SL Firmware 3.0 update wishes

[MRJohn]

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Firmware 2.0 has been out for a few months now and solved many issues or made the product better. After getting some experience with it maybe it is a good time to start a collection of suggestions for improvements or additional features for the next update (regardless whether it will be named 2.1 or 3.0). Some suggestions are already scattered across other topics and posts, so this topic might help to consolidate.

 

Let me start with one wish: in DNG + JPG photo file format, when the JPG settings are set to monochrome, the display shows a B&W image. Totally normal. However, sometimes I would like to see the color image instead. Hence it would be great if I could switch/toggle the display between color and B&W without changing the JPG settings (maybe program a button to do so). It might be rather straightforward to implement (in tracking mode the camera already switches to color while taking a monochrome JPG).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[douglas fry]

Good idea for a thread (I hope Leica reads it)

 

For me, I wish the SL would hold its focus point between shots. I use M lenses, and they work really well, but if I'm taking a portrait and shoot a series of images in development of the 'best' shot, the camera keeps reverting to the centre point every time...I work around it but it is an annoyance 

 

I want to set a focus point and want it to stay there till moved by me

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[FlashGordonPhotography]

Might be a good idea to have this as a running list so it doesn't keep repeating the same stuff over and over.

 

 

1. Fix the EVF behaviour. Make it adjustable by the end user in brightness and contrast.

 

2. Fix the live exposure preview behaviour. Make it the same regardless of the mode you're in. MENU>LIVE EXPOSURE PREVIEW> 1) OFF 2) ALWAYS ON 3) on, on half press of shutter button.

 

3. Fix the issue that normal live exposure preview is disabled when attaching a TTL flash to the camera (God only knows who though that was a good idea??)

 

4. Have a setting SLOW FLASH SYNC SPEED = OFF in the slow sync settings for A, P and T modes.

 

5. Allow the user to set which dial does what in semi-auto modes. Have an option to make the same dial exposure preview in all semi auto modes rather than switching what dial does what depending on what mode you're in. ie: I want the exposure compensation dial to be the same in A and T modes, which I can't do now.

 

6. Allow more flexibility in what file is written to which card and how.

 

7. Fix the 0.0.0 GPS location issue.

 

8. Option to have the camera remember the last user selected manual focus assist position.

 

9. Option to quickly reset the focus point to the centre of the screen. Double tap joystick perhaps?

 

10. Add the option to have the joystick set a lower magnification when pressed and used with MF lenses.

 

11. Have the option to enable focus peaking at the same time as other display modes (histogram etc).

 

12. Improve Auto ISO functionality, especially when used with TTL flash.

 

13. Move as many on screen indicators (eg: the focus peaking symbol) out of the imaging area in the EVF, to the black bar at the top of the display.

 

14. Add the option to assign the user quick menu to a long press button.

 

15. Announce the 85mm Summilux I really want.

 

Gordon

Edited July 12, 2016 by FlashGordonPhotography

[LocalHero1953]

Agree with 1-5, 10, 12, 13 above.

Couldn't argue with any of the rest, and I have nothing else to add!

[FlashGordonPhotography]

16. Allow user to change order of the favourites menu. (I'd like to have user profiles at the top, for example. I know it's available as a long press but I use them for other stuff).

 

17. Option of electronic (silent) shutter at all shutter speeds. (with the normal limitations of using flash etc.)

 

18. Allow touch screen control of the menus. Selection and scrolling.

 

Gordon

Edited July 12, 2016 by FlashGordonPhotography

[rubaga]

19. Save user profiles during firmware updates

[LD_50]

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I agree with FlashGordonPhotography's list.

 

17. Option to set up and manage menu functions, settings, and profiles via the SL application on another device, similar to the way this can be done on iOS devices from a macOS computer. Doing this from the camera feels slow and cumbersome.

 

18. Top display to show the focus distance scale when the SL-mount lenses are manually focused without having to partially press and hold the shutter release. The S-007 already has this updated in its most recent firmware.

 

19. Option for the camera to recognize via software that manual focus lenses (M, R, adapted) are being manually focused and prompt magnification. I believe this would be possible very easily by the camera recognizing the image changing focus by a certain degree (you wouldn't want this triggered by a small change in position). I miss the RF mechanism triggering magnification from my M-P.

 

20. Option to have the camera "remember" focus point position when changing between landscape and portrait orientation. Nikon and Canon have this option.

 

21. Option to change focus point selection color. I preferred the red on my Nikon D4s for focus confirmation.

 

22. Option to change the size of the focus selection boxes. I don't necessarily want more points but an option to make the focus point selection more precise while still allowing more advanced grouping of points (see Nikon D# series cameras grouping options) would be helpful.

 

23. Full electronic shutter option at all shutter speeds.

 

24. Option to stop long exposures during capture. I cannot find a way to do this currently.

 

25. Option to view long exposures during capture on the rear-LCD (see Olympus OMD series).

 

26. Enable focus bracketing for SL-mount lenses.

 

27. Enable timed shutter release in combination with bracketing.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Ooooooh!!

 

Number 25 is an awesome idea. I remember this from when I used an EM1.

 

28. Allow the user to select long exposure noise reduction = OFF.

 

29. Allow camera to take a dark frame subtraction frame of user set length that can be used in post processing. eg: take a dark frame after a series of photos like a star trail set.

 

30. Allow multiple tripod mounted exposures to be automatically blended into a single DNG file in camera. Increases DR and lowers noise. Also simulates a ND filter exposure. Sony has this as an add on app (smooth reflections) and it works well.

[LD_50]

I can't believe I forgot 28 and 29-LENR off with options on how to perform dark frame subtraction.

 

31. Add intervalometer options similar to Nikons

 

32. With all the additional options, and as part of my option 17, allow profile management that completely hides a lot of this stuff. I would set up a street shooting profile, a tripod profile, etc, none of which would carry video options. They'd be hidden for me.

[Peter Walker]

I agree with all of the above with varying degrees of priority for me.

 

9 is an important one. Double-tap the joystick to re-Centre the focus cross-hair.

 

11 is also important to me. Multiple display options active at the same time. Especially histogram and level.

 

Double vote for 4 and 12. Enable the SL to do TTL fill flash in any mode.

 

 

Regards

Peter

http://www.peterwalker.com

[Peter Walker]

Could the forum administrators keep a log of the requests, merge any similar requests, and come up with a complete "proposed" list. Then, would it be possible to post the complete list in one post and allow forum members to vote for their favorites (e.g. each person picks their top 5). From those votes, we could rank the top 10 to 15 requests (the actual number would be cut-off at the end of the obviously popular requests). The requests in this ranked list could be reworded into simple "requirement definition statements" and presented directly to Leica. Would Leica find this useful and therefore prioritise their work accordingly?

 

Otherwise I worry that the really important requests will disappear into a big grab-bag of requests that Leica have trouble to understand and/or prioritise.

 

 

 

Regards

Peter

http://www.peterwalker.com

[su25]

I want to set a focus point and want it to stay there till moved by me

 

 

28. Allow the user to select long exposure noise reduction = OFF.

 

These two are on top of my list.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Could the forum administrators keep a log of the requests, merge any similar requests, and come up with a complete "proposed" list. Then, would it be possible to post the complete list in one post and allow forum members to vote for their favorites (e.g. each person picks their top 5). From those votes, we could rank the top 10 to 15 requests (the actual number would be cut-off at the end of the obviously popular requests). The requests in this ranked list could be reworded into simple "requirement definition statements" and presented directly to Leica. Would Leica find this useful and therefore prioritise their work accordingly?

 

Otherwise I worry that the really important requests will disappear into a big grab-bag of requests that Leica have trouble to understand and/or prioritise.

 

 

 

Regards

Peter

http://www.peterwalker.com

 

 

Can we make a poll on this forum? Once we've had a few days for the new requests to come in we could start a poll.

 

Although, as long as we all keep adding to the list with a number, (rather than just a post without one) and we actually read the previous posts to see if our wishes have been mentioned, voters can just list their numbers with an A for high priority (3 points) B for medium priority (2 points) and C for low priority (1 point).

 

i gotta say that if they did all of these suggestions so far we'd have the best stills camera in the world, for sure.

 

Come on Leica! Make it great.

 

Gordon

[ramarren]

You folks have covered much more than I could think of. All good. Here are my suggestions for enhancement and fix:

 

• Fix the AutoISO mode so that it works properly when you set a bottom limit other than 50. 
• Improve the metering accuracy and range at low EV values with adapted lenses, and make it consistent across metering modes.
• Provide an option for automatic extension of exposure time in AutoISO A mode when the ISO setting has maxed out.
• Provide an option to split the card writes. 
• Provide an option to disable dark frame subtraction noise reduction mode. 
• Provide a way to customize the two dials with respect to exposure compensation operation.
• Provide a way to do two-frame exposure bracketing with a settable EV step between them. 

[John Black]

When using manual lenses (M lenses in my case), I have to magnify the view and then move around to focus find the focus point.  That's silly and time consuming.  Instead the process should be reversed like it is with AF lenses - move the box and then magnify.  It's more time effective this way and I won't lose the composition.  

 

And as mentioned earlier - the selected point should NOT recenter until the user opts to recenter.  I like the option of double pressing the joy stick to recenter.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

 

You folks have covered much more than I could think of. All good. Here are my suggestions for enhancement and fix:

 

• 32. Fix the AutoISO mode so that it works properly when you set a bottom limit other than 50. 
• 33. Improve the metering accuracy and range at low EV values with adapted lenses, and make it consistent across metering modes.
• 34.  Provide an option for automatic extension of exposure time in AutoISO A mode when the ISO setting has maxed out.
• 35. Provide an option to split the card writes. 
•  Provide an option to disable dark frame subtraction noise reduction mode. ALREADY MENTIONED
•   Provide a way to customize the two dials with respect to exposure compensation operation. ALREADY MENTIONED
• 36.  Provide a way to do two-frame exposure bracketing with a settable EV step between them. 

 

 

 

If we don't keep the numbers going this will just turn into a waste of time.

 

Gordon

Edited July 13, 2016 by FlashGordonPhotography

[FlashGordonPhotography]

37. When using manual lenses (M lenses in my case), I have to magnify the view and then move around to focus find the focus point.  That's silly and time consuming.  Instead the process should be reversed like it is with AF lenses - move the box and then magnify.  It's more time effective this way and I won't lose the composition.  

 

And as mentioned earlier - the selected point should NOT recenter until the user opts to recenter.  I like the option of double pressing the joy stick to recenter.

[Terje]

When using manual lenses (M lenses in my case), I have to magnify the view and then move around to focus find the focus point.  That's silly and time consuming.  Instead the process should be reversed like it is with AF lenses - move the box and then magnify.  It's more time effective this way and I won't lose the composition.  

 

And as mentioned earlier - the selected point should NOT recenter until the user opts to recenter.  I like the option of double pressing the joy stick to recenter.

 

 

 

I totally agree. I only use M-lenses, and this will make the SL perfect for my use.

[Ingo]

19. Save user profiles during firmware updates

This is introduced with FW 2.0.

Or am I wrong?

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[helged]

38. For use of non-Leica lenses; have an option to manually select the (approximately) correct focal length from a list of "standard" focal lengths like 12, 15, 21, 24, 35, 50, 80, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 800 mm, so close-to-correct focal length info is embedded to the image. Alternatively, have the option to self-define focal lengths in a dedicated menu for non-native Leica lenses.