Thread to collect easy firmware improvement suggestions (software feature requests)

MJKoski · 09-18-2016, 07:26 AM

Canon and Nikon 1-series have had mic input long before video for voice tagging an image.

**BigDave** · 09-19-2016, 12:42 PM

Originally posted by MJKoski

Canon and Nikon 1-series have had mic input long before video for voice tagging an image.

This is nice, but does it stay as part of the EXIF data? Such info would make filing and documenting images SO much easier!

Regards,

EArenz · 09-21-2016, 09:52 AM - **1 Like**

Most important firmware improvement: update any hardware capable cameras to KAF4 compatibility.

**BigDave** · 09-21-2016, 11:01 AM

Originally posted by BigDave

how about a NOTES section and a keyboard routine so an image can be tagged with some variable information and have it right with the image forever

FYI- Nikon has this in their D3100, not a high end camera body for sure.

Blueclay · 09-21-2016, 07:03 PM

I've a firmware update for the K-3; I've noticed that with my remote shutter cable release attached, after changing the ISO and shooting I can't then change the ISO again until I disconnect the remote. It stays fixed on its setting. Once the remote is removed from the camera I can then change the ISO and reconnect it to shoot. Anyone else experience this strange behaviour?

AtitG · 09-23-2016, 09:18 AM - **1 Like**

How about an option to select a lower resolution raw file for the k-1, 18-24mp is plenty enough for casual shots.

Nicolas06 · 09-24-2016, 12:11 PM

Originally posted by AtitG

How about an option to select a lower resolution raw file for the k-1, 18-24mp is plenty enough for casual shots.

Because this would no longer be a raw file and would likely messup with raw processing software.

**acoufap** · 09-24-2016, 12:21 PM

Pentax should write the lens identification into the standard exif field "exif:LensModel". Then it would be shown in Capture One, by example. Until now it's in the makernotes Lenstype.

Nicolas06 · 09-24-2016, 12:35 PM

On my side, what I find particulary annoying is that when I move the AF point while I have the eye in the viewfinder sometime I accidently activate a change in jpeg setting, while balence, flash or even bracketing mode.

As a consequence I'd like something that would prevent me from doing that mistake. One could think to maintain the switch button between the 2 modes, but I tried and honestly this is not feasible as this would be the same finger used.

- Allows Raw/Fx to be assigned to one more option: focus point selection. When Raw/Fx button is kept pressed. Moving the wheels or using the directionnal button always move the focus point and never change flash/white balance/jpeg/braketing settings.

PDL · 09-24-2016, 02:38 PM

Originally posted by acoufap

Pentax should write the lens identification into the standard exif field "exif:LensModel". Then it would be shown in Capture One, by example. Until now it's in the makernotes Lenstype.

I have mentioned this (opened two cases at Phase One about this) to the people at Capture One. There are a few features in the filter function of Capture One that are not supported for Pentax cameras, even though they state categorically that they "fully support Pentax 35mm cameras". Please note: Phase One does not support the 645Z in any way (direct competitor), nor do the support Pixel Shift on any model and at present they do not support the K-70 nor the K-1. They also do not support Hasselblad in any shape way or form and (pure speculation on my part) they most likely will not support the new Fuji medium format for the same reason they do to support the 645Z, although their support for the X-trans Fuji sensors is a major selling point used in their literature.

This is really too bad, since Capture One, in my opinion, is superior to Lightrroom in so many ways.

Here is a fix for Capture One and lens name using ExifTool:

exiftool -overwrite_original "-exif:LensModel < ${Composite:LensID}"

Or use ExifToolGui and choose the appropriate default filter

**acoufap** · 09-25-2016, 01:31 AM

Since version Version 7 I use CO for my K5 and now K1 captures. There's a little bit lack of support concerning Pentax brand like lens corrections (only a few lenses are supported) and meta data. But the most important thing for me is the great rendering engine, a lot of great functions and the user interface flexibility. The reason I jumped ship coming from Apple Aperture 3. I only can say that CO does a nice job in rendering my K5 and K1 DNG raw files.

Thanks for your advice using Exiftool! I already use this on my mac within a bash script. But I'm not happy with it because the original file is changed.

In the case of lens info IMO Pentax should use the standard exif lensmodel field. I'm so naive that I think this is a really small change that could be done via firmware.

DavidDwight · 09-25-2016, 07:03 PM

My votes for 13) focus bracketing 29) 3 focus corrections for a zoom, 72) lens info

I vote for these to be in all logical models and not just K-1 or new models

Some additional ideas:
A) Enable astrotracer with interval shooting. (Maybe this works but I don't know how to do it?) say I need a 120 second exposure. I want to take 4 30 second interval exposures with little or no time between and then add the exposures. I want the astrotracer to work constantly throughout the exposures just as if it was one exposure. I think this would help to reduce ISO noise (average the noise of 4 exposures)
B) this may not be feasible without a firmware architecture change: often firmware is limited by the storage/memory available for storing the code. Let users fill the capacity with the features they want or make a few firmwares, for example one with astrotracer and interval shooting and one without these features but WITH focus bracketing etc...

**acoufap** · 09-25-2016, 09:33 PM

When shooting a manual lens we can dial in the focal lenght for a shot. It would be nice if we could do the same with the chosen aperture.

Of course this would only effect documentation in exif.

By the way - IMO K1's control panel is really great. If configured, it allows direct access to change focal length. That comes in handy when using a M zoom. When changing the FL of an Auto zoom it shows the change automatically.

jcdoss · 09-26-2016, 11:24 AM

Originally posted by acoufap

When shooting a manual lens we can dial in the focal lenght for a shot. It would be nice if we could do the same with the chosen aperture.

+1

krazykat · 09-26-2016, 05:44 PM

Originally posted by acoufap

When shooting a manual lens we can dial in the focal lenght for a shot. It would be nice if we could do the same with the chosen aperture.

Of course this would only effect documentation in exif.

Not necessarily...

Originally posted by krazykat

Add the ability to manually enter the aperture for K/M lenses, so it matches what's on the aperture ring. This means:

a. the camera can automatically adjust exposure based on wide-open metering adjusted by input aperture (i.e. no green button metering required); and
b. we can have aperture information embedded in our EXIF info.

09-19-2016, 12:42 PM	#32
BigDave Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Hudson Valley, NY Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,626	Originally posted by MJKoski Canon and Nikon 1-series have had mic input long before video for voice tagging an image. This is nice, but does it stay as part of the EXIF data? Such info would make filing and documenting images SO much easier! Regards, Last edited by BigDave; 09-26-2016 at 11:01 AM.

09-21-2016, 07:03 PM	#35
Blueclay New Member Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Surrey Posts: 19	Iso stuck with remote shutter release attached I've a firmware update for the K-3; I've noticed that with my remote shutter cable release attached, after changing the ISO and shooting I can't then change the ISO again until I disconnect the remote. It stays fixed on its setting. Once the remote is removed from the camera I can then change the ISO and reconnect it to shoot. Anyone else experience this strange behaviour? Last edited by Blueclay; 09-22-2016 at 07:03 AM.

09-24-2016, 02:38 PM	#40
PDL Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: PNW USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,128	Originally posted by acoufap Pentax should write the lens identification into the standard exif field "exif:LensModel". Then it would be shown in Capture One, by example. Until now it's in the makernotes Lenstype. I have mentioned this (opened two cases at Phase One about this) to the people at Capture One. There are a few features in the filter function of Capture One that are not supported for Pentax cameras, even though they state categorically that they "fully support Pentax 35mm cameras". Please note: Phase One does not support the 645Z in any way (direct competitor), nor do the support Pixel Shift on any model and at present they do not support the K-70 nor the K-1. They also do not support Hasselblad in any shape way or form and (pure speculation on my part) they most likely will not support the new Fuji medium format for the same reason they do to support the 645Z, although their support for the X-trans Fuji sensors is a major selling point used in their literature. This is really too bad, since Capture One, in my opinion, is superior to Lightrroom in so many ways. Here is a fix for Capture One and lens name using ExifTool: exiftool -overwrite_original "-exif:LensModel < ${Composite:LensID}" Or use ExifToolGui and choose the appropriate default filter Attached Images

09-25-2016, 01:31 AM	#41
acoufap Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Munich, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,187	Since version Version 7 I use CO for my K5 and now K1 captures. There's a little bit lack of support concerning Pentax brand like lens corrections (only a few lenses are supported) and meta data. But the most important thing for me is the great rendering engine, a lot of great functions and the user interface flexibility. The reason I jumped ship coming from Apple Aperture 3. I only can say that CO does a nice job in rendering my K5 and K1 DNG raw files. Thanks for your advice using Exiftool! I already use this on my mac within a bash script. But I'm not happy with it because the original file is changed. In the case of lens info IMO Pentax should use the standard exif lensmodel field. I'm so naive that I think this is a really small change that could be done via firmware. Last edited by acoufap; 09-25-2016 at 01:37 AM.

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09-18-2016, 07:26 AM	#31
MJKoski Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Posts: 1,784	Canon and Nikon 1-series have had mic input long before video for voice tagging an image.

09-21-2016, 09:52 AM - 1 Like	#33
EArenz Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Rum River Posts: 37	Most important firmware improvement: update any hardware capable cameras to KAF4 compatibility.

09-21-2016, 11:01 AM	#34
BigDave Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Hudson Valley, NY Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,626	Originally posted by BigDave how about a NOTES section and a keyboard routine so an image can be tagged with some variable information and have it right with the image forever FYI- Nikon has this in their D3100, not a high end camera body for sure.

09-23-2016, 09:18 AM - 1 Like	#36
AtitG Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 269	How about an option to select a lower resolution raw file for the k-1, 18-24mp is plenty enough for casual shots.

09-24-2016, 12:11 PM	#37
Nicolas06 Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 4,854	Originally posted by AtitG How about an option to select a lower resolution raw file for the k-1, 18-24mp is plenty enough for casual shots. Because this would no longer be a raw file and would likely messup with raw processing software.

09-24-2016, 12:21 PM	#38
acoufap Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Munich, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,187	Pentax should write the lens identification into the standard exif field "exif:LensModel". Then it would be shown in Capture One, by example. Until now it's in the makernotes Lenstype.

09-24-2016, 12:35 PM	#39
Nicolas06 Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 4,854	On my side, what I find particulary annoying is that when I move the AF point while I have the eye in the viewfinder sometime I accidently activate a change in jpeg setting, while balence, flash or even bracketing mode. As a consequence I'd like something that would prevent me from doing that mistake. One could think to maintain the switch button between the 2 modes, but I tried and honestly this is not feasible as this would be the same finger used. - Allows Raw/Fx to be assigned to one more option: focus point selection. When Raw/Fx button is kept pressed. Moving the wheels or using the directionnal button always move the focus point and never change flash/white balance/jpeg/braketing settings.

09-25-2016, 07:03 PM	#42
DavidDwight Forum Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Pittsburgh Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 74	My votes for 13) focus bracketing 29) 3 focus corrections for a zoom, 72) lens info I vote for these to be in all logical models and not just K-1 or new models Some additional ideas: A) Enable astrotracer with interval shooting. (Maybe this works but I don't know how to do it?) say I need a 120 second exposure. I want to take 4 30 second interval exposures with little or no time between and then add the exposures. I want the astrotracer to work constantly throughout the exposures just as if it was one exposure. I think this would help to reduce ISO noise (average the noise of 4 exposures) B) this may not be feasible without a firmware architecture change: often firmware is limited by the storage/memory available for storing the code. Let users fill the capacity with the features they want or make a few firmwares, for example one with astrotracer and interval shooting and one without these features but WITH focus bracketing etc...

09-25-2016, 09:33 PM	#43
acoufap Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Munich, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,187	When shooting a manual lens we can dial in the focal lenght for a shot. It would be nice if we could do the same with the chosen aperture. Of course this would only effect documentation in exif. By the way - IMO K1's control panel is really great. If configured, it allows direct access to change focal length. That comes in handy when using a M zoom. When changing the FL of an Auto zoom it shows the change automatically.

09-26-2016, 11:24 AM	#44
jcdoss Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,769	Originally posted by acoufap When shooting a manual lens we can dial in the focal lenght for a shot. It would be nice if we could do the same with the chosen aperture. +1

09-26-2016, 05:44 PM	#45
krazykat Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 546	Originally posted by acoufap When shooting a manual lens we can dial in the focal lenght for a shot. It would be nice if we could do the same with the chosen aperture. Of course this would only effect documentation in exif. Not necessarily... Originally posted by krazykat Add the ability to manually enter the aperture for K/M lenses, so it matches what's on the aperture ring. This means: a. the camera can automatically adjust exposure based on wide-open metering adjusted by input aperture (i.e. no green button metering required); and b. we can have aperture information embedded in our EXIF info.