Nikon updates ViewNX, fights blur with 1-series firmware

Nikon may have just announced a brand-new 1-series camera model, the Nikon J2, but it hasn't forgotten about owners of its first-gen 1-series cameras. The Japanese camera giant just released updated firmware for both 1-series models announced a little under a year ago. The updates for the Nikon J1 and Nikon V1 are very closely-related, with much the same list of changes. (In fact, the only difference noted between the two is down to hardware: the J1 has an internal flash, while the V1 relies on a proprietary external strobe.)

In full, the list of changes in firmware version A:1.20 / B:1.20 for the Nikon J1 and V1 is as follows:

• The exposure control program used with shooting in Smart Photo Selector mode, or still image shooting mode with Exposure mode set to P Programmed auto or Scene auto selector, has been revised for faster shutter speeds to prevent blurred subjects.

• Auto white balance performance has been increased.

• Exposure accuracy with ISO sensitivity set to Auto 100–3200, Auto 100–800, or Auto 100–400 has been increased with shooting using the J1's built-in flash or the V1's the optional Speedlight SB-N5 flash to photograph subjects at close distances.

• The following issues have been resolved:

  • An error message was sometimes displayed during interval timer shooting, preventing capture of the specified number of shots.

  • When the camera was turned on by releasing the retractable lens barrel lock on applicable lenses, there was sometimes a slight delay before the shutter could be released.

Simultaneously, Nikon has issued an update to its View NX imaging utility for Macintosh and Windows. The update takes View NX to version 2.5.0, with a fairly lengthy list of tweaks. The following changes apply to both Windows and Mac versions:

• Support for distortion control data Ver. 1.006 has been added.

• When RAW images captured with a Nikon digital-SLR camera incorporating distortion control data Ver. 1006 (D90, D3100, D3200, D5000, D5100, D7000, D4, D800, D800E) and the AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G were opened in ViewNX 2, an error message was displayed and the images could not be edited.  This issue has been resolved.

• Files and albums stored on my Picturetown can now be downloaded via ViewNX 2 as follows. However, files from Albums Shared with Me cannot be downloaded.

• Select an album in the my Picturetown panel and click the download button.

• Select an album in the my Picturetown panel and then choose Web Service > my Picturetown > Download Album... from the File menu.

• Select an album in the my Picturetown panel and drag images and movies displayed in the image view area to the folder tree.

• Facebook has been added to default Web Service options on the toolbar.

• The speed at which NEF and NRW files are displayed in Nikon Movie Editor has been increased.

• The project name is now displayed in the Nikon Movie Editor title bar.

• Two new options, 960 x 540 and 854 x 480, have been added to those available in the Size: pulldown menu in the Create movie dialog.

• A black band is no longer displayed above and below NEF and NRW files displayed in Nikon Movie Editor.

• When images are transferred from a mass storage device with multiple media inserted with Disconnect automatically after transfer in the Nikon Transfer 2 Preferences panel checked, all recognized media are automatically disconnected after transfer.

The Windows version also gets the following changes:

• Support for Google Earth has been eliminated.

• The following issues that occurred with selection of movie files in Image Viewer mode have been resolved.

• When attempting to delete a folder from the folder tree in the Browser palette, an error message was displayed and while files inside the folder were deleted, the folder itself was not.

• When attempting to change the name of a folder in the folder tree in the Browser palette, an error message was displayed and the folder name could not be changed.

• When ViewNX 2 was launched, some online storage services were automatically accessed and a log-in dialog was displayed.  This issue has been resolved.

• An issue that sometimes caused some XMP files to be displayed in the Thumbnail List has been resolved

• An issue that caused display of components such as the menu bar to be very small when monitors were set to 144 dpi has been resolved.

• Image display quality when sizes larger than Larger were selected for Thumbnail Size in the View menu has been increased.

• When images are transferred using Nikon Transfer 2 with a shared folder specified as the Primary destination folder in the Primary Destination panel and the Backup destination folder in the Backup Destination panel, sharing settings will now be applied to the transferred files.

• The font name is now always displayed in Nikon Movie Editor's Text Setting dialog.

While Mac users will find but one change specific to their platform:

• The amount of time required to change the names of multiple files at once using the Rename... option in the File menu has been reduced.

The various updates can be found here:

• Nikon 1 J1 firmware v1.20

• Nikon 1 V1 firmware v1.20

• Nikon View NX software v2.5.0