Firmware Friday: DJI Osmo, Olympus TG-4, Sigma 30mm lens and JVC camcorders updated
posted Friday, May 6, 2016 at 9:38 PM EDT
Firmware Friday this week is a little unusual: The only new update we're aware of is not for a traditional still or video camera, but rather for the DJI Osmo RAW handle when used with either the Zenmuse X5R or X5 gimbal and camera. While searching far and wide for any other updates issued in the last week, though, we did stumble on several which have quietly appeared over the last couple of months, but which slipped by unnoticed at the time.
DJI Osmo
We'll start with the DJI Osmo firmware version 1.1.0.10 update, since this is by far the newest. There are actually two distinct updates here, one labeled as the Osmo RAW and the other as the Osmo Pro, and rather confusingly both carry the same version number and can be applied to the same Osmo handle product. What matters is the camera and gimbal attached to the handle. The Osmo RAW update supports the Zenmuse X5R camera, while the Osmo Pro update is specific to the Zenmuse X5 camera, so you'll want to be sure to get the right update for your needs.
Both updates upgrade the firmware on the attached camera and gimbal too, and with one exception, they make the same changes. Support is added for the relevant camera and gimbal on the Osmo handle, including the Single Shot, Multiple Shot, Interval Shot, Video and Audio Recording features. Camera stabilization is also improved, a red tone on high ISO photos fixed, and a focus breathing issue with 4K D-Log video recorded in Manual mode corrected. For the Zenmuse X5R only, there's also a new joystick inversion function on both the pan and tilt axes, enabled under Gimbal Settings in the DJI GO app.
More details and the firmware can be found in the Downloads section of the DJI Osmo product page on the company's website.
Olympus TG-4
Moving along, we have one more camera firmware update on which to report. The Olympus TG-4's version 2.0 update actually landed a month ago, but it's only just come to our attention today. Here, there are several new features. The interval-shooting capture limit has been more than tripled from 99 to 299 frames, and support has been added for the FD-1 Flash Diffuser. This includes flash compensation and optimized exposure control in Microscope mode. This mode has also been updated so that settings will be maintained -- other than flash mode, exposure compensation, white balance and ISO sensitivity, that is -- when the exposure mode is changed or the camera powered off. And finally, sequential file numbering can now be maintained across multiple flash cards.
You can get the new version 2.0 firmware update here.
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN | Contemporary
Another recent update we just stumbled upon is for Sigma's 30mm f/1.4 DC DN | Contemporary lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras. Again, this update shipped about a month ago, and here the issue fixed was a failure to offer distortion correction in JPEG-mode shooting. More info can be found here, and the update itself can be installed through the Olympus Digital Camera Updater if you're an Olympus shooter, or from Sigma's website if you're a Panasonic shooter.
JVC GY-HM170U, GY-HM200U and GY-LS300
Finally this week, we have news of updated firmware for three JVC camcorders. The JVC GY-HM170U, GY-HM200U and GY-LS300 version 3.0 firmware updates all increase LCD panel brightness and add a 98% zebra-striping level. The GY-LS300 also gets High Speed recording at either 100 or 120fps, 46% variable scan mapping, improved manual iris control, variable gain adjustable in 0.2 dB steps with the Iris dial, support for MPEG2-TS/RTP (SMPTE 2022-1) capture and support for Zixi High reliable-mode streaming. At the same time, MPEG2-TS/TCP streaming has been removed from the feature list.
You can get JVC's updates at the links below:
(Camera parts image courtesy of Kelly Hofer / Flickr; used under a Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0 license. Image has been modified from the original.)