Where has my 24 frames gone??!!!

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

They just changed the estimate to be more conservative. You still get the same number of picture on the card. Bryan

Emmanuel said:

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I
noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF
previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the
compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality
settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I
thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I
guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What
improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

My D7 says after the update it can put 50 images on a 128 Mb card. Previous it was 62. Other differences are indeed the faster focus and the shorter time to save a raw-image to the card (almost 50% shorter).

Mario

Bryan Biggers said:

Emmanuel said:

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I
noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF
previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the
compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality
settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I
thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I
guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What
improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--Mario

Bryan Biggers said:

They just changed the estimate to be more conservative. You still
get the same number of picture on the card. Bryan

Click to expand...

Bryan

where do you find the patience ?

--Paul Mc Cann

Hi: the jpegs in the D7 are of course compressed but the compression rate varies according to the content of the picture - in fine that is from 1/5 to 1/10 and as a results the amount of MB/pictures varies as well; with the new firmware, the D7 makes a different "estimate"
Henri

Emmanuel said:

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I
noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF
previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the
compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality
settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I
thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I
guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What
improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

-- Pluche

I understand how the compression varies with picture content but I don't see why Minolta should change the estimate if there is no change to the compression algorithm. With my 256Mb CF the minimum amount of photos have been about 87 frames where as the maximum has been about 13o frames. The camera indicates 124 frames but with the update it now shows 100 frames. I was wondering if there is very high level of detail the firmware update will allow for slightly less compression. Actually I would prefer slightly less compression on the Standard Quality setting which would make it more useful to me.

Is there any change to the Auto white Balance?

Emmanuel

henri said:

Emmanuel said:

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I
noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF
previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the
compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality
settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I
thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I
guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What
improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

--
Pluche

Click to expand...

Emmanuel said:

I understand how the compression varies with picture content but I
don't see why Minolta should change the estimate if there is no
change to the compression algorithm. With my 256Mb CF the minimum
amount of photos have been about 87 frames where as the maximum has
been about 13o frames. The camera indicates 124 frames but with the
update it now shows 100 frames. I was wondering if there is very
high level of detail the firmware update will allow for slightly
less compression. Actually I would prefer slightly less compression
on the Standard Quality setting which would make it more useful to
me.

Is there any change to the Auto white Balance?

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

Ever bought a car where the manufacturer said it would do 110 and you found you could get 120 out of it, or maybe only 105. I guess that nothing has chaged with the camera, just the very rough estimate that it gives you. Take some pictures with it, that's why you bought it?.

Some images from the D7 http://www.fototime.com/inv/888D513B1FD6D53

David.>

Emmanuel54656 said:

henri said:

Emmanuel said:

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I
noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF
previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the
compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality
settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I
thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I
guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What
improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

--
Pluche

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

well previousl with your 256 mb card , D7 estimated about 130 frames, that is +- 2 mb/frame; in the fine mode that is the 1:10 compression, while most of the the time you will 3 mb up to 3.6 mb frames; so infact, the new estimate is a bit more correct than before ; so the D7 became more "honest"
henri

Emmanuel said:

Is there any change to the Auto white Balance?

Emmanuel

henri said:

Emmanuel said:

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I
noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF
previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the
compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality
settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I
thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I
guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What
improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

--
Pluche

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

-- Pluche

I've taken hundreds of photos with my D7 but I have only updated the firmware this morning so no chance to test the changes (hence the questions). It's of interest to me to hear other photographers experience with their updated cameras. As I was saying before, if the frame estimate makes no difference to the compression used why bother changing it? Was the original estimate considered inaccurate?

Emmanuel

mufi said:

Emmanuel said:

I understand how the compression varies with picture content but I
don't see why Minolta should change the estimate if there is no
change to the compression algorithm. With my 256Mb CF the minimum
amount of photos have been about 87 frames where as the maximum has
been about 13o frames. The camera indicates 124 frames but with the
update it now shows 100 frames. I was wondering if there is very
high level of detail the firmware update will allow for slightly
less compression. Actually I would prefer slightly less compression
on the Standard Quality setting which would make it more useful to
me.

Is there any change to the Auto white Balance?

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

Ever bought a car where the manufacturer said it would do 110 and
you found you could get 120 out of it, or maybe only 105. I guess
that nothing has chaged with the camera, just the very rough
estimate that it gives you. Take some pictures with it, that's why
you bought it?.

Some images from the D7 http://www.fototime.com/inv/888D513B1FD6D53

David.>

mufi said:

henri said:

Emmanuel said:

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I
noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF
previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the
compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality
settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I
thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I
guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What
improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

--
Pluche

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Hi have been running a few tests today and I have found that the quality of the compression used has changed. I took a variety of shots in the standard and economy modes and found that there are less artifacts than wire the previous firmware. I previously found the economy and standard quality settings unusable to me but with the new firmware I find the quality quite acceptable. In fact I will now use the standard setting for non vital shots. So far, I am very pleased with this new firmware. The only thing I have left to check is the auto white balance.

Emmanuel

henri said:

Emmanuel said:

Is there any change to the Auto white Balance?

Emmanuel

henri said:

Emmanuel said:

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I
noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF
previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the
compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality
settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I
thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I
guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What
improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

--
Pluche

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Pluche

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info - will have a look at that too
Henri

Emmanuel said:

Emmanuel

henri said:

Emmanuel said:

Is there any change to the Auto white Balance?

Emmanuel

henri said:

Emmanuel said:

I have just updated the firmware on my D7 and the first thing I
noticed was that I now get less shots on my CF cards. My 256Mb CF
previously indicated 124 frames but now indicates 100. I guess the
compression has been reduced at least the Fine and Standard quality
settings. The AF seems a little swifter and more positive. I
thought the updated firmware was to improve exposure issues but I
guess it does a lot more.

Has anyone been out taking photos with an updated D7? What
improvements have been noted and has there been any problems?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Click to expand...

--
Pluche

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Pluche

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

-- Pluche

Emmanuel said:

Hi have been running a few tests today and I have found that the
quality of the compression used has changed.

Click to expand...

I do not know if you have shot many photos with your new firmware, but I haven't, so here is something I suggest you can try.

Measure the average size of, say, 100 photos that you have taken in FINE mode. Then measure the average size of another 100 photos that you have taken in the same mode, but WITH THE OLD firmware. Make sure that you select a high number of images so that you get images with all situations so that the size varies.

Compare the size per image for both images and please share your findings with us.

--Pablettowww.pbase.com/pettas(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)Last update 14 December 2001

I haven't shot many photos yet but what from the ones I have the compression so far looks similar but I think there must be changes to the compression algorithm as artifacts I use to get in the standard mode are no longer there.

Last year I took several similar photos (camera on a tripod) in RAW, TIFF and JPEG (fine) and compared the quality. One thing interested to note was that RAW original converted to TIFF and then to jpg by photoshop gave better results when compared with the Standard compression from the D7. I used more compression than the D7 original (gave a smaller file) but the artifacts were less. I think Minolta must of come across this and improved there compression algorithm in the firmware update. They have done a great job because even the economy mode gives good results. I printed a sample taken at iso 800 and economy mode and found the results to be just as good as images I had taken on my G1 at ISO 400 with the Super Fine mode judged from A4 prints.

I'm certain there will be situations where the artifacts will become more obvious but compared to what I have seen with the original firmware I there are improvements. To me the improvements mean I can make use of all the quality modes now where in the past I would only use the Fine mode.

Emmanuel

Pabletto said:

Emmanuel said:

Hi have been running a few tests today and I have found that the
quality of the compression used has changed.

Click to expand...

I do not know if you have shot many photos with your new firmware,
but I haven't, so here is something I suggest you can try.
Measure the average size of, say, 100 photos that you have taken in
FINE mode. Then measure the average size of another 100 photos that
you have taken in the same mode, but WITH THE OLD firmware. Make
sure that you select a high number of images so that you get images
with all situations so that the size varies.
Compare the size per image for both images and please share your
findings with us.

--
Pabletto

http://www.pbase.com/pettas
(samples taken with the MINOLTA DiMAGE 7)
Last update 14 December 2001

Click to expand...