What’s New in This Update

Welcome to FoCal 2021 Beta. This is the first release of FoCal 2021, released as a beta but should be pretty close to the final release.

Note: We have been working with beta testers to enhance the FoCal 2021 pre-release build in minor steps and currently we are up to FoCal 2021 Beta 1.3, which is detailed below.

If you are seeing this from an earlier beta release, you should update.

Version Details

Headline Features

• Brand new Mac Camera Interface (ICC)
• New Stabilisation Test
• Big improvements with MultiTest
• Canon EOS R5/R6 support
• Beta support for Nikon Z6ii and Z7ii
• New “Take Picture” architecture

Known Issues

Mac

• Processing of User Metadata file (meta.json) in file mode does not work on Mac. This is an advanced feature and will be reworked for the next major release.

Windows Prerequisites / Installer Problems

Blog Post

There is a blog post associated with this release available here.

Previous Release Notes

• Previous Stable release is: FoCal 2020

Changelog

FoCal 2021 Beta 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 bring the following changes since FoCal 2021 Beta

• Windows installation folder is updated
• Improvements to Nikon Z camera operation with FTZ adapter
• Alert if Nikon cameras are in Movie mode (causes unexpected behaviour)
• Enable/Disable camera controls option (top left of user interface)
• Ensure camera is returned to user mode on app closedown when connected
• Fix locale issue with lens name recognition
• Fixed to limited AF Adjustment range for calibration
• Improved test results when AF Adjustment range is limited
• Fixes to “Don’t Confirm Focus Adjustment” setting
• Allow clearing of comparison data cache (in Settings > Advanced)
• Stability improvements to new Mac Camera Interface
• Allow use of Silent Shooting (Live View Photography) on Nikon cameras
• Detect shutter type (Electronic, EFCS, Mechanical) on Nikon cameras
• Fix to Live View focus point positioning on Nikon cameras
• Fix to AF Fine Tune decoding on Nikon Z6ii/Z7ii
• Removed all camera/lens serial number from report and filename when setting enabled
• Display sensor crop/format info in Camera information details
• Adjusted Report page to make Save more obvious
• Persist report options when changed (for all tests)
• Fixed tab-order issue on License page (username -> password)
• Fixes to Stabilisation Test
• Fixes to MultiTest (Live View mode)

And these are the changes for FoCal 2021 Beta since FoCal 2020:

• Stabilisation Test
• MultiTest - Live View operation
• Mac ICC Camera Interface
• Fix for cameras that don’t support custom white balance
• Raise error if Live View “Quick Mode” autofocus is selected
• Fix cameras that don’t support spot metering
• Hide UI icons for empty fields
• Mac: Fix pasting information into fields
• Update Nikon to use new Take Picture operations
• Improve Pre-shot sound
• Reduce size of crop in Final Result message
• Don't warn on settings changes due to AE mode change
• 6D - no way to continue if AF Microadjustment change failed message shown
• No chart returned if exception thrown during drawing
• Fix chart caching
• "You can adjust while this message is shown..." is not true for LV operations on Nikon.
• Add all valid charts to reports for all tests.
• 5D2 - Metering Mode Read Only error when refreshing in Target Setup
• Target not found in TS when it's obviously present
• Some Canon settings are not properly updated for tests
• Request re-run of TS after camera disconnect/reconnect or lens change.
• AFC File Mode is much slower than File Explore (check this)
• Add time estimator to CalCheck
• Add time estimator to Aperture Sharpness
• Add File Mode settings
• Add time estimator to AFC
• Remaining times less than 60 seconds could show as (0)
• Updates to UI for live-view MultiTest
• Improved analysis stability
• Initial shot fails on Canon if Mirror Lockup is enabled
• No Voice on Windows sometimes
• Dust Analysis shows "Searching for Target" as progress step
• Help page explanation of icons in File Mode table (e.g. AFMA etc)
• Add Expert Mode
• Add help to file selection page
• AvS speed (File Mode)
• Add File Mode Test Settings to other tests
• Add file mode options to report (CheckEnvironment, CheckTarget)
• Add more detail to file table
• Add focal length to shot information
• Chart limit is QoF=2500, can cause problems with very sharp lenses
• Add link to Pro settings from test settings pages (where relevant)
• Add indication of log location to About page
• Add space between list entries for ISAF types on Camera Info
• TS warning is shown even if TS has just been run for VRT.
• Erroneous warning of changed camera settings after test when cam was connected with unrestored settings
• DA chart shows exception if terminated on first shot
• AFC Summary Chart should be Result Progression
• Improve Canon lens history display (especially adapter serial numbers)
• DA: Narrowest Clean Aperture (Details) is always the narrowest aperture
• Missing charts in report for File Explore
• File Explore - improve naming in report (like AFC)
• CalCheck: Change settings option for CDAF to LVAF.
• Show Red (RG) quality and Blue (BG) quality in the results table.
• Show Focus Controls (collapsed) during normal TS operation
• Add Help Links to title of settings pages for tests
• Report improvements: Separate chart section
• Improve charts use in reports
• No High/Low markers in AFC
• Check Card support (in camera) for VRT
• Option to limit crop size to 100%/200%
• Use new FileIcons in file table
• Fix old icons in File Explore and other places
• EOS R5/R6 Support
• Nikon Z6ii/Z7ii beta support
• Improve Pre-Shot Alert to match shutter operation
• Not interpreting exhausted battery on some Canon cameras
• On R5, change IS mode in menu and it triggers an apertue change event - need to confirm a real change for UAM dismiss
• Exposure compensation below +/- 1 is shown with a leading 0
• Improve hotkey-actioned messages
• Complex passwords are rejected by login UI
• Chart Y Axis text is not correctly positioned
• Show 2D Image Motion
• Add option to include AD with history backup.
• Improve measure/test settings
• Hotkey fails when camera is in S mode for FA calibration (UAM dialog hotkey)
• Transport Connection Exception on first run with no program settings (Windows)
• Fix history load issue for older data
• EOS-R ShutterType property failure
• Show Lens History if available
• Lens Serial Number not populated
• Some text formatters don't use correct format
• Excessive debug output in some tests