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Rant on Firmware Updates


barjohn

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It would appear that Leica has misled more than a few people when they promised to increase the tempo of producing software fixes. Here we are in November and it has been over 8 months since we have seen any real changes to the firmware since we can't really count their refactoring effort in June as a fix since it was done for internal reasons. I don't think anyone can call this pace of development/fixes anything other than glacial. If my team of software developers operated at this pace we would have ships that couldn't be deployed and I would have replaced them long before that happened.

 

I know some of you will come to Leica's defense with cliches like we would rather it was late but right etc. That is pure BS. If one waits for software to be perfect it never gets out of the door. You make it as good as you can within a reasonable time and you make sure nothing catastrophic will happen and you ship. There will always be things that you miss because you can't test every possible combination of events. People always do something you never expected or anticipated. However, what you can do is keep fixing it and putting it to the acid test and fixing again until the number of errors is small or not of significance. Sadly, the best testing is still the user community where you effectively have tens of thousands of testers instead of 10. The key, in my mind is to be quickly responsive with fixes as problems are identified rather than taking months to try and create perfection. I think this software management method is especially suited to a product where the user has the ability to revert to a prior version if the newer version turns out to have a problem that is unacceptable to a user. If this were not the case, I could better understand the philosophy of waiting to ship until it was tested to death. The key is to be up front with your customers. Let hem know you have tested it within limits and that if it fails to meet their expectations or needs they can revert back to a prior version until the next release.

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it has been over 8 months since we have seen any real changes to the firmware
Last update was July 26th. (3 months and 1 week ago)

Nov. 1th is day off in Germany.

Tomorrow it's Sunday.

Be patient, a little bit. :D

 

I don't think the quality of my pictures (if they have any quality) depend on a new firmware exclusively. :cool:

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John, out of curiosity, do you think your rant(s) will speed up a release of a firmware update? Your unhappiness with Leica has been more than apparent in other threads. They'll release it when they release it. I highly suspect your sense of entitlement to an update doesn't factor into their timelines.

 

And to be frank, for you to say that those of us who are ok with Leica's so-called delay are just spurting BS cliches--get a grip, man. Some of us are perfectly happy taking photos. I enjoy every minute I have with my M8 and its files. You seem to resent every day that passes without some word from Leica. If the company and its products aren't working for you, I encourage you to sell off your equipment and find something you're happier with (and I mean this both sincerely and constructively).

 

I'm no Leica apologist...they've clearly made some bad decisions lately. But whatever...so has my government, my municipality, the manufacturer of my car, and the person who sewed the upholstery for my couch. Life goes on.

 

Anyway, it's unusual for me to respond to these sorts of messages but there seem to be a lot of them on this board these days. Seriously folks, why own something which makes you so miserable? You can fetch a premium for your equipment.

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It would appear that Leica has misled more than a few people when they promised to increase the tempo of producing software fixes.

 

Apparently I have not paying sufficient attention since I was not expecting any update from Leica in short notice. The fewer updates the better. I am more than happy with the camera as it is now.

 

[software is my business, but I like to keep work and pleasure separated ;) ]

 

John, I am looking forward to your review as soon as the update comes available. Keep me posted if you like.

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John, out of curiosity, do you think your rant(s) will speed up a release of a firmware update?

 

why should he? are you only allowed to start a new thread if its going to change Leica's engineering priorities?

Seriously, its a very valid complaint. It was well publicised in this forum (albeit not officially) that there are going to be much more frequent updates, and since then an update that 'helps us but not you', thanks for nothing.

Sadly its over a year since the traumatic launch, and the FW is still way behind the competition.

Does it stop me using my camera? no, but it continues to be a frustrating experience, and I am reminded how much better it could be every time I use my other camera.

Should I not care, because the files are 'so good'. Well hey, if thats all that mattered then everyone would buy the same camera (whatever is consdiered the 'best' at that point in time), but life is of course a bit more sophisticated than that, which helps explain why Leica remains a (small) niche player...

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John, out of curiosity, do you think your rant(s) will speed up a release of a firmware update? Your unhappiness with Leica has been more than apparent in other threads. They'll release it when they release it. I highly suspect your sense of entitlement to an update doesn't factor into their timelines.

 

And to be frank, for you to say that those of us who are ok with Leica's so-called delay are just spurting BS cliches--get a grip, man. Some of us are perfectly happy taking photos. I enjoy every minute I have with my M8 and its files. You seem to resent every day that passes without some word from Leica. If the company and its products aren't working for you, I encourage you to sell off your equipment and find something you're happier with (and I mean this both sincerely and constructively).

 

I'm no Leica apologist...they've clearly made some bad decisions lately. But whatever...so has my government, my municipality, the manufacturer of my car, and the person who sewed the upholstery for my couch. Life goes on.

 

Anyway, it's unusual for me to respond to these sorts of messages but there seem to be a lot of them on this board these days. Seriously folks, why own something which makes you so miserable? You can fetch a premium for your equipment.

 

What was said above goes for me also.

Etherfarm is that a Lie Nielsen Bench or fore plane in your avatar?

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I own 3 Lie Nielsen planes. They are the Leica's of the woodworking industry.

There's nothing like the feel of a well crafted tool.

 

Or the feel of a smack to the head from your highschool shops teacher for setting the plane down on the blade side ;)

 

(back in the days when teachers had a larger bag of tricks for correcting poor student behavior)

 

robert

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Or the feel of a smack to the head from your highschool shops teacher for setting the plane down on the blade side ;)

 

(back in the days when teachers had a larger bag of tricks for correcting poor student behavior)

 

robert

Or the smack I give someone else for doing that with ANY of my planes, or even touching one of them without asking first.

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Well it looks like the new firmware version will be here quite soon if you look at the thread about the demo day at Dale Labs (running now), participants were able to download the new version. Follow that thread and perhaps the OP will answer the question posed as to what the new firmware addresses.

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I didn't bother loading the last version. My camera works fine and the images are great. I'm not in dire need of an update. When it comes out if it's an improvement I'll load it in the mean time I'm perfectly happy with the M8's performance. I don't see anything to get excited about.

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I think we're our own worst enemy. The micro-analysis and furore here after 107 came out and the reports of the updated hardware board will make Leica more cautious about releasing firmware upgrades.

 

They are going through a learning curve here, that firmware and software are difficult and expensive to do right, that they need to build in-house skills and need to converge the M8, M9 and R10 to a single code base to make it possible at all within the resources they have available.

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John_what exactly are you waiting for in the firmware update? Is your camera not working. You "rant" about the release of firmware but make no mention of what it is your waiting for?!?! Do you think the next firmware update will satisfy you? Don't get your hopes up. Judging from the tone of your posts you are projecting general misery at leica for its lack of firmware updates.

Guy Walder-it was well pulicised in this forum that there would be updates???? This forum is not connected to Leica and there have been no official statement from leica regarding firmware updates. Some here like to act like they speak for Leica but I can assure you they do not. Just because you have some beta testers here doesn't mean they know jack about whats going on. Leica could even be making people beta testers because they "rant" so much here that Leica feels like it will shut them up a bit.

I've always said we are the photographers lets focus on photography here-Leica makes the cameras, leave them alone to do their job. I want my m8 to be as close to a digital MP as possible-some want a small version of the 1dsMark3. Hopefully Leica will stick to its guns and keep it simple....B

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Bradley,

yes it was widely discussed that updates would be more frequent, as the long list of improvement requests was discussed, prioritised and turned into a 'laundry list'. You may have to go back a few months in the archives, but its all there.

If you read my last post carefully you will see that I acknowledged the non-official nature of the communication. However when some (at least 1 quite senior) Leica people are registered here, and post from time to time, its easy to see how confusion about 'official' / 'unofficial' might arise.

If you are happy with your M8, I am happy for you. That doesnt mean that everyone else shares your view.

cheers,

Guy

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