Minolta Z1 NEW FIRMWARE

Put our force together Z1 users!!! Read to the end, please!
I call on you to demand together for NEW Z1 FIRMWARE!

Ive writen minolta about firmware bugs of Z1 and they said, they know about them, but will do NOTHING about that! They are NOT going to develop new firmware. Ive noticed following problems and bugs

• High chromatic aberation and Noise
• Weak focusing in bad light conditions
• Only 10s Self timer implemented - lets add 2s mode too!
• Wrong Power-Save mode timing (power-save mode is turned on after 1 minute, no matter what the setting in menu is (eg. 10min))
• Makro and Video Full-time AF turns on every time camera is turned on - even if full-time AF was turned off before
• Battery indicatior is absolutely not precise - shows full batteries all the time!
• Cant turn off Video volume (only set to low volume)
• Digital Image Stabilizator should be implemented in new firmware

Those were only some of 1.00 firmware bugs. WE WANT GOOD CAMERA, WITH GOOD FIWMFARE, but minolta DOESNT CARE!

OVERYONE! Send them your requirement for new firmware - we have to make them develop it! Write them, you are fed up with this version, write them your problems, those that i wrote abowe and your own, too! Here is contacting form:

https://cs2.konicaminolta.net/webqa/webqa.nsf/QuestionCS?OpenForm&inq=Troubleshooting&pc=Digital%20Cameras&rgn=apc&abt=1

There IS NEW FIRMWARE 1.04c in JAPAN ONLY, and they are not going to distribute it to Europe and USA! Why? Ask them, and demand new firmware for us!

IF YOU CARE - CLICK ON ADDRESS ABOWE - AND DEMAND NEW FIRMWARE

WE WILL BOMBARD THEM WITH OUR MAILS, LET THEM KNOW, WE ARE CUSTOMERS and WE WONT LET IT BE!!!!

Thank you,
Kevin.

Ow, and that horrible Video sound out of sync issue, too!

• Please, write them, let them know, what we want!
• When ive written them about bad saving time control, they were SURPRISED! They didnt even know!

SO, L E T T H E M K N O W ! ! ! W R I T E T O M I N O L T A

Just did. BTW the site you refer people to is, I think, pretty much just for Asia (note the list of countries you can pick from) and this problem is probably best referred to Minolta USA or Minolta Europe if you live in the USA or Europe, I imagine.

Well, i think that developement is made in japan, isnt it?

You can send our complains to this address too:

http://www.minoltausa.com/eprise/main/MinoltaUSA/MUSAContent/CPG/CPG_Faqs/Cpg_AskYourQuestion

Note: Thank you Bob877.

KevinSVK said:

Well, i think that developement is made in japan, isnt it?

Click to expand...

Perhaps, but it could be either. It was just a thought on my part. You might also want to consider starting a petition at http://www.petitiononline.com (not to sound like a copycat but I first noticed the site after being referring by a bunch of Fuji people looking for an S5000 upgrade (and the S5000 needs one even more than the Minolta, if you can believe it.)
I don't know how efficable it would be, but it's worth a shot.

Anybody have Minolta statement about this problem?

No to make anybody upset, but I find these 'petitions' silly. Check out the camera, if you like it, keep it. If not, return it. These manufacturers do NOT have a team of people tweaking products already released. Only if a major problems exists will they be put a junior person on it to fix the problem. The design teams are working on new products so if you don't like your camera, buy a new one. Sorry to be blunt, but the Sales department looks at sales, not complaints. You might think the two are connected, but they are not. Complaints will be considered for future models, maybe.

Kevin I hate to ask this but when do you leave school?

Your 'petition' & the manner in which you have chosen to address this issue just screams 'immature'

There appears to be a belief that because digital camera share something of a common heritage with computers then all problems can be fixed with new firmware. This may be the case with some issues but certainly not all. Do you know what the changes are in the Japanese version? It may be just as simple as correcting a language error or the like!

Image stabilisation is a function of basic design. If the camera does not have accurate motion sensors then even a Super-Cray computer couldn't address the stalbility problem even with the worlds best programmers writing the programs.

Chromatic abberation is something that could be fixed to some extent in software at the expense of large amounts of memory & an extra chip on board. I know of no camera manufacturer who has implemented this - perhaps the Sony 828 engineers should have taken advice from you before they introduced it !!

My advice to you - as with all cameras - is to accept the limitations of the Z1. Use this as a learning experience & when you are sufficiently knowledgeable move on by choosing a new camera which better suits your capabilities & needs. This camera is able to take very good photos but don't expect it to match the A1 - if it did it would be an A1!!
Keith-C

Hi Keith-C,
What has Japanese firmware changed? read it here:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=6391420

youve objected that chromatic abberation cannot be corrected - but in japanesse firmware it is! read thread above. Well, maybe in image stabilization i was wrong, but what about

VIDEO OUT OF SYNC
Wrong Power-Save mode timing
Makro and Video Full-time AF turns on every time
Wrong battery indicatior
Cant turn off Video volume

Those are obvious bugs! Simple and SMALL update should fix them, and minolta knows about them! But wont do anything about it!

Why do you offend me? Do you thing that its right to leave camera be with those bugs?

I bought Z1 because it suit me! But when i was buying this camera, who has told me, that video sound will be out of sync? whos told me that when i set save time to 10mins it will switch to save mode in 1min. Whos told me that battery indicator will indicate full batteries all the time and 3mins before shut down will indivate low batteries? Nobody, because this is not how it was meant to be!!! those are bugs and have to be fixed!!!!!

KevinSVK said:

Hi Keith-C,
What has Japanese firmware changed? read it here:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=6391420

youve objected that chromatic abberation cannot be corrected - but
in japanesse firmware it is! read thread above. Well, maybe in
image stabilization i was wrong, but what about

VIDEO OUT OF SYNC
Wrong Power-Save mode timing
Makro and Video Full-time AF turns on every time
Wrong battery indicatior
Cant turn off Video volume

Those are obvious bugs! Simple and SMALL update should fix them,
and minolta knows about them! But wont do anything about it!

Why do you offend me? Do you thing that its right to leave camera
be with those bugs?

I bought Z1 because it suit me! But when i was buying this camera,
who has told me, that video sound will be out of sync? whos told me
that when i set save time to 10mins it will switch to save mode in
1min. Whos told me that battery indicator will indicate full
batteries all the time and 3mins before shut down will indivate low
batteries? Nobody, because this is not how it was meant to be!!!
those are bugs and have to be fixed!!!!!

Click to expand...

--Kevin no one can offend you although you can ,of course, take offense. I have read the post from several months ago & it only talks about a rumour. Since then nothing!!

If the faults whcih you describe could be easily fixed with an upgrade then I imagine that Minolta would have done it. Posting new software on the internet is the cheapest & most efficient way of doing this. It would save them no end of money & effort in not having to repond to complaints.

PS I knew of the movie sound problem long before I saw my first Z1 & so would you have done if you had researched the camera specs before purchase. I have heard that faster CF cards go some way to addressing the problem - I don't know whether that is true or not.
Keith-C

KevinSVK said:

I bought Z1 because it suit me! But when i was buying this camera,
who has told me, that video sound will be out of sync? whos told me
that when i set save time to 10mins it will switch to save mode in
1min. Whos told me that battery indicator will indicate full
batteries all the time and 3mins before shut down will indivate low
batteries? Nobody, because this is not how it was meant to be!!!
those are bugs and have to be fixed!!!!!

Click to expand...

This is why you should buy cameras (or anything for that matter) from dealers that allows free returns within a limited time period. That way you have time to test it out and see if it meets your needs. I guess you could file a lawsuit for false advertising in the manual, but personally, if I needed the auto off function to work at 3 minutes and it did not, I would return it.

If I had your attitude and expected my electronics to work as stated in the manual(s), I would be filing petitions for upgrades on my home stereo, tv, fax machine, etc. etc.

KEITH-C said:

Kevin I hate to ask this but when do you leave school?
Your 'petition' & the manner in which you have chosen to address
this issue just screams 'immature'

Click to expand...

While I do agree that the tone is not the best, I think that some of his requests are not that unreasonable.

Perhaps it would go better if it were phrased like this?

" I ask that owners of the Minolta Dimage Z1 request a firmware update from Minolta. The Z1, while generally a good camera, has some deficiencies where, in fact, it does not operate as described. For instance, the auto shut-off timer setting doesn't work, and in movie mode sound is out of sync with the video. Also, the focus motor can be heard in the sound to movies; the ability to lock focus (much as zoom is locked) would fix this problem. Furthermore, the fact that white balance can greatly alleviate chromatic aberration indicates that a firmware update could, if nothing else, make CA less of a problem in auto mode.

I encourage you to email Minolta and tell them a firmware update, which apparently is already available in Japan, would go a long ways towards restoring your faith in their company."

The differences here are notable. First of all, it doesn't ask for any new features (i.e. digital image stabilization, which wouldn't really be a big deal to me, at least, anyway). It only asks that features which are currently implemented be made to function like any reasonable person would expect them to. Secondly, the letter doesn't (to my knowledge at least) contain any egregious typos or spelling errors. it also has a more respectful tone, which would make it harder for Minolta to dismiss the letter as being from some crackpot.

I honestly do think Minolta owes it to their consumers to release a firmware update; it really shouldn't be that unreasonable to expect that a product does what it says it will (i.e. the non-functioning setting for the shut-off timer).

Manufacturers of computer hardware have been releasing firmware updates for some time (BIOS updates are a good example of this) and it shouldn't be too much to ask Minolta to release an update fixing some problems with one of their products. Again, I'm not saying they should implement new features, which could conceivable steal marketshare from the A1, just fix some of the problems of the Z1. (That having been said, if they did choose to add a live histogram that would make my day).

Bob
--
Max_xum 400_si (underscores
so it doesn't affect
search), rinkydink 35-70mm
lens; hoping to get a
digital soon! (and a flash
to work on both)

Sorry to Kevin as I also will not join in your “demand” & “bombard” clamor as despite its “shortfalls” which I feel is not irritating or critical, it has a good price for a camera packed with SLR features, long zoom, fast focus, external flash, AA batteries & good battery life. I have taken hundreds of good pictures with it & still loving it. Return or sell-off your Z1 and tell us which is the next perfect camera you chose & at what price.

I also hope my message is not offending to you, but I sympathize if feel otherwise... Thks

KevinSVK said:

VIDEO OUT OF SYNC
Wrong Power-Save mode timing
Makro and Video Full-time AF turns on every time
Wrong battery indicatior
Cant turn off Video volume

Those are obvious bugs! Simple and SMALL update should fix them,
and minolta knows about them! But wont do anything about it!

Click to expand...

I saw a post somewhere that a faster SD card solves the audio out-of-sync problem in the Z1's video mode. I was very disappointed in this as well, and find it a bit annoying that Minolta put this high resolution high framerate video feature in the camera before faster SD cards were even in existence.

I returned my Z1 because I wasn't happy with its performance, including some of these "bugs", which is probably your only recourse as well. Your attempt to get Minolta to fix these things is admirable, but probably a waste of your time.

Good luck!

Chris

corollax said:

Sorry to Kevin as I also will not join in your “demand”
& “bombard” clamor as despite its
“shortfalls” which I feel is not irritating or
critical, it has a good price for a camera packed with SLR
features, long zoom, fast focus, external flash, AA batteries &
good battery life. I have taken hundreds of good pictures with it
& still loving it. Return or sell-off your Z1 and tell us which is
the next perfect camera you chose & at what price.

I also hope my message is not offending to you, but I sympathize if
feel otherwise... Thks

Click to expand...

I agree with you, Its like Clint Eastwood said in one of his movies.."A man has got to know his limits" this applys to the cameras we purchase. research the thing first, I like the controls this(Z1) has to offer. also everyone should learn photography basics, some of the problems I have read about are based on inexperience, or lack of photo basics.
--

15 years as a freelancer,(news,magazine, wedding photography) camera equip. over the years: Practica MLT, Cannon A1, Minolta 9xi, 7xi

Hi, well, i am not from english speaking coutry, therefore its very coplicated to me to obay gramma. But this is not what i wanted to write about.

"check features before u buy it" - this is not about features, video out of sync with sound or wrong saving mode timing arent features, but bugs!

Sorry for asking "image stabilization", i take it back. But i keep my other comments, because i think they are reasonable.

Even chromatic aberation which is problem of objective, but in Z1 case, its made stronger because firmware error (proffesional fotographer wrote it), and japanese firmware has fixed it - thats why ive included it in my post.

Thank you for your sugestions
Maybe i havent wrote it just same i thought it...sorry for that....

KevinSVK said:

Hi, well, i am not from english speaking coutry, therefore its very
coplicated to me to obay gramma. But this is not what i wanted to
write about.

"check features before u buy it" - this is not about features,
video out of sync with sound or wrong saving mode timing arent
features, but bugs!
Sorry for asking "image stabilization", i take it back. But i keep
my other comments, because i think they are reasonable.

Even chromatic aberation which is problem of objective, but in Z1
case, its made stronger because firmware error (proffesional
fotographer wrote it), and japanese firmware has fixed it - thats
why ive included it in my post.

Thank you for your sugestions
Maybe i havent wrote it just same i thought it...sorry for that....

Click to expand...

I too think a firmware update is needed to correct the out of sync thing and the saving mode timing. The latter however did not keep me from using the cam. Fact is, I do not use the cam to take video's, so the main issues you have put up would not make me ask for a new firmware.

I tested the cam to find out if I would like it, and of course, if my wife would like it.

The first tests were done by my wife. She used the automodes like she used my old canon 1000 to take standard pictures in the garden, in the house, with and without flash (you know, the standard family portraits). Her conclusion was, and I do agree, that indoors certainly without flash the auto modes she used provided too many bad pictures. Automodes seem to prefer longer shutter speed causing a lot of blurred pictures. In other cases, it prefers F2.8 to F4 causing badly focussed pictures with low sharpness.

I could solve nearly all the problems using other than auto modes, even CA is practically gone at F> 4.0. Still, low light focussing is more of a problem than e.g. with the S5000.
So for me, I would stress the need of improvements in the automodes.

lock

lock said:

KevinSVK said:

Hi, well, i am not from english speaking coutry, therefore its very
coplicated to me to obay gramma. But this is not what i wanted to
write about.

"check features before u buy it" - this is not about features,
video out of sync with sound or wrong saving mode timing arent
features, but bugs!
Sorry for asking "image stabilization", i take it back. But i keep
my other comments, because i think they are reasonable.

Even chromatic aberation which is problem of objective, but in Z1
case, its made stronger because firmware error (proffesional
fotographer wrote it), and japanese firmware has fixed it - thats
why ive included it in my post.

Thank you for your sugestions
Maybe i havent wrote it just same i thought it...sorry for that....

Click to expand...

I too think a firmware update is needed to correct the out of sync
thing and the saving mode timing. The latter however did not keep
me from using the cam. Fact is, I do not use the cam to take
video's, so the main issues you have put up would not make me ask
for a new firmware.

I tested the cam to find out if I would like it, and of course, if
my wife would like it.
The first tests were done by my wife. She used the automodes like
she used my old canon 1000 to take standard pictures in the garden,
in the house, with and without flash (you know, the standard family
portraits). Her conclusion was, and I do agree, that indoors
certainly without flash the auto modes she used provided too many
bad pictures. Automodes seem to prefer longer shutter speed causing
a lot of blurred pictures. In other cases, it prefers F2.8 to F4
causing badly focussed pictures with low sharpness.
I could solve nearly all the problems using other than auto modes,
even CA is practically gone at F> 4.0. Still, low light focussing
is more of a problem than e.g. with the S5000.
So for me, I would stress the need of improvements in the automodes.

lock

Click to expand...

--The main things I want in the Z1 is its photo abilities, not the video, for that get a vid-cam! this is only a tool, not a magic lamp, learn its abilities & not its disabilities. Each camera from cheap to ultra expensive has both of these 'bilities!

15 years as a freelancer,(news,magazine, wedding photography) camera equip. over the years: Practica MLT, Cannon A1, Minolta 9xi, 7xi

Buckl said:

--The main things I want in the Z1 is its photo abilities, not the
video, for that get a vid-cam! this is only a tool, not a magic
lamp, learn its abilities & not its disabilities. Each camera from
cheap to ultra expensive has both of these 'bilities!

Click to expand...

This is a valid preference for buying a digicam -- photo abilities.

However, since Minolta saw fit to heavily advertise the Z1's very nice (at least on paper) video capabilities as a "feature", they really should make sure it works properly. I'm sure that just about every digicam manufacturer, from the cheapest to the most expensive could install a 640x480x30fps video mode in their cameras...if they don't have to ensure that it works without being out of sync or generating storage errors because the storage cards that were out at the time of the camera's release are not really capable of storing video at that resolution fast enough.

The reason I bought a Z1 was because of this much touted/advertised video capability. I also bought it because of its mainstream advertising to the average consumer as a being a great and easy to use consumer level digicam (implying that it's a point-n-shoot). I returned mine because I found that neither of these were true -- the video mode doesn't work as advertised and to get the best pictures with this camera, you really need to tweak some manual settings.

These are consumer digicams -- not professional level dSLRs. I think you can say that a dSLR is a tool and you really need to know how to use it in order to get good results. A camera like the Z1 that is advertised so much to the general public really should work better in full auto mode, and the highly advertised features should all work as advertised. Otherwise, Minolta really needs to change their advertising focus to the "prosumer" market if the Z1 is going to require manual settings and workarounds to get good results, and they really shouldn't release the camera at all knowing that some of the features just flat out don't work.

--
Chris