Lightsnow (Click here) developed two(!) custom E-M1 firmware updates:
“The main feature of this release is, that is a bigger part of the sensor for the 1080p videos. This means that a resolution similar to 4k is read by the sensor and then downscaled to 1080p. You gain a lot of nice things like:
- The Auto Focus in videos should be smoother.
- Full Sensor read in video mode. No crop.
- Better ISO performance in low light video situations
- More Dynamic Range in video
- This firmware is based on the official version 2.0.”
Of course you have to be aware that this is nto an official firmware from Olympus. It’s your choice to take the risk or not. Lightsnow also promised to add soon 4K recording to the E-M1:
“Next up would be a higher framerate, higher bitrate and of cause the 4k feature itself.”
Sounds exciting…if it works!!!
Silver E-M1 preorder links
Silver E-M1 body at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto, GetOlympus. In Europe at Wex UK.
40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens at Amazon, Adorama, Bhphoto, GetOlympus. In Europe at Wex UK.
209 Responses
I like this kind of work because this shows the companies that they should not hold back features in there cams because of marketing reasons.
Hope we will get a hacked E-M5 firmware too. Because the SW development for this cam seems to be stopped. And everybody is waiting for focuspeaking…
The focus peaking isn’t so wonderful as many believe. By my opinion the magnification is more uselful as I can first compose shot, then zoom and focus accurately and snap photo.
Sure if the peeking wound get improved version what doesn’t get dimmer/lighter but different colors are used for contrast (blue/orange/yellow) I would be very happy to use it.
E-M5 has one CPU, E-M1 has two CPU parallel working. So it seems there is no CPU power to process realtime video for peeking.
The magnification feature is nice and serves it purpose but it only works well if you’ve got a second to focus. Focus peaking is much faster, but it also has it disadvantages of course.
Wat i’m trying to say is that they are no replacement for each other.
I would like to have a magnification window inside/framed by the real picture. So you can focus and select the detail of the picture at one time.
It doesn’t have to be marketing reasons, it could just not be done yet. We never know if the 4k firmware rumors have even been true because the only thing we saw were screenshots that could easily be faked. No videos and no beta leak as the person who brought up the rumor announced before. So I highly doubt that it ever existed.
Here’s hoping LightSnow is the new Magic Lantern.
So, goodbye to your warranty, if you use the hack.
And there’s the risk of convert a superb cam into a thousand euro useless brick.
if you cant follow instructions…. same possibility when you upgrade win XP to win 7, might have a non booting machine. Very very little risk of bricking if you just have a little patiance and follow all needed steps.
Well, you can’t damage your hardware by upgrading the OS, better, even if you overclock the processor or graphic card, you still safe if you have the proper settings in bios temperature control.
I’m not sure, but I presume those cameras have a temperature control device able to power off the camera in case of overheat.
Follow instructions? Please… Modifying firmware is not the same thing that upgrading OS version. Do you know why you can reinstall your computer after a bad OS installation? Because motherboard’s firmware still works. Upgrading firmware is quite risky even if it’s an official version. With an unofficial one you can expect everything. It may work at first but who knows what bugs could appear later.
I don’t know but hope and believe that Olympus has the code for installing firmware from an SD-Card not in the firmware itself. We’ll know soon enough, I assume.
It seems similar to gh2 hack, many used it with great results.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
goodbye to video if you dont!
Why good bye? I never shoot video, as most others here, who scream after video don’t.
good news
Good start!
Amazing (if true)!!!
This could kickstart a new era for Olympus as they will gain a new user base if the video improvement is stellar That could then preclude official updates direct from Olympus that would focus on video quality and allow their gold mine, the 5-axis stabilization, to be unleashed in all its glory! A truly great day for videographers (if true)!
Great news!
fantastic work
Wow!
WOW WOW WOW! Very excited, hope this works without hiccups!
Any chance for this to work on PEN E-P5? Shot some video with the E-P5 and was shocked by the terrible quality, as i remember, much worse than E-M5. Since E-P5 and E-M1 share most of the internals im crossing my fingers that E-P5 will also recieve video improvement.
Okay, I bite.
But for 4k, not until I see it…. Just get 25/50/60 fps for 1080p and 120fps at 720p and 240fps at 360/240p and I am more than happy.
for what would you use 360/240 ,yes i know slowmo, but you upscale it to 1080 afterwards?
Still usefull for documenting things… although I pray a 640p for 240p 🙂
so suddenly less thenHD is enough sometimes, thats not something I hear alot here 🙂
Buy an iPhone:
http://vimeo.com/106557317
Andrew from EOSHD tried the hack and said it worked, but at this time didn’t notice any improvement to the quality.
oh he would say that, he has to be first in the queue…..zzzzzzzz
More dynamic range in video sounds good! Before and after demo?…
I believe that I read somewhere on their site, that they do not own an E-M1 camera.
No more warranty, and perhaps the best way to use an EM1: as a doorstop.
Just flash the official one if need to place to repair. And the dev told that Olympus repaired his camera without problems with custom firmware.
There is the recovery mode in ROM. Just place wanted firmware file to SDcard and start camera with OK button pressed and ROM does flash the firmware file to camera.
Dude, if that firmware makes your sensor overheat because it runs too high a resolution over too much time or anything along similar lines, no firmware update will ever bring it back.
There’s a reason for stuff like video length or resolution limitations on some cameras. That said, the manufacturer has to be extra safe, so there is probably some room (especially with clever algorithms).
Olympus themselves explained that the current limitations on videos are not due to hardware limitations but because of their lack of knowledgeable video personnel. They just don’t have the engineers or the know-how, which is understandable since their speciality is glass manufacturing, not video (unless I’ve missed their 4k colonoscopy proves). Olympus uses Sony sensors, that should be more than enough for better video, not only that, the heat generated by IBIS is handled quite well, and the EM1 chassis is more than spacious enough to dissipate heat from 4k. The hardware is more than capable of handling better video, Olympus just can’t be bothered to hire the specialists.
Olympus has had since 2004 a industry level 4k video cameras and very long time industry level highs peed cameras that is capable to even take one million (1 000 000) frames per second.
Olympus has (had) knowledge for video but it is in the leadership how well they read the markets.
Olympus even has a 4k 3D endoscopes for medical personnel.
what a frightening vision…
Panasonic sensor in the EM1.
“The hardware is more than capable of handling better video, Olympus just can’t be bothered to hire the specialists.”
BS. You make it sound so simple – “Just hire a few engineers and voila! All problems are resolved! They just refuse to do it! Because they hate making money!”
I’m willing to bet you have no knowledge of the capabilities of the E-M1 hardware and are speaking completely out of your rear.
That’s fing BS.
Sure if you want to trust only idiots.
Do you know why Canon had 12min limit in their 35mm sensor cameras for FullHD recording? Because FAT32 filesystem.
Why we have in EU 29:59 time limit? Because regulations by idiot people.
It doesn’t overheat. The sensor isn’t the cause of heat. CPU and Battery cause 99% of the heat in camera.
Now already you can take E-M1 to about 70 C room for one hour and record FullHD video IBIS enabled without anykind heating problems. That temperature just happens to be about 30 degree higher than typical most common summers. Even in desert it is just 40-45 C.
The heating is bullshit.
Even GoPro has managed to make a SMALL and FULL PLASTIC WEATHER SEALEDCASE, FullHD recording in 60FPS without problems for hours in normal temperature. And even in those the main heat source is battery and CPU.
And now suddenly only the Olympus is suffering from the problem.
We are not in 1998 anymore where the sensor was feeded with so high voltage that it really got heat up. Technology has evolved.
Digital cameras like E-M1 use full frame for readout, continually. IBIS On or Off and no problems. The heat comes when the data is started to be compressed by CPU and that eats battery that gets heated up in that.
Video length is clipped at 30 minutes just for a single reason: taxation in the EU. Overheating a sensor creates a lot of noise, it doesn’t fry the chip.
BS….
Because Oly cameras need to be repaired every month.
if the EM1 does not get good video it might as well be a door stop – I have waited 5yrs since my PEN1 for someone to make a camera with full video & good IBIS… still waiting and panasonic are moving that way fast with IBIS (just not good enough yet).
Not good? Really?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tszjsd9kTAY&feature=youtu.be
The 5-axis ibis did a great job if it’s hand held but nothing spectacular in regards to sharpness and none of those scenes will exhibit the lack of bit rate since they’re not a lot of motion (like trees, water, etc). I suppose for that kind of work e-m1 is decent I would have preferred more sharpness (particularly around the girls eyes in the close and medium distances). There would have been a huge contrast in sharpness if this was shot in GH4 4K and scaled down to 1080p or even just kept 4K. Videographer did a great job though. I suppose for most it’s more than good enough.
Seriously dude, this is horrible stuff. My DV cam from 7 years ago resolved more detail than this. The E-M5 MKII is the only near-term shot at 4K and advanced video features that Oly users will have. If it’s not in there at the announcement it’s time to give up on Oly video dreams altogether.
Upload a sample.
Too late… I sold off all my DV gear when I bought my first GH2 🙂
Well I didn’t believe you in the first place so It doesn’t matter.
You don’t have to believe me, here’s some DV footage from 5 years ago. The detail levels look comparable to my eyes, which is nuts given the difference in the size of the chips –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExhPCsaHB2E
Tron, i would believe you.
But this is not just “some DV footage”…this is a professional production made exclusively for the purpose of promoting the camera,with dozen of profesionals working on it, from lighting to capture to colorcorrecting, grading and delivering.
This video show where a camera CAN be pulled to achieve, not what an advanced user will get from it.
That said, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate your encouraging comments.
Thank you.
A $9000 camera with top of the range professional post production and editing and that’s your evidence?
I’m not too taken with the 81A filter colour cast of that video.
Besides all that your condescending pontificating on the basis of videos uploaded to Youtube is a questionable methodology.
As far as sharpness i used a 25mm F1.4 wide open. So maybe that’s why the overall softness.
Here’s a 100% crop from a clip UNTOUCHED in FCPX, just exported as ProRes,played at full res and grabbed/cropped.
Do you still think it’s soft for a 1080 video? Really, just asking.
I’m new to video so i don’t know what to expect.
Thank you.
Image
Seem that PNG’s won’t shows. Here’s a JPG.
Paniko, it wasn’t meant as a slam toward you – I like your shooting style!! If you’re happy with this quality what does it matter what I think about Olympus’ video output? If you really are interested in improving the output quality you should rent a GH4 or buy an LX100 and discover for yourself what 4K is all about. Keep pushing forward and developing your craft, it’s all good.
Tron, i didn’t intended as a slam toward me.
I’m happy about the global result, but the geek inside me like to dig into technicalities as far as they could bring better results.
That’s why i like to pose questions to people who know and try to learn something new everyday.
Looks like the videography journey for me will be long & funny at the same time.
I’m having a lot of fun planning,shooting,editing and obviously sharing.
What i don’t won’t is that the tools i have at my disposal can stop me to do what i’d like to do.
As a non-PRO, non-paid, videographer i enjoy what i have.
Anyway, you didn’t answer my question.
Do you think the sharpness in the 100% crop is lower for a “regular” FullHD video?
Thank you again.
The video is good quality for it’s intended use (lighting practice, composition and creativity). I like the color grading you chose and the overall gradation in the image. That being said to my eyes it looks like 720P resolution – it doesn’t look close to Full HD. I’m somewhat surprised because I didn’t even think Oly cameras were this soft and I can see why there are loud screams for better video. I would not deliver these images to a paid customer unless they were specifically looking for some ethereally smooth look or delivering strictly to mobile devices.
You’re not delivering this to a client so it’s fine for your purposes, so just go shoot and have fun. When you decide you want to shoot something that will hold up over the long term and benefit your portfolio for years I would go grab an LX100, GH4 or BMCC and get the ball rolling sooner rather than later. Even a GH3 is going to blow you away if you find this level of detail appealing.
Another sample & comparison.
FullHD grab Vs. resized to 1920 RAW @300%
🙂
He is unlikely to reply. His opinion isn’t really very valuable anyway as it is clearly influenced by not what he sees, but what he thinks he sees.
When he thought it was just my opinion he was criticising, he couldn’t restrain himself, he then completely changed his tone when he realised it was your work and tried to backtrack on his earlier comment and save face.
Geez, exaggerate much? A door stop? It’s tremendous for stills, which is its main purpose.
The E-M1 makes a terrible doorstop 😉
Looks a lot like the ultrakam iphone app that lets you use the full potential of the sensor and gives you 2k recording.
I asked Olympus Finland at Facebook about 1. Is there plans for firmware update that improves video featutures. 2. when is it coming and 3. what does it include. After many days (propably ensured wordings from HQ) they replied that “it is unfortunately IMPOSSIBLE to bring any new video features just by firmware update, and that new hardware is needed.” I am so waiting for a change to get back to them :).
Here is the text in finnish: “Valitettavasti pelkkä ohjelmistopäivitys ei mahdollista päivityksia video-ominaisuuksiin olemassolevassa kameramallistossa – tarvitaan tukea myös raudalta. Uusi E-M1-kameran 2.0-päivitys ei täten sisällä muutoksia videotoimintoihin. Olemme tähän saakka keskittyneet voimakkaasti kehittämään still-kuvausominaisuuksia, joskin on selvää, että kiinnostus videokuvausta kohtaan on nouseva trendi. Tulemme varmasti tuomaan tuotteita tämä silmälläpitäen, mutta emme valitettavasti voi kommentoida tuotteista tai ominaisuuksista ennen niiden virallisia julkaistamispäiviä.”
W@nkers like the rest of the industry…lying w@nkers…
I haven’t seen any proof that they are lying. What proof is there that they are?
Open yer bloody eyes and see that most of them HOLD BACK on features chump!
Sounds like to me you ADVOCATE that!
My eyes are wide open. If I see that someone can prove that what is in that email is untrue – by actually changing the bitrate or frame rate, then It will be clear that the statements in the email were untrue.
No you are LAZY and pedantic. Preferring to argue than get off ya backside and see for yaself.
Ummm, the very fact that this hack is being able to be released under current hardware maybe ? The fact that Admin disclosed proof of yet-to-be-released EM1 FW update that enables such features without any change to hardware ?
Seems pretty evident to me:
1. Users wants better video
2. Photos of better video leak
3. Olympus says such thing is impossible
4. Olympus is proven wrong by FW hackers
It seems to me that the hardware is quite capable of handling better video and that Olympus has the means to make that a reality but are willing to lie and hold back for marketing reasons (EM2)
What I meant by Proof is something like a higher bit rate being achieved or different frame rates. So far we only have an article that claims there is a hack which provides improved video quality by down sampling.
I have not seen a single piece of footage uploaded that shows the claimed improvement, or even posts by people claiming to have tried it and that the claimed improvement is real.
So far all i have seen is this: http://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/7088-here-it-is-4k-on-the-olympus-om-d-e-m1/page-4
Where someone has tried it and reports no improvement.
What is “proven wrong”? Have you actually seen the video output? Have you compared it to current quality video? Do you know how installing this affects your camera?
I don’t know about you, but this sounds an awful lot like someone claiming some grand breakthrough rather than an actual breakthrough.
“Have you actually seen the video output?”
Yes, in the comments below there are screenshots. The improvement is absolutely evident.
Screen shots? Screen shots? You’re getting upset over screen shots, not actual video?
I bet you are in for a real disappointment.
It seems to me it is you who are getting upset for no reason. The guy did some good work. The evidence proves higher quality. Great.
Photo evidence of supposed video improvement. Let me repeat that.
Photo evidence of supposed video improvement.
The evidence “proves” nothing.
I await the imminent reports of “this does nothing”, “bitrate sucks”, and “my camera keeps freezing and overheating”.
Funny.
I thought Olympus said its users were not interested in Video 🙂
Many commentators on these forums kept arguing to us that was the case and that a very small minority was interested in shooting video and if by any chance Olympus did (against all odds) improve the video specs, that would destroy the still capabilities and IQ of its cameras…..
Well, your arguments were as silly then as they are silly now.
Video will be the factor that could enlarge the “tent” and bring in new customers.
Like it or not, in this tough market any company that want to compete and survive needs to offer a complete package.
+1
I am sticking with Pany cameras for both video and stills, though I would be eager to buy an Oly body as well – only the mediocre video quality holds me back.
I agree. I was really wanting IBIS for my legacy lenses, but the video quality in Olympus cameras is just not there. Now with the GH4 and its 4k video recording capability, IBIS doesn’t seem as important since you can software stabilize and crop down without much quality loss.
+2. If Oly had just revamped their 1080p mode, I’ve bought an E-M1 right away.
Bring it on and ignore the ignorant here too busy propping up programmed obsolescence…….
These companies need a rocket up their a*se that are holding back features on purpose.
That is… until E-M1 users with this hack installed start experiencing overheating, burned GPUs, crashes, etc. Maybe none of that happens, but I’m guessing there are 2 major reasons for this not being officially supported.
1) Oly tried it and experienced major issues
2) they’re putting it in the next camera and don’t want to hurt sales of the E-M2.
its no.2
the only problem is that fuji have showed us how they treat their customers
n gh3 are not yet hacked
I wonder if the 30 minutes video recording limit can be hacked too…
It can for Panasonic cameras, so I’m sure it is possible here too. The trick is finding the one line of code that sets that arbitrary limit.
Panasonic has spanning feature coded in their firmware. It is just blocked for some regions. So it is a matter of changing a couple of bytes to enable it. While Oly might not be capable of doing spanning at all. If so, hackers have to write new code from scratch – that’s extremely unrealistic.
neet voimakkaasti kehittämään still-kuvausominaisuuksia, joskin on
selvää, että kiinnostus videokuvausta kohtaan on nouseva trendi. Tulemme
varmasti tuomaan tuotteita tämä silmälläpitäen, mutta emme
valitettavasti voi komment
Whoever you are, you guys rock! Keep it up!
Thanks, it works perfectly! It did not break my camera at all and added unbelievable features! Everybody should install this gem!
Yes, I agree! I don’t even have E-M1 and I’m installing it too! Why wouldn’t you trust unknown guys and install an unverified firmware to you camera. Would could possibly go wrong?
*What could possibly go wrong?
I’d be interested to see side by side comparisons with hacked / non-hacked firmware. Most of the comments I’ve read said they see no difference.
What ever happened to the peaking mode upgrade? And what about the ep5? I want peaking in video please!
It got faster refresh and isn’t laggy.
Bless you Lightsnow. Now could you hack EM-5 as well? Thanks, Thanks, Thanks.
Holy lightsnow, we greet you with many blessings, please hack E-M5 🙂
I watched the 4K test from EM1 and it looks softern than native FHD in GH3. I’m not impressed at all with the hack. 🙁
From what I understand, they developped a “package” more than a new firmware.
It comes from the guy who announced 4K on E-M1 on twitter few weeks ago, and later warned Olympus he would release the “beta firmware” if Olympus wouldn’t include 4K in the 2.0 fw.
My guess is that you are playing with a “beta” (or maybe alpha) firmware from Olympus, not with a hacked one like we can have on GH3…
I am a long long time full frame Nikon user and have joined the em-1with my arsenal and love it.My only question is can this fine group or persons hack or release better iso capabilities?
I’m kinda spoiled with the full frame iso…… all hail the micro 4/3rd universe;-)
Better? No. Different noise reduction? Maybe.
Just use faster glass. 🙂
Hi Tom and Mark ,
Kidding or Different no…….
i guess when a few of the lower end models have a better iso rating (epm-2 ) you would want the same or better from the best Olympus camera has to offer. Please don’t think i don’t know theirs more to a sensor than just iso but wouldn’t you be happier with say a cleaner iso up to about 1400 like a d5300 ….. i know know to different cameras and sensors ….. nut it would be nice ….No?
when your spoiled from using a D4s and a D800 …… it’s a bit of a learning curve ( not much ) but more of knowing your limits i guess .
About fast glass …………. got it 45mm 1.8 25mm 1.8 17mm 1.8 and the 12-40mm 2.8 …..but i must say that the glass i sharp and wonderful those 1.8’s are actually a 3.6 aperture and 2.8 is actually 5.6 if you use the math of 2x crop factor ……………… the fast glass needed is a 0.95 to get it close to true 35mm standards. ………
please don’t get me wrong this is a wonderful system and i love it …..but wouldn’t a kick in the ISO department be nice ????
You are kidding right?
Hi Tom and Mark ,
Kidding or Different no…….
i guess when a few of the lower end models have a better iso rating (epm-2 ) you would want the same or better from the best Olympus camera has to offer. Please don’t think i don’t know theirs more to a sensor than just iso but wouldn’t you be happier with say a cleaner iso up to about 1400 like a d5300 ….. i know know to different cameras and sensors ….. nut it would be nice ….No?
when your spoiled from using a D4s and a D800 …… it’s a bit of a learning curve ( not much ) but more of knowing your limits i guess .
About fast glass …………. got it 45mm 1.8 25mm 1.8 17mm 1.8 and the 12-40mm 2.8 …..but i must say that the glass i sharp and wonderful those 1.8’s are actually a 3.6 aperture and 2.8 is actually 5.6 if you use the math of 2x crop factor ……………… the fast glass needed is a 0.95 to get it close to true 35mm standards. ………
please don’t get me wrong this is a wonderful system and i love it …..but wouldn’t a kick in the ISO department be nice ????
Not quite. From an exposure perspective, 1.8 is 1.8, 2.8 is 2.8 regardless of sensor size. From a depth of field perspective, you are correct.
Yes ,I should have made that a a bit clearer.thanks ACS
Don’t forget that a sensor 4 times the size will have 4 times better ISO. Sadly, physics keeps kicking us devoted m43 users in the butt.
except… that isn’t the case in reality, because smaller sensors are more efficient than larger ones. There is NOT a 4-stop difference in ISO performance between FF and m43’s.
Bhima —— D4s the em-1 at 6400 iso is about a 4 stop difference in printing terms . I realy like my em-1 and the wondrous glass …… but lets not kid ourselves …..the em-1 is amazing for what it is ……. but it doesn’t hold a candle in the ISO department….. all i was mentioning that if the epm2 had a better rating in the iso department shouldn’t the flagship be the same or better????
Pointing out the obvious, but 2 stops = 4x difference in light gathering, or sensor area. Each stop is 2x. So there is a 2 stop difference between FF and MFT, not 4 stop.
2 stops, which is 4 times.
I think you made excellent choices: you got useful, small and payable lenses, those (few) that make the system shine.
Dear Richard Krawiec.
There is an easy way to get higher iso performance of your EM1. Just follow these three steps.
1: With duck tape install EM1 onto a chicken .
2: With the help of an ax remove the head from the chicken.
3: Let the decapitated chicken (with EM1 still installed ) run around until falls over and dies.
ISO performance should now be about the same as four your Nikon 800!
You can also boost iso performance on your Nikon 800 (that`s like higher than highest iso performance), but it’s very dangerous and it involves a shark.
Sources with zero credibility are now serving up 4K snake oil FW. Oly folks can’t tell the difference between bad upscaled 1080P and 4K?
Is there mentioned that is a 4K firmware? Please read the feature list: It’s not. Did you test it yourself? No, you did not.
You don’t have to flash it if you do not want to. But please shut your mouth and let others test this on their own! We are working for free and try our best.
Agree, there is no mention. Don’t worry about folks like Tron and don’t waste time on these guys, keep up the good work.
LightSnow – please focus on 4k. Even if it works for 3-4 minutes. It is good enough for majority of times to capture the short clips and moments in higher resolution. Thanks.
Don’t forget to donate… It’s more important to “hope” than to actually deliver something of value!
I will donate if he delivers 4k or different frame rates. I’m not hoping. I’m waiting for someone to unlock a feature which may be disabled. I do hope it is true. If not, I didn’t lose anything anyway.
On the side note, Do you anything else to do other than criticizing other people?
I’m being a little bit critical, but mostly skeptical… and I’ve earned that right through observation. It wasn’t long ago that this same group claimed an official 4K firmware update was coming to the E-M1 at Photokina. That simply wasn’t true and it was unfortunate for some who went out and bought an E-M1 expecting the upgrade. They found out the hard way that other people’s “good intentions” can also have a way of making hopeful people’s lives miserable and inconvenient.
It’s great to be positive and hope for things, but don’t ignore the fact that this same source has been wrong about every “development” to date and is unable to show any expertise in the area of camera development. I choose to remain skeptical until something of value is produced rather than cheering on others to brick their cameras or donate their hard-earned cash for the slim chance they could pull it off.
@Tron… you bash a RUMOR site for “misleading” people into paying full price for a camera based on RUMORS, but at the same time you advise people to not pay hackers a small donation for the hope of an update. Why do you talk out of both sides of your mouth?
Furthermore, I would bet the only reason this site is wrong on certain details is because trolls like you pretend to be credible sources and feed the admin useless lies. Just sayin’
I love 43rumors… they’ve never been in my cross-hairs. You on the other hand seem too blind to see that the “source” of the false 4K rumor is now trolling for your donations. Face it, they’re just manipulating you – and probably laughing all the way to the bank! This is The Emperor’s New Clothes all over again.
devs that hack fw get donations AFTER they do what they claim. anyone paying them on hope is the same fool that buys a camera hoping for a rumored fw update.
KC is right about your “forked tongue” argument.
The basis for developing these firmware “hacks” is the use of a so-called mistakenly released FW from Olympus that enabled 4K. Why not just leak the firmware and end the charade? Either they have everything or they have nothing. Or they’re just after your $$$. Don’t be such a chump… develop some critical thinking skills instead!
People with critical thinking rarely buy m43…
You’ve “earned” that right? Grow up!
Anyone buying a new camera because they are hoping for a fw update from a rumors site is a fool, and anyone (including you) that defends a fool’s actions is also a fool.
I haven’t met someone as dumb as you today. You are the first, and I am home from work. Congratulations.
Thank you for your work LightSnowDev… And please, if you find the time, can you work on the EM5 video output? No 4K needed, but 60fps or 120fps would be amazing….
You uploaded a 4K file to YouTube, naturally I assumed you were trying to show the 4K output. Why else would you upload a 4K file to YouTube?
A few questions for you –
What is your experience developing video codecs? How many donations have you received for your first firmware upgrade that doesn’t actually do anything performance-wise for video?
Thank you.
I’m really keen to give you guys a chance but you have to show some real proof before uploading files. You really should remove the 2 video posted as it’s clearly not real 4k. Vitality did some amzing stuff for the GH2 so I hope you guys manage to do the same.
Are you stupid? Can you read these words? It is not 4K. It is uncropped full sensor. Geesh, so many morons using their keyboards today.
Good that we have you, genius, to raise the bar.
Tron, LightSnow already has about infinite more credibility than you. 🙂
“Hey guys… we’re the ones who told you the 4K update was coming. So sad the those bad Olympus corporate scumbags let you down!! We will attempt to reverse engineer the firmware (rather than just give you the file we received) and maybe eventually enable the 4K recording mode. Please notice the donate button on our development page. Thanks again for your support.”
Good luck with that PeeVee!!
Hey Admin, did you pull back the picture you posted this very early morning showing that 4K Oly camera? (E-M5 MkII?)
Do you mean this item:
” (FT3) New Olympus Mechanical shutter will do 1/16,000 (and electronic for 1/32,000)”
that was up for only a few minutes before Admin removed it?
😉
Yup! That one!
I wonder what’s up with that getting pulled.
Did you recognize the camera that was in the picture? I just remember that has the EVF-LCD button on the SIDE of the EVF. It’s a new camera?
Maybe Admin want to let this FW story going on a little longer and reserve the show for that news for the next days.
I need for all my interest to say to and see if you self can make that happen in reality. What of it? Benefits are careful to balance the negatives, yes or no? Decide first the way to achieve, then perform as necessary. I hope for everyone it’s such true and to verify by adult consent. Excuse my misery English!
Yes, well put! We need more insightful comments like yours in this forum. Thank you!
This can be as much significant as Magic Lantern was to make the 5DMKIII actually a better video camera.
Before 4K, if it manages to offer a full array of framerates, that would be huge already. Then, higher datarate and then 4K.
It would also be interesting to get to know a bit more of the technicalities, mainly the ones related to heat issues, reliability, etc. How much time can it record at this “hacked” settings without causing any risk to the camera or file.
Excellent points.
firmware to include silent shutter
4K is simply a marketing tool. How many people actually need 4K ?? Do you need 4K for YouTube videos ?? Your Clients needs a video for his Web Site, will 4K look better than HD ??
It actually can as proven by down sampling 4k from the GH4 to 1080p.
So what. How many people will see any difference when watching a YouTube video ?? When watching a YouTube video on a Smart Phone ??
Your Grandfather may watch a large screen TV, but your kids don’t. My younger son watches Netflix on his Android phone.
I guess 4K is not a wise choice for you younger son then.
He’s happy with 720p.
Why not shoot photos at 4 megapixel then since no one will notice on a phone. Sheesh….
The world is changing. For many uses 4 megapixels is enough. There is little use for sensors larger than 16 megapixels. There are many iPhone photos that have been published.
Well, I disagree. A downsized large image usually helps in cancelling out noise and artifacts. Same with a 4k -> 1080p. It might be good enough for the average user but no one is going to pay money to see movie shot on an iPhone.
Lots of people are paying money to watch movies shot with a 2K Arri.
My original post was about shooting for internet use, because very few people shoot Feature Films that get Theatrical Distribution. Most DSLR/whatever cameras are used for Corporate Films or for News. And News Broadcasters do not want 4K.
Always interesting to see arguments comparing Apples to Oranges.
2Mpix, not 4Mpix. It is 2Mpix vs 8Mpix 🙂
Even if you only used 4K for lossless panning and zooming, it would be worth the investment and you could view the results on your phone.
Taking 1080p video and upscaling it to 4k gives much better quality in Youtube than using 1080p video. Reason is that the 4k video gets higher bitrate from Youtube and when viewer choose 1080p automatically it does push the higher bitrate to viewer.
Recording in 4k and then uploading to youtube gives much better 1080p quality.
4k gives panning, cropping and video stabilization in post.
4k gives possibility to pull high quality 8Mpix frames and print in common medium size.
4K is not a marketing tool, it is huge advantage for videographers using multiple, fixed cam arrays. It is also a huge advantage for anyone who knows how to use it, whether stabilizing handheld vid or producing 4K for the cinema market.
24p?
Yup, this is what matters….
There is a difference, looking good!
http://youtu.be/qZUUer2CVXQ
It would be a much better comparison if the two images were shot at the same distance.
Exactly. Now two different camera angles and distances. Not helping. Camera to tripod, two SDcards with both official and unofficial firmware and flash the firmware and record video at that position.
I’m really tempted to test it that way. Maybe…..tomorrow….
Never happy.
It is exactly the same distance.
And for the other spam guy aka Fri13 (who say a lot of non sense).
A tiny different angle but same distance.
Do you understand the notion of Full Sensor read ?
Full Sensor read mean no crop, saving more information in the picture.
Peeve, for your information, this as nothing to do with the magnification but with codec compression.
No one force you to comment, test, etc.
Fri13, next time keep your hands far from your keyboard, you don’t know anything, stop trying to be smarter than others.
I’m happy, but I have no way of knowing that they were shot at the same distance because they don’t appear to be framed equally. I don’t think you’d disagree that uniformity of composition would be better for comparison.
Well, if the Full sensor read does not crop, how come that it looks bigger? Actually is should be just the other way round…
Weirdsciemce doesn’t know what he talks about and accuse others of it.
I get same angle of view with both firmware, custom and unofficial. So for your knowledge, feo13 is correct and you are incorrect. I can even take a still and it comes exactly same width. No cropping here at all.
The camera was as feo13 suggested.
The question is why magnification is so much different.
Honestly, I wouldn’t just take the dev on his word. The fact that Andrew Reid of EOSHD saw no improvement makes me skeptical. I’m waiting to see someone else post a test video of before and after.
There is another person at the Lightshow comments that didn’t notice any difference. So up until now it looks like a scam.
No difference here.
Spent today a hour flashing multiple times per test scene and nothing is different.
Bad news, I had high hopes for this hack.
He should make the same for the e-m5, it would be great.
I’m not holding my breath for that. EM5 has older processor and different sensor, so it might just not be able to do some of the things available in newer cameras.
There is no mention about 4K recording in the description, only that they achieved full sensor readout in video mode. They have provided proof via several short videos, and I for one have flashed this modified firmware. It was a safe and easy process and I will be testing the features when the weekend arrives.
You didn’t happen to shoot a test video before you update the firmware right?
No but you can downgrade or upgrade all firmware. This i have tried. Flashed 2.0 down to 1.4 then modified 2.0 no problems at all.
Just did a quick test both clips 20.019 secs both static image of my straw mat (test moire), both at 60 sec shutter and iso 3200. Visually I cannot tell the difference by eye both the same exposure same amount of noise, controlled environment. Interesting the hacked firmware produced 23325kbps Bits/(Pixel*Frame)=0.384 normal produced 24145kbps Bits/(Pixel*Frame)=0.398. audio is the same 1536kpbs.
‘Please donate so we can help you get the most out of your E-M1 in the future’.
xD Haha. No.
Release something epic and I will feel much obliged to send something your way… but for now, don’t mind me being skeptic. From what I’ve seen I couldn’t tell much difference. If anything, then probably rather a placebo effect of the result you want to see.. ‘ehh… I guess it looks a bit better?? Maybe?’. Some more testing, before afters, needed first.
Besides, the standard videoquality isn’t even that bad (although any improvement wholeheartedly welcomed). It’s mainly that it’s 30p and I’m missing 24p and 25p. 60p would be sweet too. 180 degree shutter rule applied to 30p… shooting 1/60, is not so ideal in Europe where everthing is 50Hz.
Yes 25 & 60p and shooting 1/50 shutter for the 70% of the world that uses PAL TV system.
The PAL TV system isn’t a problem. Televisions has been able to play 30fps videos for decade or two. The problem is while recording under fluorescent lights that flicker in 50Hz and it can easily be captured with 30fps. (It can be tried to be minimized by shooting 1/50 shutter speed and enabling anti-flicker 50Hz mode in menu but it is still there, but not so badly).
So 1/25 shutter speed and 25fps mode is very highly wanted/needed.
I don’t know why possible people are complaining about this, don’t install it if you don’t want to, if you’re worried about your sensor overheating yadda yadda.
I don’t really care about video, I’m just excited about the fact that they managed to hack olympus firmware, opens up all sorts of options.
How about people getting so excited wait for some objective, third party comparisons before screaming “Olympus is cheating us!!!!”
Is it difficult to implement (through firmware) an electronic “silent” shutter similar to what the Panasonic m43 camera already do? That one feature alone would make the E-M1 perfect to me. 🙂
I have a few questions.
E-M1 uses Panasonic sensor 34231 (MN34230 die markings).
http://www.43rumors.com/surprise-olympus-e-m1-uses-a-panasonic-sensor/
MN34230’s specification is here.
http://www.semicon.panasonic.co.jp/ds4/MN34230PL_E.pdf (English)
http://www.semicon.panasonic.co.jp/ds4/MN34230PL_J.pdf (Japanese)
The specification sheet says E-M1’s sensor can read out 22.5 fps at full scan mode, and can read out 60fps at HD movie mode. HD movie mode uses “4pixel mixture” or “9pixel mixture”.
“4k2k movie mode (30fps)” will be get from crop sensor read like GH4.
It’s my understanding that the above is hardware’s limitations.
On the other hand, LightSnowDev says both “full sensor read” and “4K 30p Sensor Read” at the same time.
“Full Sensor read in video mode. No crop.”
http://lightsnowdev.blogspot.com/2014/08/olympus-om-d-e-m1-custom-firmware.html
“Full Sensor Read Test 2 on the OM-D E-M1” and “4K 4:4:4 30p Sensor Read”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFVaJUzd-9k
How can LightSnowDev’s firmware get “30fps full sensor read” from the sensor which can only read out 22.5fps at full scan mode ?
It seems to me that it is necessary to replace the image sensor by more high-performance one.
They can’t get full frame read from the sensor at 30fps. That would be 16Mpix on each frame, then processed down to little over 2Mpix at once, without doing it few rows at the time like now.
Checked and tested the firmware and I can’t get different results at all.
But from the very same document you see also this, so Panasonic is telling that the sensor is capable of QUHD 30p.
Now,the hardware limitations may lay in the camera hardware.
In this context, the question is how LightSnowDev’s firmware can get “30fps full sensor read” from the sensor which can only read out 22.5fps at full scan mode.
As I described in my post, the specification sheet says E-M1’s sensor can read out 22.5 fps at full scan mode.
It means that higher frame rate mode than 22.5fps such as “HD movie mode 1080/60p 720/60p” and “4k2k movie mode (30fps)” is not from “full sensor read”.
HD movie mode uses pixel mixture, and 4k2k mode uses cropping readout.
Got it now. Thank you for clarify.
Anyway, at least we could hope for any kind of better video modes if the only limitation is just the full scan. That means 25/50/60 fps and maybe a bigger bitrate. And even 4k but just without the benefits of a full scan.
Am i wrong?
It depends on the image processing engine(TruePicVII)’s limitations .
In one example, Magic Lantern, who has a good track record of custom firmwares for CANON EOS DSLRs, commented about a similar subject on the Facebook.
quote from
https://www.facebook.com/magiclantern.firmware/posts/437748256315118
———————————————————-
(Question) Considering 6D has a DIGIC 5+ processor, and support USH-I high speed SD card. Whether 4k video capability and 1080p/60fps can be added into ML of 6D?
(Magic Lantern) Very very unlikely. The video encoder is hardware so we are restricted to the encoding options supported by the chip. If 4K or 1080/60 isn’t there, there is no way to add it.
———————————————————-
I was looking for ML too (Vitaliy) he’s clearly following the developments with LightSnow hacks, but he was skeptical few days ago.
http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/2789/olympus-hacks/p5
Exactly. But we don’t know anything about TruePic VII than E-M1 has two of those instead one like E-M5 and so on.
I just saw the second video (full sensor read test 2)…
is it me or there’s a lot of weird things in that video:
– no rolling shutter ??? post correction ???
– warp stabilizer jello effect ??? with the IBIS???
– poor details ??? from a downsampled 4K video ???
– why wraping the video in 24fps when shot in 30fps???
I really hope it’s me and this hack will work… but the situation is weirder than ever…
There is no quality difference between hacked and 2.0 version. I tested it and I cannot see any difference with my eyes. There are bunch of other folks saying the same thing.
Either a wrong hacked FW was published or using full sensor read doesn’t do anything or this is just bait to get more people on a website to get traffic.
The guy who was all vocal on twitter regrading the claimed E-M1, 4k firmware upgrade is in on this so that might tell you something.
You are right 🙂 he is the mastermind behind this. I think the hacker doesn’t even have EM1 and then he is changing FW and giving to that producer For testing who is making all these false statements. The producer posted a fake video showing video with more details with hacked FW.
Though good news is that hacked FW doesn’t brick your EM1.
Sad but true
Well, that’s good news indeed… probably the best outcome of all this is that the process of installing firmwares from an SD card is public now.
This is crazy, all this paranoia guys, seing the bad eveywhere.
Mastermind haha, grow up ! seriously grow up.
Have nothing behind this, working day and night to bring something good.
No one force you to use, no one force you to follow, go follow Olympus and i’m going to be rude, suck them.
Like i said grow up.
That producer guy put a video on youtube which showing higher details with hacked firmware. No one expect that producer is able to get that high quality video result with hacked FW. No one expect that producer tested 4k. Obviously, he happens to get lucky with EM1 and everyone on this planet who have EM1 are unlucky with no 4k and not good video quality.
I’m not saying the hacker is not working hard, he might be, i don’t know and neither do you. There is no difference in the hacked FW and regular 2.0 video quality as stated in the hacked FW description. Try it yourself.
It not me who needs to grow, it’s you OlyShit!
Admin should update the page, since nobody has managed to replicate the improvement.
Don’t hack your camera for no good reason.
Well, I assume that they simply exchanged text resources, and might even though that these were the keys to actually exchange functionality… I wouldn’t go so far to call it bait or a scam, but they certainly are a bit naïve.
As there are connections to the sources of the 4K rumor, I’m starting to wonder if the whole 4K rumor actually started as a menu hack, possibly with the intention to press Oly to release more video options – which they most likely could, even if 4K is imposssible.