Firmware Version 1.1.0 Feedback
Overall Impression
Firmware version 1.1 includes some excellent improvements—particularly scroll-wheel support and simultaneous HDMI and SDI output. However, several physical controls remain inconsistent across the interface, and some important features for professional workflows are still missing.
Unfortunately, I was unable to test the SDI port at this moment since I am away from my monitors. However I will do that this coming week. I plan on mounting a in-line Mutiny X2 ISO to protect my SDI port from being damaged from incorrect connections.
Currently Pixboom has no warning’s described in their manual to prevent SDI board damage.This is essential as 12G SDI is very sensitive to voltage spikes caused by unshielded, ungrounded, or just poorly connected external monitors etc. This is NOT a Pixboom, Red, or Arri Problem this is a 12G SDI reality.
I sent in a RED Komodo just last month for a blown SDI port because one of my AC’s didn’t follow the Last in First out rules. It’s one of those problems that can seem unnecessary until the conditions align to really screw up your day.
Ok, on to my run down of the new firmware :-)
Bugs and Control Issues
1. Home/Live Button
The physical Home/Live button works from the Home and Live screens, but it does not work while navigating menus.
Requested change: Make the Home/Live button functional throughout the entire interface. It should act as an escape button that immediately returns the camera to the Live screen, ready for filming.
2. Function Buttons on the Home Screen
The Function 1 and Function 2 buttons work while viewing the Live screen but not from the Home screen.
For example, I assigned FN1 and FN2 to adjust shutter speed. Although the shutter information is visible on the Home screen, pressing the assigned buttons there does not change it.
Requested change: Allow assigned FN buttons to work consistently from both the Home and Live screens. Some operators may prefer to leave the Home screen displayed while using an external monitor for image viewing.
3. Zoom Transition Glitch
The 4× Zoom feature is very useful for checking focus. However, exiting Zoom briefly displays a glitched or interlaced-looking frame.
Requested change: Provide a clean transition from the magnified view back to the full image.
4. Exiting Clip Playback
During clip playback, neither the Home/Live button nor the Menu/Back button has any effect. Currently, the Play button is the only way to exit playback.
Requested changes:
- Home/Live should exit playback and return directly to the Live screen.
- Menu/Back should exit playback and open the menu.
5. EF Lens Information
With a Sigma 18–35mm EF lens attached, opening the lens-information screen caused the camera to freeze briefly. After several attempts, the lens information eventually appeared correctly.
No change, just highlighting something that happened.
6. UART Display Glitch
The display briefly glitched the first time UART control was changed to EXT. The problem has not occurred again.
No change, just highlighting something that happened.
Firmware Feature Requests
High Priority
1. Reel and Clip Naming
The camera continues to label recordings with repeating names such as A001…C001. This creates serious file-management problems in professional productions, especially on multi-camera shoots.
Requested options:
- Assignable reel letters and numbers
- Sequential clip numbering
- At minimum, a unique filename for every recording that does not have Reel letter and Clip numbers.
Unique filenames are essential to prevent duplicate names and make footage easier to organize, transfer, conform, and archive.
Having this Reel Letter & Clip number is a standard part of any film crew work flow and it is very disruptive to the process to have a camera writing only A001C001 to every clip. So far this has been a 20 minute long discussion on every set I have shot on so far with it on how to handle these files.
If providing this ability is beyond what your team can do right now, I suggest you remove the reel / clip labeling and just do unique file names per take… While I would 100% rather have the standard way, doing it the half in half out way is a problem for us.
2. Longer Pre-Record Duration
At UHD 4K and approximately 937 fps, the current setting provides about 3.3 seconds of usable pre-recording.
Suggested targets:
- Minimum: 5 seconds
- Preferred: 10–30 seconds
- Ideal: Longer, user-selectable durations when technically possible
Example use case: During a spec commercial shoot, we filmed an object falling into frame. It needed to land with its branding facing the camera perfectly. The camera remained static, resets were quick, and we ultimately recorded more than 70 takes to obtain two usable shots.
With 20–30 seconds of pre-recording, we could have repeated the drop continuously and pressed Record only after seeing the object land correctly. This would have dramatically reduced the number of unnecessary clips and the amount of footage requiring transfer, review, and storage.
3. Speed-Sensitive Scroll-Wheel Scrubbing
The scroll wheel is helpful for precise frame selection, but it is currently too slow for navigating high-frame-rate footage.
Requested change: Add speed-sensitive or accelerated scrolling:
- Slow wheel movement should advance frame by frame.
- Faster wheel movement should scrub rapidly through the clip.
This would preserve precision while making long or high-frame-rate clips much faster to review.
Lower Priority
1. Save and Restore User Profiles
Firmware updates currently require users to rebuild their camera settings, including run/stop controls, white balance, frame rates, resolutions, and custom presets.
Requested change: Allow complete camera configurations to be saved and restored, ideally through exportable user-profile files. Profiles should persist through firmware updates whenever possible.
Positive Improvements
- Scroll-wheel navigation and selection are now functional—thank you!
- Pressing Record from a menu immediately opens the Live view and begins recording.
- The 4× Zoom feature is useful for focus verification.
- HDMI and SDI outputs can now be enabled simultaneously.
Since Pixboom has not published any guidance, I would treat the Spark like any other modern 12G-SDI cinema camera:
- Mount batteries on both the camera and the monitor/transmitter.
- Connect power to both devices first.
- Then connect the SDI cable.
- If changing batteries on either device and the accessory will lose power:Disconnect the SDI cable first.Change the battery.Restore power.Reconnect the SDI cable.
- Disconnect the SDI cable first.
- Change the battery.
- Restore power.
- Reconnect the SDI cable.
- Avoid powering accessories from unstable or poorly regulated D-Tap outputs whenever possible.