They started doing auto ISO right in the A7R II and also have now done it in the RX100 IV, the RX10 II, and RX1 II. The OP's question was whether they'd ever update the firmware in the original RX1 to add that functionality. When Fuji finally got around to increasing their available minimum shutter speed in auto ISO to 1/500 (from a thoroughly useless 1/125) with the XE2 and XT1, they also updated the firmware in the X-Pro 1 and XE1 to add the same thing (although I don't believe they did in the lower end XM1 and XA1 bodies). I've read somewhere that Sony designed the RX1 in a way that they technically can't update the firmware in any meaningful way. I don't have any idea if that's true or not, but it seem pretty plainly the case that they don't have any intention of doing it, whether they can or not.According to this review Sony RX1R II Review: Now Shooting! - Field Test
I also really enjoyed the way the Sony RX1R II handles Auto ISO operation. The camera allows you to set both a minimum and maximum ISO and without any limitation to the high ISO, which I've seen in other cameras. (The minimum ISO is limited however to 100; no expanded low ISOs with Auto ISO.) You can manually set a specific minimum shutter speed for Auto ISO mode, which helps prevent accidental camera shake or subject blur due the camera itself deciding to lower the shutter speed rather than increase the ISO.Is that what you were talking about?, it looks fixed to me.
I have to disagree pretty strongly with this. First, I think it's great that more companies seem to be making REAL improvements via firmware. For sure, some of them were because the camera in question may not have been ready for prime time as released (such as the Fuji X100), but lots of very good cameras have gotten significantly better via firmware. Like the EM1 and XT1 for example.My main camera was the Sony A7 (the very first one), until last week when I sold it. Sony never updated that either.
Actually the whole 'firmware update' trends to me, seem just a marketing status.
I don't mind having cameras without firmware updates if they are done right, and clearly Sony is not the one implementing them right. Dont get me wrong, they have/own the technology to do almost anything we could ask them to, yet they have little clue of how to design and implement it into a real world camera, yet certainly they are getting better at it.
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Actually the whole 'firmware update' trends to me, seem just a marketing status.
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Firmware updates on the other hand seems to me a justification for manufacturers to release 'half cooked' products into the public and 'fix them on the way' while customers feel 'they are getting support' but they are just being 'testers' for the manufacturers....
I can only speak from the point of view of being a very satisfied user of both Ricoh and Fuji products, both of which have followed a kaisen approach of continuous improvement and release significant firmware upgrades on a regular basis that improve already successful products. That is a million light years away in both philosophy and execution of "...releasing 'half-cooked' products...". The concept of agile development and MVP is long-established and is not by any means getting the users to test stuff for you. Ricoh and Fuji have built a deserved reputation for producing cameras for photographers that are improved over time based on feedback from photographers. Long may they continue to do so.
I don't personally have any interest in in the new RX1 II (at least until used prices get down well under $2000 like the first gen RX1 is now, but maybe not then either), but if they did update the auto ISO firmware in the original, I'd buy another one of those as fast as I could scrape the money together. I don't really need the built in EVF, the flip screen, or the faster AF (although I wouldn't mind having any of those), but I really don't want anything to do with a 42mp sensor. And the battery life was already incredibly limited with the first RX1 - from what I understand, it's notably worse with the new one... Which, having gotten spoiled by DSLR battery life, I don't know if I could go back to... But I'd love to have that lens again somehow - jeez, what a sweet piece of glass...
-Ray
I can only speak from the point of view of being a very satisfied user of both Ricoh and Fuji products, both of which have followed a kaisen approach of continuous improvement and release significant firmware upgrades on a regular basis that improve already successful products. That is a million light years away in both philosophy and execution of "...releasing 'half-cooked' products...". The concept of agile development and MVP is long-established and is not by any means getting the users to test stuff for you. Ricoh and Fuji have built a deserved reputation for producing cameras for photographers that are improved over time based on feedback from photographers. Long may they continue to do so.