If you are a Canon user and also running Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) you might have seen the infamous “Opening camera returned error 97” issue. This was a bug we introduced in to last weeks MR1 / El Capitan release as part of adding Nikon support, sorry!
Mac Only
This release (2.0.7 / MR 1.5) is only for Mac users and the changes will only make a difference if you are running Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) and use Canon cameras.
Known Issues
There is an outstanding problem with Nikon D7100 connection on Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan). If you wish to calibrate Nikon D7100 it is not possible with Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan). This is part of the issue with the changes to Apple’s latest operating system and it is something we are still investigating. We believe all other Canon and Nikon cameras will work on Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) including Nikon D7000 and D7200.
Updates in this release:
- FIX: Resolve issues (error 97) with connecting certain Canon cameras on OS X 10.11 (El Capitan)
Software Support Status
Mac
The following table shows the support for FoCal for Mac:
| Operating System | Camera Manufacturer | Status |
|---|---|---|
| OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
| OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
| OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional except for Nikon D7100 |
Windows
The following table shows the support for FoCal for Windows:
| Operating System | Camera Manufacturer | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 7 | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
| Windows 8/8.1 | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
| Windows 10 | Canon & Nikon | Fully functional |
How do I get FoCal 2.0 MR1.5?
FoCal 2.0 MR1.5 is available for Mac (OS X 10.9, OS X 10.10 and OS X 10.11) operating systems.
If you don’t own FoCal, you can purchase the software as a download or boxed product, as well as Focal Hard Targets from the store.
The installation package contains the software, target images and a reference manual (also available on the Documents Download page).
Download FoCal 2.0 MR1.5 by logging in to the LMS at lms.fo-cal.co.uk. You will see a download link to the software.
27 comments on “Reikan FoCal 2.0 Mac MR1.5 – Fixes OS X 10.11 El Capitan Canon Support”
Thanks. Just in time. Planned to to a thorough evaluation this weekend.
I have updated my Focal Pro version based on the remark that is fully functional for Nikon, just to find out then that for Nikon D7100 is not working. Guess it is not fully functional for Nikon after all… 🙁
When do you expect to have a fix for this issue as it is a bit annoying not being able to calibrate the camera and standing idle.
Thank you!
Hi Marian,
Appreciate it must be frustrating, we share the same frustration(!)
I won’t try to explain exactly the problem but there is something very peculiar with the USB handling on that camera and it causes an issue with the way El Capitan in turn handles the USB (issue introduced by changes Apple made to this area for El Capitan).
Timescale is tricky to know, we will continue to investigate the problem and also see what happens with further El Capitan updates (OS X 10.11.2 is in beta at the moment and has listed USB as one of the items Apple intends to improve). The other ray of hope is that Nikon software itself has problems with tethering on El Capitan (and so does Abobe with lightroom and Nikon cameras) so hopefully between Nikon and Apple there will be a resolution.
Perhaps, not quite the answer you hoped for but we are trying! 🙂
Best Regards,
Dave
Thanks Dave. That means I have to be patient and wait… Would there be a solution to install an older version of Focal?
Hi Marian,
Sadly not, older versions of FoCal won’t help. I understand progress and that things change but Apple’s changes in El Capitan are very restrictive (compared to how it previously worked).
It’s not an ideal solution but a stop-gap might be to use file mode or manual mode. Which is a way to do calibration without needing the tethering function. Basically set up the camera/lens/target as normal, take a selection of images at different AF Fine Tune settings and from there you can load them into FoCal and it will analyse the image files.
Another suggested temporary work-round that might be suitable for some users is to use an alternate system (FoCal may be installed on a different system, OSX 10.9 / OSX 10.10 or Windows 7 or newer). As an example, it is possible to run say Windows virtually on an El Capitan system and the D7100 will work without issue.
Best Regards,
Dave
Hi Dave,
Any updates on the above issue? In the meantime the 10.11.3 version of El Capitan was released so any chances to have it solved?
Hi,
Just updated to MR1 from the licensing site but there’s no link to update to MR1.5
How do I get the last update please ?
Kind regards
Roland
Hi Roland,
Very likely you have installed MR1.5, we took MR1 for Mac off the licence system (it’s no longer possible to download MR1 Mac). Anyone downloading the most current release for Mac will get MR1.5.
You can tell whether you have MR1.5 / 2.0.7 as it will say 2.0.7 at the top of the main FoCal window 🙂
Best Regards,
Dave
Just letting you know: latest Version (as of Dec.7) does not work with Nikon D810. It connects to the camera, is able to release the shutter and the LCD-Display will say “PC” and show moving dots, but there’s no picture visible in the target setup window.
Any ideas?
FoCal Version 2.0.7.2418M
FoCal Type Plus
Component Versions:
Canon Interface version: 3.2.20.2
Nikon Interface version: 1.0.27
ExifTool Version: 9.98
DCRaw Version: 9.26 mod 1.00
Addendum: I installed it on a Win7Pro virtual machine (Version 2.0.6W), there, everything works. Still I would love to have it working on my Mac natively…. 😉
Hi Joerg,
We are investigating, if you could raise a ticket we can keep you updated.
At this point we believe only a small number of D800/D810 users are seeing an issue on El Capitan and this should be resolved with the new SDK from Nikon (see also response to Erwin below).
Best Regards,
Dave
Are you connecting with USB3? Did you try USB2?
New Nikon SDK. Probably you already know this, but will this be the solution for Nikon and the problems with El Capitan?
https://sdk.nikonimaging.com/apply/
Hi Erwin,
Thanks for posting, yes we are investigating and hope this will be a resolution to the El Capitan D7100 connection problem and the issue some users have seen with liveview on D800/D810 with El Capitan.
Adding in the new SDK is not a straight swap unfortunately as the Nikon interface has changed significantly to add El Capitan support but we are working on it now 🙂
Best Regards,
Dave
Hi,
the latest version Reikan FoCal 2.0 Mac MR1.5 is not available for download on the license management system. The latest version to download there is Reikan FoCal 2.0 Mac MR1.
Can you please provide the latest version as I’m running El Capitan and I get the error 97 as well.
Thanks,
Andreas
Hi Andreas,
The latest Mac download listed for you on the licence server is MR1.5, I just checked it is wrongly labelled, it says MR1 but it is MR 1.5 (will get that sorted!).
If you hover over the link it ends with FoCal-2.0.7.2418.dmg – which is MR1.5 which is correct 🙂
Connection problems as you describe are not expected at all, can you contact support and we can investigate further.
Best Regards,
Dave
I bought Focal Pro at the very beginning. Since I had a Nikon D800E I wasn’t able to use it with Focal. Had to use different tools to adjust the D800E. I now habe D810, Focal is already at Version 2 and I thought I’ll give Focal another try, but software is still buggy and all tickets in the past have been ignored.
Still using a Mac (now with El Capitan). D810 is recognized, when I try to adjust the target no picture from Live View is shown. When I click the button Stop it shows “Stopping” and that was it. It hangs and has to be killed the hard way.
Hi Rudi,
I can only apologise for your past experience with the ticket system, things have changed and we have a dedicated point of contact for tickets now (me!).
El Capitan with D810 is problematic for some users, note it does not seem to be a problem for all but certainly some are finding problems, especially with live view.
What has been shown to work for some is to instead force USB2, this can be done by connecting via a USB2 hub, USB2 extension cable or using a USB2 port (if your system has one).
Nikon released an updated interface library specifically to address El Capitan compatibility issues and we are working to integrate this new library within FoCal. We expect this will finally resolve all outstanding issues with El Capitan and Nikon and expect to release this update soon.
If you raise a ticket I will also reply there and keep that ticket open until we have a resolution or updated information to share.
Best Regards,
Dave
Hi Dave,
thanx for getting back. I used the USB2 part of the Nikon USB3 connector and this time I was successful!
I have to admit that I’m really impressed by the new Focal 2. Very fast in checking and less shutter activation. And no crash with the D810 (even when writing the reports ;). Will try more soon.
Thanx and Best Regards,
Rüdiger
Hi Rudi,
Good stuff, yes it is possible to use a USB2 cable to connect to the USB3 connector and that will also create a USB2 connection, glad it’s helped and thank you for the update.
FoCal2 has lots of improvements and it’s great to hear users are benefiting 🙂
Best Regards,
Dave
Can’t use Focal Pro with D800 but with D4 its fine.
I really like that you can review the results from all previous tests that have been run. So nice to be able to see all the results in one place. Really nice feature.
Running D800 through USB 2 hub and is working fine.
Hi,
Just upgraded to El Capitan, have a D7100, have you guys sorted the connection bug out yet???
Thanks,
Mike
Any news on the new version with support for the Nikon D7100 (on OS X)?
Hi Guys,
Thank you for your patience.
Quick update, work is progressing on the update (MR2) that will address El Capitan connection problems. We are close to releasing the update and it has been tested working with D7100.
Will include some background notes as below:
Other OS / platform work fine, the D7100 and D800/D810 issue is specific to El Capitan. If you have an alternate system running an earlier OSX or can run Windows under Mac OSX would be a temporary work-round.
Users with D800/D810 have found that forcing a USB2 connection resolves the issue. Multiple ways to force USB2, you can use a USB2 extension cable, add a USB2 hub, use a USB2 port on your system (if it has one) or use a USB2 cable to connect to the camera (it fits in the 1/2 slot of the cameras USB3 socket).
Best Regards,
Dave
Dave
Thanks for the update.