Nikon Releases Revised D3 Firmware (UPDATED)
By
Mike Pasini, The Imaging Resource
(Friday, April 25, 2008 - 11:17 EDT)
Version 1.11 resolves the image corruption issue introduced in version 1.10 introduced earlier this month.
Nikon has released version 1.11 of the A and B firmware of the D3, its flagship dSLR model. Both A and B firmware must be upgraded to this version for "proper operation of your D3," the company said. But note that A firmware will update to v1.10 and only B to v1.11.
Version 1.11 resolves the image corruption issue introduced in version 1.10 introduced earlier this month. Details of the firmware upgrade from Nikon's download page follow:
Highlights
Modifications enabled with upgrade of B firmware from ver. 1.10 to ver. 1.11
• When Raw images were caprtured at the combinations of settings noted below with B firmware ver. 1.10 installed, it led, in some rare cases, to image data corruption. This issue has been resolved.
• Release Mode: Continuous high speed or Continuous low speed with Custom Setting d2 set to 9 fps.
• Image Area: FX format (36x24) or 5:4(30x24)
• Image Quality: NEF or NEF+JPEG fine/normal/basic
• NEF recording > NEF bit depth: 14-bit
• NEF recording > Type: Lossless compressed, Compressed or Uncompressed
Modifications Enabled with upgrade of A and Bfirmware from ver. 1 to ver.1.10
• A "Vignette Control" item has been added to the "Shooting Menu".
• A focus point brightness item has been added to the "a6: Focus point illumination" setting in the "Autofocus" category in the "Custom Settings."
• The "Highlights" playback display option has been moved from "Display mode > Basic photo info > Highlights" in the playback menu to "Display Mode > Detailed photo info > Highlights."
• When shutter speed and/or aperture are locked when shooting in LiveView mode, using the "L" (command lock) button, an "L" icon is now displayed in the camera monitor.
• The size and color of "Demo" displayed in the monitor with playback, when "No memory card?" in the "Custom Settings" is set to "Enable Release," have been modified.
• The range of settings available for "ISO sensitivity settings > ISO sensitivity auto control > Minimum shutter speed" in the Shooting Menu has been increased from 1/250th to one second to 1/4000s to one second.
• When a compatible Speedlight or Wireless Speedlight Commander is used, the AF assist illuminator now lights regardless of focal length.
• When shooting in hand-held LiveView mode and the frame is magnified prior to autofocusing, operation has been modified so that display returns to the magnified display rather than full-frame display.
• In some rare cases, white balance was not accurately calculated for images captured at a shutter speed of around 1/4 sec. in P and A exposure modes. This issue has been resolved.
• When attempting to crop images at an aspect ratio of 4:3 using the "Trim" option in the "Retouch" menu, the cropped image did not have an accurate 4:3 aspect ratio. This issue has been resolved.
Precautions
• When D3 A and B firmware is upgraded to ver. 1.10 and ver. 1.11 respectively, the settings for the Vignette control, Focus point brightness and ISO sensitivity settings > ISO sensitivity auto control > Minimum shutter speed wil be changed as follows:
• Vignette control: Off
• Focus brightness: Low
• ISO sensitivity auto control > Minimum shutter speed: Selected value shifts to a faster shutter speed.
• When camera settings saved using Save / load settings with A and B firmware ver. 1 are loaded after updating to A firmware ver. 1.10 and B firmware ver. 1.11, the current Vignette control, Focus point brightness and ISO sensitivity auto control > Minimum shutter speed settings may be modified.
• If the downloaded firmware will be copied to a CompactFlash memory card, do not use the Lexar Media Jumpshot USB cable. The D3 firmware may not be updated correctly.
• Microdrives can not be used to perform this firmware upgrade.
Downloads
Links to the firmware upgrade follow:
• Macintosh version (237KB)
• Windows version (1.56-MB)
2008-04-25 The Nikon Mac download page instructions didn't work for us. The file download is a .sit not a .zip file, but double-clicking on it did create a D3Update folder on our desktop with the two firmware updates in it.
Copying that folder directly to a memory card freshly formatted in the D3 didn't enable the Update menu option on the D3's Firmware page, however. To get the Update menu, we copied the firmware files to the root directory of the card, outside their folder.
Note that a successful update will results in A firmware with a revision level of 1.10 and B firmware with a revision level of 1.11.
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