Can we please have a firmware update for the M9 Monochrom?

[IkarusJohn]

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My Monochrom is working faultlessly, and has done since 2013.  I don’t need any improvement in functionality.  However, I would like the lens recognition updated for recent lens releases.

I have the 35 & 50 APO Summicrons, and neither is recognised by the camera through its 6 bit coding - as time passes, this system becomes pointless.  How hard can it be to just add these to the firmware and provide updates?  Please?

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[FrozenInTime]

What is needed for all digital Ms is a firmware image that reads in a second file which contains the lens coding tables; then only this lens file needs to be updated with new lens releases, not the base firmware. 

[IkarusJohn]

21 hours ago, FrozenInTime said:

What is needed for all digital Ms is a firmware image that reads in a second file which contains the lens coding tables; then only this lens file needs to be updated with new lens releases, not the base firmware. 

Good point - could this be done with a QR code on the lens box?  Photograph the QR code, and the lens gets added to the database?  I guess that might be beyond the Monochrom’s software capability.

[ramarren]

It's for reasons like this ... lack of lens profiles for some lens or another ... that I always run a few tests with the lens profiling in the camera turned OFF. This way, I can see what the optics do on a sensor with no lens profile applied. The most useful thing the lens profile does in most cases is to inject a lens name, focal length, aperture, etc spec into the EXIF data ... Since I generally don't change lenses particularly often, after a session I download the DNG files and use EXIFTool to install that information into the raw file metadata, and that way everything shows up in my catalog correctly.

[pippy]

I like FrozenInTime's idea about only needing to update the one pertinent file. As has been asked by IkarusJohn; how hard can this be to put into operation?

I've never tried to find the EXIF tool thing to apply names so should probably look into that suggestion. My own typical approach where I've used non 6-bit coded lenses is to give the download folder(s) an appropriate name such as here where I was using two bodies and neither lens is coded. I can also note (as shown) whether there was a filter on any lens. This can sometimes be a helpful piece of info to have to hand;

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[FrozenInTime]

On 9/13/2024 at 11:10 PM, IkarusJohn said:

My Monochrom is working faultlessly, and has done since 2013.  I don’t need any improvement in functionality.  However, I would like the lens recognition updated for recent lens releases.

I have the 35 & 50 APO Summicrons, and neither is recognised by the camera through its 6 bit coding - as time passes, this system becomes pointless.  How hard can it be to just add these to the firmware and provide updates?  Please?

Unfortunately Leica is never to touch the code for the M9. The idea of resurrecting the tool chain needed to rework an old system would have most software developers running out the door. Even a light touch would need a lot of regression testing ( i.e. your faultlessly operating camera may break )

However given skill and enthusiasm, it may be hackable https://alexhude.github.io/2019/01/24/hacking-leica-m240.html

In the simple past days of coding using a hex editor to overwrite 'poke' individual data bytes was common. However inserting additional data shifts things around so has no chance of working. In theory given a fixed format table, you could replace an old lens entry in the table with a new lens's data. Checksums may further complicate. 

The idea of a XML or similar, flexible file to carry information that will grow as new lenses are released, needs to be thought of at the outset of the development project i.e. something for the M12 ....

[IkarusJohn]

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So, yet another half-baked piece of software … shame.