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| Floats, Newport, R.I. (click to enlarge) 6mp Nikon D70, 18-70mm kit lens (2005) |
Back in September Olympus released a 2.0 version of its firmware for the E-M1. If you have been regularly reading this blog in the past, I wrote about it in my September 26th post. You can see it here. That is the post where I warned other E-M1 users that when installing that update, all the camera settings were returned to factory defaults.
Additionally, other smaller issues arose, such as some settings not being available that should have been available or being unable to be changed. I had to fiddle and fiddle with the camera for 2 days to get it reset and to get everything to work as I had it before the firmware update. The update seemed to be a bit buggy.
Here is my question. Why would Olympus put out a firmware update that resets all camera settings to default? Why would they do that? I have upgraded firmware in numerous cameras from several manufacturers over the past 14 years and NO OTHER camera had all of its settings reset to default. In a previous update, the E-M1 did not reset to default. The E-M5 did not reset to default. What was the technical reason for the reset and causing E-M1 owners unnecessary grief? Only Olympus knows, but I find it inexcusable. I was ticked off at Olympus at the time.
Well, I'm ticked off again at Olympus. On October 8, 2014, I wrote that, for the remainder of 2014, I was going to recommit to my full frame digital SLR, which I did. You can read that post here. It had been quite a while since I had extensively used my full frame gear and I wanted to clearly reacquaint myself with what it was like to haul it around, reassess its image quality as compared to M4/3 and to form a balanced opinion of one system versus the other. Since October 8, the E-M1 stayed in its bag.
On Tuesday, December 30, 2014, I wanted to get in one more short photo excursion, so I headed over to Virginia's Eastern Shore and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge to see if there were now massive numbers of snow geese present. When I was there in November, it turned out to be a bit too early for the snow geese. Since, I didn't have a really long lens for the full frame gear, I took the E-M1 with the Olympus 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD lens and the Olympus 1.4X tele-converter. That would give me a maximum full frame equivalent of 566mm. (Mathematically, it should be 560, but the metadata says 566mm) A long story short, not much happening but I did make some images of bald eagles, several hundred snow geese, some interesting varieties of ducks, egrets and great blue herons, etc. Typical water foul for CNWR.
I returned on Wednesday and downloaded my images into Lightroom and that is where I got ticked off at Olympus, again. You see, back in September, after the firmware upgrade and when I had to go through and reset all of my settings, I guess I missed one. That one I missed is an important one to me. It is the function for the file numbers to be continuous from card to card, format to reformat, and not to reset each time one reformats the card. In other words, the option I always use (as does almost everyone) is for numbering of files to be forever consecutive and not start from _DSC00001 each time you reformat a card. The other option is having it reset each time you reformat that card and that guarantees duplicate file numbers over and over again. Not a good situation.
Well, the installation of that firmware upgrade also reset that setting and I missed it so all of my image files started with #1! Damn! I try to keep things consecutive and sequential and that negated that. Again, why? Why would they do that? Its a small thing in the grand scheme of photography but it is those small things that make the experience pleasant or painful. I will accept responsibility for missing it, but I'm still not happy.
The solution was for me to manually rename the files I imported and move on. Also, I had to come up with a different numbering solution than the default one so I could, again, keep things consecutive. I just don't think what Olympus did was good for their customers. Oh well, live and learn and deal with it.
I hope Olympus doesn't do that again with the next firmware update. If so, the Olympus is gone!
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis Mook
Many of my images can be found at www.dennismook.com. Please pay it a visit. I add new images regularly. Thank you.
All content on this blog is © 2013-2015 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.
Seriously... are you a child? You can go through every setting in the camera in 3 minutes. If you missed one then blame yourself (the responsible party), not Olympus.
ReplyDeleteCalling others names really doesn't contribute much to the dialog. Is that the best you can do? And...I did take responsibility.
DeleteSorry, but this sounds like you just don't full understand how computers work. Some firmware updates may be so extensive that they require a format of the camera itself - effectively resetting any of your settings. You clearly state that you noticed it before, forgetting to set up the camera in away that is "important" to you is totally on you at that point.
ReplyDeleteAlso you could use a tool like Automator to fix your file names if you really need them to be consecutive, would only take a few minutes.
I may be in my 60s, but I've owned and used personal computers and computerized devices since 1985. I've got a pretty good handle on technology. I can't think of a single time, since 1985, when I have had all of my settings reset in any device I've updated. But, then again, I may just may be suffering from dementia! LOL I think the full reset was just unexpected. Not a big deal. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteI wouldn't decide against a camera brand just because you lose settings after updates. I'd simply take a sheet of paper and write them down, but this is probably too hard for people of 'generation smartphone'.
ReplyDeleteBesides, I find your slow and useless website format much more annoying. :-)
Mike, no plans to sell or abandon M4/3. I still find it a wonderful camera system and very useful. I'm in my 60s and don't own a smartphone so I'm not sure to what you are referring. Also, I'd suggest reading a blog which is faster. We won't miss you. :-)
DeleteDennis, I wouldn't decide against a brand because of lost settings. How many times do you update the firmware in a camera's life? I'd simply write down my settings, but this is probably too difficult for people of "generation smartphone", which I hope you don't belong to. :-)
ReplyDeleteTalking about annoying things: I find your website format truly annoying. Slow to load, choppy to use, esp. on tablets and a lot of wasted screen space. The pop ups for each article are totally useless in my opinion.
Download the spreadsheet at http://www.biofos.com/mft/omd_em1_settings.html and note your settings in case it happens again!
ReplyDeletewell dennis,
ReplyDeleteif you had read the instructions carefully, you would have seen the warning that said that settings will be reset, depending on what your earlier fw version was. don't be ridiculous.
I must ask, were those two really so big problem that results to change camera system?
ReplyDeleteI would understand if camera settings would reset every time battery gets empty/removed or filenames would always reset after ejecting card or deleting all/formatting.
But I know I can be frustrating to notice all settings gone, but not at all so much that I would change a camera.
I know my settings, I can reset camera any day and go trough all settings in minute or two. Only thing that takes few minutes more is to program MySets as each MySet is totally different and means resetting settings between configuration and if I configure settings ar first and then MySets, I need to reconfigure normal settings again as I did first.
I didn't update to the 2.0 but waited 2.1 that came few days after and it fixed that settings resetting. Why I just continued using old file naming as well.
I keep filenames intact when moving to computer, allowing digiKam to organize them based date and then drive trough face detection and content build so I can then just focus to rating photos quickly before I remove backup disk and then delete unrated photos.
I like to keep names intact because I can manage photos and find them from any software or computer I have access. It is easy to type the month and day in Olympus filenames to search query and get filtered that way files.
So to me a file name resetting would have been small hit but.... I didn't rush to update firmware and now 2.3 has fixed many things.
Firmware 2.3 ?? Did I miss something?
DeleteJust to be clear, I have no intention of selling my Olympus system or leaving the M4/3 format. Just venting about poor execution of a firmware upgrade.
ReplyDeleteI'm a veteran of many firmware upgrades with Fuji (especially) and Panasonic. Relatively minor updates usually maintain camera settings, relatively major updates usually do not. The instructions always tell you whether you need to prepare for a full reset.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you why you never experienced this before, but I can tell you that having a full reset during the update process is not unusual. I assume that it is sometimes necessary, and the product people don't needlessly force us to do this.
Camera firmware updates these days are often more about adding features and functionality, less about fixing existing problems. I'm grateful that some mfrs spend the time/money to continue to improve their product.
Back in the bad old days, you had to connect to Oly's website to update your firmware. It updated live, over the web. You'd have trouble making the connection, because their servers couldn't handle the added traffic. If you were lucky enough to connect, the update could take seemingly forever---remember this was back before cable/modem/hi-speed internet. And if you lost your internet connection mid-process you'd fear your camera was bricked. At that same time, Panasonic updates were downloaded to your card, just like today.
That was a case where Oly was guilty of very poor firmware update execution. I don't think that's the case any more.
I don't know about Lightroom, but in Adobe Bridge one can go to Edit > Select All and then do a file rename. I replace the Olympus file names with Date Taken ones.
ReplyDeleteMike, in Lightroom they were easy enough to change. I was just venting my frustration that I didn't catch the setting change and that I shouldn't have had to worry about it in the first place. Niggles. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteOf course you have never experienced a settings reset with firmware updates from Nikon. That's because Nikon hardly issues any firmware updates at all, and when they do they NEVER provide any new features. Olympus' firmware updates (like Fuji's) often add new features to your camera, which is something all camera owners should appreciate. These updates are more complex and often require a full wipe of the system.
ReplyDelete