Firmware Friday catchup: Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Pentax and Sony ship updates for 17 cameras

 

 

It's been a few weeks since our last Firmware Friday roundup, as things have been a bit hectic of late thanks to the biennial Photokina tradeshow in Germany. We're finally catching back up, though, and so Firmware Friday returns with a mammoth catch-up of all the updates released in the last few weeks. In all, we have news of updates for 17 camera models from five companies, with the majority being interchangeable-lens models.

Since there's so much to cover this week, we're going to get straight down to it and stick to the manufacturers' release notes for the most part, rather than breaking everything down as we usually would for easier reading.

Canon 6D, 7D, 70D, SL1 / EOS 100D, T5i / EOS 700D and T6 / EOS 1300D

The Canon 6D is now on firmware version 1.1.7. There's just one change in the new release -- lens aberration correction should now work correctly with the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM lens when enabled.

The same change is also made in Canon 70D v1.1.2, Canon SL1 / EOS 100D v1.0.1, Canon T5i / EOS 700D v1.1.5 and Canon T6 / EOS 1300D v1.0.2. In all cases, these cameras also correct the same issue for one additional optic, the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.

Finally, we come to the Canon EOS 7D Mark II, now running on firmware version 1.0.5. Here, there's a couple of changes as follows:

1. Supports Wi-Fi adapter W-E1.

2. Adds a setting to enable or disable automatic storage of the lens if it is extended out when a gear-driven STM lens*1 is attached, and the power switch is turned to [OFF].
   *1 EF 40mm f/2.8 STM, EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, or EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM lenses

You can get Canon's updates at the links above.

Nikon Coolpix B500, Coolpix S9700 and D5000

Nikon's updates cover two Coolpix-series cameras and one DSLR. Changes are as follows, starting with the Nikon Coolpix B500 firmware version 1.1:

• Added support for the iOS version of SnapBridge.

• Updated some help text.

Nikon Coolpix S9700 firmware version 1.2:

• Fixed an issue that in rare cases caused one of several images after the first to be corrupted after a few hundred photos were taken with On selected for Points of interest (POI) > Display POI.

Nikon D5000 firmware version A:1.01 / B:1.00:

• Fixed an issue that caused the camera to stop responding if an ML-L3 remote control was used to take pictures in live view with On selected for Image review in the PLAYBACK MENU after red-eye reduction was selected as the flash mode.

Nikon's updates are available at the links above.

Panasonic GX80 and GX85

The Panasonic GX80 and GX85 share a new firmware version 1.1 release. Changes are as follows:

• Focus Stacking is now available.

• New function which enables the user to enlarge focus area after shooting by combining multiple images shot with Post Focus function.

• [Sequence] can now be selected for Focus Bracket recording.

• [Flash Mode] can now be set to [Forced Flash Off] for built-in flash.

You can download the new GX80 / GX85 firmware here.

Pentax K-1

Ricoh has released firmware version 1.30 for its full-frame Pentax K-1 DSLR. Changes are as follows:

• [Enhanced features]

  • The Electronic Shutter can be selected at the Menu to reduce camera shake from the mechanical shutter when shooting with Live View mode.

  • Added and selectable [Square format (1:1)] size at the Crop mode.

  • Addition to the current [3 frames bracketing (OFF, TYPE1, TYPE2)], the [2 frames bracketing (OFF, TYPE2)] is added and selectable for the [AA Filter Simulator bracketing]

  • At the [BKT] setting, the bracketing range [±0 (=single frame)] can be selected.

• [Others]

  • Improved stability for general performance.

You can download the Pentax K-1 firmware here.

Sony A7 Mark II and A7S Mark II

Finally, we come to Sony. Both the A7 Mark II and A7S Mark II mirrorless cameras have received updates with the same new feature: Added support for Sony's Radio-controlled Lighting System. You can download the Sony A7 II firmware version 3.20 release here, and the Sony A7S II firmware version 2.20 release here. Mac users will instead want to use this link for the A7 II, and this link for the A7S II.

(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.)