Firmware Friday: Sony A7R II, Canon 1DX II get new features, fixes; Nikon updates distortion control data

 

 

Great news, photo fans -- the weekend is just about here, and with it your weekly roundup of all that's new in the world of camera firmware! This week, we have news to report on updates from Canon, Nikon and Sony. Two of these are for flagship interchangeable-lens cameras, while the third is applicable to a whopping 22 cameras going back almost a decade.

We'll start off with Canon's news, first of all.

Canon EOS-1D X Mark II

Firmware version 1.1 for the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II hasn't yet appeared on the Canon USA website, where version 1.02 is still listed as current. It'll likely be arriving imminently, though, as a Knowledge Base posting from yesterday runs down the new features in the update. These include support for up to 39 different IPTC metadata tags which can be added to images automatically in-camera, as well as the ability to predefine login credentials for up to 40 Wi-Fi networks, and to select only protected images for transfer via Wi-Fi. There's also a longer timeout on re-transfer of images which failed to transfer the first time, a new function that will continue to apply the most recently-detected GPS location data to images captured subsequent to the GPS signal being lost, and a new feature to allow four-step control over LCD color.

Many more details on these changes can be found in the Knowledge Base article, while the download itself should be appearing here soon.

Sony Alpha A7R II

Firmware version 3.3 for the Sony A7R II makes four changes over the earlier v3.20 release. These include new support for Sony's Radio Controlled Lighting System, better temperature control in still image shooting, support for HDMI output in still image shooting when using the Remote Camera Control software, and a catch-all note of better stability / operability overall.

You can download the Sony A7R II firmware version 3.3 release here.

Nikon Distortion Control Data

And finally for this week, we have Nikon's updated Distortion Control Data. This is applicable to a wide range of Nikon DSLR models, including the D5, D4S, D4, D810A, D810, D800E, D800, Df, D750, D610, D600, D500, D7200, D7100, D7000, D5500, D5300, D5200, D3400, D3300, D3200 and D90.

The new version adds support for in-camera correction of distortion when shooting with the AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED, AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR or AF-S NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4E ED lenses, as well as the many dozens of lenses supported in prior versions. Your camera will need to be updated to current firmware before applying this update, which can be downloaded here.

And that's it for this week. Check back next time for all the latest firmware news!

(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.)