Earlier this year, Blackmagic Design added autofocus to its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K full-frame cameras via firmware upgrades. Now the company has launched a beta version of the same autofocus technology for the flagship PYXIS 12K camera.
What is PDAF?
PDAF stands for Phase Detection Autofocus. It uses special pixels on a camera’s image sensor to set focus. Put simply, PDAF splits the light hitting the sensor into a pair of images. By comparing the differences between the two images, the camera immediately knows which way to move the lens elements to achieve focus. As a result, PDAF is much quicker and more accurate than previous contrast-based focus systems. PDAF is also much better at tracking moving objects.
PYXIS 12K
Blackmagic Design posted a thread on its support forum this morning headed “Forum Special – PDAF support for PYXIS 12K.” The first post in the new thread has a link to download a test build of firmware version 10.2.96RC2 for the PYXIS 12K. At the time of writing, it is only available for Mac users as Blackmagic Design says that “Unfortunately, the Windows installer is a bit broken.” However, this should hopefully be fixed soon. You can only access the firmware via the link in the post. It is not available from the Blackmagic Design website’s regular support page.
PDAF features
Blackmagic Design says that the PDAF on the PYXIS 12K has the same features as PYXIS 16K and Cinema Camera 6K. This means that you will get continuous autofocus. You will also have face and object detection, which you can target by tapping on the screen. In addition, you can adjust the transition speed of the autofocus. You can make the tracking boxes larger or smaller by dragging on the camera’s monitor as well. The PYXIS 12K is available with electronic L mount or locking EF mount options. Both of these models should support PDAF as with the PYXIS 6K.
What we think
Blackmagic Design’s cinema cameras are widely recognized as delivering great image quality and having the best menu system design. Unfortunately for many solo shooters and indie filmmakers, the lack of autofocus has been a stumbling block. The addition of PDAF to the PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K has been a game changer for those cameras, however. Many users were hoping that autofocus would come to the PYXIS 12K as well, but it wasn’t clear whether the sensor had the necessary PDAF pixels. Now that question has been answered in the best possible way. PDAF on the Blackmagic Design cameras is not yet at the level of Sony or Panasonic cameras. However, the company is still developing the features, and it can only get better from here.
Availability
If you want to try out the new PDAF features on your PYXIS 12K, you need to download the firmware update from the thread in the Blackmagic Design forum. Please remember this is a test build of the firmware and so may have bugs or make the camera unreliable in use. As such, you should not use the test build of the firmware for an important shoot. However, if you do want to try it, Blackmagic Design has confirmed that it is easy to roll back to the current stable official firmware release. You can do this by simply running the camera updater with the latest official firmware from the support pages on the Blackmagic Design website.
