Leica SL Firmware v.2.0 answers our wishes

[adamdewilde]

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Is anyone else still having flash issues with the SF-40 or SF-63?

[buchangrant]

Very welcome and extensive update to the SL firmware, hope they go a little further next time and allow us to assign the exp comp to the rear dial with all lenses and auto-modes...

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[cpclee]

Doesn't affect me much as with a cheater adapter I use the Sf 20 fine in A mode on the SL. But leica could be clearer as to which flash guns are supported. 

 

Maybe they should have clarified by saying all currently available Leica TTL flashes. it's unfortunate but at some point discontinued products lose support.

 

Gordon

[cpclee]

AF is now virtually nondetectable because of how fast and quiet it is. Wow.

[scott kirkpatrick]

On the M there was a trick: after upgrade insert a SD card with your last image files on, and the camera would continue the numbering from the last file. Have you tried that on the SL?

OF course.  I did the upgrade using my current card.  The card had folders labelled 101 (my last shots before loaning the unit to PhaseOne, and 104 (my most recent several hundred dngs and matching jpgs).  Result was a new folder, labelled 100, containing files starting at L1000001.  

 

I call that a bug.  My impression is that fixing modes of access to the cards came very late in the upgrade plan.  Changing "L" to "S" is a pretty clever quickfix, but I hope Leica will continue to improve our access and control of the supported two cards.  It sounds as if the 0999 rollover may not have been dealt with, but it takes longer or extra work to find out. 

 

For example -- in other two SD-card cameras (Fuji, Canon, Nikon, but not Leica S, which is SD + CF), you can put the JPGs all on card 2, doubling your write bandwidth, and making them less in the way, available to event shooters who need to hand off shots to a helper for whatever reason while the event continues, etc.  Now that higher res chimping is supported in SL firmware, I will stop saving JPGs as a rule, so they are less in the way, but I think this would be a start.  Next would be the ability to select to which card you wish to write.

 

scott

Edited April 15, 2016 by scott kirkpatrick

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Is anyone else still having flash issues with the SF-40 or SF-63?

 

SF40 and SF58 works for me. I don't have a SF64. What issues are you having?

 

Gordon

[ramarren]

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I just updated my SL to 2.0 and Im getting what I think is a bug. 

 

When using my M glass in manual mode the aperture reading is jumping all over the place. Obviously the SL is not changing my M lens aperture, but the reading is changing depending on my available light and its recording incorrect aperture values in the EXIF. 

 

I tried resetting the camera and that didn't help.

 

Am I missing something?

 

 

Hmm. I'm not seeing that with R or M lenses, at least no more than the usual inaccuracies that my M-P generates as well.

 

Remember that the aperture it reads out is based on the lens profile you've set as well as the light falling on the sensor AND what the external sensor is reading as ambient light. I find the f/number jumps around with various lenses due to the way I'm holding either camera ... It's what my hands are doing in front of the external sensor that has the largest influence. 

[meerec]

OF course.  I did the upgrade using my current card.  The card had folders labelled 101 (my last shots before loaning the unit to PhaseOne, and 104 (my most recent several hundred dngs and matching jpgs).  Result was a new folder, labelled 100, containing files starting at L1000001.  

 

I call that a bug.  My impression is that fixing modes of access to the cards came very late in the upgrade plan.  Changing "L" to "S" is a pretty clever quickfix, but I hope Leica will continue to improve our access and control of the supported two cards.  It sounds as if the 0999 rollover may not have been dealt with, but it takes longer or extra work to find out. 

 

For example -- in other two SD-card cameras (Fuji, Canon, Nikon, but not Leica S, which is SD + CF), you can put the JPGs all on card 2, doubling your write bandwidth, and making them less in the way, available to event shooters who need to hand off shots to a helper for whatever reason while the event continues, etc.  Now that higher res chimping is supported in SL firmware, I will stop saving JPGs as a rule, so they are less in the way, but I think this would be a start.  Next would be the ability to select to which card you wish to write.

 

scott

 

 

I still write jpegs alongside DNGs because it makes easier to transfer pics to my iPad for quick process and post. The Leica app on iOS doesn't allow to transfer DNGs over wifi I found :-(

[Captain_EO]

I've seen similar behaviour on my SL too. It's not reading my summarit 90 lens properly now, the aperture values displayed are different to what I'm setting on the lens, off by a stop or a fraction of a stop. Must be a BUG !! Who will report it and where to?

 

Does anyone know if there is a way to revert back to the previous firmware? I just want to test to see if this behavior returns to normal so I can rule out hardware issues. All of my M lenses are displaying incorrect aperture values.

[AlanJW]

Does anyone know if there is a way to revert back to the previous firmware? I just want to test to see if this behavior returns to normal so I can rule out hardware issues. All of my M lenses are displaying incorrect aperture values.

M lenses do not transmit f/stop information to the camera.  There is a sensor that provides only an approximation.   The EXIF data will show an f/stop but it is never going to be 100% accurate.  The M digital cameras work the same way.

[Captain_EO]

M lenses do not transmit f/stop information to the camera.  There is a sensor that provides only an approximation.   The EXIF data will show an f/stop but it is never going to be 100% accurate.  The M digital cameras work the same way.

 

My lenses are coded so they do transmit the correct aperture information, never ever had a problem with that on both my M240 and the SL until I updated to the 2.0 firmware.

[AlanJW]

My lenses are coded so they do transmit the correct aperture information, never ever had a problem with that on both my M240 and the SL until I updated to the 2.0 firmware.

It would be brilliant if coded lenses transmitted f/stop information,  but they do not. 

[pop]

My lenses are coded so they do transmit the correct aperture information, never ever had a problem with that on both my M240 and the SL until I updated to the 2.0 firmware.

The code transmit the lens type to the camera. It then knows the maximum aperture the lens is capable of, presumably the minimum aperture as well. The camera has no way of knowing what aperture you dialed. It can compare the light entering through the lens to the light it senses with the sensor in front of the body. 

[ramarren]

Does anyone know if there is a way to revert back to the previous firmware? I just want to test to see if this behavior returns to normal so I can rule out hardware issues. All of my M lenses are displaying incorrect aperture values.

 

 

No, there is no mechanism available for end-users to re-install older firmware. 

[Captain_EO]

The code transmit the lens type to the camera. It then knows the maximum aperture the lens is capable of, presumably the minimum aperture as well. The camera has no way of knowing what aperture you dialed. It can compare the light entering through the lens to the light it senses with the sensor in front of the body. 

 

Ahh I see. Thanks for clarifying.

 

Im still wondering if there is an issue with my camera though. I shot a few thousand images with the SL, m lenses and firmware 1.2. I never noticed the aperture reading jumping around like it is now. I guess its possible it was this inaccurate before, just surprised I didn't notice.

Edited April 15, 2016 by Captain_EO

[Ingo]

Is anyone else still having flash issues with the SF-40 or SF-63?

Works perfect with SF 40 and SF 64 here.

[edwardkaraa]

I confirm that it wasn't jumping around before the update but it's still as inaccurate as before.

[AlanJW]

Ahh I see. Thanks for clarifying.

 

Im still wondering if there is an issue with my camera though. I shot a few thousand images with the SL, m lenses and firmware 1.2. I never noticed the aperture reading jumping around like it is now. I guess its possible it was this inaccurate before, just surprised I didn't notice.

This may sound silly but there is a sensor at the front of the camera that calculates the approximate f/stop.  If one's finger wanders over there (its happened to me) the sensor will be off in its calculation.   Hope it is not a mechancial/electronic issue on the your body.  I am almost certain it is not a firmware issue in 2.0.

[ramarren]

I checked with mine again, using coded 35 and 75mm lenses. Same results as I expected: the reported aperture is just as accurate now as it ever was. It's only used to populate the EXIF data so there's really nothing to worry about. 

 

One small detail I noticed while doing this test: with the Summarit-M 75mm f/2.4 lens, there's only one six bit code applicable. The SL sets it and the Lens Profile setting is grayed out and inaccessible. With my 1972 issue, Summilux 35mm f/1.4 v2, the six-bit code was added earlier this year (by DAG). He can only code it with the six bit code for the later ASPH models, that's the only one available. However, there is a lens profile available for the earlier version like mine, selectable on the M-P manually, and now the SL allows me to select it manually as well.

 

I don't know that this capability was available prior to fw2.0, actually, or whether it came in with fw2.0, but it's a nice touch. 

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[Captain_EO]

This may sound silly but there is a sensor at the front of the camera that calculates the approximate f/stop.  If one's finger wanders over there (its happened to me) the sensor will be off in its calculation.   Hope it is not a mechancial/electronic issue on the your body.  I am almost certain it is not a firmware issue in 2.0.

 

 

Thanks guys. This is just my own ignorance. I didn't have a complete understanding of how 6 bit coded lenses work and never noticed the inaccurate readings before. Sorry for the red flag!