XF Feature Update 2, Capture One 9.1

[dougpeterson]

Three big announcements today in Team Phase One land...

Phase One XF Feature Update 2
- Improved AF especially in low contrast and low light scenes
- Focus Stacking tool
- HDR Sequence tool
- Timelapse tool
- Good old fashion self-timer option
- Redesign of hyper-focal distance tool
- Redesign of IQ interface to look/feel more in line with XF interface

Capture One 9.1 with support
- handling for the Focus Stack, HDR, and time lapse features added to XF
- Rotatable Live View
- Metadata for tethered workflow
- Export/Output Keyword restrictions
- New Color Editor Tools, especially for skin tone
- Improved Shortcuts

Blue Ring Lens Line Expanded
Blue Ring versions of the Schneider 110LS and 240LS lenses

See the links above for more details. Feel free to ask any questions you have.

We (Digital Transitions) will be releasing a set of Capture One styles on Monday that leverage some of the new skin tone tools. Stay tuned

 

[trond]

Thank you Doug!

This really look like a "Pandora's Box" of new features.

Looks really amazing in fact!

Best regards

Trond

 

[Kirmo]

Just updated XF and the IQ380 that I have.

I'll have more time next week to try these out.


Kirmo

 

[dougpeterson]

What does it mean "free for one year" for focus stacking? After a year you pay extra? That would be a huge bucket of crap

The focus stacking tool in the body itself (which controls the process of establishing a front and back point of focus and number of increments in between, and triggering those captures) is free forever.

Those raw files (automatically sequentially captured by the XF with accurate spacing) can then be stacked into one TIFF using any number of third-party applications. For instance you can use the focus-stacking tool in Photoshop.

Since Helicon Focus (the third-party focus stacking software) is widely recognized as one of the best tools for such software stacking they partnered with Helicon to provide a one year subscription to Helicon Focus to any XF owner. If you wish to continue using Helicon Focus after that year subscription that Phase One has provided then you would need to pay Helicon to continue to use Helicon's software.

Does that clear up the confusion?

 

[Paul2660]

Does Phase One provide a code to use for the Helicon software?

Or do you enter the serial number of the XF?

Just curious as Helicon has gone to a subscription process or yearly purchase type setup.

Paul C

 

[Craig Stocks]

Focus stack capture sounds great, but am I the only one who finds this confusing? I finally found the short video from P1 (thanks DT for the links) but I still have questions:

1 - Why is "far point" shown as 23 and the near point is 153? Doesn't it seem like the far point should be a higher number (as in farther away)?

2 - What is the unit of measure (feet, meters, cm, inches, etc.)?

3 - How do you use the feature if you don't have a CMOS back with good live view?

4 - Can you set the near and far points based on lens focus position? In other words. focus on the near point and press a button to capture that position, focus the lens on the far point and press a button to capture that position, and so on.

I do with Phase would put some effort into explaining how to use their tools. I'm sure it all seems very intuitive to the engineers who designed the system but it isn't always intuitive to the rest of us.

 

[strok]

Question.
My dealer gave me a firmware update for IQ250 when I got my XF body.
Both firmware files came with ***.fwr extension.
Now, I'm trying to download the new firmware from phaseone.com, the file comes in ZIP format.
When I'm extracting the ZIP file it extracts like 10 files and camera doesn't recognize it as a firmware.
What am I doing wrong?
Cheers

 

[dougpeterson]

Focus stack capture sounds great, but am I the only one who finds this confusing? I finally found the short video from P1 (thanks DT for the links) but I still have questions:

1 - Why is "far point" shown as 23 and the near point is 153? Doesn't it seem like the far point should be a higher number (as in farther away)?

2 - What is the unit of measure (feet, meters, cm, inches, etc.)?

3 - How do you use the feature if you don't have a CMOS back with good live view?

4 - Can you set the near and far points based on lens focus position? In other words. focus on the near point and press a button to capture that position, focus the lens on the far point and press a button to capture that position, and so on.

I do with Phase would put some effort into explaining how to use their tools. I'm sure it all seems very intuitive to the engineers who designed the system but it isn't always intuitive to the rest of us.

Remember that Phase One is a dealer-driven company. You can call your dealer and have them step you through anything you need by phone or video chat or in person. But I will attempt to answer here in brief form (trying to type out answers to these questions only emphasizes how much better 1v1 voice/video answers are). I spend a good deal of each day working with clients to help them understand not just the step-by-step of a given tool, but best practices and ways for them to integrate those tools into their current workflows based on their needs and wants.

1/2. - the unit is motor turns since that is what is being kept track of. Don't let this confuse you. You'll establish front/back point of focus other ways.

3. Turn the lens to manual, using the optical viewfinder set the focus point, set lens to auto, save... the lens will rack out and back in to that same point and register the point of focus.

4. Yes, as described above.

 

[DougDolde]

All this sort of makes me wish I'd stuck with my SIMPLE Contax 645. The XF is too complicated and I really won't use any of this fluff. Not to mention the thousands of dollars I'd have saved.

 

[dougpeterson]

Does Phase One provide a code to use for the Helicon software?

Phaseone.com > My Pages > Register Hardware > Register your XF (see note at top of page)

 

[Craig Stocks]

Doug, thanks for the quick response. Yes, I could ask my dealer but it seems very inefficient for dealers to explain new features to their customers one at a time where a forum reply helps many at once. Of course it would be much more efficient if Phase One would provide documentation rather than relying on tribal knowledge.

 

[dougpeterson]

All this sort of makes me wish I'd stuck with my SIMPLE Contax 645. The XF is too complicated and I really won't use any of this fluff. Not to mention the thousands of dollars I'd have saved.

Simply turn the UI to "Simple" mode and all it will show you is shutter/aperture/iso/meter and nothing else.

If you don't need any of the tools provided you don't have to use them, but more importantly you don't even have to see them. It can behave exactly as simple as a Contax, but with better AF and faster flash sync.

 

[Craig Stocks]

Question.
My dealer gave me a firmware update for IQ250 when I got my XF body.
Both firmware files came with ***.fwr extension.
Now, I'm trying to download the new firmware from phaseone.com, the file comes in ZIP format.
When I'm extracting the ZIP file it extracts like 10 files and camera doesn't recognize it as a firmware.
What am I doing wrong?
Cheers

I have the same problem when I use Internet Explorer to download P1 firmware. Everything works fine if I use Firefox as my browser.

 

[dougpeterson]

Of course it would be much more efficient if Phase One would provide documentation rather than relying on tribal knowledge.

They do. The user manual has been updated and the YouTube videos uploaded. But very few users read manuals, and YouTube videos aren't very interactive and don't know who you are or what you do .

 

[strok]

I have the same problem when I use Internet Explorer to download P1 firmware. Everything works fine if I use Firefox as my browser.

Thank you Craig, the firefox did the trick.

 

[strok]

They do. The user manual has been updated and the YouTube videos uploaded. But very few users read manuals, and YouTube videos aren't very interactive and don't know who you are or what you do .

Just a quick suggestion...
Not a good option to leave the .fwr file available for download.
The download file can be corrupted and it can damage your camera.
If a ZIP file is corrupted, you simply can't extract it.
Plus you can include any instructions or help file into zip file.
Cheers

 

[kdphotography]

All this sort of makes me wish I'd stuck with my SIMPLE Contax 645. The XF is too complicated and I really won't use any of this fluff. Not to mention the thousands of dollars I'd have saved.

Most all these new features I probably won't use either, but nice to have. The XF autofocus is worth the upgrade alone (over the DF). Profoto Air Sync with leaf shutter lenses----awesome! I'd love to see an update to allow adjusting Profoto light output from the XF body too.

ken

 

[Craig Stocks]

Thanks for point out that the manual has been updated. The updated manual does answer some of my basic questions, and the video answers others.

Apparently some of my frustration falls into the category of feature requests.

Selecting near and far points can be difficult if you don't have CMOS live view. Auto focus and the focus confirmation lights don't work when you're in focus stack mode so you have to focus by eye (not my most reliable process). I've tried switching to regular exposure mode, using auto-focus to select the focus distance, then switch back to focus-stack mode, switch the lens from auto to manual and then back to auto and then select the point. Seems like it should work but the lens doesn't return to the same selected focus distance according to the scale and the images don't seem sharp. I'd like to see the focus confirmation lights stay active and have the option to simply press an "auto-focus" button rather than trying to dial the focus distance based on focus motor control units.

I'd also like to see the camera calculate the number of frames needed based on near focus point, far focus point and selected f/stop. That might require a desired CoF setting.

 

[DougDolde]

What about " Redesign of IQ interface to look/feel more in line with XF interface" ? It doesnt show what this looks like. At this point I don't know if I even want to upgrade the XF or back firmware

 

[aztwang]

What about " Redesign of IQ interface to look/feel more in line with XF interface" ? It doesnt show what this looks like. At this point I don't know if I even want to upgrade the XF or back firmware

Save your old firmware and update, iof you dont like it reinstall the original. The interface is
highlighted Blue instead of white, easier to see and on the back you can pull up a screen of icons, I like the feature. There are probably more but thats all I see for now.

Cheers