New Phamiya firmware?

[Guy Mancuso]

Peter it is supposed to have gotten much better and to be honest about the only real nit pick i have. The other is the 55mm it just hunts some and it does not have the MF /Af control on the lens and that bugs me but it is a good lens. Waiting on the new 45 D to replace it and the 35mm since I have the 28mm now. Have to see if the shutter lag is improved . Bob mentioned it is and i trust his judgement. The only other body i liked was the Hassy but the grip combo of back bugged me some. I like the DSLR feel better and the Sinar HY6 was the worst in feel and controls for me. Now the S2 coming would fit me well since I like that style but have to see how that measures up next year. Honestly if they don't feel good in your hands than there worthless because it never feels good to you and you think about the camera instead of what your supposed to be thinking about the image. It comes back to the old pair of shoes. LOL

 

[PeterA]

Guy - I reckon it is all so personal - truth be told we could take the best bits from each system and end up with teh best system - but which bits ..from which system?? !! LOL

 

[Jack]

Fact is, I think we've all gotten pretty dang spoiled. 20 years ago I wouldn't have dreamed I could do with a camera what I'm doing today, yet I am definitely complaining more about what it doesn't do!

,

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Very true Jack , most comments are usually not liking certain things than liking them. Anything is better than lugging a old 8x10 view camera around

 

[Bob]

That is one reason I like my Horseman. Once and awhile I just have to re-learn the pleasures of cocking the shutter and guessing the focus.
It is kind of a zen thing and it makes one appreciate the differences in cameras.
As for shutter lag, a camera that has an almost negative shutter lag is the D3 set to continuous fast.
If one is in the habit of Leica-like holding and squeezing the shutter almost like the freestyle target shooting I did in my youth, with the D3 you find that you took a burst of five shots.
So if the Horseman is a bolt-action ramp load single shot two stage trigger kind of camera, the Phamyia is clip-fed semi-auto, and the D3 is an Uzi.
A proper camera cabinet has room for all of these kinds of tools.
-bob

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Just FYI I was not going nuts . Phase did make a last minute correction and bumped it to 1.4 . No camera's got 1.3. So the upgrades are 1.4 firmware. Just got a note this morning from Phase

 

[Bill Caulfeild-Browne]

Mine was upgraded at Vistek in Toronto last week. Took about one hour. It is v 1.3. Shutter lag clearly better, some extra EXIF info, but most of the changes between 1.2 and 1.3 were to do with the ZD back and are not relevant to using the AFDIII with a P1 back.
Bill

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I shot a job today and finished at 3:40 and was in the Fed-X system by 4 pm. Should get to Phase in NY by Friday morning. Hopefully tuesday i will have it back in my hands. The shutter lag improvement is what i am most after . They also fixed the sync, manual focus arrows and a couple other goodies.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Well got word that my body made it to Phase One today, update was done and already shipped out for Monday delivery. Okay you just can't beat that with a stick.

 

[yaya]

Well got word that my body made it to Phase One today, update was done and already shipped out for Monday delivery. Okay you just can't beat that with a stick.

Lovely Guy but compared to plugging it into the capture software and letting it do its thing while you're having an espresso this is still a hassle...

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Totally agree and it should be that way no question. Hopefully next body will be user upgradeable. The good news here was at least done extremely fast. Some saving grace to this issue they have.

 

[yaya]

Do you know if the new body will have the same current mount as the AFD/ II/ III or if it'll require a newly designed digital back?

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I would think that will stay the same. Doubt they would ever change that with all these backs with the Mamiya mount.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Wow just showed up. Shutter lag is almost non existent. Seems much more responsive. This is making Guy a happy boy today. This alone was worth the update

 

[tashley]

Wow just showed up. Shutter lag is almost non existent. Seems much more responsive. This is making Guy a happy boy today. This alone was worth the update

Blimey Guy, that was quick!

Mine has to go to Denmark - my dealer can't do it in London - and I need it for a shoot next week so I'll leave it for a while I think

Congrats!

t

 

[Guy Mancuso]

It was really quick same day turn. Tim you should see if you can get it back in time. Maybe call Phase customer service or repair service

 

[tashley]

It was really quick same day turn. Tim you should see if you can get it back in time. Maybe call Phase customer service or repair service

I'm thinking it will give improvements that I can survive without short term so I'll wait - I know Phase has a better record but my Leica turnaround experiences have made me shy of the post office when there's a deadline looming...

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Jack,
Yup,
MUP works exactly that way.
AF dot and exposure lock brackets stay illuminated at mup.
It still needs two shutter presses, one for mup, second to trigger the self timer.
Self timer mode and setting survives both a camera on-off cycle as well as a one minute battery removal.
Shutter latency is a bit better I think.
Instead of the camera taking a long breath before firing, it now takes a very short breath.
If they shave just a bit more off the shutter lag it will seem near instantaneous. Part of the issue I have found is the fairly long shutter release movement between full up and shutter release. I think that if they shorten up the physical throw a bit, the shutter latency will seem shorter still.
-bob

p.s.
I actually haven't tested post mup exposure sensitivity through the eyepiece yet, but I suspect that the exposure lock indicator might actually mean that it it really locked.

I have not tried this yet to early in the morning but if I go into MLP hit the first up release, than hit the self timer say 2 seconds it will wait the 2 seconds than fire. So basically that 2 seconds could settle down the camera than fire it after I hit the shutter the second time and wait the 2 seconds and fire.

Everything else works as you say and have to say i am really impressed by the shutter lag now. When i was shooting a golf tourney I had to hit the shutter at the top to get the strike , that was a long wait. I don't feel this now, certainly have to get into some action shots and see how it goes but seems to me worlds better. I can't tell you this may have saved me 30k or at least 10k buying a Nikon system. One nit that really bugged me bad. Many times i am NOT shooting typical MF type work and i mean a lot of times.