E-P1 firmware 1.2 released - improves CDAF speed.

[Brian Mosley]

Hello everyone,

good news for E-P1 users - Olympus have released firmware 1.2 for the body (and I notice that the Lumix 20mm f1.7 is at rev 1.1) which improves CDAF speed noticeably.

Not a dramatic improvement (we're only talking 10'ths of a second here) - but the camera is certainly more responsive.

Make sure you have a fully charged battery installed before you connect to your machine running Olympus Master/Studio, connected to the internet for the live update.

Cheers

Brian

 

[retow]

Hello everyone,

good news for E-P1 users - Olympus have released firmware 1.2 for the body (and I notice that the Lumix 20mm f1.7 is at rev 1.1) which improves CDAF speed noticeably.

Not a dramatic improvement (we're only talking 10'ths of a second here) - but the camera is certainly more responsive.

Make sure you have a fully charged battery installed before you connect to your machine running Olympus Master/Studio, connected to the internet for the live update.

Cheers

Brian

Brian,

Thanks for the heads up. Is this update for the EP2 as well?

 

[Brian Mosley]

No, just for the E-P1 at the moment.

Cheers

Brian

 

[PeterB666]

They worked a little treat here, particularly with the performance of the Panasonic 20mm lens on the E-P1. I did some quick tests and compared my results to earlier tests after Panasonic updated their lens firmware...

Here are the results of testing with the Olympus 14-42mm, Panasonic 20mm and Panasonic 45-200mm lenses using ...

Lens speed test

Done at a distance of around 900mm, indoors with normal ambiant lighting from a single overhead light fitting.

The Olympus 14-42mm is now a fairly consistent 0.9s. Previously 1.0s to 1.2s when set at around 20mm.

The Panasonic 20mm is considerably faster than before with my test autofocus shots now around 0.6 to 0.7s. This is a big improvement as the 20mm lens was slower than the 14-42 zoom in my previous tests. Focus times were previously 1.0 to 1.2s. That's a stunning improvment.

I also tested the MF time on the 20mm lens which is now around 0.3s. That seems to be a little faster too but am yet to find the old results. From memory they were in a very pathetic 0.4s to almost 0.5s range.

The Panasonic 45-200 tested at 45mm focused between 0.5 and 0.7s. Previous test results 0.6 to 0.8s.

The improvement in the Panasonic 20mm lens is fantastic. Maybe Olympus are being coy about those improvements in the Panasonic lenses as they want you to wait and buy their new lenses coming out over the coming months.

 

[Brian Mosley]

Thanks Peter, your timings confirm my first impressions.

Hopefully Olympus can get on to improving MF assist access now. :deadhorse:

Cheers

Brian

 

[Tullio]

Humm, Olympus is doing the exact opposite of what Panasonic has done with regards to MF. Panasonic changed the firmware allowing the enlarged image to remain enlarged indefinitely until the shutter is half-pressed. Olympus should have implemented the magnification display in the same way. Instead of limiting the length of time the enlarged image remains enlarged, it should make it go back to normal by half-pressing the shutter instead. A poor fix of a poor implementation, IMO. For me, I rather keep it as is. Some times it can take me a long time to MF on the subject. Last thing I want is to have the camera setting the image back to its normal display size before I'm done with the focus adjustment, thus forcing me to go through the menus all over again to re-enlarge the displayed image.

BTW, does any one know how long the image remains enlarged after the firmware upgraded?

 

[PeterB666]

Panasonic changed the firmware allowing the enlarged image to remain enlarged indefinitely until the shutter is half-pressed. Olympus should have implemented the magnification display in the same way.

With the Olympus, you can have the MF magnification remain indefinitely if activated with the view button. The view button is customisable so you can effectively set up the camera to toggle between a limited number of views.

You can also set the Fn button to toggle between MF and autofocus and even put S-AF as a push option onto the AEL/AEL button while MF is engaged which works well for quick rough focusing that can then be fine tuned with MF.

 

[Tullio]

With the Olympus, you can have the MF magnification remain indefinitely if activated with the view button. The view button is customisable so you can effectively set up the camera to toggle between a limited number of views.

Yes, but you can not get out of the magnification by simply pressing the shutter release and that's what I meant by having Olympus implementation be like Panasonic's. Now, with the just announced F/W upgrade, apparently the magnified image will not remain magnified indefinitely anymore. The question is, how long will it stay magnified before the camera cancels the magnification automatically?

 

[grappa]

I am using a Mac with Snow Leopard. Olympus Master,the latest version,gives me the message that it cannot communicate with the server.
Has anyone any idea what the problem might be ?
Why does Olympus have to make it so hard ? Can't we just download the updates like everyone else. This sure dims my view of Olympus. I used to like the product.
I really want to update my EP-1

 

[Bill Gordon]

I am using a Mac with Snow Leopard. Olympus Master,the latest version,gives me the message that it cannot communicate with the server.
Has anyone any idea what the problem might be ?
Why does Olympus have to make it so hard ? Can't we just download the updates like everyone else. This sure dims my view of Olympus. I used to like the product.
I really want to update my EP-1

I have the same iMac + snow leopard +Olympus software and had no problem downloading the firmware update.

 

[Tullio]

I am using a Mac with Snow Leopard. Olympus Master,the latest version,gives me the message that it cannot communicate with the server.

I agree, this is a retarded way of doing F/W upgrades. Do you get the message when you connect the camera to the USB? If so, disconnect the camera from the computer, go to your camera's menu (one option before last), select item "D" (Disp/PC), go to USB and change from AUTO to STORAGE. Then reconnect the camera to your PC. Before you turn the camera ON, make sure you have launched the Olympus Master software. Then turn the camera ON. This should work.

 

[grappa]

The camera turns on automatically when plugged in. The computer will communicate with the camera but will not connect to the server.
I give up. It's probably a waste of time anyway.

 

[csrgavh]

The camera turns on automatically when plugged in. The computer will communicate with the camera but will not connect to the server.

I just this moment upgraded my firmware using Snow Leopard. I had the same experience with a previous upgrade. What I failed to do when the camera acknowledged the connection showing "Storage' was to press the 'Ok' button in the center. This sets the camera to 'Storage' and everything will work correctly after that when trying to connect to the server.

--
Craig

 

[Tullio]

That's exactly what I had suggested...change the in-camera USB connection from AUTO to STORAGE.

 

[Greg Lockrey]

You also have to remove the disc from the camera first. It seems to want to download your picture files if it's there.

 

[Brian Mosley]

I had the same problem connecting with their server at first - I just assumed it was overloaded and tried 10 mins later with success.

Keep trying, it's worth upgrading.

Cheers

Brian

 

[PeterB666]

You also have to remove the disc from the camera first. It seems to want to download your picture files if it's there.

Whether Olympus Master 2 starts to automatically download pictures or not will depend on your previously saved settings. I have made sure mine doesn't do so automatically.

 

[grappa]

Well I did remove my sd card as the ditections said,I also set the camera to storage,I tried,and tried. It should not be this hard. I am sure that some people can do it but there must be some other setting or software causing a problem. I finally got success when my daughter gave me her Macbook.

 

[Tullio]

Great news, grappa. I wonder if the problem with your Mac was related to the anti-virus program (assuming you have one installed, of course), preventing the access to the Olympus server. Every now and then my AV blocks access to a site but in my case, a little window pops up asking me for permission. Just a thought.