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Friday, January 19, 2007

K10D Firmware V1.10 is Leaked!

The K10D latest firmware update, version 1.10, has been leaked before the official announcement, of which the date is rumoured to be the 23rd of January! Here is the download link for the shared zipped file for the whole package, which includes the binary firmware file, a smmary on the firmware changes, an user guide for the additional features and a standard readme.txt reminder:-

http://www.4shared.com/file/9096751/9934950f

*Update on 20/1*: The shared file has just been removed! So, you folks would better wait for 23/1, for the official announcement!

Here is a quick glance on the changes (and I link to some of my previous reports on those problems/limitations catered by the changes):-

Changes to V1.10

The following function has been added in version 1.10

1. Wireless control of external flash through built-in flash.

2. Instantly return to centre AF point by one push of button in AF select mode.

3. Possible to change ISO setting by dial at TV/AV mode.

4. ISO setting change by dial while the ISO setting is being displayed on the LCD by pushing OK button.

5. Green button function in M mode is available at TAv mode (Hyper manual).

6. AV and TV switch by dial at P mode.

7. Instant return to the default value by green button at strobe light compensation.

The following contents have been corrected.

1. In rare case, vertical stripe at long time exposure.

2. Released “B exposure” and show battery empty sign when using B mode.


The firmware file has indeed already been installed by some K10D users and below is one of them who have shared his successful experience:-

http://www.dchome.net/viewthread.php?tid=308230&extra=page%3D1

(Post messages are English and Traditional Chinese mixed, use Babel Fish to translate if needed.)

This time, I really must say "Well Done, Pentax!", as it seems that they finally (and for the first time I have ever seen) could listen to us, the Pentax users and their customers, for the bugs / limitations reported and could have reacted promptly for solutions to the problems! Most importantly, they are now admitting problems and do not avoid to mention these in their official documentation. Actually, they have also done a few tweaks for additional features which can improve the operation, or at least, there are now more options for operating the camera.

Still, the effects and actual improvements in the field for those critical issues, like occasional(?) banding(s? more than one type?), 32 second limit in bulb mode and etc., are yet to be proven.

In this right direction, I guess there is the hope of my Blog to have less (and hopefully less and less) "negative" reports about Pentax gear in the future!

Anyway, whilst quite some of my reported stuff have already been rectified in this firmware update, do note quite some other undesirable things like Hyper Program Defeats Auto ISO and etc., which I have also reported here, are not yet fixed. Hope that these will be overcome in the next update! Good luck, K10D guys!

BTW, as a K100D guy myself, I still hope that there will be a K100D firmware update soon to eliminate those long-lasting (Pentax) primitive problems which are already non-existent in the K10D, like the defeation of Auto ISO by the EV Compensation. Of course, it will be much welcome if K100D can also have all those "limitations" which have already been eliminated for the K10D, in the latest firmware, like the inability to control external wireless flash by the built-in flash.

2 comments:

  1. Hello everyone,

    I am a loyal Pentax owner from way back (ME and Z70P) so when I heard about the K10D I was overjoyed at the news. With great expectation, I recently received my K10D. After a couple of photos I realised that there was a serious problem with the camera.

    The photos were all underexposed by 1 to 2 stops. I immediatley called the Pentax reps and they told me to download and install the firmware update, which I did. This did not solve my problem.

    My heart fell to the floor as I realised that I had to send the camera back. I have been without a digital camera for two weeks now and have not heard from the Pentax reps as to the status of my camera.

    I would like to know if anyone else has had this problem and what they have done about it. Have they had positive results from Pentax? Was the camera repaired satisfatorily? I would appreciate your feedback.

    Cheers,
    Claude downunder.

    ReplyDelete
  2. > The photos were all underexposed by 1 to 2 stops. I immediatley called the Pentax reps and they told me to download and install the firmware update, which I did. This did not solve my problem.

    What lens(es) did you use? The underexposure amount seems huge. As for Pentax reps' response, it's typical, normal and consistent for being unhelpful and totally irrelevant to the case for their answer.

    > My heart fell to the floor as I realised that I had to send the camera back. I have been without a digital camera for two weeks now and have not heard from the Pentax reps as to the status of my camera.

    Normal.. They usually won't get their job done within reasonable time frame. And what even worst is that when they come back to you, they usually gave you non-sense answer(s) again, e.g., "your camera has been fully checked and no problem was found" or etc.

    > I would like to know if anyone else has had this problem and what they have done about it. Have they had positive results from Pentax? Was the camera repaired satisfatorily? I would appreciate your feedback.

    Ditto, but for the underexposure problem of Pentax DSLRs, do read my homepage on this:-
    http://www.geocities.com/ricehigh

    The amounts of underexposure which I encountered with my various different Pentax DSLRs were not that huge as yours, though. So, your K10D may be truly defective.

    Good luck anyway!

    ReplyDelete