If you read this blog or watch our YouTube videos, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Blackmagic Design cameras. Blackmagic cameras aren’t the least expensive option out there, but they bring real studio-level quality and control down to a level where regular folks can afford it. This is digital camera tech that would have cost over $100,000 just a generation ago and today it’s within everyone’s reach. Blackmagic cameras come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, and they continue to evolve to get better and less expensive.
I personally use a Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro. It’s perfect for my needs, if a bit of overkill for the kind of video that I produce. With it, I get ultimate control over what I want to shoot and it’s been a pleasure to use for well over a year. However, there has been one issue with this camera and every camera that uses Canon EF lenses. In 2023, Blackmagic Design rolled out an update to its camera software that added a lot of features. My favorite was auto-vertical recording, perfect for reels and TikToks. But in the process, they took away something, and it was something big.
All Blackmagic Design cameras prior to the latest generation used Canon’s EF mount for lenses. The cameras themselves do not come with lenses and that gives the user the ability to choose the right lens for their situation. You can buy lenses with the EF mount for as little as $50 used, or spend thousands on real quality. It’s up to you.
However, with Camera software version 8, autofocus is disabled unless you use Canon-branded lenses. That’s not a huge problem if you haven’t bought a lens yet. But if you’re like me and you’ve invested heavily in non-Canon lenses, it’s a little bit of a struggle. I’ve only got one Canon lens and it’s not as good as the other ones I have.
Blackmagic Design has a new version of their camera software. They’re calling it 8.6 Public Beta. This is the first time I’ve seen them do a public beta, but it’s a good move. Perhaps if they had done that with version 8, they would have found the problem with non-Canon lenses. But that’s just me being bitter. Here’s the list of what the beta brings:
That’s a lot of new stuff. I haven’t even tried most of it. But there’s one thing they don’t include in their release notes: I am now able to use my non-Canon lenses with autofocus. I don’t know if every lens out there is supported, but I can tell you that my Sigma lenses which never worked with version 8 all now work. It’s worth trying the update if you’ve been waiting for this fix.
You’ll find Blackmagic Camera Software 8.6 Public Beta at their support center site here. Please be advised that they are still calling this a beta so it could be buggy. As with all Blackmagic updates, you’ll want to back up custom LUTs and make note of custom settings. This software reset my exposure and audio preferences, and probably a lot of other stuff that I generally set manually anyway. It also lost the Bluetooth pairing with my phone. You’ve been warned.
The cameras themselves support USB versions up to 3.1. This means that they still won’t support M.2 solid state drives or NVMe enclosures, even though other USB 3.1 devices do support them. It’s a shame because M.2 SSDs are incredibly cheap now and they’re a good pairing for the high-speed transfer requirements of these cameras. But I tend to think this is a hardware limitation that isn’t going away. If you want high speed and reliability, look for SATA SSDs and get a USB to SATA adapter. Most SSDs will work for ProRes, although you’ll still need something really fast to be able to record Blackmagic Raw.
Check out the great selection of Blackmagic products at Solid Signal. If you need help choosing the right hardware, call us at 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below.
The post Problems with 3rd party lenses and Blackmagic Design Cameras? Finally– a solution appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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I personally use a Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro. It’s perfect for my needs, if a bit of overkill for the kind of video that I produce. With it, I get ultimate control over what I want to shoot and it’s been a pleasure to use for well over a year. However, there has been one issue with this camera and every camera that uses Canon EF lenses. In 2023, Blackmagic Design rolled out an update to its camera software that added a lot of features. My favorite was auto-vertical recording, perfect for reels and TikToks. But in the process, they took away something, and it was something big.
All Blackmagic Design cameras prior to the latest generation used Canon’s EF mount for lenses. The cameras themselves do not come with lenses and that gives the user the ability to choose the right lens for their situation. You can buy lenses with the EF mount for as little as $50 used, or spend thousands on real quality. It’s up to you.
However, with Camera software version 8, autofocus is disabled unless you use Canon-branded lenses. That’s not a huge problem if you haven’t bought a lens yet. But if you’re like me and you’ve invested heavily in non-Canon lenses, it’s a little bit of a struggle. I’ve only got one Canon lens and it’s not as good as the other ones I have.
Here’s the good news
Blackmagic Design has a new version of their camera software. They’re calling it 8.6 Public Beta. This is the first time I’ve seen them do a public beta, but it’s a good move. Perhaps if they had done that with version 8, they would have found the problem with non-Canon lenses. But that’s just me being bitter. Here’s the list of what the beta brings:
- 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 for some models.
- Improves gyro metadata reliability.
- Improves USB-C drive detection reliability.
That’s a lot of new stuff. I haven’t even tried most of it. But there’s one thing they don’t include in their release notes: I am now able to use my non-Canon lenses with autofocus. I don’t know if every lens out there is supported, but I can tell you that my Sigma lenses which never worked with version 8 all now work. It’s worth trying the update if you’ve been waiting for this fix.
How to download
You’ll find Blackmagic Camera Software 8.6 Public Beta at their support center site here. Please be advised that they are still calling this a beta so it could be buggy. As with all Blackmagic updates, you’ll want to back up custom LUTs and make note of custom settings. This software reset my exposure and audio preferences, and probably a lot of other stuff that I generally set manually anyway. It also lost the Bluetooth pairing with my phone. You’ve been warned.
One thing that’s still not available
The cameras themselves support USB versions up to 3.1. This means that they still won’t support M.2 solid state drives or NVMe enclosures, even though other USB 3.1 devices do support them. It’s a shame because M.2 SSDs are incredibly cheap now and they’re a good pairing for the high-speed transfer requirements of these cameras. But I tend to think this is a hardware limitation that isn’t going away. If you want high speed and reliability, look for SATA SSDs and get a USB to SATA adapter. Most SSDs will work for ProRes, although you’ll still need something really fast to be able to record Blackmagic Raw.
Want to upgrade your setup?
Check out the great selection of Blackmagic products at Solid Signal. If you need help choosing the right hardware, call us at 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below.
The post Problems with 3rd party lenses and Blackmagic Design Cameras? Finally– a solution appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
