Firmware - upgrading backs, bodies & (lens?)

[Henry Goh]

I was just told that PO AF645 bodies need to be shipped to Denmark whenever a firmware upgrade is needed. This is also the case for backs, I was told. Is this the same situation for people in the US? I'm in Singapore. What about the new "D" Mamiya Sekor lenses - do they have firmware to be updated also?

Perhaps Steve or Doug can chip in to share why users are not given access to firmware so that we can upgrade without additional expense or loss of use.

Thanks.

 

[dougpeterson]

These are all good questions to ask the support agent where you buy your back. The answers below are pretty general, but I give very specific advice to our customers based on what I know about their usage of the equipment.

Digital Backs: Most Phase firmware upgrades can be done by the user using a mac/pc and a firewire cable. phaseone.com has a downloads > digital-back-firmware section for this. One exception is the handful of 65+ models which shipped prior to the completion of Sensor+ technology. For this unique update Phase is swapping updated backs to users over the next several months to minimize out-of-hand time.

Lenses: firmware updates for lenses are pretty rare. There is a firmware update for the
Mamiya 75-150mm which fixed a problem where the lens would stop down (DOF preview) unexpectedly. There is a firmware update for the Phase One 80mm which slightly reduces black out time at wide aperture. These updates would normally be done at the same time as a body firmware update or as part of a repair.

Body: firmware updates for the AFD2 and AFD3 must be done at the factory. Future bodies are likely to have user upgradable firmware, but we won't know that for sure until such bodies are released.

Doug Peterson (e-mail Me)
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Phase One, Canon, Apple, Profoto, Eizo & More
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[Henry Goh]

Thanks Doug!

What I heard from a Mamiya distributor is they are able to perform firmware upgrades for the AFD III, including P1 body. However P1 distributor needs to send the P1 body back to factory. I find this quite amusing.

What Mamiya's distributors are doing now is to charge P1 body owners for a local firmware upgrade. They are also suggesting that with the new M backs, it would be a better deal to buy from them rather than P1 dealers. Seems to make sense.