Photographers - what would you like out of FW 2.0 for the S1II bodies?

[GeorgeHudetz]

What photography features would you like out of FW 2.0 for the S1II* bodies? I figure this would be a good time to ask as it’s early enough (hopefully) to influence Panasonic. I thought about doing a poll but that seemed ineffective for such an open question. Perhaps we can do a ranked list later after people have had a chance to compose their answers.

For me, in ranked order:

1. Assuming it is even possible, another step forward in AFC. Possibly even eclipse Nikon and Sony? To be fair, it’s early days after the 1.3 FW and maybe we will find it’s already happened. However, I do still think that at the very least, improvements in the initial acquisition of the target are needed. But it would be amazing to see a headline that suggests Panasonic is now the one to beat for AFC. I do understand, however, that some Sony bodies have AI chips, and that will probably be difficult to overcome. But otherwise, I can dream, right?
2. Currently when setting up “high speed” AFC, you have to choose between H and H+, with H+ being a little faster. However, with H+, you get “Normal” AF while the exposure is locked in the first frame. On the other hand, H uses “Estimated” AF, but exposure is adjusted with each frame. If possible, it would be nice if one of those modes gave both “Normal” AF and frame-by-frame exposure adjustments. I’m not sure if this can be done at 9 or 10 fps with the current hardware, however. But it sure would simplify setup and “just make it work."
3. Another “just make it work” request: I really appreciate that Panasonic does not bake any single-pixel NR into the raw files - this gives those of us with PP software that has single-pixel NR capabilities precise control over the image. I also appreciate the presence of the LENR for people who want an excellent solution and don’t mind the time required to do the LENR. However, Adobe LR does not offer a specific single-pixel NR tool, so you have to rely on AI, which can be kind of cumbersome. Sony (and I think Nikon) do bake in a certain amount of SPNR, however, and it seems every few months somebody gets all upset on DPR about how crappy Panasonic sensors are relative to the competition because their long exposures come into LR with way more hot pixels than their friends Sony or Nikon images have. I do my best to explain the situation, but if Panasonic could add an “Approximate” flag to the LENR menu that does something similar to Sony (as an option to the full-monty LENR that we have now) I feel like this would help acceptance of the S1II bodies in the market. Of course, you’d want to avoid the Sony “star eater” scandal, so I’m sure the algorithm development would be non-trivial, but I suppose if it did eat a star or three then since it can be disabled, perhaps it’s not such a big deal. I.e., it’s an option for folks who want to blur clouds etc but not for astro.
4. Some kind of computational ND filter feature, like OM Systems bodies have.
5. An “astro tracker” feature that uses sensor movement to compensate for the relative motion of stars, similar to what Pentax bodies have. This would allow us to leave the trackers at home, or at least only use them when we use long lenses or want long exposures for top-tier IQ.
6. Shutter speeds longer than 60 seconds. Even just having 120 and 240 second options added would be huge.

This is what comes to mind for me right now. I’ll be curious to hear what others think.

 

[GeorgeHudetz]

I see this thread is redundant. I’ll copy my points above over to the other thread, and then this one can be deleted.