What’s New in This Update

Welcome to FoCal 3 General Availability. This release fixes a number of minor issues with the previous release (FoCal 3 Release Candidate 2) and adds some improvements.

Note that we have changed the naming system, so the previous release name was FoCal 2021 MR3, but we are moving back to a numerical system.

Version Details

Headline Features

[Note: the original FoCal 3 release was version 3.2.3.9850 – we fixed a very small issue related to Canon lens identification for this version 3.2.4.9852]

These are the key features since FoCal 2021 – the detailed changelog is below

• Metadata processor fixes
• History loading and importing fixes
• Raw mode fixes
• Improvements to naming and help in MultiTest
• User Interface improvements

Fix to occasional crash at end of a Calibration

• Fixes a rare but annoying issue where FoCal would terminate or show an error message at the very end of a calibration.

Fixes to Nikon Cameras AF Fine Warnings

• Fixes issues that were caused by the new metadata processor, especially around Nikon cameras with both Wide/Tele adjustments (e.g. D780, D6, Z6ii, Z7ii) and when using Teleconverters.
• Help/Docs are now integrated in the installation and can be accessed under the Help menu
• Various improvements, including fixes to Time Synchronisation and ability to set warning/alert offsets for time sync in Settings.

Camera Tools > Time Synchronisation

• You can now use FoCal to set the time on your camera to the time on your computer with a single click, including setting time zone and daylight savings time options where possible.

Improvements to Results Display / Comparison Data

• Many results are now coloured based on quality level (poor, acceptable, good, excellent), and indicate whether the score is based on a general average or specific information for your actual camera/lens using the FoCal Comparison Database.
• The FoCal Comparison Database has added metrics for distortion, colour and motion to offer even more detail on how your equipment behaves compared to typical copies of cameras/lenses.

New Metadata Processor

• This version includes a brand-new metadata processor which is better integrated, faster, more accurate and offers exciting future functionality within FoCal.

Improved Firmware Update notifications

• Our database of latest firmware for cameras is now built automatically after verification of operation, so we can offer faster and more accurate indication of whether you’re using the latest firmware for your camera.

Known Issues

No specific known issues.

Windows Prerequisites / Installer Problems

Blog Post

The blog post for this release is available at: FoCal 3

Previous Release Notes

• Previous Release: FoCal 3 Release Candidate 2
• Previous Stable release is: FoCal 2021 MR3

Changelog

FoCal 3 GA brings the following changes from FoCal 3 RC2:

• Fixed metadata processor issues with some image files
• Fixed metadata processor image for some Nikon camera files
• Fixed issue with MultiTest for non-AF Adjustment cameras
• Show “+” in front of positive AF Adjustment in User Assisted Mode messages
• Fixed unfriendly “Unknown” information shown before CalCheck started

FoCal 3 RC2 brings the following changes since FoCal 3 RC release:

• Tidy of application package on Mac
• Fixed an issue causing an occasional crash at the end of Calibration test.
• Improved handling of low battery condition on connection for Nikon cameras
• Improvements to initialisation of speech synthesis on Mac (prevents rare startup errors)
• Fixed an issue where some Canon cameras would show “Failed to get image data” after a shot was taken.
• Fixed an issue where CalCheck result could show as “Unknown”
• Fixed an issue causing Raw mode tests to run in JPEG mode
• Added an previous-data warning banner to Target Setup
• Renamed Focus Offset chart in MultiTest to Focus & Aperture Quality
• Updated Help pages for Focus & Aperture Quality chart to better explain this
• Don’t show Target Distance “OK” in Target Setup if no target is found and Target Validation/Optimisation is enabled
• Made “restore” user-assisted AF Adjustment operations clearer (when settings are restored at the end of tests)
• Fixed loading of older history data
• Fixed importing of DB2 backup files
• Fixed an issue where some historical MultiTest results would not load

Here is the list of fixes included in all pre-release versions since FoCal 2021 MR3 release:

FoCal 3 RC:

• Improvements to Windows Installer
• Added Target Images and Documents into installed build so they’re available under the Help menu
• Cleaned up unnecessary components in Mac package
• Fixed time display to use current system locale
• Fix to AF Fine Tune settings when using Nikon lenses with Teleconverters
• Fix to AF Fine Tune reading for some Nikon cameras
• Improved Camera Time synchronisation display
• Introduced correct/alert offsets for camera time in Settings
• Show HotKey Modals (those closable with the camera hotkey) much faster
• Improved message if IUP has expired on startup
• MultiTest now shows Focus Offset chart as Summary default while test runs
• Fixes to metadata processor
• Add warning for Nikon users if AE mode dial is set such that hotkey won’t work
• Improvements to Chart display
• Fixed end-of-zoom detection for some lenses
• Add mid-zoom warning to MultiTest
• Added Post Shot sound as well as Pre Shot to show when analysis is complete
• Fixed D780/D6 “no focus points reported” issue in Target Setup

FoCal 3 Beta:

• Brand new native Metadata processor
• Internal data consistency improved
• Fixed issue with Olympus files
• Bring window to front when choosing files in remote mode
• Text updates for references to settings
• Added further details to camera/lens info table
• Fixed issue where aperture selection was incorrect for European customers
• Improved meta.json processing for specifying manual settings (e.g. for non-CPU lenses)
• Fixed out-of-sync alerts shown on the user interface
• Updated focus message to make viewfinder/live view adjustment obvious
• Fixed issue with voice prompts on Mac causing crashing at end of test
• Removed the need to restart FoCal after various changes (e.g. license updates)
• Stopped showing unnecessary camera/lenses in History where no tests available
• Improved display of results including indicating if comparison data is used and whether the results are within good ranges.
• Update comparison data to include more metrics (distortion, colour and motion)
• Filtered more low-quality data from comparison data to improve results
• Updated lens database to recognise new lenses and improve accuracy overall
• Updates to chart rendering to improve quality
• Fixed issue where camera may not open if there is no internet connection
• General term for AF Microadjustment/Fine Tune changed to “AF Adjustment”
• Fixed issue with connecting to older Nikon cameras when lens cap is on
• Added Camera Tools page (Camera > Camera Tools)
• Added functionality to synchronise time on cameras to computer time
• Reworked Failed to Focus detection and message to make it clearer
• Improvements to feedback during Stabilisation Test
• Made AF adjustment prediction more reliable during a test
• Improvements to handling of missing image metadata
• Improvements to selection of metric/imperial distance display
• Block moving away from Target Setup page when test is active
• Added export of single test from history
• Use of new comparison data with extra metrics
• Fixed delays to camera connection with poor/no internet connection
• Fix to some persistent user interface settings
• Improvements to charts in Calibration Check
• Updates to latest firmware version checking, better database and more reliable checking
• Improved selection of metric/imperial distance
• Smoother curve rendering on charts
• Show measured Consistency of Focus on CoF chart for focus calibration test
• Clearer help reference for focus-adjustment options in Target Setup
• Improvements to installer to better handle installation of updates
• Fix to MultiTest not starting under some conditions
• Update to operation of Canon cameras so user interface (of camera) is locked during FoCal operation
• Fixed crash when camera disconnected with certain dialogs show
• Improved display of time offset in camera in various places
• Fixed hotkey operation on older Canon cameras
• Order of AF Adjustment values is now friendlier for user-assisted mode cameras
• Stabilisation test default slowest shutter speed changed from 4s to 2s.