New M8 Firmware (2.0) !!!!!!!

[Gabriel M.A.]

I dont mean to doubt, the cat shot looks really great at 2500. But it was taken in good lighting condition. I shot 2500 indoor with poor lighting and the noise is much more apparent. Is it my sensor faulty?

No: you're not compensating properly for how it was metered; very common mistake. The Canikon cameras have a sophisticated way (if you chose that mode) of evaluating a scene.

In poorly-lit scenes, the heavily-center-averaged metering of the M8 can cause serious headaches when not used with this limitation of the metering design in mind. It is assumed that M8 users will know this, and meter accordingly.

But most don't remember, and that's why Canikon developed the almost-boobproof algorithms they have in their newer cameras.

If you underexpose in a dimly-lit scene, you'll see a lot of sensor noise in the shadows, and rescuing these will be impractical.

But this is too elaborate and something like this doesn't fit in a seven-word bumpersticker motto, hence why nobody really propagates this sort of information on the Internets. It's just so much easier to bash. 😱

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Is there any where where I can find instructions on how to use the Auto ISO function?

It's automatic ISO selection so you can keep your selected shutter speed (via the shutter speed dial) in a "properly exposed" image.

If that's too cryptic, Leica may come out with a brochure explaining it in detail. Otherwise, any new Nikon manual for any of the Dxx SLRs can explain what "Auto ISO" means.

 

[kingmillo]

No: you're not compensating properly for how it was metered; very common mistake. The Canikon cameras have a sophisticated way (if you chose that mode) of evaluating a scene.

In poorly-lit scenes, the heavily-center-averaged metering of the M8 can cause serious headaches when not used with this limitation of the metering design in mind. It is assumed that M8 users will know this, and meter accordingly.

But most don't remember, and that's why Canikon developed the almost-boobproof algorithms they have in their newer cameras.

If you underexpose in a dimly-lit scene, you'll see a lot of sensor noise in the shadows, and rescuing these will be impractical.

But this is too elaborate and something like this doesn't fit in a seven-word bumpersticker motto, hence why nobody really propagates this sort of information on the Internets. It's just so much easier to bash. 😱

Thank you Gabriel for the input. So if I understand you correctly we shouldnt compensate down in poorly-lit scene? or maybe even compensate up? Because I think we all agree that M8 tends to overexpose at well-lit scene. I always set at -1/3 or even -2/3. I believe some folks also do this pratice.

 

[kingmillo]

I use my M8 with Auto WB, set to DNG (RAW). All sharpening, contrast etc is set to standard. I don't tend to delve very deeply into the Menu system other than switching between DNG and JPEG (with Saturation set to b/w).....though this is very rare as I usually shot DNG and desaturate to b/w in Capture One.

From what I read of GabrielMA's posts he seems far more aware of the best use of settings and set-ups on the M8 than me, maybe he will know whether you're missing something or not.

I wonder if I have stumbled onto a lucky camera body or something😱

Responding to Gabriel's observation, what compensation did u use? 0,-1/3 or +1/3? Thank you again for your input. I am very desperate to get my 2500 as clean as your cat shot. It really breaks my heart if i stumbled on unlucky camera body, which i doubt. Or maybe i can trouble you to test at poorly-lit scene.

 

[kingmillo]

Hope i post the images correctly. iso 2500 test shot with crop.

 

[kingmillo]

You know what folks, forgive my ignorance, I take back my doubt of iso 2500. I attached my 2500 test shot above, and after I downsize to 800x800 it look as clean as your other clean 2500. I use EasyCrop prog for mac. But this issue another question, why the original dng so much noisier? If I open the downsize one in cs3, it looks smooth, but the orig dng is really crap. Is your case also like this? Thanks for the input

 

[gdi]

Responding to Gabriel's observation, what compensation did u use? 0,-1/3 or +1/3? Thank you again for your input. I am very desperate to get my 2500 as clean as your cat shot. It really breaks my heart if i stumbled on unlucky camera body, which i doubt. Or maybe i can trouble you to test at poorly-lit scene.

Exactly right - if you can over expose a bit (based on conditions, of course) you will be able to add -ev in post. You'll get nice pretty clean Hi ISO files. Underexposing to protect the highlights will result in high shadow noise.

 

[gdi]

You know what folks, forgive my ignorance, I take back my doubt of iso 2500. I attached my 2500 test shot above, and after I downsize to 800x800 it look as clean as your other clean 2500. I use EasyCrop prog for mac. But this issue another question, why the original dng so much noisier? If I open the downsize one in cs3, it looks smooth, but the orig dng is really crap. Is your case also like this? Thanks for the input

Downsizing is a very effective noise reduction technique, so small pics look a lot cleaner.

 

[gdi]

Is there any where where I can find instructions on how to use the Auto ISO function?

1 - Set the AutO ISO parameters - minimum Shutter speed and Max ISO - in the Main Menu under AUTO ISO Setup

2- in the "Set" menu, choose AUTO ISO as the ISO setting.

 

[Richard Marks]

Well my M8 does not seem to want to accept the new software
It gives the load sucessful prompt but the camera jams (flashing continuously the red dot) after attemtping an exposure
The battery is fully charged
Did have this once before but manged a sucessful upload after a few goes
Has any one else had this?
Richard

 

[user237428934]

I installed the firmware and today I really enjoyed the new Auto-ISO feature. I was taking photos on an outdoor childrens birthday. We had everything from bright sun to shadow in the forrest. I was much faster now because I didn't have to think about adjusting ISO all the time.
One drawback: wanted to capture jumping children in the shadow. Exposure was too long. So I opend the aperture but exposure stayed the same and instead ISO went down. Not what I wanted this time.

 

[DrDick]

New Firmware 2.0

New Firmware 2.0

Having just ordered 2 more Extreme III SD cards I came across the notification about the new firmware allowing higher capacity cards. I loaded the firmware and check operation by taking a few indoor available light shots and although they don't admit to any auto white balance improvements the shots were much better colour-balanced on auto than previously....here's hoping everything else works OK!

 

[tmfabian]

I installed the firmware and today I really enjoyed the new Auto-ISO feature. I was taking photos on an outdoor childrens birthday. We had everything from bright sun to shadow in the forrest. I was much faster now because I didn't have to think about adjusting ISO all the time.
One drawback: wanted to capture jumping children in the shadow. Exposure was too long. So I opend the aperture but exposure stayed the same and instead ISO went down. Not what I wanted this time.

set minimum shutter speed to be higher.

 

[Richard Marks]

I did tests before and after the firmware update at all ISO levels with identical controlled lighting (quite dark) and a tripod. I see no change or improvement in noise performance at any ISO level.

That's not surprising: I also see no claim in the update instructions about the noise levels being improved. The update is to allow higher capacity cards and Auto-ISO. So the "noise" discussion seems to be all about the emperor's new clothes. How did it even start?

One thing is for sure: Auto-ISO actually does exist and is a cool feature that I already enjoy using.

Well Ive got this up and running now.
Id really love the high iso noise to be better but i do not think that it is any different (using capture 4). A small irritation for me is that you do not actually know what ISO its chosing.
One thing fixed is that the image which comes up is already sharp (does not have that extra bit of processing that used to irritate me) Thats a big plus.
Auto ISO is a nice little update.
I am just amazed that these things have taken so long. The initial auto white ballance was apalling when you look back at it now.

Richard

 

[tmfabian]

I get the distinct impression as of late that 2500 is an expanded ISO. I just now noticed that when changing from anything from 160-1250 to 2500 about 75-100 shots vanish off my counter (the counter registers 75-100 less shots left) so something is certainly going on with 2500.

 

[ali_baba]

ISO 2500 is now useable.
this is +1/3 EV
and black points are all the way up in aperture,
contrast is up as well.

im quite impressed with this update.

 

[user237428934]

Funny you should say that because I had some very strange counter things going on the other day after I did the update. After I'd finished I reformated the card (1gig) turned the camera off and back on again and it was registering 263 on the counter and normally with the camera set on raw for a 1 gig card it's 91 ... I could take a shot and the counter would go to 90. If however I turned the camera off then back on again after clearing the card it went back to 263. I switched cards and it hasn't done it again but it was very strange and nothing I did could get it to behave normally ... I'm wondering if the update file has corrupted the card somehow!

I noticed this strange counter behaviour as well. But it happens not all the time when switching on the camera. After one shot, counting is correct again.

 

[gdi]

I get the distinct impression as of late that 2500 is an expanded ISO. I just now noticed that when changing from anything from 160-1250 to 2500 about 75-100 shots vanish off my counter (the counter registers 75-100 less shots left) so something is certainly going on with 2500.

If you are shooting with jpg turned on the files sizes will be larger at 2500 - there is less ability to compress. Check your jpeg sizes and you'll see the increase, mine go from around 2.4k at ISO 160 to over 4K with 2500. I suppose the firmware takes this into account when estimating shots remaining.

 

[presspass]

I'm, as usual, confused. I tried to download firmware 2.0 from the Leica site and the only one listed for download for M8 is 1.2###. Is this the right one, or is there a newer one? If there is, where do I find it?
Thanks,

 

[Ben Z]

One of the links on Leica's homepage still points to the last firmware. Go to the first page of this thread, to the very first post, and click the link marked Leica. It will take to the page where if you scroll down to Firmware/Software Updates, there's a clickable download for the 2.0 firmware. Good luck!

I have decided not to bother. I have never used auto-ISO on any camera and wouldn't ever use it on the M8, nor do I have any SDHC cards or want to trust one card to hold that many shots, and I will not be buying any of the new lenses anytime soon. I don't believe there was any change made to the DNG ISO performance, otherwise Leica would have no reason not to tout it. If I should decide to send my M8 for an upgrade in order to extend the warranty, I assume Leica will install the latest firmware at that time.