Following an exciting week of CES announcements, this week has been rather calm in the tech world. There have, however, been some software announcements from the likes of Nikon, Sony, and DxO that are worthwhile and important.
RED's lawsuit against Nikon for infringing on its video compression patents has been dismissed, effectively giving Nikon permission to continue allowing compressed internal RAW video recording in its cameras.
In May, RED Digital Cinema filed a lawsuit against Nikon, alleging that the data compression technology it uses in the Z9 camera violated its patents. Nikon has responded and argues RED's patent should never have been approved to begin with.
RED has sued Nikon for illegally copying its data compression technology. The lawsuit asserts that Nikon infringed on its patents through capabilities granted to the Nikon Z9 in the recent firmware 2.0 update.
Nikon has announced firmware updates for its Z Series mirrorless cameras that bring increased AF performance, improved tracking, and more. The update will be released on April 26, 2021.
Nikon Rumors is reporting that according to a recent internal Nikon presentation, the company plans to release two new DSLRs in 2021 along with "several" F-mount lenses, as the company won't give up on the mirror quite yet.
If you're curious about what changes to expect in the menu between the Nikon Z7 and Z7 II or Z6 and Z6 II cameras, Youtuber Ricci goes over everything that he's noticed in this 17-minute video.
Boston-based wedding photographer William Hall of The Monochrome Memoirs and Perla Images recently updated his Nikon Z6 to the latest Firmware 3.0, and the news is good: it seems Nikon just gave their mirrorless cameras a HUGE autofocus boost.
As expected, Nikon officially released Firmware Version 2.20 for the Nikon Z6 and Z7 full-frame mirrorless cameras tonight, adding (limited) CFExpress compatibility and preparing the cameras for the optional upgrade to shoot ProRes RAW video over HDMI, which will cost an additional $200 fee, plus shipping.
Nikon recently released a firmware update for its D3100, D3200, D5100, D5200, and P7700 cameras that maximized battery performance and allowed the camera to more accurately tell you how much charge you have left. But it seems there was an unintended (or maybe not so unintended) side-effect: third party batteries no longer work.
Nikon's D5100, D3100 and D7000 all come with their own video time limits that keep them well below the 30 minute mark necessary to keep from being classified as "video cameras." That's because, as we've mentioned in the past, video cameras are charged a 5.6 percent duty that the manufacturers would like to avoid.
The D5100, for example, will stop you from recording once you've hit 20 minutes or 4GB, whichever comes first. In all honesty, most videographers won't see a need to record videos any longer than this, but if you do, the Nikon Hackers have released a hack that removes this time limit from the D5100, D3100 and D7000.
After releasing firmware update 1.01 last month and fixing the D4/D800 lock up issues, Nikon Rumors is reporting that the Japanese camera company has another firmware update up its sleeve -- this one dealing with some different issues that have come up with the same two cameras.
Nikon's firmware got decrypted last month, and now an unofficial firmware for Nikon DSLRs has emerged. Rather than offer useful adjustments, the firmware is purely for geekiness: it gives Nikon D5100 DSLRs a Star Wars theme.