Compiled list of GX100 FW wishes

[odklizec]

I've compiled this small list of GX100 FW wishes made by Ricoh users at dpreview forum. If you have something else, don't hesitate to make a comment.
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Flash exposure compensation - A must have for camera of this class and price! None automatic solution is good enough. Now available in GRD/GRDII

+-1 and +-2 EV bracketing - Good for HDR photos and while the camera is capable to go +-2 EV exposure, why not in bracketing?

Constant aperture (4.4 and above) - Really, it would great to be able to keep the F number constant while zooming. Of course, it's not possible for values between F2.5-F4.4, but it's perfectly doable for F4.4 and above.

An option to shot DNG only without corresponding JPEG - It should make the GX100 RAW writing 1-2sec faster (with currently the fastest card Sandisk Extreme III or Panasonic SDHC class 6) or even fasster in case of GRD. No JPEG processing = less time required for writing RAW..simple math There should definitely be a difference between storing just single 14MB file and storing 14MB + processing and storing additional 3,5MB JPEG? Many shooters (especially GRD users) would gladly pay the price of lost RAW preview (which is not RAW preview at all) if it would mean faster RAW writing. Not to mention that there already is a small thumbnail stored in each RAW. Sure, it's small, but why not use it for rough preview?

1:1 RAW format - There already is an option for 3:2 RAW so why not 1:1? Possible slowdown because of RAW processing?? 3:2 saves slower than the original 4:3 RAW so maybe the 1:1 would require even longer time?Now available in GRDII

BW jpeg customization (contrast/sharpness + B&W color filters) - Definitely! Great for all "pure" B&W shooters.

Focus Lock - Not just by half pressed shutter button, but the same (similar) way as AF Lock. Even Canon Ixus compacts have this feature and it's very useful! No need to press an hold the shutter button all the time!

Power ON after Auto Power OFF using just the shutter button - that's sounds reasonable.

Better, more granular, battery reporting - more precise battery status would be really welcome. This is something I really love on Sony cameras.

Interval shooting start from 1 or 2 secs - Manual continuous shooting allows to take 1.6 frames/secs so why not to allow Interval shooting from 1-2 secs? Starting it from 5 secs is too limiting.

Noise reduction OFF switch for JPEG mode - Although the Ricoh is famous about their low noise processing, GX100 JPEG images are visible more processed, which is visible mainly at ISO400 and above. In addition, many users like noise in their low ISO shots. Sure, there is an option to use RAW, but it's not practical to use it all the time, mainly because of slow RAW writing speed and size of RAW files. Now available in GRDII

--- Additional requests

NO EXPOSURE SIMULATION IN M-MODE
I use mainly the M-Mode with spot metering. The exposure indicator works very good but I hate the software for simulating the exposure in the display in this particular mode. This is done for example by darkening live preview when a underexposure-setting is set. Especially when working with an external flash unit, this can result in a totally black preview if you stop down the lens, set a small ISO number and a fast exposure time (which might work well with the flash, but you can't see anything of the scene in the preview). I would like to have a clear preview of my scene, no matter which exposure parameters I set in the M-Mode.

MORE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE P-MODE AND THE GREEN-CAMERA-MODE
As far as I figured out, there is no difference between this both modes if you aim and shoot. The only difference is the aperture/time shifting ability in the P-Mode. I would like to have the green-camera-mode for shots where I don't have the time to set new iso settings for example. So in the green-camera-mode, ISO should always be "auto", the metering mode should always be "multi" and so the AF, no matter what ISO, metering and AF is set in the other modes. This would result in an "idiot-proof" mode for spontaneous snap-shots.

BIGGER EXPOSURE INDICATOR WITH EV SCALE IN THE M-MODE
If you use the display without any parameters displaying, the parameters only show up as long as you change them. I like this very much because this way I can see the parameters when I need them and can compose the picture without having the numbers and symbols on the display. Anyway I would like to have a detailed exposure indicator (the bar) with an EV scale.

ADDITIONAL R,G AND B HISTOGRAM FUNCTIONALITY IN THE PLAYBACK MODE
The luminosity histogram is ok for evaluating the exposure of the taken image, but it would be better, being able to switch between luminosity and each color channel in the histogram.
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I don't like the AE warning by aperture F 2,5 (shutterspeed 1/760sec) and F 4,1 (1/1410). Why not a shutterspeed-range from 3 min till 1/2000sec by all apertures?

In macro-mode you get a cross for focusing which you can change in several directions. This cross works also by objects further away, only the focusing is a lot slower than. Why not in the menus for AE METER and FOCUS the possibility to choose that cross ? In this way you can make a combination
of both AE METERING and FOCUSING with a cross that you can change in all directions.

 

[lucridders]

Re: Compiled list of GX100/GRD FW wishes

When Ricoh will do what is written in the wishlist, I am sure that it will become the best selling brand!!!

 

[htgx100]

1) I'd like to be able to hold my AE/AF at half-press, take a picture at full-press, then raise my finger back to half-press (keeping my AE/AF lock from the previous shot) and simply take more pictures at the same AE/AF by full-pressing from the half-press position. As it is right now, after each shot I have to completely let go of the shutter button and re-meter/re-focus for the next shot even though lighting and subject distance haven't changed.

2) When the camera is switched from shooting to playback mode, the lens will retract after a certain time. When you go back to shooting mode by hitting the shutter button, the lens should return to the focal length to which it was set before it retracted, instead of always extending to 24mm equivalent.

 

[hiro]

Hi I just joined this forum. Here's my twopenn'orth:

+-1 and +-2 EV bracketing
Constant aperture (4.4 and above)

I agree these would be nice, auto bracketing especially is currently much too fine to be of much use.

An option to shot DNG only without corresponding JPEG

It's already possible to diminish this to a 640x480 JPEG which is very small (100KB?), which does indeed knock 1-2 seconds off save time. I don't see the need to eliminate it entirely, bearing in mind the camera can't display Raws directly. I find full size jpeg useful for reviewing each shot (sharpness & white saturation), for me the 640x480 jpeg is too small for comfort. However I do agree that raw save times should be much faster! Esp. 3:2 Raw should be faster than 4:3 Raw, not slower!

Focus Lock

GX100 already has this, by default Fn toggles to manual focus: when you press it, manual focus commences at last focus point, so you can lock focus for as many shots as you like. I also find it useful to confirm current autofocus distance by looking at focus scale (e.g. infinity and not window glass).

MORE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE P-MODE AND THE GREEN-CAMERA-MODE

I agree green mode is totally pointless, it's just P with the program shift wheel disabled! As you say, it can be annoying when camera remembers various presets, and green mode should serve as a quick auto-everything mode. However I have simply set up MY2 as such a mode as a workaround.

On to my own wishes:
Built in viewfinder! (Not addressable in firmware unfortunately.)

Better Histogram: When you adjust Exp. Comp, the histogram doesn't change to reflect your changes so it's hard to get compensation right without taking a test shot. My old Panasonic FX01 did a live simulation of the effect of compensation on the histogram which made it easy to get it right first time.

Channel saturation Like your RGB histogram wish, I wish for White Saturation display to also show R/G/B channel saturation (it could flash the pixels Red, Green or Blue). I very often get channel saturation without spotting it until I upload to my PC, whereas white saturation is fairly easy to spot even without the flashing.

Better Menu customising: assigning a whole menu to the Adj button doesn't save much time compared to using the menu system, instead I want to assign specific menu selections or toggles between two selections, e.g. Auto/Daylight white balance toggle; Auto/80 ISO toggle; Jpeg/Raw toggle. I don't want to have to navigate a menu each time I switch between such modes. At present there is a AF/MF toggle but nothing else.

AE Lock: Currently of little use as it self-cancels if you zoom at all. (I suspect this is related to the lack of constant aperture.) So I wish for an AE-Lock which actually works properly! I often have to use manual mode instead to lock exposure.

On-Screen Display: An auto-hide mode would be nice. I have a Nikon where you can have full display but it only shows when you press a control, then hides after 5 seconds to give uncluttered composition window.

Some wishes on manual focussing:
Focus Magnifier: This is currently like a chocolate teapot as it simply shows each pixel double size, so it doesn't give you any extra detail at all! If you are using EVF then you can already see each pixel only too clearly! (Higher res EVF would also be nice: 400,000 pixels?)
Focus control I wish front dial could be used for focussing. Up/down buttons on back of camera are fiddly to press whilst peering through viewfinder.
Depth of field scale next to on focus scale, like you have on 35mm SLR lenses. OK so depth is very deep so not very controllable, but it would be nice to be able to confirm depth of field at the telephoto end to help choose a focus point.

 

[hiro]

One other wish: a better handbook!!

Many of the shortcomings I see written about GX100 are not in the camera at all, they are failures of the handbook to convey to the user that a feature exists. For instance the wish for focus lock: the index points you to p39 (re. half-press); the real focus lock is only documented in a "footnote" at the top of p70 (4th bulleted point). Similarly I have heard people complain you can't start the camera in playback mode without lens extending. But you can! Just hold playback button down instead of power switch. I discovered this by accident, but it turns out it too is described in a footnote (bottom of p52). Why is such an important feature relegated to a footnote? It's crazy.

The manual as a whole dwells on the obvious: e.g. on the Aperture Priority page: "allows you to manually set the aperture." No shit Sherlock! But it doesn't tell you the crucial info that selecting the aperture manually may prevent the camera from selecting certain shutter speeds, leading to over-exposure! This info is alluded to only on the Manual Exposure page, but even then, the info of which settings are unavailable is not given, instead you must turn to Program Mode page, and divine with your ESP powers that the program mode diagram is the shape it is not because of whim of program mode designer but because of the camera's mechanical limitations which affect all modes.

Similarly the scene modes. To this day, I don't believe anyone has discovered what the scene modes actually do! Certainly the manual isn't telling. E.g. "PORTRAIT: use when taking portrait pictures". It reads like a parody of a user manual!

 

[pollobarca]

I have an Olyc5050-I bought the Ricoh GX100 because I wanted something newer and lighter.But quality.
Build is great,its lighter -the quality is there.
3 big misses for me are:-
pixel mapping (gets rid of those hot pixels)
Flash slow curtain on external flash,flash control (not just "soft").
Raw on 1:1.
So far i've yet to get a better picture from the Ricoh compared to the Oly.I think I will eventually when I have the hang.

So a big wish is that someone will make a newer and better camera than the c5050.
Ricoh have got a good start.
rgds

paul

 

[Drafi]

Important wish for me: Flash compensation firmware update like in the GRD1.

 

[kaigr64]

My votes (is there a voting thread for the GX-100?) would go to the following three things (bearing in mind that I do not yet own the camera!)

- More choice in Exposure Bracketing, as mentioned above
- Flash exposure compensation
- In-built 3-stop ND filter like the Canon G cameras have, to allow slower shutter speeds in daylight. It would be soooo nice not to have to mess with adapters and/or mounting brackets for ND filters, thus blowing away the compact kit advantage: to me this is a really nice yet little-mentioned feature in the Canons, and I bet it's dead easy to implement.

Kai

 

[odklizec]

Yes, there is GX100 FW voting. Go here..
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=684

 

[kaigr64]

Thanks - got it. BTW, noticed that the ND filter item exists in the GR poll, but not the GX-100 poll.

 

[odklizec]

The thing is that the ND filter is already implemented in GRD/GRDII. It's even mentioned in help. Unfortunately, it's enabled only under certain circumstances and only in Auto mode. So for many (most) GRD users, it's virtually useless. What we are asking here is adding an option to enable ND filter in other modes and to use it when user decides to do so.

Unfortunately, there is no info about availability of ND filter in GX100. So I'm afraid, there is no chance to see it implemented. Not in GX100. Maybe in a GX100 successor? But that's completely different thing. So at the moment, we need to concentrate on some (doable) FW additions

 

[kaigr64]

Thanks for the clarification: I guess I'll plan on the tripod shoe-mounted Cokin filter holder.

 

[kaigr64]

A couple of other irritations: we need a way of changing the silly "Exif_JPEG_PICTURE" and "(C) by Caplio GX100 User"! These fields should either be BLANK by default, or be configurable with the external software provided - preferably both. This goes for the GRD/GRD2 cameras, too.

 

[hiro]

The copyright line and other strings should be easy to change, since they are defined in the firmware files which you download from Ricoh. Unfortunately the text is not presently user-modifiable because the firmware checksum will no longer validate if you alter the embedded strings which means the camera will reject the firmware as corrupt. (You may be wondering how I know this... )

I think it would not be too hard for Ricoh to provide a little utility to update the copyright etc in the firmware to text of your own choice and then regenerate the necessary checksums.

I think this would be useful because sometimes you can be in a situation where you have to upload your pictures from the camera to someone else's computer instead of to your own, in such a situation I would want them to be already clearly marked with my copyright details and contact info in case I lose control over them.

 

[Miramar]

Hi guys,

what do you think of this firmware-idea: The FN-Key should be able to function as a kind of "Shift"-Key. By this you could assign a new set of functions to the index-finger control wheel or the thumb switch. One of those functions might be the control of the manual focus, which is very unprecise by standard.

Greetings Chris

 

[odklizec]

Hi Chris and welcome here! I'm afraid, there is no chance either GX100 or GX200 will get any next FW. Not to mention feature enhancing one. But something like you just suggested is already used with GXR. If you press the Macro button, while the camera is in the MF mode, manual focus ring response is much faster. I can imaging some more modes and features where the "Shift" key would be pretty useful too.

 

[Miramar]

Hello Pavel,

I'm sad to hear so. I wonder if there's a clever user around who's into computer sciences ...

cheers, Chris

 

[samot1234]

I suspect Ricoh is not planing to upgrade the GX-100 firmware, but anyway... Maybe the this could be wishes for GX-200.

Manual exposure longer than 160 sec: Is that technically possible? I would like to see some star traces a bit longet that what I get on 3 minute exposure.

VF/LCD/Video OFF Use the existing VF/LCD to toggle between VF, LCD or shuting down the video extending battery life in time lapse mode.

Tune the auto exposure Most of my pictures are a bit over exposed.

Dark frame noise estimation deactivation When time lapsing at night this could be interesting as it would allow faster FPS without having to wait for the second dark shot. You could apply a single dark frame to all the pictures using third party software on your PC.

 

[odklizec]

I suspect Ricoh is not planing to upgrade the GX-100 firmware, but anyway... Maybe the this could be wishes for GX-200.

I'm afraid, there are no plans either for GX200 FW improvements. The best you can hope for is FW update for GXR S10.

Manual exposure longer than 160 sec:. Is that technically possible? I would like to see some star traces a bit longet that what I get on 3 minute exposure.

I'm sure it's possible. The only reason why there is no longer exposure allowed is the sensor heat and so dramatically increased noise (specially the mad purple things around certain corners).

VF/LCD/Video OFF. Use the existing VF/LCD to toggle between VF, LCD or shuting down the video extending battery life in time lapse mode.

Eeee you can turn both VF/LCD OFF. Simply remove the EVF and switch the LCD OFF using the VF/LCD button. But this will give you only an hour of extra time for timelapse. All electronic inside the camera is still powered, even during the long timelapse intervals. See my test here:
viewtopic.php?p=14221#p14221

Tune the auto exposure. Most of my pictures are a bit over exposed.

I don't understand this one? Did you use the exposure compensation? This is exactly what you need to tune the exposure

Dark frame noise estimation deactivation. When time lapsing at night this could be interesting as it would allow faster FPS without having to wait for the second dark shot. You could apply a single dark frame to all the pictures using third party software on your PC.

Yep, it would be nice to be able to turn the DF subtraction off.