Group: Member
Post: 285 (39 liked)
Join date: April 2014
Status:
|
|
on Apr 27, 2021 9:06:24 GMT
Posted: Apr 27, 2021 9:06:24 GMT
Well bobblehat ... Both cameras do an admirable job with the task. ......... etc ............. I can only agree entirely with your eloquently expressed observations. If I have the room to carry around the Nikon L28, I will do so. If not, I'd have no worries about taking the SL300RT
|
|
Group: Member
Post: 285 (39 liked)
Join date: April 2014
Status:
|
|
on Apr 27, 2021 9:11:59 GMT
Posted: Apr 27, 2021 9:11:59 GMT
... I have lost quite a few to girlfriends over the years as they loved the design - one commented that it looked like a scent-spray. This is way off-topic to be sure, but I thought I'd see if I could find a perfume bottle clone. This is close, but not quite there. I'm not sure why, but the real kicker is - their site allows you to search for perfumes by color?!?! Your Liu Jo link had me scratching my head too ..... I noticed there was a "main accord" ..... called "Nutty" ..... which had me wondering if the purchaser was intending to attract squirrels!!
|
|
Deleted
Group: Member
Post: 0 ( liked)
Join date: January 1970
Status:
|
|
on Apr 27, 2021 22:01:25 GMT
Last Edit: Apr 27, 2021 23:35:12 GMT by Deleted
This is way off-topic to be sure, but I thought I'd see if I could find a perfume bottle clone. This is close, but not quite there. I'm not sure why, but the real kicker is - their site allows you to search for perfumes by color?!?! Your Liu Jo link had me scratching my head too ..... I noticed there was a "main accord" ..... called "Nutty" ..... which had me wondering if the purchaser was intending to attract squirrels!! You sure he does not have any connections to Germany? (In German, the word "Nutte" is a derogatory term for a prostitute.)
Come to think of it ... quite apt when it comes to certain kinds of perfume...
|
|
Group: Member
Post: 285 (39 liked)
Join date: April 2014
Status:
|
|
on Apr 28, 2021 10:57:30 GMT
Posted: Apr 28, 2021 10:57:30 GMT
Amazing what you can learn on this forum!
|
|
Group: Moderator
Post: 2,033 (561 liked)
Join date: April 2014
Status: Long, long time Contax and Yashica user; glad to be here and hope to contribute.
|
|
on Apr 28, 2021 11:49:35 GMT
Posted: Apr 28, 2021 11:49:35 GMT
Amazing what you can learn on this forum! I know what you mean about this site being a source of education... I once bought one of the new, so-called, Yashica MF-2 Super cameras and when I opened the box and looked at it, I thought to myself, 'Well, that's taught me a lesson!' Sometimes education can be painful! The following day the camera had an unfortunate encounter with a Beretta 92FS - it looked a little under the weather afterwards. Knowing what happened to plastic waste back then, the MF-2 Super has probably seen quite a bit of the world and is almost certainly circulating in the Pacific Trash Vortex as we speak...
|
|
Group: Administrator
Post: 1,369 (301 liked)
Join date: February 2017
Status: Failed treatment for L.B.A. and G.A.S,
|
|
on Apr 28, 2021 23:24:28 GMT
Posted: Apr 28, 2021 23:24:28 GMT
I guess I'll chalk up the perfume links as '6 (or 9 or 11) degrees of Contax', but I have a feeling that any possible familial lineage they might provide won't be showing up in my Vintage Yashica Timeline. :) I have a new battery on the way for the SL400R, and in the mean time I'll try to get the firmware upgrade finished. I'll keep my fingers cross that it won't turn it into a brick. If someone needs the last version's update instructions , I did a Japanese translation via Google and could post it as a PDF. Anyone? The firmware file is still available for download via the Wayback machine, as noted in this post on the forum. It's where I just got my copy, so the same link still works - at least the one for Windows does.
|
|
Group: Member
Post: 26 (6 liked)
Join date: January 2022
Status: old digital compact enthusiast, owns several kyoceras
|
|
on Jan 4, 2022 5:20:28 GMT
Posted: Jan 4, 2022 5:20:28 GMT
Thanks for this incredibly informative thread! I keep finding myself referring to it while doing research on the SL series from Kyocera/Contax and ended up signing up to this forum because of it!
I just got myself a Kyocera Finecam SL400R—my second copy, as I sold my original one several years ago, which I highly regretted doing—and I've been curious if any of you were aware of any information about the filter adapter. It seems like they are very hard to come by, but someone has to have made some kind of 3rd party (perhaps 3D-printed) adapter right? I've seen some threads about getting the parts from Kyocera suppliers¹, but these are quite old posts. I was thinking it could be fun to use polarisers or star filters on this.
|
|
Group: Moderator
Post: 2,033 (561 liked)
Join date: April 2014
Status: Long, long time Contax and Yashica user; glad to be here and hope to contribute.
|
|
on Jan 5, 2022 15:36:00 GMT
Last Edit: Jan 5, 2022 15:36:26 GMT by biggles3
Thanks for this incredibly informative thread! I keep finding myself referring to it while doing research on the SL series from Kyocera/Contax and ended up signing up to this forum because of it! I just got myself a Kyocera Finecam SL400R—my second copy, as I sold my original one several years ago, which I highly regretted doing—and I've been curious if any of you were aware of any information about the filter adapter. It seems like they are very hard to come by, but someone has to have made some kind of 3rd party (perhaps 3D-printed) adapter right? I've seen some threads about getting the parts from Kyocera suppliers¹, but these are quite old posts. I was thinking it could be fun to use polarisers or star filters on this. Hi - this shows the adapter fitted to a Kyocera SL300R with its 'hood' removed and placed by the foot of the camera. SL300RT_SL400R Filter AdapterAs you can see, I do have a spare and have sent you a PM.
|
|
Group: Administrator
Post: 1,369 (301 liked)
Join date: February 2017
Status: Failed treatment for L.B.A. and G.A.S,
|
|
on Jan 5, 2022 18:09:21 GMT
Last Edit: Jan 5, 2022 18:14:50 GMT by lumiworx
Thanks for the added pics, Graham... and dare I say, it just goes to show the attention to detail that Yashica (and occasionally Kyocera) showed in their available OEM accessories. Along with similar goodies they made for the Atoron line, the Y16 series, and others, they seemed to offer the extras that other makers may have left to the aftermarket to fill in those much-needed blanks. BTW... Just to make sure there's a public-facing mention of it, a download link to the SL300R/SL400R firmware update to v.1.05 - and PDF instructions - for both Windows PC and MAC are available to registered forum members here: yashica.boards.net/post/8296/threadI won't presume the firmware update can also be applied to the U4R (I don't have one to test), so if someone can advise if it will work with that model too, I'll update the post to confirm that it covers all 3 models successfully.
|
|
Group: Moderator
Post: 2,033 (561 liked)
Join date: April 2014
Status: Long, long time Contax and Yashica user; glad to be here and hope to contribute.
|
|
on Jan 6, 2022 12:58:34 GMT
Posted: Jan 6, 2022 12:58:34 GMT
Thanks for the added pics, Graham... and dare I say, it just goes to show the attention to detail that Yashica (and occasionally Kyocera) showed in their available OEM accessories. Along with similar goodies they made for the Atoron line, the Y16 series, and others, they seemed to offer the extras that other makers may have left to the aftermarket to fill in those much-needed blanks. BTW... Just to make sure there's a public-facing mention of it, a download link to the SL300R/SL400R firmware update to v.1.05 - and PDF instructions - for both Windows PC and MAC are available to registered forum members here: yashica.boards.net/post/8296/threadI won't presume the firmware update can also be applied to the U4R (I don't have one to test), so if someone can advise if it will work with that model too, I'll update the post to confirm that it covers all 3 models successfully. Hi Randy, I think it unwise to try the SL300/400 firmware upgrade on the Contax U4R. I was told in about 2008 that there are some critical differences in the operating parameters of the U4R, including the version of RTune, which would make the U4R a paperweight if the Kyocera SL400R update was applied. I have updated all my other Contax digital cameras but not the U4Rs. I'm not even sure that a firmware upgrade was made available; if it existed then it would obviously be fine but I don't recall seeing one... In addition to the critical RTune difference, shutter speeds and ISO sensitivities are also at variance between the models.
|
|
Group: Member
Post: 26 (6 liked)
Join date: January 2022
Status: old digital compact enthusiast, owns several kyoceras
|
|
on Jan 6, 2022 18:30:05 GMT
Last Edit: Jan 6, 2022 18:40:17 GMT by sofi: Adding information about u4r update
Thanks for the added pics, Graham... and dare I say, it just goes to show the attention to detail that Yashica (and occasionally Kyocera) showed in their available OEM accessories. Along with similar goodies they made for the Atoron line, the Y16 series, and others, they seemed to offer the extras that other makers may have left to the aftermarket to fill in those much-needed blanks. BTW... Just to make sure there's a public-facing mention of it, a download link to the SL300R/SL400R firmware update to v.1.05 - and PDF instructions - for both Windows PC and MAC are available to registered forum members here: yashica.boards.net/post/8296/threadI won't presume the firmware update can also be applied to the U4R (I don't have one to test), so if someone can advise if it will work with that model too, I'll update the post to confirm that it covers all 3 models successfully. Thanks for this Randy, I definitely missed this so it's good to know! However, I attempted the update with my SL400R (v.1.00) but to no avail—it never showed up in the Set-Up menus for any SD card I tested. I also tried the Contax SL300RT firmware, still no results. I am using Windows 10, but I successfully updated a S5R through this method earlier this week. If you have any advice on how to make this work with the SL400R, please let me know
EDIT: I wanted to mention there is indeed a v.1.01 update for the U4R according to archive.org¹! However, it seems that they did not archive the upgrade files themselves.
|
|
Group: Administrator
Post: 1,369 (301 liked)
Join date: February 2017
Status: Failed treatment for L.B.A. and G.A.S,
|
|
on Jan 6, 2022 22:35:48 GMT
Last Edit: Jan 6, 2022 23:08:47 GMT by lumiworx
Thanks for those details about updating, biggles3 ... It would be a shame to brick a working camera by applying the wrong version when it isn't compatible, and given the time frame when these were first published for use, they may not have included any built-in safeguards to keep them from being wrongly applied by default. I'll amend the post with a warning on using it with the U4R. sofi ... I'm fairly certain that mine came with a generic 2MB full-size SD card already installed, but I don't remember the brand. I wouldn't assume that a micro SD in an adapter would work, but that's not a certainty there were any MegaByte sized micro SD's anyway. I did get a standard Toshiba 16MB card I purchased as NOS to replace the original card once I got the firmware updated, and it currently accepts and uses it just fine, so the 8MB 'new limitation' may only be one of the at-the-time card sizes. I haven't tested whether it will indeed go beyond the 8MB limit, but can confirm the 16MB card size will work as-is. I just popped mine back on the charger to look through the menus, and none of the menu pages offered a selection to view the installed version or any facility to update anything directly on the camera. The PC I primarily use for camera processing and graphics work is still on Windows 7, and that's where I did my update. The only way to see the upgradable version and the current version is to run the updater and compare versions. I do have the camera's original data cable too, so I'm not sure if there might be issues in using generic replacements. Since it was a 'fresh' camera and card for me, I did format the card in-camera, immediately before starting the update too... so that might have removed any files that may have come to cause any of your issues - assuming that might have been, or was, a factor. There's always a possibility that anything later than Windows 7 may not have some of the required library helper files needed by the update setup program, and it may just have silently failed to run and never did an update attempt at all. If I had to guess, that would be the more likely cause. Windows 8/8.1 still had some of the major 16bit libraries included, but Win 10 certainly has far fewer than any of the previous versions. I'd think it's likely that the update software was 16bit, and not even 32bit, and I'd guarantee it wouldn't be 64bit by several years yet.
|
|
Group: Member
Post: 26 (6 liked)
Join date: January 2022
Status: old digital compact enthusiast, owns several kyoceras
|
|
on Jan 6, 2022 23:10:07 GMT
Last Edit: Jan 6, 2022 23:10:59 GMT by sofi
Thank you for all the details, it gives me a lot to consider if I re-attempt it. My process with the S5R update was this: I noticed the .exe file was actually a generic self-extracting archive—see image below of the SL300R updater—so I just extracted it using 7zip and copied the firmware into the appropriate folder in my 2GB SD card, and then I inserted the SD card into the camera. Afterwards, it showed 'Firmware update' under 'Set-Up'. When attempting the update on the SL400R, I did indeed format all the cards involved in-camera. I tried it both with an adapted microSD card and several regular 2GB SD cards. I have a laptop running Windows 7 and a mini-USB cord—it seems that is what these cameras use—so I can reattempt it with that configuration next. Looking at the finecam_SL300R-UPDATE.EXE file, this also seems to be a self-extracting archive, so I am not sure if there will be a significantly different result.
If it's not a huge hassle, would you be willing to check the firmware version on your SL400R? There are a few ways. One way described in the upgrade instructions set is to set your camera to 'Set-Up' mode, turn it off, and then turn it on while holding down the 'Menu' button. This causes a screen to appear which indicates the firmware version. Alternatively, Kyocera cameras tend to list what firmware an image was captured with in the EXIF data, as you can see here:
|
|
Group: Administrator
Post: 1,369 (301 liked)
Join date: February 2017
Status: Failed treatment for L.B.A. and G.A.S,
|
|
on Jan 6, 2022 23:24:34 GMT
Last Edit: Jan 6, 2022 23:33:29 GMT by lumiworx
I think I know what might be causing your update grief... These camera probably won't properly recognize any SD cards when they are in any of the GB sizes. The original and plain vanilla SD cards used at the time were in MB's, not GB's. :)
The file-systems in use on SD cards changed after 2002, and the allocation tables used may be pointing to incorrect locations, i.e., FAT vs Fat32... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_cardEDIT: I rarely rely on package headers on installer files to reflect the correct versions of any files inside the actual package, so it's better to check the uncompressed files once extracted from the archive. I just double checked and my version number states that it's still at v.1.00 - However - it will accept the updated SD card size beond the original limit, so for all intents and purpses, it looks like the update worked, but the version number hasn't changed.
|
|
Group: Member
Post: 26 (6 liked)
Join date: January 2022
Status: old digital compact enthusiast, owns several kyoceras
|
|
on Jan 7, 2022 8:27:29 GMT
Last Edit: Jan 7, 2022 11:12:12 GMT by sofi
I appreciate you taking the time to confirm the version number, Randy. I've never had any issues with GB-size SD cards in my SL400R up to 2GB despite not having updated, and I am aware of the different FAT filesystem versions. All the cards I've used in this camera are formatted with the correct FAT filesystem and correctly record images and videos without issue. I'm inclined to believe that by 2004, when the SL400R was released, cards with capacities up to 2GB received widespread support as I have not had any issues with SD-card-using digicams using SD cards so far (as expected, only SDHC and SDXC have issues, as these are unsupported formats).
I looked through the changelogs of both the v1.04 and v1.05 SL300R updates on the original Japanese website to double check whether they reported updates to SD card handling. It looks like v1.04 concerns some problems with the power button and the remaining shot count¹:
Meanwhile, the v1.05 reports video mode optimisation (but no mention of adding support for gigabyte-capacity-SD cards—I'm assuming they may be referring to 'speed class' optimisations) and some glitch with the LCD²:
It is definitely true that the file version isn't displayed in the package header, but my intent was to show that it was a Win32 program and not a Win16 program to account for the possibility that an unsupported Win16 file was causing the issues at hand. Either way, I have opened up the binary file 8DBFWARE.bin, located within the update archive, in a hex editor to confirm that it is indeed v1.05 that's being looked at. You can see at address 0x0012607E the text that gets written to each file once an update is applied.
Finally, the instructions in the member-only PDF indicate that the update tool shows up in the camera itself when the firmware update is applicable, as opposed to a firmware update method that's performed through the computer with a docked camera (I do recall some Nikon digicams being updated this way). I can confirm that the software ran in the set-up menus for the camera itself when I updated the S5R earlier this week. Actually, I filmed the process for some of my friends, so I have some stills to share as well.
Figure 1. Set-up menu with the new update entry.
Figure 2. The update user confirmation message.
Figure 3. The completion of the update. The usage of the word 'Farm' is as described in the instructions.
Even though this is a different model I'm showing, the process is still identical to the one described in the SL300R instructions file.
Going back to the SL400R, I suppose it's possible that someone may have already successfully updated my copy to v1.05 and it continues to show v1.00 as is the case for you, both in the menus and the JPG files, but either way I am unable to report a successful update to the SL400R with the SL300R firmware. At this point, I'm assuming the SL400R is preloaded with different enough firmware anyway (since it's a bit newer than the SL300R) that it might be redundant for me to update it...
|
|