NikonGear'23

Gear Talk => Camera Talk => Topic started by: Netr on February 18, 2020, 05:28:21

Title: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Netr on February 18, 2020, 05:28:21
https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/index.html

Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Jack Dahlgren on February 18, 2020, 06:14:33
Contents:
Added support for ProGrade and Lexar CFexpress memory cards (Type B). For more information, see the Nikon website for your country or region.
• Custom Setting a4 (Auto-area AF face/eye detection) now offers an Animal detection option that adds dogs and cats to the subjects supported by face- and eye-detection autofocus. As a result, the camera can now detect and focus on the faces and eyes of dogs and cats. Animal face detection (but not eye detection) is also available in movie mode.
• Improved the functionality of subject-tracking AF (available when Auto-area AF is selected for AF-area mode) as follows:
- Subject-tracking AF can now be initiated via the Fn1 or Fn2 button on the camera or the Fn1 or Fn2 button on the lens. Subject-tracking AF must first be assigned to the control using Custom Setting f2 (Custom control assignment) in Group f (Controls) of the CUSTOM SETTING MENU or Custom Setting g2 (Custom control assignment).
- The behavior of the camera when tracking is end by pressing the AF-ON button or by pressing the shutter-release button halfway with AF-C (continuous-servo autofocus) and subject-tracking AF enabled in photo mode has been changed to more closely resemble that of the 3D-tracking option for digital SLR cameras.
• Custom Setting f2 (Custom control assignment) in Group f (Controls) of the CUSTOM SETTING MENU now offers a Lens Fn2 button option, which can be used to choose the role played by the L-Fn2 button available on certain Z mount lenses (as of February 12, 2020, only the NIKKOR Z 70–200mm f/2.8 VR S).
• Added support for the focus limit switch available on certain Z mount lenses (as of February 12, 2020, only the NIKKOR Z 70–200mm f/2.8 VR S).
• Optimized the responsiveness of the switch to manual focus when the focus or control ring on a Z mount lens is rotated during autofocus. Note that the control ring only functions in this capacity when assigned the Focus (M/A) role.
• Fixed the following issues:
- When Viewfinder brightness was adjusted manually, brightness would sometimes change when the standby timer was restarted.
- iOS devices running iOS 13 would sometimes display a Bluetooth pairing request when pairing was complete.


Here is my dog reacting to the animal face detection feature...
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: John Geerts on February 18, 2020, 06:51:44
She seems to like it, Jack  ;)     Was it a quick update?
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Mike G on February 18, 2020, 08:39:09
The Z6 update I found to be quite quick, once I realised not to use the DNG file but the DIN file instead! Oops
Took about five minutes, but I like the fact that once the update has been completed one can delete the update file from within the camera!
I also like that these updates are coming at quite a rate, bodes well for the future status of Z6/Z7 infrastructure. And it tells me that development is going to be ongoing, good oh. I would assume that it’s because the Z bodies are more heavily firmware based than their DSLR cousins, do you think I’m right?
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: John Geerts on February 18, 2020, 09:02:37
I  think it is the other way around, Mike. Because of the new Z-system, there are a lot more changes to  the camera than usual (thus compared with the DSRL system). This implies usually more firmware-updates.

On top of that there are new lenses all of the time, and that requires also a firmware-update.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Mike G on February 18, 2020, 09:24:17
John, my memories from my Nikon DSLR days, D70s, D200, D300, D700, D800, and  D810 I seem to remember that firmware updates were few and far between!
Also will a lens firmware update necessitate a camera firmware update?
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Fons Baerken on February 18, 2020, 09:39:54
Beware it only works on pets of the domestic kind ;D
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Birna Rørslett on February 18, 2020, 11:33:15
Should work on wives or husbands, then :) :)

OK, on a more serious note: the upgrades on my various Z bodies went smoothly and effortlessly.  I noticed the menu mentions "Animal detection" with a dog-like icon.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: chambeshi on February 18, 2020, 13:59:40
Preliminary first tests Z7, Auto-Mode AFC, 80-400 G, BBF:
1. Eye tracking does not work on brown horses - expected. This included close up portraits.

2. Strongly backlit Black cat up in tree looking down at me - 2-3m distance. Burton's bright yellow eyes blazing in his black face! With both BBF and custom spot-exposure (Fn1), the camera failed to grab focus at all. Yes, Burton is a challenging subject who tests, rather stresses, my skills on backlit animals, but I do know the Single-Point AFC + spot-exposure custom settings in the D850 grab focus, and very fast.

3. Gray Burmese strolling towards me from 30m. I tracked him successfully all the way. Eye AF kicked in at about 12m. I had to zoom out to keep him in the frame

4. Ginger and gray Burmese sparring and wrestling at 3m. Here I found Eye tracking is highly sensitive. This mode snaps in and out between the auto-tracking blocks if interrupted by cats turning their heads rapidly, and if a paw covers a face. As soon as even one eye of the focal cat reappears the cursor focus grabs back on in Eye-mode.

5. Sunbathing cat grooming- Eye-AF tracks the rollicking face ie keeping on his eye. If he rolls on his back, Eye tracking crashes out back to Auto blocks. In this 1 case, the Eye AF failed to pick up the eyes in this orientation (still to be trained on these lessons, one asks?!).

7. Both Cats dozing with eyes closing shut. Occasional blinks. Eye AF still recognizes the slits. It can also recognize cat in profile if enough of just one eye is visible.

8. Flock of white geese: dark eyes against white plumage. Distances up close to MFD of the zoom, which allowed tight framing of their heads. AF sensor works mostly in Auto-Area tracking but kept a sharp focus and Eye recognition kicked in sporadically (thinks it's got a cat?!). This included a goose looking right into the lens with both eyes.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: chambeshi on February 18, 2020, 14:01:29
I also tested a few images on a computer monitor.
1. Gray cat portrait. Animal-Eye AF locked on eyes instantly and stuck to subject

2. Baby baboon, Papio griseipes, looking directly into the lens. Animal-Eye AF failed to recognize his eyes; Human-eye AF locked right on to his eyes, jumping back and fro. Baby baboon looking sideways, both eyes visible. Neither mode worked.

3. Portrait of male leopard facing camera, looking upward slightly. Animal-Eye AF locked instantly on to one of his eyes and stuck to subject

4. Full frame portrait of Spotted-eagle owl, Bubo africanus, looking into lens. Neither mode worked

Eye-recognition may be dismissed as a gimmick but it does indeed work on the subjects for which it's trained. The categories of subjects covered by these AF algorithms will increase in diversity. This ability to use automated eye-tracking on a carnivore moving his head around can make a shot.... manual tracking on muscle memory is impossible in such cases.

It will take me some time to test out this Animal-mode or tracking galloping cats, particularly the 3 residents here. They pick and choose when they indulge in calisthenics. But even very preliminary tests I tried earlier today [geese, horses as well as cats] confirm the tracking has improved significantly even without this animal eye-mode. Previously I never bothered with Auto. The ability to activate this mode with BBF should have been there on release. Perhaps, Nikon have done cryptic changes in aspects of the AFC.... Any Nikon FW takes some time to test out (and I will seek out other species too)  Testing a continua :-)
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Nikfuson on February 18, 2020, 18:09:42
It is funny that I had no problem with eye AF photographing our dog before this latest FW. Will of course do a before/after test to check the expected improvement.
Update: Improved eye AF indeed! On another topic; striping (caused by OSPDAF array) has not improved.
Next will be the mandatory continuous AF tracking which will have to wait until there's ample daylight.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Mike G on February 18, 2020, 20:25:00
Am I right in thinking that animal AF switches off normal human eye detection?
I can’t see how to implement it any other way, hopefully I’m missing something?
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Nikfuson on February 18, 2020, 20:57:14
Am I right in thinking that animal AF switches off normal human eye detection?
I can’t see how to implement it any other way, hopefully I’m missing something?

You’re right methinks.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: chris dees on February 18, 2020, 21:31:26
I welcome every firmware update. It makes the Z’s more competative/better.
But seriously; cat/dog eyefocus? What joke!
The other changes are looking much more important to me. Better AF tracking, easier AF-tracking.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Eddie Draaisma on February 18, 2020, 23:16:05
Re the compatibility with additional brands of CFexpress cards, there is a technically interesting read at DPreview forums regarding relative XQD vs CFexpress card performance:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4465507#forum-post-63614671

No need to throw away XQD cards yet.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Akira on February 18, 2020, 23:58:36
I welcome every firmware update. It makes the Z’s more competative/better.
But seriously; cat/dog eyefocus? What joke!
The other changes are looking much more important to me. Better AF tracking, easier AF-tracking.


Chris, Sony is the pioneer of the pet eye focus. :D
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: longzoom on February 19, 2020, 05:46:22
Quick and dirty test of version 3.0. Z7, 24-70 Tam G2, at 24mm/2.8. AF-C, Auto AF, F1 activated. The magic square was following this person, from the right side, where she was detected by the system, to the left side, where I pressed the button completely. The small part of the hydrant was my orientation, to turn the camera and wait.  LZ(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49555635622_7290b61608_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2iv4zYJ)2020-02-18-3 (https://flic.kr/p/2iv4zYJ) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickr(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49555576522_2c4756253b_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2iv4hpL)2020-02-18-2 (https://flic.kr/p/2iv4hpL) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickr
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: longzoom on February 19, 2020, 06:29:24
The same combo, at 70mm/2.8, the same settings.  The dark blue car was chosen. It was covered by the other ones, but the system was keeping it in focus.  A very significant improvement, a great success for Nikon, I think. LZ (https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49555578777_2177c17d3e_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2iv4i5D)2020-02-18_1 (https://flic.kr/p/2iv4i5D) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickr(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49555338846_776a8777df_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2iv34KU)2020-02-18_1-2 (https://flic.kr/p/2iv34KU) by longzoom (https://www.flickr.com/photos/longzoom/), on Flickr
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Mike G on February 19, 2020, 09:05:40
IMHO the implementation of pet eye focus mode seems to me to be a very clunky way of doing things! Have Nikon made arrangements with cats and dogs to stop what they are doing while the camera operator faffs around diving into menus or button pressing to get to the pet mode!
At least this situation can be fixed by another firmware update!
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Luc on February 19, 2020, 11:14:02
Mike, that's what the three user settings are for. Just store your cat/dog af setting under one. No firmware needed. No panic, Mr Mainwaring!
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Nikfuson on February 19, 2020, 13:17:26
Had a go with continuous tracking and in this case, flying seagulls (~50m distance) against semicloudy sky: very disappointing as the camera seemed much more interested in the cloudy backdrop than the gulls.
Will, with interest, try this with a human face and trying to understand if the background is still "algorithm'ed" as the preferred distance to focus on.
The good: starting tracking is way easier - once the OK button has been pressed. My set-up is AF-ON focus activation and as soon as I let go of the AF-ON button the AF square box re-centers itself, ready for a new target. Then it's just a matter of positioning the target within the box and push the AF-ON and Bob's supposed to be yer uncle...but with seagulls not so much.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Mike G on February 19, 2020, 15:11:39
Mike, that's what the three user settings are for. Just store your cat/dog af setting under one. No firmware needed. No panic, Mr Mainwaring!
This particular Mr Mainwaring is definitely at a loss to understand why Nikon is making it such a faff, why is it not easier to access! I won’t be assigning animal AF setting to one of the user numbers!
Even if one of the U modes is assigned, it will still take too long to access! And the moment will be gone! Shame it’s so damned clunky.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Bent Hjarbo on February 19, 2020, 16:18:06
Haven't used the special tracking, just single point AF-C, have no complaint.
Never have had any luck with the 3-D tracking on my DSLRs even for skiers in white surroundings  :o
I did try the Z6 with the previous software and my local seagulls.
It flew behind some branches at the Z6 followed it until behind the trunk ;)
I did start the shooting befor the first frame shown here.
Z6 AF-S 70-200 f2.8 VR II @f4
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Eddie Draaisma on February 22, 2020, 16:14:29
Just out of curiosity I was wondering if it would be possible to update the Z camera firmware in the field with help of an iPad only.

At first sight this looks trivial with the latest iPadOS, just download the firmware file to the download folder and move it to an XQD card in a connected XQD reader.

The caveat is that Nikon firmware comes enclosed in either an .exe (for Windows) or an .dmg (for MacOS) file, both type of files cannot be opened on the iPad by default.

With no suitable utility in sight in the App Store I found a few online file converters that are able to convert the .dmg file into a .zip file. Another issue: the camera firmware is stored in a subdirectory in the .dmg file, most online converters won’t handle that.

The online converter at https://www.freefileconvert.com however does handle subdirectories, so experiment succeeded.


So the basic flow is:

go to a Nikon website and download the firmware .dmg file in Safari

go to https://www.freefileconvert.com and upload the downloaded file in step 1, convert it to a .ZIP file and download the resulting .ZIP file.

In the Files app, open the downloaded .ZIP file (it is in de download folder), open it and locate the firmware file

connect an XQD reader, insert a card and move the firmware file to it

transfer the XQD card to the camera, and update the firmware as usual

Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Mike G on February 22, 2020, 21:11:55
Eddie, the ZIP file is not suitable to use for the FW update it has to be a bin file which is extracted from the ZIP!
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Eddie Draaisma on February 22, 2020, 21:40:50
Mike, the .Zip file has to be opened first, iPad can do that.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Mike G on February 23, 2020, 09:07:04
Eddie yes I do know the zip file has to be opened first, never used an iPad yet always extracted the FW on my desktop Mac!
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Bent Hjarbo on February 23, 2020, 09:08:48
I have tried to read my XQD card via a card reader, but the iPad can not deliver the required power, so it is a no-go :(
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Mike G on February 23, 2020, 09:50:24
Bent, I can see that as a problem also is it so important to update the FW in the field?
FW updates are rarely that urgent!
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Eddie Draaisma on February 23, 2020, 11:40:26
I have tried to read my XQD card via a card reader, but the iPad can not deliver the required power, so it is a no-go :(

I was able to do this out of curiosity thingy with an iPad Pro and a Lexar XQD reader (with an USB to USB-C dongle in between).

Bent, I can see that as a problem also is it so important to update the FW in the field?
FW updates are rarely that urgent!

"Not useful" is a proper statement; it leaves enough room to prove otherwise for someone somewhere in the future  ;D

Nikon could just offer the firmware files as plain downloads without the .dmg or .exe packaging (as other companies do), a little more convenient on desktop and/or laptop too.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Birna Rørslett on February 23, 2020, 12:20:41
Binary FW files are probably packed into an executable for a reason -- safety/checksum validating comes to mind. It would be a disaster if you upload a bad FW to your camera thereby bricking it..
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Mike G on February 23, 2020, 13:16:30
Binary FW files are probably packed into an executable for a reason -- safety/checksum validating comes to mind. It would be a disaster if you upload a bad FW to your camera thereby bricking it..
Thanks Birna, yep there had to be a reason! I’m sure though that some manufacturers expand their bin files as they are downloaded! But now I can’t remember if that is so! Oh dear.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Eddie Draaisma on February 23, 2020, 14:16:02
Binary FW files are probably packed into an executable for a reason -- safety/checksum validating comes to mind. It would be a disaster if you upload a bad FW to your camera thereby bricking it..

The FW file itself **hopefully** is already provided with a safety checksum... Relying on putting it into some sort of container would be bad practice.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Birna Rørslett on February 23, 2020, 15:11:11
My guess is that the maker does this by intent not by whims or malpractice.
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Eddie Draaisma on February 23, 2020, 15:22:45
My guess is that the maker does this by intent not by whims or malpractice.

The container can only *protect* the firmware file up to the moment it is downloaded on the computer. After that, the firmware file will be retrieved from the container and starts an unprotected life on its own.
In order to prevent damaged firmware files being installed, the camera needs to be able to get a security checksum from the bare firmware file itself.

My guess is that Nikon already adds a security checksum to firmware files, heck even better maybe they also sign it with a private key in order for the camera to check for authenticity (with the public key).
Title: Re: New firmware for Z cameras.
Post by: Bill Mellen on February 23, 2020, 16:57:01
So far, the animal eye detect seems to work well when there is adequate light on the animal’s face.

It even deals with some interfering obstructions.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49574094616_094be229a3_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2iwGccf)

In any case, I got a lot more keepers with animal eye detect on.