a100 questions

[themoneyshot]

Does anyone know if one can revert back to the original 1.0 or 1.1 firmware from the 1.04 firmware by installing the old firmware again? thanks

[themoneyshot]

Hi Sonolta,
Is that NO a definitive answer?

I want to revert back to eliminate any of the detail smearing noise reduction the later firmware may add to the photos so that I can asses the focus and sharpness of my photos a lot easier.

I received my camera back from service a day ago and so far I cant tell that anything has improved. I cannot tell how much of the fuzziness is due to the noise reduction, versus focus problems as the noise reduction seems very very high even in the raw files even when noise reduction is turned off.

TMS

[David Kilpatrick]

v1 versus 1.04 etc makes no difference at ISO 100. Both versions are sharp at this setting, so it's easy to check whether the problem is down to a focus collimation adjustment error. You can't revert; the camera will tell you the software is already upgraded (as far as I know). Service facilities seem able to revert, but they may have more direct access to the firmware and be able to replace it directly.

I did not notice any 'detail smearing' noise reduction on v1.02-1.04 versus the original, just slight improvements in overall image quality and a more usable ISO 400-1600. The NR introduced is not like the early A700 NR or like Canon NR and the A100 continues to retain excellent detail - mine does anyway.

David

[Dr. Harout]

Welcome to the forum Themoneyshot.
I am with Sonolta and David on this issue. I had an A100 myself too (upgraded to A700). Nothing will change focus wise. So if you want definitely to improve upgrade to a newer model. Though A100 has very sharp images.

[alfake]

Welcome from me too, Themoneyshot! I still use my A100 (although now that I have got an A700 I use the A100 strictly as a second camera and only for landscapes). I downloaded and installed all the firmware updates (from v1.0 to v1.04) in my A100, and never noticed any detail smearing. So I am with Sonolta, David and Dr. Harout: I don’t think the firmware upgrades are likely to cause the fuzziness you are experiencing. Anyway I hope you can identify the problem and fix it.
Alfonso

[harveyzone]

Does anyone know if one can revert back to the original 1.0 or 1.1 firmware from the 1.04 firmware by installing the old firmware again? thanks

All good replies so far - addressing the problem and not just your proposed fix.

In answer to your original question though, I think some of the replies are incorrect - you can 'downgrade' to an older firmware onthe A100, but not to v1.0 or v1.01 simply because the firmware files are not publically available. You can only go between 1.02 and 1.04 as these were the only versions that were made available to the public.

[Vidgamer]

I have v1.04, and I only notice NR on high-ISO JPEGs. If you see smearing in RAW, I would accuse your RAW software of being the problem. Even the Sony software may add NR without telling you. Try something completely different, such as one of the free alternatives (Raw Therapee, UFRaw, and RawHide are three that are pretty decent).

[themoneyshot]

Thanks for the welocme and all the replies everyone. Since the firmware has no effect on iso 100 shots that eliminates one variable and I can focus on the others.

I spoke to the service person and he suggested that I photograph some brick walls or text with a tripod and send him the cd of images so I'll have to get to it.

[themoneyshot]

Here are some of my test shots I did on some targets. I shot with a tripod and the timer, and shot manual focus after the AF shots to compare. Although it can be hard to manual focus accurately I still managed much better shots with manual focus most of the time, and it showed just how bad the camera is working with the AF and it explains the very poor real world results.

The shots have the original file number and they're in order and were taken from the same position on a tripod. They're easy to compare in acdsee with the zoom lock tool.

Any thoughts on how bad the Auto focus shots look? I'm ready to send it back for service again.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32099602@N05/

---edit : I just realized that flickr re sized my photos so they wont show the problems as clearly as the original jpg fine images I uploaded to flickr, so its probably a waste of time to check some of those like the photos of the whibal card.

[David Kilpatrick]

It looks as if you do have an AF adjustment error on the body, which can be fixed by service. But the 50mm f1.7 does not look very good, considering this is APS-C - it seems to be going off badly at the corners at f2.8, and this lens should be sharp all over at that setting and distance, corner to corner (even on full frame). I would wonder whether the 50mm might have a fault.

David

[themoneyshot]

I don't know about the 50 1.7. It was too hard to judge any lens properly while the camera wasn't focusing well. I received the camera back and the camera seems to be working a lot better now and some of my lenses that my a100 has never focused reliably are now focusing very well, eg the 50 1.4 and 50 2.8.

They tested and adusted the ccd and focus sones. And the mount is also tighter now.

I haven't tried the 50 1.7 yet, but since the other 50's work so well now, I wont need to try the 1.7 yet.The 200 2.8 is also focusing better wide open. A few others are a bit more variable but I'm not convinced they're lens issues. I think There's still a few a100 specific inexplicable issues. eg Sometimes it seems to just focus on whatever is most contrasty, even if its a bit outside the center focus circle. The looser lens mount compared to the film cameras my also affect focus sometimes.I'll have to live with these things, But in general I'm pleased at the big improvement in the images now. I'll have to post a few images one day.

[David Kilpatrick]

To fix the lens mount problem, just take the correct size of jeweller's screwdriver and tighten the mount screws slightly. It's worth doing it with all your lenses too. Not too much torque - just take up any slack you can detect, until the screw is firm. It makes a really big difference to the Alpha 100, which always seems to have its mount very lightly adjusted. Older lenses can also have their mounts loose a bit of tolerance due to loose screws, but tightening them doesn't affect the feel of the way they mount as much as tightening the Alpha 100 screws. It's worth checking the body mount screws on ANY Alpha/Min AF body, as these really do change the tightness of lens mounting.

David

[themoneyshot]

Cheers I'll give that a go just in case any lenses screws tighten up a little. I just read your cz 16-80 review and saw that you noted the same thing I noticed regarding the different tightness of the mount on film cameras. The lenses all seem to fit tightly and snugly on the film cameras. I have one sigma wide angle lens which i dropped once causing the lens mount to become bit bent and after that It barely fit on the film camera, it's very tight and I have to turn it very hard to remove it from the film camera. So I got another copy of the same lens. However the tight lens fits easily on the a100.

To fix the lens mount problem, just take the correct size of jeweller's screwdriver and tighten the mount screws slightly. It's worth doing it with all your lenses too. Not too much torque - just take up any slack you can detect, until the screw is firm. It makes a really big difference to the Alpha 100, which always seems to have its mount very lightly adjusted. Older lenses can also have their mounts loose a bit of tolerance due to loose screws, but tightening them doesn't affect the feel of the way they mount as much as tightening the Alpha 100 screws. It's worth checking the body mount screws on ANY Alpha/Min AF body, as these really do change the tightness of lens mounting.

David