Blackmagic NAB 2025 Preview - 4th April 2025 4pm BST

[eatstoomuchjam]

12 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

The other two share the same Sony sensor and it’s one we know to have PDAF capabilities because it’s used in a number of other cameras.

The 12K sensor though is all their own work so I don’t know if it actually does?

Even if the sensor has PDAF as an option, there's no guarantee that they bought a variant of it that has it enabled.  Someone somewhere else mentioned that it's the same sensor as is used in the S1H which has autofocus, but not PDAF. 

Any BMD didn't say that they were giving their cameras PDAF that I saw - just continuous AF.  It's entirely possible that they're rolling out contrast-based AF across the board.  The fact that Petty said it would only work with L-mount lenses since they give distance information would suggest PDAF, though.

Petty did strongly imply, however, that it would be coming to other cameras in time - he made some comment about how it was really important for large format sensors.

Only time will tell, though - for now, Focus Pro gives me something like decent AF, though with all of the annoyances that come with doing focus based on a second camera that sits under the other camera.

[BTM_Pix]

8 minutes ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Someone somewhere else mentioned that it's the same sensor as is used in the S1H which has autofocus, but not PDAF. 

It is the S5ii as far as I’m aware.

9 minutes ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Any BMD didn't say that they were giving their cameras PDAF that I saw - just continuous AF.  It's entirely possible that they're rolling out contrast-based AF across the board.  The fact that Petty said it would only work with L-mount lenses since they give distance information would suggest PDAF, though.

I’ve pulled this from a demo of the new functionality and shows switchable contrast and phase detect in the UI.

Full video is here 

 

13 minutes ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Petty did strongly imply, however, that it would be coming to other cameras in time - he made some comment about how it was really important for large format sensors

Yeah I think it will become clearer what BM’s intentions actually are for the 12K when they are doing demos and interviews at the show itself.

 

[eatstoomuchjam]

27 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

I’ve pulled this from a demo of the new functionality and shows switchable contrast and phase detect in the UI.

 

Well that's just great!  

Off to watch the video!

[MurtlandPhoto]

Had to listen to the livestream while on the road for work. Man oh man does Grant love his broadcast stuff. I drove my full nearly two hour trip before he even hinted at cameras lol. Anyways, the Pyxis 12K is super exciting to me. It makes sense that its price is exactly halfway between the Pyxis 6K and Cine 12K…. But $4500 USD would have felt worlds better to me haha.

[eatstoomuchjam]

1 hour ago, MurtlandPhoto said:

But $4500 USD would have felt worlds better to me haha.

If you can wait 2-3 months after it ships, you'll find it barely used for that much or even a bit less.  That's the nice thing with YouTube-popular cameras these days.

[eatstoomuchjam]

Haters of rolling shutter, weep with sadness.

While the 8K readout speeds that the the Blackmagic employee posted in this thread are still very good for an 8K camera, they are about 2x the speeds from the Pyxis.

For me, I wouldn't care much about ~12ms readout in 8K 16:9 mode and would barely see a difference from the ~6ms of the UC12K, but some people seem really upset by even a small change in RS.  I suppose that means that the 12k readout times will be about 24ms which is still totally fine for most things, but I suppose if they send one to Gerald to review, he'll spend half the video whining about it.

https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=218593&start=50

 

[MrSMW]

All I want to know is if the presentation has finished yet?

[zerocool22]

That 12k sensor does have some mojo going on. As good as Alexa? doubt.

But the Alexa is soooo heavy + lowlight is better on the pyxis.

[KnightsFan]

10 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

For me, I wouldn't care much about ~12ms readout in 8K 16:9 mode and would barely see a difference from the ~6ms of the UC12K,

12ms is pretty acceptable. I sort of suspected it would be a bit slower.

[eatstoomuchjam]

1 hour ago, KnightsFan said:

12ms is pretty acceptable. I sort of suspected it would be a bit slower.

These are the numbers provided by the Blackmagic employee in the forum thread that I linked above.

8K 3:2 Open Gate             13.51
8K 16:9                      11.61
8K 17:9                      10.89                 
8K 2.4:1                      8.59
8K 6:5                       13.51

[j_one]

I think this was to be expected, regarding rolling shutter. It's similar to the Ursa Mini Pro G2 clock speeds == RS improvement situation over the G1, but this time in reverse.