New IQ Series firmware gives you a big speed bump!

Phase One released IQ firmware 3.0 today with many enhancements to the IQ backs. The majority of the update helps increase the speed of the back itself. Most notably, the new firmware now fully supports UMDA 7 memory cards which allows for a full 119 mb/s writing to cards.

 

Phase One Release Notes

Improved performance:

  • Significantly improved speed when showing previews, especially when zoomed.
  • Improved CF-card writing speed – with a fast CF card it is now practically impossible to shoot faster than the images can be written to card.
  • Improved tethered capture speed – images are now transferred faster than ever before

New features:

  • Browsing, zooming and panning is now possible in the last 10 images when shooting tethered to the computer
  • Custom White Balance 1,2,3 in digital back can now be set in tethered mode
  • Zooming and panning in not yet stored images are now possible on the digital back
  • Custom background can be uploaded as an image (backgrnd.bmp or backgrnd.tif) on the CF card
  • User can now adjust the offset for roll and pitch.

Reliability:

  • Camera interface is in general more robust for third party cameras.
  • Improved two-shot noise rejection on trigger pulse, when using third party equipment
  • Battery lifetime in cold weather is improved significantly
  • General stability improvements

Known limitations: Lexar 400x 256GB CF card is not supported

Install Instructions

Update should be performed with the digital back disconnected from the camera, and without FireWire or USB connected. Also make sure you have a fully charged battery in the IQ back.

  • Download the latest IQ Firmware from phaseone.com.
  • Transfer the .fwr file to an empty compact flash card and insert it into the IQ’s compact flash card slot.
  • Select “Update Firmware” from the Firmware menu.
  • After upgrade the digital back will have to be rebooted, a full reboot is performed by removing the battery from the IQ back, and reinserting it.
  • After rebooting select [Menu > Restore Defaults] to ensure the back is on default settings.

Note: If you have any issues with the update, the “Restore Firmware” option will revert to the factory installed firmware version. If you experience errors you can use the menu “Dump Log” to transfer Log information to the CompactFlash card – this log file you can use to send to support for further analysis

Standard Note of Caution

Note: Capture Integration firmly believes that professionals who rely on their cameras for their reputation and income should avoid doing any major software or firmware updates immediately upon release. We have seen problematic firmware updates from Apple, Canon, Leica,  While we have no specific reason to be hesitant with this particular update we recommend waiting several days for our in-house testing and the results of updates of our early-adopter customers before updating your IQ firmware.

Final Features Still to be Completed

This firmware does not enable two features. These will be enabled in a future firmware update.

  • USB3 Port Support
  • Turn on both the body and back from body.