Rory Jacobs Posted January 8 Share #1 Posted January 8 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi there, I'm new here. I was wondering if anyone has explored creating custom firmware for the Leica M series of digital cameras? Here's a feature I would love: The ability to disable the Play button. I have a film M6 and love the shooting experience while shooting film (everything else with film these days is too expensive). The main reason for this is not being distracted by the urge to review an image directly after taking it on my M10. I've taped the back LCD over but that's an inelegant solution. What I would like is firmware that disables the Play button and does not even allow you to enable it in the menu system. Of course this must come with the ability replace the custom firmware with the latest Leica firmware via the documented process. So, does anyone know if anyone has explored custom firmware for the digital Leica M series of cameras? _____________________________________________ Where The Idea Came From I used to be into music production many years ago. Akai released a new product in their popular MPC lineup called the MPC1000 but it was grossly under featured compared to it's bigger and even older siblings. A developer came along some time after the MPC1000 was released and created the "JJOS" firmware. It transformed it into the product well beyond even what the music production community dreamed of. I hope there is someone in the Leica community with the same knowhow and desire. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 8 Posted January 8 Hi Rory Jacobs, Take a look here Custom Firmware For M Series. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted January 8 Share #2 Posted January 8 Not a chance. The last time I heard of anybody hacking camera firmware is the Canon Rebel of the early 2000-s. And a rather unusual wish if I may say so. Just buy one of the models without LCD Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobW0 Posted January 8 Share #3 Posted January 8 18 minutes ago, Rory Jacobs said: Hi there, I'm new here. I was wondering if anyone has explored creating custom firmware for the Leica M series of digital cameras? Here's a feature I would love: The ability to disable the Play button. I have a film M6 and love the shooting experience while shooting film (everything else with film these days is too expensive). The main reason for this is not being distracted by the urge to review an image directly after taking it on my M10. I've taped the back LCD over but that's an inelegant solution. What I would like is firmware that disables the Play button and does not even allow you to enable it in the menu system. Of course this must come with the ability replace the custom firmware with the latest Leica firmware via the documented process. So, does anyone know if anyone has explored custom firmware for the digital Leica M series of cameras? _____________________________________________ Where The Idea Came From I used to be into music production many years ago. Akai released a new product in their popular MPC lineup called the MPC1000 but it was grossly under featured compared to it's bigger and even older siblings. A developer came along some time after the MPC1000 was released and created the "JJOS" firmware. It transformed it into the product well beyond even what the music production community dreamed of. I hope there is someone in the Leica community with the same knowhow and desire. I guess you could say that Leica has done this for you. They have the M-D, M10-D and M11-D that come without the screen all together. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory Jacobs Posted January 8 Author Share #4 Posted January 8 1 hour ago, Rory Jacobs said: Hi there, I'm new here. I was wondering if anyone has explored creating custom firmware for the Leica M series of digital cameras? Here's a feature I would love: The ability to disable the Play button. I have a film M6 and love the shooting experience while shooting film (everything else with film these days is too expensive). The main reason for this is not being distracted by the urge to review an image directly after taking it on my M10. I've taped the back LCD over but that's an inelegant solution. What I would like is firmware that disables the Play button and does not even allow you to enable it in the menu system. Of course this must come with the ability replace the custom firmware with the latest Leica firmware via the documented process. So, does anyone know if anyone has explored custom firmware for the digital Leica M series of cameras? _____________________________________________ Where The Idea Came From I used to be into music production many years ago. Akai released a new product in their popular MPC lineup called the MPC1000 but it was grossly under featured compared to it's bigger and even older siblings. A developer came along some time after the MPC1000 was released and created the "JJOS" firmware. It transformed it into the product well beyond even what the music production community dreamed of. I hope there is someone in the Leica community with the same knowhow and desire. I hear you guys about the M-D, M10-D and M11-D...but this idea would give access to the menu system without the need for a phone and then also give you the option to go back the Leica firmware if that's what you want. And there also may be other features M community might want that the manufacture won't implement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UliWer Posted January 8 Share #5 Posted January 8 vor einer Stunde schrieb Rory Jacobs: Here's a feature I would love: The ability to disable the Play button. You might wear mittens. They will disable you to press the button. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesphoto99 Posted January 8 Share #6 Posted January 8 Perhaps just use a little willpower why not? Or tape something hard over the button that can't be pushed. And you're human, and the novelty will wear off, and you'll be constantly going in and out of the menu to turn the Play button on and off. Or bite the bullet and get a D model. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tboesgaard Posted January 8 Share #7 Posted January 8 Advertisement (gone after registration) This is a project for at least exploring the firmware in some of the models: https://alexhude.github.io/2019/01/24/hacking-leica-m240.html Personally I find the menu-system and features really good. Only thing Inreally miss would be the possibility to add custom lens profiles. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 8 Share #8 Posted January 8 2 hours ago, Al Brown said: Play button? Oh my not gonna happen. People can't even custom hack the M10 battery chip. Just have a service repairman short circuit or disable the button. When I think of camera hacks I think of these good old (and actually useful) EOS ones, as Jaap mentioned. z.mov One drop of Superglue… 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocalHero1953 Posted January 8 Share #9 Posted January 8 5 minutes ago, jaapv said: One drop of Superglue… You got there just before me...... In the case of my SL2-S, four years of intense use with sweaty hands appears to be doing the same job. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simone_DF Posted January 8 Share #10 Posted January 8 Perhaps one of the leather cases with additional back screen protection may be a good alternative. Something like this Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/418418-custom-firmware-for-m-series/?do=findComment&comment=5736197'>More sharing options...
TomB_tx Posted January 8 Share #11 Posted January 8 Here's a reasonable solution: I printed one on my cheap 3-D printer and it works very well. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgh Posted January 8 Share #12 Posted January 8 4 hours ago, jaapv said: Not a chance. The last time I heard of anybody hacking camera firmware is the Canon Rebel of the early 2000-s. And a rather unusual wish if I may say so. Just buy one of the models without LCD lol, I love the attitude. Forget DIY solutions to a user identified problem just spend 9 grand instead. If you own one Leica you must be able to own several! Will power alone is more often than not going to lead to failure, data support this clearly - real change comes from slowly engaging in new habits. New habits happen with novel ideas and practices that that make the desired changes a little simpler to achieve and remove incentives for engaging in old habits. Disabling a play button is a great idea - use your camera as usual with one little change - no need for 9k punishment. Just like if you want to improve your diet, getting junk food out of the house is much more likely to help instead of stocking your home with it and relying willpower alone. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 8 Share #13 Posted January 8 1 hour ago, pgh said: lol, I love the attitude. Forget DIY solutions to a user identified problem just spend 9 grand instead. If you own one Leica you must be able to own several! Will power alone is more often than not going to lead to failure, data support this clearly - real change comes from slowly engaging in new habits. New habits happen with novel ideas and practices that that make the desired changes a little simpler to achieve and remove incentives for engaging in old habits. Disabling a play button is a great idea - use your camera as usual with one little change - no need for 9k punishment. Just like if you want to improve your diet, getting junk food out of the house is much more likely to help instead of stocking your home with it and relying willpower alone. ??? First find somebody able to hack the firmware - remember that the camera needs to identify the source code before even touching a firmware update and will refuse to load anything else , not even previous firmware, and if you get past that somehow, risking to brick a 9000 $ camera without any guarantee that the factory will be able or willing to clear up the mess. Now that is really smart. Maybe bringing up the willpower and intelligence to just not use a control that you don’t want to use might be a smarter idea - wait: A three year old pushes any button in sight… User- identified bollocks in my book. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
overexposed Posted January 8 Share #14 Posted January 8 the magic lantern project got really far, unfortunately they/he? stopped i wish magic lantern would have had a look at older phase one backs and see what can be squeezed out of them. working(on backscreen) live view mabye? electronic shutter..... hell there would be a thousand options would love an electronic shutter on pre M11 cameras as well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgh Posted January 8 Share #15 Posted January 8 (edited) 1 hour ago, jaapv said: ??? First find somebody able to hack the firmware - remember that the camera needs to identify the source code before even touching a firmware update and will refuse to load anything else , not even previous firmware, and if you get past that somehow, risking to brick a 9000 $ camera without any guarantee that the factory will be able or willing to clear up the mess. Now that is really smart. Maybe bringing up the willpower and intelligence to just not use a control that you don’t want to use might be a smarter idea - wait: A three year old pushes any button in sight… User- identified bollocks in my book. I never said the idea would work, but the notion to suggest something totally anathema to what OP wants is what is bollocks. If OP wanted a D, they would get that. If you can’t say anything helpful….why not just like, leave it alone? It’s sort of hilarious here how ideas get treated and how generally conservative the culture here is for a bunch of people one might think were creatively inclined - which - even for the best, entails a lot more failed ideas than successful ones. Edited January 8 by pgh Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 8 Share #16 Posted January 8 Unfortunately getting a D is the only viable option… it shouldn’t be too bad if he sells his present camera (remove the duct tape first of course ) . 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CP93 Posted January 9 Share #17 Posted January 9 Puts on Capt. Obvious hat: Or you could just not press the button. If you need reinforcement, wear a rubber band on your wrist and snap yourself every time you weaken and press it. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesphoto99 Posted January 9 Share #18 Posted January 9 Make it truly yours! Just dig the button out with a knife and replace with some black filler... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rory Jacobs Posted January 9 Author Share #19 Posted January 9 Thank you everyone for your suggestions, I appreciate you taking the time to respond. Maybe in the future the Play button can just be a customisable function button. Use it to preview images or assign it to something else. Anyways, just a thought. Again, thanks for your responses. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCPix Posted January 9 Share #20 Posted January 9 18 minutes ago, Rory Jacobs said: Thank you everyone You are very polite Rory. As a newcomer, welcome to this forum and it will be good to hear any other questions you might have. There is a wealth of knowledge amongst the forum members gained over decades of using these (mostly) wonderful cameras. In answer to your original question - I’ve not heard of any software tweaks for any cameras since the Magic Lantern days, so realistically you’ll have to ‘take it how it is’ and send an email to Wetzlar with your requests or suggestions for ‘possible’ inclusion in any future updates. I would add a “don’t hold your breath” though - as the much loved minimalism of the M cameras and their menus are not likely to change in any significant way in the short/medium term. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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