[LRflex] Re: Russian Chip for the Olympus

Xavier,
Thanks. I assume that no camera maker would want their digital program in a camera hacked and generally guard not only the code itself but access to it.
Parenthetically, that leaves me wondering what, exactly, we are loading into our Leica cameras when we install their Firmware Updates: new parameters for existing algorithms or a mix of new parameters and revised algorithms?
Don't pay much attention to this question because even if I knew the answer i could not use the information! "Curiosity is killing the cat," is how I explain it; I'm confident there is a similar French idiom.
Nor did I realized, as I do when thinking about it, that the Dandelion must be a hack in the communication path between the lens and the main program. The adapter has to be a peripheral to the camera, sending data about each lens attached to it for the adapter to work.
I've now run out of knowledge about computer programming, which consists of a few Fortran statements from the early 1960s and some Applesoft (a Basic variant) programs that I wrote for my Apple ][+ in the early 1980s.
Correct me if I am wrong but what I think I am hearing is that the data the camera needs for each lens is its focal length and wide-pen stop, and if it knows that, has that data, it can then run its exposure, image stabilization, and focus confirmation algorithms correctly.
Moreover, each camera manufacturer can preload that data for each of its own lenses but the adapter creates the requirement for data about "foreign" lenses, i.e., Leica lenses used with an Olympus body.
That seems to be the logic of what the Dandelion manual procedure is doing. It is a one time insertion of focal length and wide-open stop for each "foreign" lens. My question now is does the Dandelion have to be manually reprogrammed every time I change to a different "foreign" lens? That brings up the issue of unique lens identity, which Dandelion doesn't seem to address.
I think you are right in wondering how Dandelion learned to speak the language that the Olympus understands, Unix, Java, C, or whatever. Very interesting, and I can see how this whole subject of adapters is important to the four-thirds community. 

With all best wishes and Happy Easter,

Bill





On Mar 23, 2008, at 12:02 AM, Bille Xavier F. wrote:

Bill, Your opinion is really right to me.

After reading the review of the E3:

http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/e3-rev.html#VIEWING
I tend to think that this E3 is certainly customizable to the last bit but very complex to grab, one need a good dose of Digital before attempting to change one or two options :) 

A very good review that is.
Back to the Dandelion adapter, it is indeed a hack of the four third as the small chip emulates the comunication between the body and the lens. One attractive thing is that it can tell the body what is the largest aperture and then, it settles the parameters in hope to get good pictures, well exposed.
As said in an earlier post , the Digilux is tweaked for F4, what ever the manual lens put. This is because the body has no clue.
If the body can understand it has been coupled to a summilux 50mm, pictures would be better exposed at f1.4.
Once programmed, the Chip should be dedicated to a specific lens as the reprogrammation is far from being obvious (now, we can speak of computer programming with the adaptor, embedded program, that is!) 

---------------------------------
Xavier F. BILLE
Maisons-Alfort - France.


From: wbabbott3@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [LRflex] Re: Russian Chip for the Olympus
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2008 09:51:19 -0700

Xavier,
I don't have an Oly so this is is just my initial reaction to the text and video about the Dandelion:
I thought computers (the one in the Oly and peripherals like the chip) were supposed to do the work for us, not create work for the user to perform. Shouldn't the Oly software be hacked to do it all seamlessly? 

Am I missing something?

All the best,

Bill


On Mar 22, 2008, at 2:57 AM, Bille Xavier F. wrote:
Hello out there!
I was wondering if any of you had tried the Russian DANDELION AF focus chip which is programmable? 

On the site :
http://oly43club.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=351
They offer a video which is not too clear except if you understand that the manipulator reprograms the chip to match a certain aperture and focal lens. 

Best regards & Esater Greeting Season.
---------------------------------
Xavier F. BILLE
Maisons-Alfort - France.
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