Updating SF58 firmware.

[Bikie John]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

On 9/30/2023 at 8:08 PM, geotrupede said:

8 years in the making... I purchased one of these some time ago, v1.1. Contacted Leica and voila, complimentary upgrade to v2, done in 1 day, walk to shop, leave the unit, pick up done. very fast, and very cool. Very happy about the service. This was in London Mayfair. 2023.

 

 

Wow, I am surprised. I contacted them about this a little while back, and they even got as far as contacting HQ, but the correspondence fizzled out without reaching a conclusion. I will try again - thanks for mentioning it.

John

Edited October 7, 2023 by Bikie John

[geotrupede]

yeah it was unexpected to be fair, and free too.

v2 vs 1.1

faster TTL pre flash, does the HSS without needing to select separate mode

loses the M HSS mode so manual is not HSS.

last but not least, it works on the SL cameras, and very well.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Bikie John]

After your update I contacted Leica UK. They confirmed that they could do the update so I sent it on Monday and asked if it could be ready to pick up on Friday morning. They got it on Tuesday and emailed on Thursday to say it was done and ready to collect. A coupe of points:

1. They said they couldn't do it as a walk-in because it might take a while, and they didn't have any appointments on Friday (the only day I was due to be in London). It may be possible to book it at other times.

2. I asked if I could download the firmware and do the update myself. Their answer was "Due to the licencing regulations, we are not permitted to share the firmware outside of the company. As such, we offer to update the firmware free of charge.". Which is a bit strange, but fair enough.

I haven't had a chance to try it out yet but so far I am pretty impressed.

Thanks @geotrupede for mentioning it here. Did you find any documentation about the changes?

John

[geotrupede]

no I had not official information on the differences but from empirical evidence:

-1- works with SL and camera does not flicker in the viewfinder, so all good

-2- the TTL is high speed sync as soon as shutter is above sync speed

-3- the manual high sync is gone missing

all in all is a good update, even if the manual HSS is lost.

G>

PS about the licensing, my unsubstantiated theory is that any metz flash can be freely transformed in a leica unit by upgrading the firmware... so they probably prefer not to release is to the public. but as they kindly update for free, not an issue.

Edited October 14, 2023 by geotrupede