Hardware or Firmware limitation?

[dturano]

Hi,

With the new 5dmk3 (which i love) getting rough reviews and now the second fimrware, i started to think, especially with the hype over a big 7d firmware, which i use as a backup.

Like i mentioned im happy with the 5dmk3, is it possible they camera, especially since the last one was out for several years, has exceeded hardware limits over firmware? Could early firmware tweaks be almost prepared for, as if behind closed doors they feel the users expected more lets give them a bit?

Or honestly the hardware is very advanced, and in the future they can roll out software to advance the body, i.e if a camera has dual cards like the 7d they can roll out software updating the features which the hardware can handle?

To be honest, I dont understand the behind the scenes of a DSLR, how different is the 5dmk2 sensor to a 5dmk3? are the processors that advanced to a 7d?

Honestly the old gear thread which was great proved that pre 2010 cameras were great, and that as a whole we had great photos, especially with our rebels, p&s, 20d, 10d, 40d, etc that probably blow away most users with there new fandango 5dmk3.

I dont know who to give credit to but a user recently posted, they plan to stick with there gear body wise in the future, if it works why replace it. Honestly think back to when digital switch was popular, some guys held fil others went digital, ealry on how archaic does the gear seem now but worked at the time and would still work now?

While I agree DSLR needs growth and has endless room I now find the humor in new bodies, as if they are so great that pre that body all photos are inferior.

 

[se7en]

What?

 

[K-amps]

To answer your question, I would just like to say, it depends.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Some features are hardware dependent, and some are merely software. There are a infinite number of possibilities, so you need to ask about the feature that concerns you.

For example, You cannot update the SD card to fully utilize a UHS-1 card, because it requires a hardware controller. It might be possible to emulate something in the firmware, it would likely not preform nearly as well as the hardware.

I'm also pretty certain that there are features that are not fully activated, possibly because they are for a 1D X, or possibly because testing has shown that they did not work correctly.

Some features, like adding exposure compensation in the manual mode almost certainly can be done in firmware. Basically, most of the camera hardware is controlled by firmware and so the controls can be updated. You can't change things locked into the physical design like the light leak by firmware. Thats why they stopped deliveries and added the light blocking tape.

 

[Kingnog]

Honestly?

 

[april]

Some features, like adding exposure compensation in the manual mode almost certainly can be done in firmware. Basically, most of the camera hardware is controlled by firmware and so the controls can be updated. You can't change things locked into the physical design like the light leak by firmware. Thats why they stopped deliveries and added the light blocking tape.

I don't understand why the exposure compensation doesn't work on manual mode and if ir could be added thru firmware why dont they do it? I'm sure there are a lot of folks like me who is very much annoyed by not having exposure compensation on manual mode. It upsets me when I'm trying to make a good exposure and you can't control the exposure as it has a mind of its own. sometimes I want to smash my 50D since its got a mind of its own. I do shoot only in manual mode and in low light situations I bump up the ISO but the exposure automaticaly compensates making it a little underexposed. And to top it all AE lock don't work in manual mode. [size=14pt]HOW IS THAT? WHY? [/size]

 

[re:k photographie]

It upsets me when I'm trying to make a good exposure and you can't control the exposure as it has a mind of its own. sometimes I want to smash my 50D since its got a mind of its own. I do shoot only in manual mode and in low light situations I bump up the ISO but the exposure automaticaly compensates making it a little underexposed. And to top it all AE lock don't work in manual mode. [size=14pt]HOW IS THAT? WHY? [/size]

You completely control the exposure in manual, so you cannot blame your body for the underexposed image.

The exposure compensation--when it indicates "underexposed" while in manual mode--is basically saying, "if I were making the decisions I would change some things..." But in manual you are making ALL the decisions. What would you change given that you are setting aperture, shutter speed, & ISO? Writing code to alter the sensitivity of the sensor?

A craftsman never blames his tools.