DX6490 Firmware Upgrade...How Bad Do We Want It?

[sredd68]

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

 

[K8176929]

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

this was dicussed a lot pretty much a year ago when the camera first came out, and yes Kodak did listen as a lot of the ideas/requests were put into the newer DX models. But forget it if you want an upgrade to your DX6490, just enjoy it this camera is also well over a year old, can't see a firmware upgrade for it now, given if anything was that bad none would have sold and Kodak would have had to have addressed any weaknesses.

 

[Leon Lipkovich]

I say we email them and ask for a few changes. One email won't hurt. Maybe even an electronic petition? I am sure its not that difficult for them to do it, its just that they don't realize how many people want them to make those changes.

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

this was dicussed a lot pretty much a year ago when the camera
first came out, and yes Kodak did listen as a lot of the
ideas/requests were put into the newer DX models. But forget it if
you want an upgrade to your DX6490, just enjoy it this camera is
also well over a year old, can't see a firmware upgrade for it now,
given if anything was that bad none would have sold and Kodak would
have had to have addressed any weaknesses.

 

[Juan Carissimi]

Sorry, Leon, but I think Kodak want you to buy its new camera instead of just updating the old one.

I had expectations at first, but now I lost them all. Anyway, I swear my next camera won't be a Kodak.

Juan, a DX6490 owner since almost six months now who was waiting for a firmware update just in order to reduce the compression of the jpg.

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

this was dicussed a lot pretty much a year ago when the camera
first came out, and yes Kodak did listen as a lot of the
ideas/requests were put into the newer DX models. But forget it if
you want an upgrade to your DX6490, just enjoy it this camera is
also well over a year old, can't see a firmware upgrade for it now,
given if anything was that bad none would have sold and Kodak would
have had to have addressed any weaknesses.

 

[Leon Lipkovich]

That is exactly my point. I love my 6490, but I will never buy another Kodak again. Therefore, If someone writes a good letter explaining that if they don't come up with a firmware most of us won't be buying their cameras in the future, maybe that will work! We don't have much to lose, just one email and a signature. What do you guys say?

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

this was dicussed a lot pretty much a year ago when the camera
first came out, and yes Kodak did listen as a lot of the
ideas/requests were put into the newer DX models. But forget it if
you want an upgrade to your DX6490, just enjoy it this camera is
also well over a year old, can't see a firmware upgrade for it now,
given if anything was that bad none would have sold and Kodak would
have had to have addressed any weaknesses.

 

[Bas Meijer]

Sorry, Leon, but I think Kodak want you to buy its new camera
instead of just updating the old one.
I had expectations at first, but now I lost them all. Anyway, I
swear my next camera won't be a Kodak.

Sounds like you bought the camera in the expectation of a firmware upgrade?

Juan, a DX6490 owner since almost six months now who was waiting
for a firmware update just in order to reduce the compression of
the jpg.

Actually, you should be happy they didn't give you the reduced compression. Instead, they proved with the new Kodak cameras that this option did not solve anything: We have seen that the artifacts are the same in Normal and Fine compression mode. Differences in sharpness or detail could not be noticed either. The only difference we found was the file size. Now, how bad do you want bigger file sizes?

Bas

 

[ed hodgson]

For what it is worth, I feel I must toss my 2 cents worth in here. Before I purchased my 6490, I read a lot of the early reviews and posts including those lamenting the aggressive file compression and inability to disable it. This started even before the camera was released, so shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here. Based on all of that, I checked out images posted on line and those in direct comparative reviews. From my perspective, what I saw from the 6490 was at least as good as and in most cases better than what I saw from any comparably priced and capable camera, so i bought it.

Almost a year and 2500 pictures later I continue to be amazed and delighted by what can be done with it. One of the things that I especially love is the ability to capture a lot of great images on a reasonably sized memory card thanks to that aggressive compression. I can count the shots in which I would say the quality of the image has suffered in a way I would care about on the fingers of one hand and yes i do crop aggressively on some shots and like to make 8X10 pronts.

I have discovered ways in which it isn't perfect - not all of which were in what I read before hand, but it is still (and probably will remain for a long time to come) a much better camera than I am a photographer. I don't believe that any of you can seriously suggest that the 6490 is a defective product or fails to provide what was promised when it was sold. Several newer Kodak models have now been released including responses to things that 6490 owners said should be improved. Why would you expect Kodak to spend money issuing a free upgrade (especially one of questionable value to many users) for an outdated product rather than on developing the next generation of products that will allow them to remain in business?

If this is really critical to you, suggest to them that you'd be interesting in purchasing such a product and suggest a value you would place on it. To suggest that you won't buy a Kodak in the future because you don't get an upgrade for free seems like a real example of cutting off your nose to spite your face. I must presume that you bought the 6490 because it was at that time the best value for your money considering all aspects of its performance and your budget. Wouldn't it be folly to make your choice on your next camera contrary to that basic value judgement?

Enjoy the great things you can do with your camera until you are ready to get a better one.

Sorry, Leon, but I think Kodak want you to buy its new camera
instead of just updating the old one.
I had expectations at first, but now I lost them all. Anyway, I
swear my next camera won't be a Kodak.

Sounds like you bought the camera in the expectation of a firmware
upgrade?

Juan, a DX6490 owner since almost six months now who was waiting
for a firmware update just in order to reduce the compression of
the jpg.

Actually, you should be happy they didn't give you the reduced
compression. Instead, they proved with the new Kodak cameras that
this option did not solve anything: We have seen that the
artifacts are the same in Normal and Fine compression mode.
Differences in sharpness or detail could not be noticed either.
The only difference we found was the file size. Now, how bad do
you want bigger file sizes?

Bas

 

[Leon Lipkovich]

I totally agree with what you are saying. I would not mind paying a small fee for the firmware release. I also understand that we are not in a position to demand and firmware release. However, we could suggest that releasing such firmware would benefit a lot of kodak users and fans who will likely return to kodak for digital cameras in the future.

Almost a year and 2500 pictures later I continue to be amazed and
delighted by what can be done with it. One of the things that I
especially love is the ability to capture a lot of great images on
a reasonably sized memory card thanks to that aggressive
compression. I can count the shots in which I would say the
quality of the image has suffered in a way I would care about on
the fingers of one hand and yes i do crop aggressively on some
shots and like to make 8X10 pronts.

I have discovered ways in which it isn't perfect - not all of which
were in what I read before hand, but it is still (and probably will
remain for a long time to come) a much better camera than I am a
photographer. I don't believe that any of you can seriously
suggest that the 6490 is a defective product or fails to provide
what was promised when it was sold. Several newer Kodak models
have now been released including responses to things that 6490
owners said should be improved. Why would you expect Kodak to
spend money issuing a free upgrade (especially one of questionable
value to many users) for an outdated product rather than on
developing the next generation of products that will allow them to
remain in business?

If this is really critical to you, suggest to them that you'd be
interesting in purchasing such a product and suggest a value you
would place on it. To suggest that you won't buy a Kodak in the
future because you don't get an upgrade for free seems like a real
example of cutting off your nose to spite your face. I must
presume that you bought the 6490 because it was at that time the
best value for your money considering all aspects of its
performance and your budget. Wouldn't it be folly to make your
choice on your next camera contrary to that basic value judgement?

Enjoy the great things you can do with your camera until you are
ready to get a better one.

Sorry, Leon, but I think Kodak want you to buy its new camera
instead of just updating the old one.
I had expectations at first, but now I lost them all. Anyway, I
swear my next camera won't be a Kodak.

Sounds like you bought the camera in the expectation of a firmware
upgrade?

Juan, a DX6490 owner since almost six months now who was waiting
for a firmware update just in order to reduce the compression of
the jpg.

Actually, you should be happy they didn't give you the reduced
compression. Instead, they proved with the new Kodak cameras that
this option did not solve anything: We have seen that the
artifacts are the same in Normal and Fine compression mode.
Differences in sharpness or detail could not be noticed either.
The only difference we found was the file size. Now, how bad do
you want bigger file sizes?

Bas

 

[brianhare]

Almost a year and 2500 pictures later I continue to be amazed and
delighted by what can be done with it. One of the things that I
especially love is the ability to capture a lot of great images on
a reasonably sized memory card thanks to that aggressive
compression. I can count the shots in which I would say the
quality of the image has suffered in a way I would care about on
the fingers of one hand and yes i do crop aggressively on some
shots and like to make 8X10 pronts.

I have discovered ways in which it isn't perfect - not all of which
were in what I read before hand, but it is still (and probably will
remain for a long time to come) a much better camera than I am a
photographer. I don't believe that any of you can seriously
suggest that the 6490 is a defective product or fails to provide
what was promised when it was sold. Several newer Kodak models
have now been released including responses to things that 6490
owners said should be improved. Why would you expect Kodak to
spend money issuing a free upgrade (especially one of questionable
value to many users) for an outdated product rather than on
developing the next generation of products that will allow them to
remain in business?

If this is really critical to you, suggest to them that you'd be
interesting in purchasing such a product and suggest a value you
would place on it. To suggest that you won't buy a Kodak in the
future because you don't get an upgrade for free seems like a real
example of cutting off your nose to spite your face. I must
presume that you bought the 6490 because it was at that time the
best value for your money considering all aspects of its
performance and your budget. Wouldn't it be folly to make your
choice on your next camera contrary to that basic value judgement?

Enjoy the great things you can do with your camera until you are
ready to get a better one.

Sorry, Leon, but I think Kodak want you to buy its new camera
instead of just updating the old one.
I had expectations at first, but now I lost them all. Anyway, I
swear my next camera won't be a Kodak.

Sounds like you bought the camera in the expectation of a firmware
upgrade?

Juan, a DX6490 owner since almost six months now who was waiting
for a firmware update just in order to reduce the compression of
the jpg.

Actually, you should be happy they didn't give you the reduced
compression. Instead, they proved with the new Kodak cameras that
this option did not solve anything: We have seen that the
artifacts are the same in Normal and Fine compression mode.
Differences in sharpness or detail could not be noticed either.
The only difference we found was the file size. Now, how bad do
you want bigger file sizes?

Bas

Yes i agree Ed,,,,14,000 + pics here,,,,,,in one year,,,guess i like mine,,,the 6490 for the money is an excellent camera,,i take macro shots some only dream of,,,and have printed off a few large ones too,,,,,i used to think the compression issue should be addressed too,,,but when i go on vacation,,take 300+ shots and the card is full and the battery is not....i'm very happy.....and the results i see are excellent.....

I have only 2 things i'd ask Kodak to do:

(1) put a wireless remote in the next box please,,,or at least let me buy one optionally.....

(2) Keep up the good work and excellent service/warranty work you've been giving us......your service is second to none...

Brian

 

[brianhare]

I totally agree with what you are saying. I would not mind paying
a small fee for the firmware release. I also understand that we
are not in a position to demand and firmware release. However, we
could suggest that releasing such firmware would benefit a lot of
kodak users and fans who will likely return to kodak for digital
cameras in the future.

Just so you know,,,we tried this about 6 months ago,,had a thread here about 100 replies long,,,,Val a Kodak employee said they were discussing it,,,but nothing ever came from it...i guess since it never happened then,,,it definately will never happen now....or it would have happened shortly after that discussion at Kodak.....considering how the camera is getting and has gotten such great reviews,,,,they would almost be nuts addressing this now,it would make them look like they had a problem with the camera......the 7590 has the fine compression option and i've heard it makes the file sizes larger but no diff in pic quality....the main problem,,if you can call it one is their noise reduction i've been told by others that is too aggressive...anyway good luck......

Brian

Almost a year and 2500 pictures later I continue to be amazed and
delighted by what can be done with it. One of the things that I
especially love is the ability to capture a lot of great images on
a reasonably sized memory card thanks to that aggressive
compression. I can count the shots in which I would say the
quality of the image has suffered in a way I would care about on
the fingers of one hand and yes i do crop aggressively on some
shots and like to make 8X10 pronts.

I have discovered ways in which it isn't perfect - not all of which
were in what I read before hand, but it is still (and probably will
remain for a long time to come) a much better camera than I am a
photographer. I don't believe that any of you can seriously
suggest that the 6490 is a defective product or fails to provide
what was promised when it was sold. Several newer Kodak models
have now been released including responses to things that 6490
owners said should be improved. Why would you expect Kodak to
spend money issuing a free upgrade (especially one of questionable
value to many users) for an outdated product rather than on
developing the next generation of products that will allow them to
remain in business?

If this is really critical to you, suggest to them that you'd be
interesting in purchasing such a product and suggest a value you
would place on it. To suggest that you won't buy a Kodak in the
future because you don't get an upgrade for free seems like a real
example of cutting off your nose to spite your face. I must
presume that you bought the 6490 because it was at that time the
best value for your money considering all aspects of its
performance and your budget. Wouldn't it be folly to make your
choice on your next camera contrary to that basic value judgement?

Enjoy the great things you can do with your camera until you are
ready to get a better one.

Sorry, Leon, but I think Kodak want you to buy its new camera
instead of just updating the old one.
I had expectations at first, but now I lost them all. Anyway, I
swear my next camera won't be a Kodak.

Sounds like you bought the camera in the expectation of a firmware
upgrade?

Juan, a DX6490 owner since almost six months now who was waiting
for a firmware update just in order to reduce the compression of
the jpg.

Actually, you should be happy they didn't give you the reduced
compression. Instead, they proved with the new Kodak cameras that
this option did not solve anything: We have seen that the
artifacts are the same in Normal and Fine compression mode.
Differences in sharpness or detail could not be noticed either.
The only difference we found was the file size. Now, how bad do
you want bigger file sizes?

Bas

 

[PMana]

But I don't expect Kodak to release it.

I have assumed that Kodak marketing dept. thinks that a firmware update is not needed.
It is a pity as the camera wil fall into obsolescence prety soon.

I want a camera with a larger life, and of course I'm going to look after another brands.

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

 

[SheltieDog]

Digital Camera's are always falling into obsolescence! Be it Kodaks models, or other brands. New models are continually being released. I have an old Canon PowerShot G2. It still takes great photo's. Over the couple years that I have owned that camera, Canon replaced that model with a G3, G5, and most recently the G6. Canon didn't just come out with firmware updates to keep adding features to the PowerShot G2 to keep it new.....they keep coming out with new models instead!

That is what happened here.......the DX7590 replaced the DX6490. And the new model has updated features.

Firmware updates are meant to fix PROBLEMS, not add features. Kind of like the Canon 20D had a lock-up problem when used with some lenses....hence Canon came out with updates to address this problem.

I don't see the PROBLEM with the DX6490. It is what it is!

PMana wrote:
But I don't expect Kodak to release it.
I have assumed that Kodak marketing dept. thinks that a firmware
update is not needed.
It is a pity as the camera wil fall into obsolescence prety soon.
I want a camera with a larger life, and of course I'm going to look
after another brands.

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

 

[PMana]

Thx, I see the point. There are two ways then:

1) To convince ALL the manufacturers (and customers also) of the idea of making firmware updates to prevent obsolescence as much as possible (it is a service to the customers). Obsolescence come due to HW limitations, but it would be less painful with a FW upgrade. I see it is a huge effort, and nobody helping here.

2) To hack the firmware by ourselves as has happened with some cameras. It is also a big effort. Anybody has some information here?

That is what happened here.......the DX7590 replaced the DX6490.
And the new model has updated features.

Firmware updates are meant to fix PROBLEMS, not add features. Kind
of like the Canon 20D had a lock-up problem when used with some
lenses....hence Canon came out with updates to address this problem.

I don't see the PROBLEM with the DX6490. It is what it is!

PMana wrote:
But I don't expect Kodak to release it.
I have assumed that Kodak marketing dept. thinks that a firmware
update is not needed.
It is a pity as the camera wil fall into obsolescence prety soon.
I want a camera with a larger life, and of course I'm going to look
after another brands.

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

 

[Leon Lipkovich]

We will probably be have better luck hacking the firmware ourselves before Kodak does anything themselves.

That is what happened here.......the DX7590 replaced the DX6490.
And the new model has updated features.

Firmware updates are meant to fix PROBLEMS, not add features. Kind
of like the Canon 20D had a lock-up problem when used with some
lenses....hence Canon came out with updates to address this problem.

I don't see the PROBLEM with the DX6490. It is what it is!

PMana wrote:
But I don't expect Kodak to release it.
I have assumed that Kodak marketing dept. thinks that a firmware
update is not needed.
It is a pity as the camera wil fall into obsolescence prety soon.
I want a camera with a larger life, and of course I'm going to look
after another brands.

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

 

[SheltieDog]

That's what Wasia did for the Canon Digital Rebel/300D camera.........He hacked the firmware himself to "turn on" extra functions on the Digital Rebel/300D.

The Firmware Hack opens up extra menu's and button functions, and lets the Digital Rebel/300D perform like the more expensive Canon 10D Model.

Good luck on your quest to hack the DX6490 firmware!

Leon Lipkovich wrote:
We will probably be have better luck hacking the firmware ourselves
before Kodak does anything themselves.

That is what happened here.......the DX7590 replaced the DX6490.
And the new model has updated features.

Firmware updates are meant to fix PROBLEMS, not add features. Kind
of like the Canon 20D had a lock-up problem when used with some
lenses....hence Canon came out with updates to address this problem.

I don't see the PROBLEM with the DX6490. It is what it is!

PMana wrote:
But I don't expect Kodak to release it.
I have assumed that Kodak marketing dept. thinks that a firmware
update is not needed.
It is a pity as the camera wil fall into obsolescence prety soon.
I want a camera with a larger life, and of course I'm going to look
after another brands.

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

 

[sredd68]

The Firmware Hack opens up extra menu's and button functions, and
lets the Digital Rebel/300D perform like the more expensive Canon
10D Model.

Good luck on your quest to hack the DX6490 firmware!

Leon Lipkovich wrote:
We will probably be have better luck hacking the firmware ourselves
before Kodak does anything themselves.

That is what happened here.......the DX7590 replaced the DX6490.
And the new model has updated features.

Firmware updates are meant to fix PROBLEMS, not add features. Kind
of like the Canon 20D had a lock-up problem when used with some
lenses....hence Canon came out with updates to address this problem.

I don't see the PROBLEM with the DX6490. It is what it is!

PMana wrote:
But I don't expect Kodak to release it.
I have assumed that Kodak marketing dept. thinks that a firmware
update is not needed.
It is a pity as the camera wil fall into obsolescence prety soon.
I want a camera with a larger life, and of course I'm going to look
after another brands.

Maybe all of the DX6490 owners and potential owners should email
Kodak together asking for a firmware upgrade. We can each send an
email explaining why we think the upgrade is necessary and what
problems the upgrade should address. Just to see what Kodak
response will be. Just a thought.
--
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

--
Regards - Pablo Mañá - Spain

--I love this forum. LOL You guys are great!
Simon
The More You Shoot, The Better You See

 

[mkusak]

now that this camera is past it's prime MAYBE some nice Kodak Insider and 6490 user & lover, who might know a person or 2, who might have the necessary hacked firmware could slip it to... I mean release it to some of us BETA ;-) testers for evaluation.... ;-)

 

[Phil Loughran]

I think most reviews of the 6490 state that the camera is not as good as it could be, and that includes the 7590. Most refer to the water colour effect or blotchiness and some white balance problems.

That is my main gripe, along with slow focussing ( compared to my ricoh g4 and minolta z1 )...I understand that this could be linked to the operation of the particular 10x zoom lens they chose to fit. But what ever improvement is available..I WANT. Low light focus sucks too.

What Kodak also need to remember...their business flogging film to the masses is drying up, so now they have to flog cameras to the masses. If the masses become disenchanted by support, they'll move to another supplier that cares!!!

I accept that adding features to the firmware won't happen. But IMPROVEMENT of image quality and focus speed would be welcome - maybe going into a hyperfocal focus point in difficult light conditions.

It is a pity as the camera wil fall into obsolescence prety soon.

 

[Rab G]

Firmware updates are meant to fix PROBLEMS, not add features. Kind
of like the Canon 20D had a lock-up problem when used with some
lenses....hence Canon came out with updates to address this problem.

Hi but you are wrong,wrong & wrong again other camera
manufacturers have used firmware updates to add features,correct
problems and keep customers happy unlike KODAK.

Regards

Rab G dx6490