We’re pleased to announce the release of FoCal 1.7.0.224 Beta (note 1.7.0.234 is functionally identical) which should bring reliable Nikon operation on OS X and adds support for the D600 as well as lots of other fixes and improvements.
What’s new in this version?
The following is the overview list of fixes since 1.7.0.220 (Windows) and 1.7.0.221 (OS X):
Changes for all platforms:
- Additional support for Nikon D600
- Change use of ISO 100 to use of “base” ISO (200 for Nikon D3, D3s, D300, D300s and D700)
- Adjust JPEG compression mode to guarantee highest quality images for analysis
- Allow optional continuation of test if target cannot be found (when using Target Validation or Target Optimisation)
- Improvements to handling of data from Nikon Cameras during LiveView.
Windows specific changes:
- Clean up of Camera Selector for later Canon cameras (stop showing unnecessary information)
- Minor modifications to license checking to improve reliability
OS X specific changes:
- Fixed general issues with connecting to Nikon cameras
- Fixed an issue where a message was shown about checking the computer time
- Fixed a crash when the Zoom button was used in Target Setup or Semi Auto with Nikon cameras
- Removed “Refresh” button and replaced with “Find & Connect” to simplify connection to cameras
- Fixed an issue where the Fully Auto test images disappear immediately after the test complete.
- Fixed preferences window view for FoCal Standard and FoCal Plus users.
- Change to use of internal fonts which should fix a crash seen by some users on opening test windows.
Support Status
The following table shows what should be working for this version of FoCal
| Operating System | Camera Manufacturer | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Windows XP | Canon | Fully functional |
| Windows XP | Nikon | Not supported |
| Windows Vista | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
| Windows 7 | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
| OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
| OS X 10.7 (Lion) | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
| OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
It’s still a beta?
Yes, although we hope to take the beta label off very soon. Each new beta for FoCal 1.7 has added or fixed significant functionality, so each one is a big change from the last version and as such we don’t want to remove the beta label until things have settled. We hope that this version – with improved Nikon support and Canon support with the very latest interface files will be stable and fully functional across all cameras and operating systems, leaving a few minor user interface issues to fix before final release.
Please remember though that as a beta version there may be functionality that doesn’t work on some systems, and indeed in some cases the software may not run at all. Please let us know if this happens and we will investigate the problems. As is hopefully apparent, we do provide regular and comprehensive updates to FoCal to fix issues and add new functionality.
How do I get it?
This version is available to all license holders (FoCal Standard, FoCal Plus and FoCal Pro).
You can download it from the License Management System – you’ll see the link to the download near the bottom of the page once you log in.
The software is available as a disk image (DMG) file for OSX or a Zip file for Windows. Both contain the software itself and the target images and documentation in separate directories.
Installing on OS X (IMPORTANT!)
Please read the installation section of the manual if you don’t already have FoCal installed! FoCal uses the Mono framework, and this must be installed before you use FoCal. You only have to do this the very first time you install FoCal, so if you’re already using FoCal on your Mac then installation is just a case of copying FoCal to the Applications folder and running it.
Some versions of OS X give you a message and take you to the Mono download page, but most don’t give you much help – either a bouncing FoCal icon that quickly disappears, or an obscure “OS Error”. If you get either of these issues, you can resolve them with the steps in Section 2 (Installation) of the FoCal Manual which is in the Documents folder when you mount the DMG image.
What can I do to help?
Please download the software and give it a go. Let us know how you get on:
- If you spot any errors, please let us know
- If you can make the software misbehave, let us know what steps you take to make it happen
- If it works perfectly we’d love to hear too (good news it always nice!!)
You can contact us through the contact form (please use the Mac Beta option). There’s likely to be quite a high volume of emails, so we can’t reply to everyone but every bit of information we receive will be read and used to make FoCal better, so please let us know how you get on.