got the new F350 firmware

[Godfrey Kirby]

My firmware on my 350 reads AT.1.51 & Pkg.1.62 - can I download the latest 1.60 & 1.93 with out any intermediate steps? Many thanks for advice.....

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Ray Ellis

I just performed two upgrades on my 350 (I was one behind) and everything went well. I did decide to skip the Fresh 1.06 upgrade that was bundled with the AT1.54 and Package 1.62 upgrade, because I was hesitant to open up the camera. Can someone shed light on what the "Fresh" upgrade is and if I might run into problems because I didn't install it?

Thanks.

You can access the service mode using the method shown in the install instructions for this firmware release.

Go to menu D00 “Diagnostics”.
Press the rotary encoder button while depressing the Zebra button to have the
Zebra light lit and then turn the menu OFF and back ON (maybe several times)
until the Service menu appears.

-gb-

[Peter Newsom]

I am trying to upgrade my firmware, and my camera seems stuck while updating the AT portion.
The screen just says:

<FIRMWARE UPDATE>
COMPLETTED
ERASING 100%
PROGRAMING !00%

And the red warning light is flashing. It has been an hour since I began the process.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Peter

[Phil Bloom]

its done. turn it in and off

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Peter Newsom

I am trying to upgrade my firmware, and my camera seems stuck while updating the AT portion.
The screen just says:

<FIRMWARE UPDATE>
COMPLETTED
ERASING 100%
PROGRAMING !00%

And the red warning light is flashing. It has been an hour since I began the process.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Peter

You were done when the 'completed' message appeared. The key word in these firmware updates is to wait for the completed word to appear.

-gb-

[Phil Bloom]

greg, 5001 posts. that's just past a milestone!

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

greg, 5001 posts. that's just past a milestone!

Yeah, I remember looking awhile back and that I was getting close. My only hope is that the majority of them helped someone in some way.

-gb-

[Peter Newsom]

Thanks guys, had a nasty scare there. So do I just go ahead and do the package update the same way?
Peter

[Phil Bloom]

at least 6 of them am sure :-)

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Peter Newsom

Thanks guys, had a nasty scare there. So do I just go ahead and do the package update the same way?
Peter

Yes, and be sure to cycle power to the camera between each part. The camera will often have lights flashing at the end. Ignore them.

-gb-

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

at least 6 of them am sure :-)

Haha, real funny. Okay wiseguy, you get to pick which six they were. :-)

-gb-

[Peter Newsom]

Well I completed the upgrade, and the rest of the process went smoothly. Thanks Greg!

The improvements to the camera are very noticeable.

First and foremost the improved highlight handling is just great. Before I had to really watch for flesh tones blowing out, but now it seems that I can go way past the 70 units with out a problem.

With the noise reduction on the blacks seem to get crushed slightly, but not in a bad way. Now 9db gain is completely viable, and I have set my gain settings to 0, 6, and 9. I plan to run with setting NR no. 1 and see how thing look in daily use.

Bottom line is, I think that Sony have really improved the camera again!

Peter

[Tony Partamian]

As i understood...some users upgraded from the older AT = 1.50/1.56 to the newer 1.60/1.93 without going to sony support and using the special jig required in the intermediate 1.54/1.62 upgrade procedure...

Is that really safe without the fresh 1.06?
What do we miss if we don't do that?
...i read that it's only for >128MB MS support....

[Peter Newsom]

Just got back from shooting NHL hockey news this morning with the new firmware update.
I shot Noise Reduction #1,35mbs HD HQ 60I, with the Standard look from the file menu. I added +20 low key sat., and +15 detail. I fed in both SD and HDSDI, though I didn't get to see the footage on a big HD monitor. Every thing looked good.

Some observations.

The picture looks much better overall, almost a creamy look, with a considerable reduction in grain.

My viewfinder seems better, a bit sharper and more clear. I liked it better. The LCD looked better as well.

White balance numbers were lower, with my sungun reading about 3000K under flourescents, whereas it used to be about 3200 or 3300K.

The arena bowl lighting looked much better, with nicer flesh tones, especially under preset 3200K. I used to need a higher number and preset was out of the question as flesh tones would get a sort of brownish grey tinge to them.

I could swear that the camera used up my battery faster, more than just a little.

All in all the camera took a big step ahead.

Peter

[Thierry Humeau]

Originally Posted by Robert Schemitsch

snip.....

and, wtf is that "ana v out safe"?? analog video out safe. like a "broadcast colors only"??

Robert,

To reduce power comsumption, the F350/355 and F330/335 have an automated "power save" feature on the analog video out circuitry that will shut it off if no device is detected on the line. There is a tendency for this feature to kick in prematurely when feeding video through long or poorly terminated video lines with the risk of completely loosing the camera signal. When the "ana v out safe" is set to OFF, the composite video output circuitry is always active. Setting "ana v out safe" to OFF will increase the power draw a bit but the camera composite output will be reliable.

Thierry.