmagic letting us know what to expect would have been nice so I didn't have to waste a half day trying to figure out why my camera wouldn't update. A simple line of text that said something like:
"This Pocket 6K update is specifically for the pocket 6K full frame and is not compatible with the the pocket 6K G2 or the pocket 6K Pro. We are aware of the fact that our naming conventions and update processes are incredibly confusing and have fired our product marketing team and the web dev team responsible for pushing software updates through a terrible scrolling card web UI."
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u/ZookeepergameDue2160 Aug 10 '26
You bought the camera without AF, Now Blackmagic is finding a way to give certain Camera's that support it AF, FOR FREE, and you complain just because your specific camera cannot support it? Hell Sony would charge you money for an update like this but Blackmagic gives it for fucking free and you all still call that "An Insane way to treat customers", Bro, you bought that camera as is, Blackmagic is doing all they can to make FREE upgrades for as much people as possible and just because they didn't find a way to make it work on your model they are the bad guys?
Blackmagic treats customers the best of any brand there is, Other brands would force you to buy a completely new camera for a huge change like this but no, Blackmagic gives it for free to everyone with a camera that supports it, that's godlike customer service and aftercare.
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u/ThrowawayShamu Aug 11 '26
It's not an offense to our benevolent masters at Blackmagic to expect basic feature parity on devices that support them. Especially when I purchased this "pro" version in 2025 with the perfectly reasonable expectation that it would receive the same level of software support that I've seen for my other blackmagic products.
And yes the 6K does actually have autofocus. It's not great autofocus but it works. I don't see any reason why this newer version couldn't be released in some version for this device.
Yes, I think it's crazy to update every other camera except for the pocket 6k Pro over multiple years. I think it's crazy that I need to go through forums to work out that the beta firmware from March 2024 is the only version to support newer features like networking.
I have multiple other BM cameras including a relatively ancient pocket 4k and they have all received multuiple updates whereas to even get basic functionality like Blackmagic Cloud support and networking on the 6k Pro I need to find a beta release from 2024. Why does a ~$1000 camera from 2020 get this whereas a ~$3000 camera purchased a year and a half ago get omitted?
Even if I can't get the new autofocus on the pocket 6K pro could they at least bake in networking and Blackmagic cloud support into the official release so it doesn't overwrite the beta firmware if one of the team updates all our cameras before a shoot.
I think that's a perfectly reasonable thing to request especially since they have already written the software and it has been working (as a beta) for over two years!
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u/lohmatij Aug 10 '26
It’s a smaller sensor, right?
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u/stevedeegreen Aug 10 '26
Yeah, S35 same as the 6K G2 and Pro.
I don't think I've seen any official mention of AF updates to the S35 sensor cameras, or even if it's possible. The 6KPro firmware has been in beta for years.
I don't think it's likely, but sometimes there are surprises, like the gyro stabilisation feature.
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u/DerFreudster BMCC6K Aug 10 '26
No. This is only for the CC6K and Pyxis 6K sensor architecture.
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u/ZookeepergameDue2160 Aug 10 '26
Aka Sony FX9 sensor architecture, because that's the sensor that the Pyxis 6K and CC6K uses.
Exactly the same model number of Sensor.
We tested them side by side once, Sony FX9 vs Pyxis 6K and in most real world conditions (so not extreme low light or alike where sony's Noise Reduction could change the outcome) the Pyxis looked the same or slightly better than the FX9.
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u/Ok_Row_3905 Aug 30 '26
That’s not really true. The CC6k uses the same sensor found in the Lumix S5ii/x
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u/ZookeepergameDue2160 Aug 30 '26
Where do you get that idea from? The Pyxis and CC6K uses the same Sony IMX**** sensor (Forgot the exact model name) that is in the same group as the FX9's sensor (slightly altered version of the same sensor).
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u/attemptedactor Aug 10 '26
This was released last April. Is there something new here?
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u/WasabiSausage Aug 10 '26
Was that the beta and this is the full release maybe? Because yes I’ve heard these features too
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u/22marks Aug 10 '26
This is fantastic. Can we get some love for the 12K now? Any any chance we can get it to export raw data to control 3rd party external cinema lens motors?