3 ms·

Why would this be a good idea to break away from the norm of what has been done before? The mechanism of updating the lens through the camera exists. Why reinve

Why would this be a good idea to break away from the norm of what has been done before? The mechanism of updating the lens through the camera exists. Why reinvent the wheel? It only increases the BOM for the lens to include the USB and the electronics involved.

CobaltFire 5mo ago
Because third party lenses cannot leverage the camera body to update. Sigma has a dock that allows updates to their lenses in this fashion however.
- mahmoudhossam 5mo ago
  Only for their old "Art" lenses, the modern "Contemporary" lenses can leverage the camera body update mechanism and only need a file on the SD card containing the firmware update.
  - Sharlin 5mo ago
    "Contemporary" lenses aren’t more modern that "Art". The monikers were introduced at the same time, along with "Sports". Rather, "Art" is Sigma’s high-end line, similar to Canon’s "L". "Contemporary" on the other hand is a somewhat euphemistic term for "consumer" or "affordable".
- Gigachad 5mo ago
  You can update sigma lenses through Sony camera bodies but it requires running a program on your desktop with the camera plugged in and it’s a bit of a pain. Especially on macOS where it requires enabling kernel extensions. Would have been nice if Sony just let you drop a file on the sd card to load an update.
  - CobaltFire 5mo ago
    Didn't realize this, thanks!
- Lammy 5mo ago
  I suppose it depends on the system? I have updated Sigma, TAMRON, and XiaoYi lenses on my Panasonic and Olympus MFT bodies, as well as Panasonic and Olympus with each other: https://support.jp.omsystem.com/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/ https://support.jp.omsystem.com/en/support/imsg/digicamera/d... (Sadly not an exhaustive list. I have firmware for several more lenses stashed away in my archive, but the upgrade mechanism is the same.)
  - CobaltFire 5mo ago
    I shoot the m43 system (have since the GH2, then E-M5, E-M1, and now a G9 II) and didn't realize this. I only have one lens tight now (I tend to stay small on my system but this is a low point) but I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the info!
    - Lammy 5mo ago
      Here's a counter-example, too: Metabones EF↔MFT speedbooster that has its own USB port and update+config app: https://i.ibb.co/t7mDFLJ/image.png https://i.ibb.co/t7mDFLJ/image.png https://i.ibb.co/PsSH2M3R/image.png https://i.ibb.co/PsSH2M3R/image.png
      - CobaltFire 5mo ago
        That one I'm aware of. I used to own one!

CobaltFire 5mo ago

Because third party lenses cannot leverage the camera body to update. Sigma has a dock that allows updates to their lenses in this fashion however.

mahmoudhossam 5mo ago
Only for their old "Art" lenses, the modern "Contemporary" lenses can leverage the camera body update mechanism and only need a file on the SD card containing the firmware update.
- Sharlin 5mo ago
  "Contemporary" lenses aren’t more modern that "Art". The monikers were introduced at the same time, along with "Sports". Rather, "Art" is Sigma’s high-end line, similar to Canon’s "L". "Contemporary" on the other hand is a somewhat euphemistic term for "consumer" or "affordable".
Gigachad 5mo ago
You can update sigma lenses through Sony camera bodies but it requires running a program on your desktop with the camera plugged in and it’s a bit of a pain. Especially on macOS where it requires enabling kernel extensions. Would have been nice if Sony just let you drop a file on the sd card to load an update.
- CobaltFire 5mo ago
  Didn't realize this, thanks!
Lammy 5mo ago
I suppose it depends on the system? I have updated Sigma, TAMRON, and XiaoYi lenses on my Panasonic and Olympus MFT bodies, as well as Panasonic and Olympus with each other: https://support.jp.omsystem.com/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/ https://support.jp.omsystem.com/en/support/imsg/digicamera/d... (Sadly not an exhaustive list. I have firmware for several more lenses stashed away in my archive, but the upgrade mechanism is the same.)
- CobaltFire 5mo ago
  I shoot the m43 system (have since the GH2, then E-M5, E-M1, and now a G9 II) and didn't realize this. I only have one lens tight now (I tend to stay small on my system but this is a low point) but I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the info!
  - Lammy 5mo ago
    Here's a counter-example, too: Metabones EF↔MFT speedbooster that has its own USB port and update+config app: https://i.ibb.co/t7mDFLJ/image.png https://i.ibb.co/t7mDFLJ/image.png https://i.ibb.co/PsSH2M3R/image.png https://i.ibb.co/PsSH2M3R/image.png
    - CobaltFire 5mo ago
      That one I'm aware of. I used to own one!