The last M8 firmware update coming in May 2010????

The idea that Leica would lock the M8 our of lens codes for future lenses strikes me as quite, well, "un-Leica". The more than a half century of M-mount compatibility has been a justifiable and at times hard fought source of pride for the company.

Manual selection would be one way of avoiding future firmware updates. By offering a choice of lens selections via a menu they'd give M8 users a range of choices for vignetting/color control and never have to test a new release with the discontinued model.

I too hope it happens.
 
dof said:
... Manual selection would be one way of avoiding future firmware updates. ...
Click to expand...

Seems to me it would do just the opposite. What to do if Leica rolls out some new lenses? Wouldn't you like to see them added to the menu selection?

I was surprised Leica included this option on the M9 - 6-bit coding provided Leica with new proprietary rights on the M mount.
 
Self-selection of lenses would be a great addition. I do not understand how the system works on the M9. Are updates to such necessary for new Leica lenses? Or, somehow, could new lenses be self-selected in regards to a similar former lens? For example, we could self-select Summicron 50mm (the version since 1994) if we were using a future version Summicron 50mm--and, critically, would achieve good results. Would that work? Or would the results be less than optimal?
 
BillBlackwell said:
Seems to me it would do just the opposite. What to do if Leica rolls out some new lenses? Wouldn't you like to see them added to the menu selection?

I was surprised Leica included this option on the M9 - 6-bit coding provided Leica with new proprietary rights on the M mount.
Click to expand...

Considering that Leica never just rolls out stuff I don't think that what the future holds would have a great impact on firmware they released this year and me thinks a patch could be included to those who purchase said new lens design(s).

Also the coding is fairly simple to hack and required little thought or materials, it's not as if it were ROM...

One last thing, I would be willing to bet that Leica would do an update in the distant future if enough M8 owners made the case or some oddball engineering issue cropped (hehehe) up.

And if enough of us desired an update, how many would be willing to pay a small amount to have it?
 
ramosa said:
Self-selection of lenses would be a great addition. I do not understand how the system works on the M9. Are updates to such necessary for new Leica lenses? Or, somehow, could new lenses be self-selected in regards to a similar former lens? For example, we could self-select Summicron 50mm (the version since 1994) if we were using a future version Summicron 50mm--and, critically, would achieve good results. Would that work? Or would the results be less than optimal?
Click to expand...

The way I understand it, the M9 firmware (as to lens selection) is set up to mimic the 6-bit coding program, whereas the code is designed for a specific lens formula. Therefore, the firmware should be updated to correct for a new lens formula the same way 6-bit coding does. However, in the absence of a firmware update, a 'comparable' lens would need to be selected from the menu - similar to coding a ZM 25mm as a 24mm Elmarit, for example. It works, but the results would be better with a perfect match.
 
I remember in the old days (10 years ago) when manufacturers first started releasing firmware updates. These patches never fixed any issues, just added new languages to the options menu.

So wouldn't it be a laugh if, in order to get back at people who slated the M8, Leica continuously delay the release of the update for 4 months and then announce to a salivating world that the only new feature, is Swahili. :bang:
 
BillBlackwell said:
Seems to me it would do just the opposite. What to do if Leica rolls out some new lenses? Wouldn't you like to see them added to the menu selection?

I was surprised Leica included this option on the M9 - 6-bit coding provided Leica with new proprietary rights on the M mount.
Click to expand...

I understand your point and the infinite upgrade plan is absolutely my first choice. But consider that the options currently available in the M9 cover nearly the full range of available focal lengths for the system, many of them with multiple formulations. Based on what I read on the various forums, people find that selecting the current 50mm Summicron setting works well for the 50mm Hexanon as well as the Zeiss Planar. Naturally there are some outliers, such as the CV 12mm for which Leica have no offering.

Certainly if this is indeed the last update, having the option in firmware is better than the requirement to code each lens, and the number of codes remains the same regardless.
 
Open Source code release with drag and drop features to load the tools you need in the limited memory and leave out the rest . Load a standard set or what you will not be using that day/shoot or travel. Imagine something like how you structure your menus in MS Word take from a source window and load to the toolbar. You only have so much room (bios memory in the M8) to populate, so you can opt-in on the feature sets most important to use.

I bet a crafty 15 year old code junkie could figure this out. This would give one great control over over what you used most, where it sat in the menus and preconfigure user presets. I suggested a Leica X prize a while back on a different forum. Could you image an iphone app that you could reprogram your M8 to do extra cool things on the fly?

And then there is the world of camera born virus that could slip in and do all kinds of things giving other people metadata possession of your images and you not know unless you pay attention, attacks all jpgs on you hard drive when inserted into a card reader, or who knows what.

Lee
 
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firmware upgrades for the M8?

firmware upgrades for the M8?

The table of lenses that can be manually assigned on the M9 contains only lenses that have been manufactured since before 6-bit coding began, and thus which might exist without any code. Newer lenses always have six-bit codes and aren't in the table. The only way for an M8 or M8.2 to recognize a 2010+ lens will be to have new firmware, with the six-bit code tables updated.

To add the table of older lenses to the M8 family is about twice as much work as it was for the M9, since each M8/lens combination has two profiles, one with and one without the IR filter installed. I'm not holding my breath for that feature to arrive.

scott
 
It would sure be nice to add the lens detection lens list to a new M8 firmware. Any day now you say --?
 
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