firmware, and focus beep

[Mike Dantignac]

my focus beep either got quieter, or they changed the tones. anyone else notice this?

--
mike - http://dantignacphoto.com

 

[Bill Karadimos]

Same here. But I am use to looking at the focus dot anyway.

my focus beep either got quieter, or they changed the tones. anyone
else notice this?

--
mike - http://dantignacphoto.com

--
Live like there is no tomorrow.

 

[cyranotom]

played also with this, didn't used before, but also still quiet.
--
cyrano
http://www.weitzelmedia.de

 

[John_of_LA]

little higher pitch. Doesn't notice quieter though. Maybe I have good ears

 

[d70_cs]

I notice that too, the tone changed, the focus speed improved

 

[Stuart Livingston]

Old firmwire A - 1.01 and B 1.03, I could hardly hear it. In fact I did not think that it beeped until somebody else told me that it did. Newer version, I can now hear it.

Stu

 

[iceman17]

--
I took a picture once,
And they made me give it back.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v51/iceman17/

 

[clueso2]

it sounds like a baby cricket.

 

[daiphuoc]

it is quieter

 

[RCTHX]

WOOHOO!

I just uploaded the update and didn't screw up my camera G Tested it out and the focus does seem to be faster. As to the beep, I haven't really noticed, but now that you mention it, sounds a bit softer.

RC

 

[darb]

ripped off !

what we really need is ability to change it to what tones we like
--

darb

 

[yegster]

ripped off !

what we really need is ability to change it to what tones we like
--

darb

camera ringtones... that would be awesome!!!

i noticed no difference and have been using it forever.

 

[Ben Seese]

There seem to be conflicting opinions about how the beep changes with the new firmware. It's understandable, because remembering a pitch that high can be tough, and most of us don't have two D70s lying around to do an A/B comparison. So, I went ahead and recorded the beep before and after and put them together into one sound file.

First, the details of the test:

cheap dynamic mic -> mindiisc recorder -> line-in on soundboard of PC.

Recorded using manual gain, so the level doesn't change from one to the other. Held the camera with the mic pointed at the 'D70' logo, about 1.5" away. Kit lens was attached. Used AEL/AFL button to perform autofocus repeatedly. Spliced the recording together, and compressed it to 128kbps MP3.

Conclusions:

The new beep is WAY lower in pitch than before. Also, my software soundmeter reads the new beep as about 10 decibels lower than the old beep. That is, half as loud. Though, the pitch of the old beep may have been high enough that some people's ears couldn't hear it as well, and to them, the new beep will seem louder.

And so, here's the recording in all its glory. If it doesn't play in your browser, you may have to do a right-click, save as..., then play it from your hard drive.

http://www.benseese.com/D70firmwaretest/D70_beep.mp3 (14 sec, 221 KB)

Next post: before & after images (punch line: no visible change)

-Ben

 

[Allan4]

Even tho it's a lower volume, I think the lower pitch will be easier to hear in a noisier environment.
--
Through difficulties to the cinema.

 

[grumpyBB]

Even tho it's a lower volume, I think the lower pitch will be
easier to hear in a noisier environment.

I sure hope this doesn't make it harder to hear with earplugs in. I immediately noticed the change in tone and the loudness difference and I'm not too thrilled with the changes. I use my camera a lot at the drag races and I almost always wear earplugs. With the old tone I could hear it quite clearly even with my earplugs jammed way into my ears and me being right against the safety wall shooting as the cars were launching and going past me. I have a feeling this is going to be harder to hear.

 

[drmrbrewer]

I'm surprised this seems to be an issue for so many people. I assumed everyone found a beeping camera highly irritating, whatever the pitch / volume, and just switched it off completely. I certainly have. I guess preferences/needs vary.

Mike

--
http://www.threeboks.com/
My smugmug coupon code: lcvdCTMPuQYro

 

[Miljenko Devcic]

Since we're all visual type of people, here is how it looks like when presented in audio analysis program (Cool Edit Pro in this case):



When zoomed in, besides change in level, the new sound measures change in pitch to higher frequency.
Best regards, Miljenko
--
http://www.pbase.com/miljenko
http://www.fotomag.net
Who dies with most toys, wins.

 

[Miljenko Devcic]

The audio analysis (sorry for bringing this up, but acoustics is my profession) shows that the old sound was pure single tone sound peaking at 7.8 kHz. The new sound consists of basic tone at 3.9 kHz and added 3rd harmonic at 11.7 kHz. Although odd harmonics are present in natural pleasant sounds (like bird song or musical instruments), relatively high percentage of 3rd harmonics only is perceived by most people as the annoying and unpleasant sound. So this is why some people find the new sound louder despite it's much lower sound level.
Best regards, Miljenko
--
http://www.pbase.com/miljenko
http://www.fotomag.net
Who dies with most toys, wins.

 

[cbeckPhoto]

Mine got louder

 

[David Chin]

... recording at http://www.pbase.com/dlcmh/dslr_tidbits (#1)

Thanks, very interesting, as I could not discern a difference - your recording shows that there is one!
--
Regards, David Chin
(D.7.0. & C.P.4.5.0.0.)
N i k o n D 7 0 Links :> http://www.pbase.com/dlcmh/dslr_links