OM-1 Mk 1 Firmware 1.7 Released

whumber said:

CharlesB58 said:

Especially given the fact that the OM1.2 has more onboard RAM that provides the faster processing time for improved AF.

Click to expand...

Not sure why you would think that increasing RAM would improve processing speed.

Click to expand...

If the speed of the current algorithm is constrained by RAM, then more may well speed things up. Even reducing the need to allocate and free RAM can speed up some code. If there is less need to spend time flushing buffers, then there may be more time for other things. Altering RAM allocation may involve locking out other threads, less allocation/free operations may reduce contention for locks.

I thought OM-Systems did refer to the increased RAM contributing something to the Mk-2 performance - but perhaps my recollection is incorrect.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitaltrails
https://github.com/digitaltrails

“As it was, it would pick up small branches in the corners rather than the central subject. That made it unworkable in the environment where I shoot.”

Even with Centre Priority enabled?

I went birding this afternoon, and there is definitely a great improvement regarding the foreground obsession of this camera.

However, I felt that bird AI detected a lot of false positive (fence posts detected as birds for example), not sure if they change the AI models though.

CharlesB58 said:

Does anyone sensibly expect a firmware upgrade to the OM1.1 to fully bring the AF on par with the OM1.2?

Click to expand...

does anyone sensible at OMDS expect anyone to buy another product from them when they obsolete a 2y old “wow” flagship camera?

I don’t expect the mark ii to get any FW update at all. I fully expect them to launch a mark iii in max 2y with equally minor upgrades.

We have two OM1 cameras so we updated the firmware from 1.6 to 1.7 on one of them and kept the other one at firmware 1.6. Both cameras had the 300f4 mounted. We then set up a(toy) bird on the back of a table with an obstacle course in front of the bird but made sure we could see the bird through the maze. Both cameras were set to bird subject detect with all focus points active.

With the V1.6 camera, it was very difficult to get the bird detect to find the bird. It always wanted to focus on the foreground objects. (bottle, wood stick, etc.) Once in a while I could get it to find the bird but as soon as I moved the camera off the bird and back, it would not find it again and would only focus on the foreground objects.

Then the same scene was shot with the V1.7 camera using the same settings. In this case, the camera would always find the bird in the scene as long as the head of the bird was in the camera viewfinder. Even putting an obstacle in front of the lower half of the bird would not mess up the subject detect.

The difference between the cameras was day and night. The firmware update took the camera from almost never being able to locate the bird in our scene to always being able detect the bird. Amazing!!! Even when we put the bird in the extreme corners of the view finder, the v1.7 camera had to problem finding and focusing on the bird.

For all the grief OM Systems has gotten over firmware upgrades, they totally nails this feature which was by far the most important issue I had with the OM1. Thank You OM Systems!!!

Jamajuel said:

CharlesB58 said:

Does anyone sensibly expect a firmware upgrade to the OM1.1 to fully bring the AF on par with the OM1.2?

Click to expand...

does anyone sensible at OMDS expect anyone to buy another product from them when they obsolete a 2y old “wow” flagship camera?
I don’t expect the mark ii to get any FW update at all. I fully expect them to launch a mark iii in max 2y with equally minor upgrades.

Click to expand...

Was it okay to let the G9 languish six years without a replacement? Opinions differ.

What is the sweet spot for FW updates, above which are too many and below which are too few? I look at the list and can't begin to get a feel for this. ONE Pen got past a 1.# set.


It seems a challenge to simultaneously satisfy those who want one camera continually fed with new features and fixes for old bugs and those who desire the next best thing immediately via a replacement model.

In what way has the OM-1 become "obsolete"? Do they no longer function? When did OM S announce its orphaning?

earlxtr said:

We have two OM1 cameras so we updated the firmware from 1.6 to 1.7 on one of them and kept the other one at firmware 1.6. Both cameras had the 300f4 mounted. We then set up a(toy) bird on the back of a table with an obstacle course in front of the bird but made sure we could see the bird through the maze. Both cameras were set to bird subject detect with all focus points active.

With the V1.6 camera, it was very difficult to get the bird detect to find the bird. It always wanted to focus on the foreground objects. (bottle, wood stick, etc.) Once in a while I could get it to find the bird but as soon as I moved the camera off the bird and back, it would not find it again and would only focus on the foreground objects.

Then the same scene was shot with the V1.7 camera using the same settings. In this case, the camera would always find the bird in the scene as long as the head of the bird was in the camera viewfinder. Even putting an obstacle in front of the lower half of the bird would not mess up the subject detect.

The difference between the cameras was day and night. The firmware update took the camera from almost never being able to locate the bird in our scene to always being able detect the bird. Amazing!!! Even when we put the bird in the extreme corners of the view finder, the v1.7 camera had to problem finding and focusing on the bird.

For all the grief OM Systems has gotten over firmware upgrades, they totally nails this feature which was by far the most important issue I had with the OM1. Thank You OM Systems!!!

Click to expand...

This is very helpful information to have. Quite unlike the trolIing post above you.

Thanks for posting your results earlxtr. If this turns out to be consistently repeatable by other people (especially me ) in the real world with live birds, it will be a very welcome improvement.

Would you be able to post a photo of your setup? Videos of the two cameras doing their thing would be even better.

earlxtr said:

We have two OM1 cameras so we updated the firmware from 1.6 to 1.7 on one of them and kept the other one at firmware 1.6. Both cameras had the 300f4 mounted. We then set up a(toy) bird on the back of a table with an obstacle course in front of the bird but made sure we could see the bird through the maze. Both cameras were set to bird subject detect with all focus points active.

With the V1.6 camera, it was very difficult to get the bird detect to find the bird. It always wanted to focus on the foreground objects. (bottle, wood stick, etc.) Once in a while I could get it to find the bird but as soon as I moved the camera off the bird and back, it would not find it again and would only focus on the foreground objects.

Then the same scene was shot with the V1.7 camera using the same settings. In this case, the camera would always find the bird in the scene as long as the head of the bird was in the camera viewfinder. Even putting an obstacle in front of the lower half of the bird would not mess up the subject detect.

The difference between the cameras was day and night. The firmware update took the camera from almost never being able to locate the bird in our scene to always being able detect the bird. Amazing!!! Even when we put the bird in the extreme corners of the view finder, the v1.7 camera had to problem finding and focusing on the bird.

For all the grief OM Systems has gotten over firmware upgrades, they totally nails this feature which was by far the most important issue I had with the OM1. Thank You OM Systems!!!

Click to expand...

That sounds very encouraging. I know that the announcement talks about improvement to 'all points' area focusing, but do you also see a similar improvement to smaller focus areas?

I tend to use small focus area under the (possibly now mistaken) impression that I get more reliable focus that way, except for BIF.

Thanks

tom

HicHic said:

80MP Tripod HR mode + "Silent Custom Self-Timer" -> "Every Frame AF" set to "On", the camera will freeze when you take a few shots. I told OMDS about this 2 years ago since I pre-ordered my OM-1. They still don't fix it. Don't take my word for it. Try it on your OM-1. Take a shot or two and it will freeze.

Click to expand...

Seems rather obscure as HR mode will not shoot in intervals like single shot will. But, for the sake of trial I set:

80MP Tripod HR mode

Silent Custom Self-Timer to 10s

"Every Frame AF" set to "On" with 3s interval

The last setting is entirely irrelevant for HR mode. That said, the camera still counted down 10s and captured a 80mp HR shot. I then captured 6 additional HR shots without freezing. What is the purpose of custom self-timer in HR? Under the HR menu you can set a delay (wait time) from 0 - 30s.

If you want to shoot HR in intervals pick up an intervalometer. Super easy.

Skeeterbytes said:

Jamajuel said:

CharlesB58 said:

Does anyone sensibly expect a firmware upgrade to the OM1.1 to fully bring the AF on par with the OM1.2?

Click to expand...

does anyone sensible at OMDS expect anyone to buy another product from them when they obsolete a 2y old “wow” flagship camera?
I don’t expect the mark ii to get any FW update at all. I fully expect them to launch a mark iii in max 2y with equally minor upgrades.

Click to expand...

Was it okay to let the G9 languish six years without a replacement? Opinions differ.

What is the sweet spot for FW updates, above which are too many and below which are too few? I look at the list and can't begin to get a feel for this. ONE Pen got past a 1.# set.

https://support.jp.omsystem.com/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/

It seems a challenge to simultaneously satisfy those who want one camera continually fed with new features and fixes for old bugs and those who desire the next best thing immediately via a replacement model.

In what way has the OM-1 become "obsolete"? Do they no longer function? When did OM S announce its orphaning?

Click to expand...

I waited two weeks after the mk I was in the hands of ordinary users for some genuine feedback before ordering. It took many months for my camera to arrive. It was nearly 18 months later that I held a mk II at a taste and try session at launch.

The main upgrades over the mk i are human subject detection, much better non subject detection Tr, bigger buffer and some not very interesting functional tweaks.

I was shocked on first using my mk I how bad FaceEye AF and Tr were compared to my 2019 A7Riv. Really no-one mentioned this in reviews. I posted about it at the time.

OMDS clearly recognised the issues by making these the main improvements in the mk II.

After trying the camera, I asked for a trade in quote at the shop and discovered that it would cost me £800 to upgrade. I would have been happy to pay to upgrade, but not that much.

I’d be satisfied with an upgrade that matched the 2019 competitive benchmark, but that was realistically never going to happen when the mk II has solved the problem differently. I’d be happy to lose train recognition in return for human recognition. Not going to happen.

Not everyone is going to feel like this, but I pointed out that it will be a slow acting poison on the OMDS brand.

I’m still willing to buy OMDS kit where it makes sense, but only used or deeply discounted maybe 2-3 years after launch. I bought an OM5 kit that fitted that and I’m very happy with it.

OMDS are perfectly entitled not to make major firmware upgrades, but they should maybe stop embarrassing themselves by leaving the claim they do on their website.

Andrew

I have found the 1.7 autofocus for birds a lot better after testing in the garden.

My garden has a few bamboos that sway a lot in the wind. Now, if I have focus on a bird, it stays focussed on it even with bamboo coming back and forwards in front of the bird. I think it's a big improvement.

Will Rose said:

jjbinx said:

But neither of those were substantial enough to warrant the “version 2” label

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Agreed. But it's not "none".

Will Rose said:

I think the E-M1III was the model with which Olympus switched the Menu button to the left side. It took them two more flagship models to realise that many users hated that.

Click to expand...

Somebody always hates something. Some don't like the power switch on the left either. Many users (myself included) actually prefer the menu button on the left. When holding the camera two-handed, as I do, it allows your right thumb to focus on the arrow pad (or wheel) without having to leave it when you want to go back to a previous page. So for a larger camera that often has larger lenses, I think it makes it faster to operate the menu. If you're one-handing the OM-1 while a 300/f4 or the 100-400 is attached and you're operating the menu that way, kudos to you!

But clearly having the ability to remap the button is the right thing to do,

Click to expand...

Technically OMDS did not provide the ability to remap the Menu button, but rather more accurately stated, provided the ability to enable the Delete button with dual functions, the other being Menu access when not in preview mode. This remapping way of expressing the new feature confused me at first, as I thought it was indeed a remapping capability, which it isn't. The Menu button retains it's function.

Will Rose said:

so that everyone can be satisfied; that's what should have been done years ago. Although humorously, I've seen several people comment that now they're used to the button being on the left so they no longer care about this feature. Oh well...

Click to expand...

--
Roger

Skeeterbytes said:

Jamajuel said:

CharlesB58 said:

Does anyone sensibly expect a firmware upgrade to the OM1.1 to fully bring the AF on par with the OM1.2?

Click to expand...

does anyone sensible at OMDS expect anyone to buy another product from them when they obsolete a 2y old “wow” flagship camera?
I don’t expect the mark ii to get any FW update at all. I fully expect them to launch a mark iii in max 2y with equally minor upgrades.

Click to expand...

Was it okay to let the G9 languish six years without a replacement? Opinions differ.

What is the sweet spot for FW updates, above which are too many and below which are too few? I look at the list and can't begin to get a feel for this. ONE Pen got past a 1.# set.

https://support.jp.omsystem.com/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/

It seems a challenge to simultaneously satisfy those who want one camera continually fed with new features and fixes for old bugs and those who desire the next best thing immediately via a replacement model.

In what way has the OM-1 become "obsolete"? Do they no longer function? When did OM S announce its orphaning?

Click to expand...

You have a point but why couldn't you make it without throwing shade at Panasonic in a discussion about actions concerning OMDS?

Ranlee said:

Skeeterbytes said:

Jamajuel said:

CharlesB58 said:

Does anyone sensibly expect a firmware upgrade to the OM1.1 to fully bring the AF on par with the OM1.2?

Click to expand...

does anyone sensible at OMDS expect anyone to buy another product from them when they obsolete a 2y old “wow” flagship camera?
I don’t expect the mark ii to get any FW update at all. I fully expect them to launch a mark iii in max 2y with equally minor upgrades.

Click to expand...

Was it okay to let the G9 languish six years without a replacement? Opinions differ.

What is the sweet spot for FW updates, above which are too many and below which are too few? I look at the list and can't begin to get a feel for this. ONE Pen got past a 1.# set.

https://support.jp.omsystem.com/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/

It seems a challenge to simultaneously satisfy those who want one camera continually fed with new features and fixes for old bugs and those who desire the next best thing immediately via a replacement model.

In what way has the OM-1 become "obsolete"? Do they no longer function? When did OM S announce its orphaning?

Click to expand...

You have a point but why couldn't you make it without throwing shade at Panasonic in a discussion about actions concerning OMDS?

Click to expand...

You sound concerned. Any particular reason?

Skeeterbytes said:

Ranlee said:

Skeeterbytes said:

Jamajuel said:

CharlesB58 said:

Does anyone sensibly expect a firmware upgrade to the OM1.1 to fully bring the AF on par with the OM1.2?

Click to expand...

does anyone sensible at OMDS expect anyone to buy another product from them when they obsolete a 2y old “wow” flagship camera?
I don’t expect the mark ii to get any FW update at all. I fully expect them to launch a mark iii in max 2y with equally minor upgrades.

Click to expand...

Was it okay to let the G9 languish six years without a replacement? Opinions differ.

What is the sweet spot for FW updates, above which are too many and below which are too few? I look at the list and can't begin to get a feel for this. ONE Pen got past a 1.# set.

https://support.jp.omsystem.com/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/

It seems a challenge to simultaneously satisfy those who want one camera continually fed with new features and fixes for old bugs and those who desire the next best thing immediately via a replacement model.

In what way has the OM-1 become "obsolete"? Do they no longer function? When did OM S announce its orphaning?

Click to expand...

You have a point but why couldn't you make it without throwing shade at Panasonic in a discussion about actions concerning OMDS?

Click to expand...

You sound concerned. Any particular reason?

Click to expand...

I'm not particularily concerned. Still, instead of dodging you could have simply responded that perhaps you really didn't need to do so, that would have been refreshing.

earlxtr said:

We have two OM1 cameras so we updated the firmware from 1.6 to 1.7 on one of them and kept the other one at firmware 1.6. Both cameras had the 300f4 mounted. We then set up a(toy) bird on the back of a table with an obstacle course in front of the bird but made sure we could see the bird through the maze. Both cameras were set to bird subject detect with all focus points active.

With the V1.6 camera, it was very difficult to get the bird detect to find the bird. It always wanted to focus on the foreground objects. (bottle, wood stick, etc.) Once in a while I could get it to find the bird but as soon as I moved the camera off the bird and back, it would not find it again and would only focus on the foreground objects.

Then the same scene was shot with the V1.7 camera using the same settings. In this case, the camera would always find the bird in the scene as long as the head of the bird was in the camera viewfinder. Even putting an obstacle in front of the lower half of the bird would not mess up the subject detect.

The difference between the cameras was day and night. The firmware update took the camera from almost never being able to locate the bird in our scene to always being able detect the bird. Amazing!!! Even when we put the bird in the extreme corners of the view finder, the v1.7 camera had to problem finding and focusing on the bird.

For all the grief OM Systems has gotten over firmware upgrades, they totally nails this feature which was by far the most important issue I had with the OM1. Thank You OM Systems!!!

Click to expand...

Well.. I am not so sure.

Shot today some aircraft on landing and as soon as one goes behind some vegetation the camera focuses on the trees ... zero "deep-learning" haha

tomhongkong said:

earlxtr said:

We have two OM1 cameras so we updated the firmware from 1.6 to 1.7 on one of them and kept the other one at firmware 1.6. Both cameras had the 300f4 mounted. We then set up a(toy) bird on the back of a table with an obstacle course in front of the bird but made sure we could see the bird through the maze. Both cameras were set to bird subject detect with all focus points active.

With the V1.6 camera, it was very difficult to get the bird detect to find the bird. It always wanted to focus on the foreground objects. (bottle, wood stick, etc.) Once in a while I could get it to find the bird but as soon as I moved the camera off the bird and back, it would not find it again and would only focus on the foreground objects.

Then the same scene was shot with the V1.7 camera using the same settings. In this case, the camera would always find the bird in the scene as long as the head of the bird was in the camera viewfinder. Even putting an obstacle in front of the lower half of the bird would not mess up the subject detect.

The difference between the cameras was day and night. The firmware update took the camera from almost never being able to locate the bird in our scene to always being able detect the bird. Amazing!!! Even when we put the bird in the extreme corners of the view finder, the v1.7 camera had to problem finding and focusing on the bird.

For all the grief OM Systems has gotten over firmware upgrades, they totally nails this feature which was by far the most important issue I had with the OM1. Thank You OM Systems!!!

Click to expand...

That sounds very encouraging. I know that the announcement talks about improvement to 'all points' area focusing, but do you also see a similar improvement to smaller focus areas?

I tend to use small focus area under the (possibly now mistaken) impression that I get more reliable focus that way, except for BIF.

Thanks

tom

Click to expand...

Tom,

I have only every used all points autofocus or single point for birds. All points autofocus works well for birds in flight and perched birds without branches in the foreground. I imagine the smaller focus areas will also work just as well buy as you indicated, why bother? At this point I can use all points autofocus for all subject shots and tracking.

Cheers

Will Rose said:

Thanks for posting your results earlxtr. If this turns out to be consistently repeatable by other people (especially me ) in the real world with live birds, it will be a very welcome improvement.

Would you be able to post a photo of your setup? Videos of the two cameras doing their thing would be even better.

Click to expand...

Will, sorry but I need to get out shooting and don't have time to put more into this. Feel free to do you own testing and post the results.

Earl

earlxtr said:

earlxtr said:

I have only every used all points autofocus or single point for birds. All points autofocus works well for birds in flight and perched birds without branches in the foreground. I imagine the smaller focus areas will also work just as well buy as you indicated, why bother? At this point I can use all points autofocus for all subject shots and tracking.

Click to expand...

Cheers

Click to expand...

Smaller areas help to avoid distractions when there are multiple birds in the frame. For example, I use a 33x15 target area for birds. This covers most of the frame, but avoids the extreme edges. It’s not technically “all points” but it’s a lot more than a “large”. It would be helpful to know if the improvements are deactivated when anything other than full “all points” is used.