Firmware Friday: Improvements, bug fixes arrive for the Ricoh Theta V and DJI Inspire 2

Today's Firmware Friday roundup is a tale of two imaging devices, both of them specialized. The Ricoh Theta V is a 360-degree spherical panoramic camera, while the DJI Inspire 2 is an aerial camera platform, and this week both of them have received updates.

So what's new? Read on and let's find out!

Ricoh Theta V

Firmware version 1.11.1 for the Ricoh Theta V makes four changes, according to the official release notes. Image quality when shooting with the interval timer has been improved, and the sleep mode configuration no longer changes after attaching the camera to a PC via USB. Ricoh has also worked to resolve a problem with weak 2.4GHz Wi-Fi signals in some cases, and has made various unspecified bug fixes.

You can install the new firmware automatically using Ricoh's Theta for Windows or Theta for Mac apps, which you can download here.

DJI Inspire 2

As for the DJI Inspire 2 quadcopter, the simultaneously-released firmware version V01.01.0200 for the drone itself and firmware version V01.01.0002 for the remote controller make quite a few changes, as per the official release notes below:

• Added support for the Zenmuse X7 gimbal and camera.

• CineCore 2.1 now features an updated camera processing system, which can support the new DJI movie color system (including D-Log curves and D-Gamut Color Space) when used with Zenmuse X5S and X7.

• Added new EI mode in Camera Settings, to make the camera operation style more compatible with other professional movie cameras. Please note that EI mode can only be turned on when both SD and SSD are enabled.

• Fixed a rare issue where the camera restarts when used with a Panasonic Lumix 14-42mm/3.5-5.6 HD automatic zoom lens.

• Fixed a rare issue where image edge is deformed when using the Zenmuse X5S with some Olympus-made lenses.

• Added an auto-focus function to both ActiveTrack and Spotlight modes. The camera will re-focus on the target when the distance between the target and aircraft changes.

• Fixed a rare issue where aircraft acceleration slows down in TapFly mode.

• Optimized gimbal yaw smoothness in Follow Mode.

• Added gimbal pitch auto return to center in Landing Mode to avoid the gimbal touching the ground.

• Added a remote controller customizable button to control gimbal pitch and pan rotating to center simultaneously. Latest remote controller firmware and DJI GO 4 versions are required.

• Added DJI Goggles Head Tracking Flight and Head Tracking Gimbal.

• Fixed an issue where the slave remote controller cannot control the gimbal when using both regular and Cendence remote controllers to work as master and slave.

The firmware updating process is outlined in the videos below:

And that's all for this week! Be sure to check back next time for more firmware news!

(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.)