New Phase One Firmware for IQ, XF, and XT

[vjbelle]

Frame averaging does not work at all...... at least for me on a Tech camera. Exposure adjustment is limited to iso ONLY. A complete disappointment.

I'm reverting back.

Victor

[Christopher]

can't be happening again... What is the current version? Why is the pdf labeled September..... ? is 6.00.52.fwp the new one? Documentation is once again like ****

[vjbelle]

FWIW the file I downloaded from PhaseOne appears to be identical to the original firmware. What is going on???

Victor

[Christopher]

Doug was to soon, or Phase One to slow... Or Phase One is just again Phase One...

[Mexecutioner]

FWIW the file I downloaded from PhaseOne appears to be identical to the original firmware. What is going on???

Victor

The one on the Phase One website is the same as the old one, they haven't updated it.

The one posted by DT is newer (at least the version number is) but comes with no documentation, just the 6.01.1.fwp file.


Here's the link if anybody is feeling lucky this lovely Monday:

https://www.dtcommercialphoto.com/dw...stem6.01.1.fwp

[rsinclair]

Who's gonna be the brave one to go first???

AFA and Copal work on my Arcas. W/ bugged FW (last version) Copal worked, but AFA did not - it does now.

In LV w/ hard button press, only available exposure adjustment remains ISO. While Aperture values are only for meta, both it and Shutter inputs are still only on Main screen.

[vjbelle]

With the latest firmware update 6.01.1 exposure adjustment on a Tech camera only is available with ISO - no shutter speed!!

Phase has to know that the Tech camera community is a major contributor to their hardware sales and why they continue to put us on the back seat in favor of promoting their latest hardware endeavors is beyond me. Seems to me that a lot less effort would have been needed to make this work properly with a tech camera vs. the new XT which for sure needs lots more coding.

Once again I am completely frustrated and disappointed.

FA does work but the time delay is missing in the LCD display with only the button showing.

Clumsy at best from a company that is charging mega dollars for their hardware.

Lots of users are not going to forget this obvious corporate direction away from the generic tech community vs. the Phase tech.......

Victor

[Paul2660]

Hi Victor.

Do you mean shutter speed? Aperture would be via copal wouldn’t it?

Assuming you are referring to use of the hard buttons for both shutter speed and ISO?

Just wanted to double check.

Still on the beta for my back.

Paul C

[vjbelle]

Hi Paul..... corrected for 'shutter speed'. Yes buttons only will provide correction for ISO.

Again...... a complete disappointment

Victor

[Wayne Fox]

Who's gonna be the brave one to go first???

Not I ... with Phase’s recent track record they fixed one thing and broke something else. fortunately I never installed the last one with the bugs.

[Mexecutioner]

I rolled the dice and did it just now, seems to work well with the XF. Will let you know if I notice something broken or any unexpected behavior.

[Wayne Fox]

I rolled the dice and did it just now, seems to work well with the XF. Will let you know if I notice something broken or any unexpected behavior.

good to hear. Of course the real concern for me is how well it works with my tech camera, anyone brave enough to try it please let me know.

[Ztacir]

I rolled the dice and did it just now, seems to work well with the XF. Will let you know if I notice something broken or any unexpected behavior.

It's good to hear that it's working allright with XF.
I am curious that if the longest exposure for frame averaging for one shut went up from 2 second to 60 minutes.

Ziya
Ziya Tacir | Photography

[SCHWARZZEIT]

It's good to hear that it's working allright with XF.
I am curious that if the longest exposure for frame averaging for one shut went up from 2 second to 60 minutes.

Ziya
Ziya Tacir | Photography

Ziya,

on firmware 6.00.52 the automated frame averaging tool allowed to set the shutter speed of individual frame up to 60 minutes. With the new firmware 6.01.1 it's limited to 1 minute.
While I personally think the user should have all options that are technically possible I'd say there is little practical use for AFA on longer exposures than 1 minute. In those cases I think manual frame averaging (MFA) is preferable most of the time as you have much more refined control over the individual exposures and retain the choice on which stacking algorithm to use. The only downside I see in MFA are the little gaps between frames which can cause some issues (such as gaps in light trails) under certain conditions.

-Dominique

[Ztacir]

Ziya,

on firmware 6.00.52 the automated frame averaging tool allowed to set the shutter speed of individual frame up to 60 minutes. With the new firmware 6.01.1 it's limited to 1 minute.
While I personally think the user should have all options that are technically possible I'd say there is little practical use for AFA on longer exposures than 1 minute. In those cases I think manual frame averaging (MFA) is preferable most of the time as you have much more refined control over the individual exposures and retain the choice on which stacking algorithm to use. The only downside I see in MFA are the little gaps between frames which can cause some issues (such as gaps in light trails) under certain conditions.

-Dominique

Thank you Dominique, 1 min is certainly enough assuming it is 16-bit as well.
I actually had a chance to experiment with AFA last week and I was very happy with the results which I will share here in coming days.
Ziya

[ASTeamwork]

Ziya,

on firmware 6.00.52 the automated frame averaging tool allowed to set the shutter speed of individual frame up to 60 minutes. With the new firmware 6.01.1 it's limited to 1 minute.
While I personally think the user should have all options that are technically possible I'd say there is little practical use for AFA on longer exposures than 1 minute. In those cases I think manual frame averaging (MFA) is preferable most of the time as you have much more refined control over the individual exposures and retain the choice on which stacking algorithm to use. The only downside I see in MFA are the little gaps between frames which can cause some issues (such as gaps in light trails) under certain conditions.

-Dominique

It is limited to 1 minute when set to LS, but up to 60 minutes when set to ES.

[SCHWARZZEIT]

It is limited to 1 minute when set to LS, but up to 60 minutes when set to ES.

Hi Al,

thanks for the info. However, when I checked the individual exposure time range in the AFA tool with firmware 6.01.1 I had the XF set to ES. After reading your post I tried several settings such as switching to LS and back to ES or dialing in longer than 1 minute shutter speeds before entering the AFA tool. But in the AFA tool it was reset to 1 minute and I wasn't able to select anything longer than 1 minute. Can you please confirm that you can select longer shutter speeds for individual frames in the AFA tool in firmware 6.01.1 on the XF? Can any other users confirm that this is possible?

Why should there be a difference whether LS or ES is selected? AFA uses ES only. If there is a difference then I guess it's a bug.

-Dominique

[ASTeamwork]

Hi Al,

thanks for the info. However, when I checked the individual exposure time range in the AFA tool with firmware 6.01.1 I had the XF set to ES. After reading your post I tried several settings such as switching to LS and back to ES or dialing in longer than 1 minute shutter speeds before entering the AFA tool. But in the AFA tool it was reset to 1 minute and I wasn't able to select anything longer than 1 minute. Can you please confirm that you can select longer shutter speeds for individual frames in the AFA tool in firmware 6.01.1 on the XF? Can any other users confirm that this is possible?

Why should there be a difference whether LS or ES is selected? AFA uses ES only. If there is a difference then I guess it's a bug.

-Dominique

All with firmware 6.01.1.

Just tested again on the XT, and there is variation whether you are set to LS or ES. With LS the shutter speed within the AFA tool is limited to 30 seconds, with the ES to 1 minute.

This seems to be the case with the XF as well - I can only select up to 1 minute within the AFA tool, and likewise it readjusts if I set for longer outside of the tool. However, I can override the limitation with the shutter speed dial on the XF, and then it (seems to) allow me to capture up to 1 hour - at least the number of frames adjusts, until you leave the tool.

Seems like a glitch, I will pass on to Phase One.

[Paul2660]

All with firmware 6.01.1.

Just tested again on the XT, and the the shutter speed within the AFA tool is limited to 1 minute.

This seems to be the case with the XF as well - I can only select up to 1 minute within the AFA tool, but I can override the limitation with the shutter speed dial on the XF, and then it allows me to set up to 1 hour. Until you leave the tool, you can capture at longer that 1 minute (at least the counter continues past 1 minute, I haven't tested for an hour).

Seems like a glitch, I will pass on to Phase One.

So just want to make sure, on the previous beta, you could set the AFA to a longer shutter speed? I am still on beta, and guess will stay there, if this is true.

Thanks
Paul C

[SCHWARZZEIT]

All with firmware 6.01.1.

Just tested again on the XT, and the the shutter speed within the AFA tool is limited to 1 minute.

This seems to be the case with the XF as well - I can only select up to 1 minute within the AFA tool, and likewise it readjusts if I set for longer outside of the tool. However, I can override the limitation with the shutter speed dial on the XF, and then it allows me to set up to 1 hour. Until you leave the tool, you can capture at longer than 1 minute (at least the counter continues passed 1 minute, I haven't tested for an hour).

Seems like a glitch, I will pass on to Phase One.

Thanks for the hint, Al. I can confirm using the shutter speed dial allows to set exposure times of up to 1 hour for individual frames in the AFA tool. But the drop down menu only allows to select shutter speeds of up to 1 minute. I also guess the override is most likely a glitch not intended by Phase One.

[ASTeamwork]

Thanks for the hint, Al. I can confirm using the shutter speed dial allows to set exposure times of up to 1 hour for individual frames in the AFA tool. But the drop down menu only allows to select shutter speeds of up to 1 minute. I also guess the override is most likely a glitch not intended by Phase One.

Generally the drop down menu is limited to 1 minute, but it seems you can sometimes trick it to show up to an hour (I can't work out the pattern as to why/when)!

[Christopher]

For me it shows one hour. So that good, however, why the .... can’t I change exposure in LV with the hard buttons like on the XT... only iso the honestly one of the @@@@ things I have seen in the past.

Oh and while your add it show us the selected aperture as well!!!

Another sad Firmware update....

[dougpeterson]

For me it shows one hour. So that good, however, why the .... can’t I change exposure in LV with the hard buttons like on the XT... only iso the honestly one of the @@@@ things I have seen in the past.

Oh and while your add it show us the selected aperture as well!!!

Another sad Firmware update....

As I've posted before, Phase One has committed to providing control of shutter speed on non-XT tech cameras via hard buttons in a future firmware update. That requires its own development and testing.

That's just not this firmware update; this one just fixes the bug in the previous update that affected frame averaging on non-XT tech camera (an illustration of why any given feature must be tested on each platform, and adding hard-button control on non-XT cameras is not just some switch to flip).

[Christopher]

For phase one it just be extremely complicated, to do super simple things like showing exposure for all users. It’s funny, because when talking to actual software guys, they are rolfing as they can’t imagine what beginner is working on that firmware. We are talking about the most basic things.... it’s embarrassing for a 50K+ products.

[darr]

FYI ALPA released this Tech Alert today regarding the latest IQ4 firmware update:

[SCHWARZZEIT]

FYI ALPA released this Tech Alert today regarding the latest IQ4 firmware update:

The Alpa Tech Alert refers to the previous firmware 6.00.52. In the latest firmware 6.01.1 these issues are (supposed to be) fixed.

[Mexecutioner]

The Alpa Tech Alert refers to the previous firmware 6.00.52. In the latest firmware 6.01.1 these issues are (supposed to be) fixed.

Seems Alpa is late to the party or have not been informed by their "partner"

[Steve Hendrix]

Seems Alpa is late to the party or have not been informed by their "partner"

We discovered this just in the past few weeks when testing an Alpa One Shot cable, then also an FPS, and a Silex, all for different clients. And I am sure others reported this.

The synchronization timing did change in the Phase One firmware after 3.0.2 (for IQ4) and that is the issue.

Both companies are in contact and cooperation on the issue and working on the resolution.


Steve Hendrix/CI

[vjbelle]

As I've posted before, Phase One has committed to providing control of shutter speed on non-XT tech cameras via hard buttons in a future firmware update. That requires its own development and testing.

.

Doug..... as one of the great contributors you are for Phase I hope by this post you have some inside knowledge that non-XT tech cameras will get control of shutter speed via hard buttons.... So the question goes begging..... Do You?

Victor

[vjbelle]

Trying to keep my glass half full I have found a positive use for the ISO 'ONLY' button exposure control. Assuming that you start with the exposure being under exposed the ISO Only button does allow you to see how much exposure increase would be necessary for a spot on exposure. I just count the number of 1/3 stops necessary for the correct histogram and then revert back to the 'camera' display to adjust accordingly [and, of course, setting the ISO back to normal]. It really works very well without having to go back and forth from camera to live view numerous time.

Just trying to stay positive.....

Victor

[dougpeterson]

Doug..... as one of the great contributors you are for Phase I hope by this post you have some inside knowledge that non-XT tech cameras will get control of shutter speed via hard buttons.... So the question goes begging..... Do You?

Victor

Correct; at least when using sensor-based ES or an X-Shutter. Obviously they can’t control the mechanical shutter speed of a copal shutter.

At least that’s the plan/intention last time I spoke to the product manager.

[onasj]

Can someone please confirm if the latest IQ4 firmware allows or doesn’t allow Alpa’s one shot sync cable (Mark III, 12-pin) to function properly? I’ve been waiting to upgrade to the latest firmware but need the one-shot cable to not become dysfunctional...

Thank you!

We discovered this just in the past few weeks when testing an Alpa One Shot cable, then also an FPS, and a Silex, all for different clients. And I am sure others reported this.

The synchronization timing did change in the Phase One firmware after 3.0.2 (for IQ4) and that is the issue.

Both companies are in contact and cooperation on the issue and working on the resolution.


Steve Hendrix/CI

[onasj]

Just bumping this up to see if any IQ4 Copal one-shot cable Alpa owners out there have tested the 6.01.1 IQ4 firmware.

Thank you for braving the waters, if you've done so already.

Can someone please confirm if the latest IQ4 firmware allows or doesn’t allow Alpa’s one shot sync cable (Mark III, 12-pin) to function properly? I’ve been waiting to upgrade to the latest firmware but need the one-shot cable to not become dysfunctional...

Thank you!

[Mexecutioner]

Just bumping this up to see if any IQ4 Copal one-shot cable Alpa owners out there have tested the 6.01.1 IQ4 firmware.

Thank you for braving the waters, if you've done so already.

Seems there have been no takers, you may have to bite the bullet and try it out, then revert to the version you have now if this has not been fixed.

[kimyeesan]

Does the firmware work properly on a tech cam using just ES? Seems like nobody is answering this question or brave enough to try out.... hahaha .

[GrahamWelland]

I’m waiting despite my dealer telling me it’s ok ...

[Ztacir]

I took the poison pill and I am still alive.
My technical camera works just perfect with the new firmware.
I confirm the longest shutter speed for the frame average is 1Min.
Ziya

[beano_z]

I've been out shooting with the XF a couple times already on the new firmware and the only bug I found in my workflow is that frame averaging cannot be triggered via the Profoto transceiver remote, so even in FA mode, when you trigger the camera wirelessly, it would only fire one shot and not the frame averaged sequence.

[Paul2660]

Also appears that the BOB will not reliably fire FA. I had at least 65 percent failure when I used the BOB to fire. Zero failures when I used the shutter icon on the screen.

This is on a tech camera. RM3DI

Paul C

[Jacob Buchowski]

I've been out shooting with the XF a couple times already on the new firmware and the only bug I found in my workflow is that frame averaging cannot be triggered via the Profoto transceiver remote, so even in FA mode, when you trigger the camera wirelessly, it would only fire one shot and not the frame averaged sequence.

I found this to be the case with all versions of the firmware that has had FA as well when using the BOB and the few times I have tried Profoto (in other words, this doesn’t seem to be a new “feature”).

[kimyeesan]

I found this to be the case with all versions of the firmware that has had FA as well when using the BOB and the few times I have tried Profoto (in other words, this doesn’t seem to be a new “feature”).

What's a BOB?

[kdphotography]

What's a BOB?

Well, there's this Bob:



But Moderator Bob is not to be confused with this BOB, See, https://www.digitalback.com/product/...k-out-box-bob/

...which is probably what you want.

[Paul2660]

To elaborate, from Ken's excellent post.

The Bob is the Phase One release that came out about 2 years ago, when Phase One switched the port on the XF to the 12 pin. You also have the less expensive Hahnel release.

Bob currently will not reliably fire FA on my IQ4, I am going to try the Hahnel later today.

Bob will work intermittently but over 50% of the time it does not kick off the correct FA sequence, instead it fires a 1 second exposure.

Paul C

[kimyeesan]

To elaborate, from Ken's excellent post.

The Bob is the Phase One release that came out about 2 years ago, when Phase One switched the port on the XF to the 12 pin. You also have the less expensive Hahnel release.

Bob currently will not reliably fire FA on my IQ4, I am going to try the Hahnel later today.

Bob will work intermittently but over 50% of the time it does not kick off the correct FA sequence, instead it fires a 1 second exposure.

Paul C

Ok, I got the Hahnel cable release, I haven't tried yet. Just updated last night.

[Aviv1887]

I did a rough check with the hahnel cable release with both regular and FA exposures on a tech cam. The good news is that the Hahnel cable release does trigger with normal shooting. However it does not shoot an actual FA frame in FA mode but a regular non FA frame instead. Otherwise FA does work on a tech cam with the latest firmware.

[Paul2660]

Apparently, no remote (Per Phase One) is supported for firing a frame averaged shot, which kinda surprises me, as I can't understand why it would be only localized to the LCD shutter?

But the 1 second shot previously referenced is all you get when FA is used via remote.

Paul C

[Bill Caulfeild-Browne]

I did a rough check with the hahnel cable release with both regular and FA exposures on a tech cam. The good news is that the Hahnel cable release does trigger with normal shooting. However it does not shoot an actual FA frame in FA mode but a regular non FA frame instead. Otherwise FA does work on a tech cam with the latest firmware.

That's the same as my experience with the XF..

[SCHWARZZEIT]

As far as I understand, in the current implementation XF and IQ4 sequence tools can only be triggered by the virtual shutter button on the LCD or through the XF rear button for XF-specific sequence tools. The regular shutter button including its external triggering options is reserved for triggering the camera in it's standard shooting mode and thus overrides the currently selected tool. I also couldn't find any way to trigger a sequence tool tethered through Capture One.

A few months ago I've sent a feature request to Phase One for allowing tools to be triggered through the multiport and suggested to add the "Sequence Triggering" function as an option to the Button Customization Menu. Then the user could select this for External (multiport connection). This would help a great deal in situations when the camera is out of reach.
The support guy who entered the feature request for me found this to be great idea.

Doug, if you find this useful could you add it as an option to your IQ4 feature survey?
You can remove the request on Battery Status Report in Capture One feature since this has been implemented by now.

-Dominique

[dchew]

Has anyone on a technical camera tried a shutter speed faster than 1/125? Yesterday, I could not set mine faster with 6.01.1

Dave

[SCHWARZZEIT]

Has anyone on a technical camera tried a shutter speed faster than 1/125? Yesterday, I could not set mine faster with 6.01.1

Dave

Dave, ES is limited to 1/125 if you have Antiflickering set to 60Hz. If you turn it off it should go up to 1/4000.

-Dominique