Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/07/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Firmware, blah. Here is exciting product development news, announced by Leica on Facebook recently: Leica sera pr?sent au Mans Classic du 9 au 11 juillet 2010. 450 voitures n?es de 1923 ? 1979 s?affronteront sur ce circuit l?gendaire, et plus de 8.000 v?hicules viendront du monde entier pour cette concentration, admir?es par plus de 120.000 spectateurs? Leica y tient une boutique dans l?espace Village et vendra une s?rie limit?e ? 50 exemplaires du Leica X1 avec un ?tui marron patin?. For some reason they posted it in French, probably since they are hyping their presence at an event in Le Mans. That X1 in a special case must take pictures vastly superior to the run-of-the-mill cameras... Nathan Nathan Wajsman Alicante, Spain http://www.frozenlight.eu http://www.greatpix.eu http://www.nathanfoto.com PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog YNWA On Jul 10, 2010, at 12:03 PM, Dennis wrote: > Hi Frank, > > I think this is a good idea. Charging for upgrade firmware is a > reasonable support solution for Leica. In the past Leica has provided > custom upgrades to bodies on an individual basis and I see firmware as no > different. Of course the upgrade is not customized to an individual's > specification but designed to provide a functionality with broad appeal. > This is somewhat akin to adding slow shutter speeds to the II series > Leicas thus upgrading them to the III series.Not to mention finder > upgrades for M series. > > In order to ensure each upgrade is paid a buyer should receive firmware > that it tied to their camera's serial number. Nothing is unbreakable but > by using encryption it can be made difficult enough that typical buyer is > not going to be able to give away, or use, copies on other cameras. > > I took a look at the M8 2.005 firmware file, m8-2_005.upd, and it's 4,899 > KB, sort of an odd number. If it's a complete image then it implies about > 4MB of flash in the camera. If incomplete, i.e. unused memory space not > filled, then the flash could be quite a bit more. > > As to making your camera a doorstop by installing a bad firmware it's > unlikely as most firmware designs will have a firmware loader in flash > that is not overwritten when installing firmware. > > It's not uncommon for manufacturers to disallow downleveling, i.e. > installing an older level of firmware. No doubt there is a way to > downlevel, but only the manufacturer, and hackers, will know how to do > this. > > It's my impression that most camera firmware hacks are simply turning on > features that already exist in the firmware. These hacks do not require > detail knowledge of the hardware nor significant reverse engineering of > firmware. > > I am sure that Leica learned a lot with the M8 firmware and made a > decision to improve the design for the M9, make it more modular, easier to > maintain, etc. Good firmware is expensive and I hope Leica has made the > M9 firmware modular and abstracted hardware detail such that it's a solid > base for future digital M cameras. > > Dennis > > > > red735i at earthlink.net wrote: >> The orginal statement on M8 having a lens menu like the M9....had it as >> not possible...... >> Not possible and too $$$ are totally different things..... >> >> One is a management decision not to supprt your customer base, the other >> is a technical evaluation of feasibility. >> >> I do not understand why this kind of FW could not be a chargeable fee.... >> If they can get $175 for a $16 battery, why not $100-300 for a FW update >> with some meat in it? Say a few thousand folk did the update at $300 >> each, that would pay for the SW inveestment... the code is already >> written ( for the M9), it just need to be put into the M8 space, and >> then tested. It is not that expensive to do this.... >> >> Your fears over FW hacking..... Both the M8 and M9 code is accessible.... >> and comparisons can be made. >> BUT, successful hacking is not done by amateurs, but by people that write >> code for a living. >> I am not suggesting that some Physicican/Lawyer/Indian Chief decide to >> hack code on his M8..... >> >> Frank >> >> >> >>> Leica Camera said that it would be too expensive to implement after the >>> fact >>> and was only possible with the M9 due to writing the new firmware from >>> scratch. >>> >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >