DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Camera Firmware Exists

May 10, 2008 by Udi Tirosh Leave a Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

firmware_108975854.jpgIn my last post titled Everything You Wanted to Know About Camera Firmware I boldly stated that there is no such thing as camera firmware.

That statement raised quite a few eyebrows asking if indeed there was no such thing as Camera Firmware (as I boldly stated in the first sentence of the post).

After the dust cloud settled, I wasn’t sure myself, so I went to my Nikon and turned the menu on. Under the settings menu it definitely said "firmware version" so I wanted to shed a bit more light on the subject of camera firmware. (And send my apologies to the little boy from matrix who boldly stated that there is no spoon). [image by julian-]

Does firmware exist? Of course. Is it different from any other software? As the anon guy clearly put it "The definition of firmware is software that is stored in non-volatile memory".

Is firmware different from any other piece of software? Basically no. In practice, the programmers have to make sure it fits in a small area of memory in the camera, so the firmware is tuned to take little space.

Doug pointed out that "Processing for noise reduction is carried out by the processor, but the
noise reduction algorithm is indeed firmware/software and can be
improved by updated firmware
" and that "when the Nikon D80 first came out it had issues with noise reduction
for long exposures. The issues were significantly improved with the
v1.0.1 firmware a few months later
".

Doug is right – however, I do not believe the core algorithm was changed. What I think is more likely is that some of the parameters of the algorithm were changed. However, this is just my extrapolation, there is no confirmation for this from Nikon.

So let me rephrase my original statement, Camera firmware is just like any other piece of software, it can be tweaked, expended and sadly it may also have bugs, this is why we have firmware upgrades.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Leica said it shouldn’t exists – Sony has announced their new FE 50mm f/1.2 GM lens Default ThumbnailWill Olympus OM-D EM-5 Be The Next Camera To Get Community Firmware? Default ThumbnailDear Canon/Nikon/Panasonic Can I Use Custom Firmware With My Camera? The Rylo 360 camera gets a free 5.8K video resolution upgrade with new firmware

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About Udi Tirosh

Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

« Speed Links for 05-09-2008
The DIY Speed Strap – Accessories And Samples »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Review: Insta360 announces its first gimbal – The AI-tracking Insta360 Flow
  • World Press Photo 2023 regional winners show why AI will never kill photography
  • Meta is introducing a verified badge, but of course it’s not free
  • Astrophotographers, don’t miss the “celestial parade” as five planets align this week
  • DIYP Reviews the Laowa Argus 28mm f/1.2 lens for still photographers

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy