The second Alpha version of FoCal 2.9 is now available.
This will be a brief explanation of key improvements/differences from the previous version (details of that version here).
Overview
Version Number: 2.9.0.5110
Channel: Alpha
Platforms: Windows and Mac
Changelog
The following is a list of the key differences from the previous version:
- Added “Cam/Lens Info” panel to show information about the camera and lens after it’s opened, or metadata from a file.
- Added “Chart Help” links to various test charts which automatically jump to online help information about the charts. Note that at release time, this online information is very basic or missing in some cases.
- Fix to some UI colouring issues
- Removed linear chart in Mac Fully-Auto calibration
- Tidied UI layout for tests on both Windows and Mac
- Initialise Update Check to the same channel as the installed version (Alpha/Beta/Stable) by default
- Removed report/CSV creation options from History window
- Improved display quality of text and graphics in panels on Windows
- Better handling of “file already open” when saving report
- More complete automatic population of data in the Send Feedback form (About > Send Feedback button)
- Completely new implementation of Debug logging for better analysis
- Update to LIDB (Lens Idenfitifcation Database) with some new Nikon and Canon lenses
- Fixed some missing data in uploaded results
- Stop erroneous message shown when closing History window
- Chart drawing consistency improved in all tests
- Chart drawing operation improved in all tests
- History date is shown in more detail (actual date and time) rather than a friendly relative time (e.g. Yesterday, 3 days ago etc.)
- Previous Dust Analysis results were not loaded from history
Known Issues / Missing Functionality
The following are the main known issues with this release:
- Comparison data is not loaded for a lot of lenses. This will be added back soon.
- Semi Auto mode calibration is removed.
- MultiPoint Focus Test is removed
- Dust Analysis Test may not run
- Windows Installer is basic and will be improved
- No documentation
Getting this Release
Pre-release versions will be available to FoCal Pro and Commercial users (that are within their Included Updates Period). You can get the software in one of two ways:
- Go to the About > Update Check option in the software, and making sure the Update Channel is set to Alpha (FoCal 2.9 onwards). From here you can hit the Download button to get the software.
- By logging in to the LMS at lms.fo-cal.co.uk. You should see a “Pre-Release Downloads” section – click this to view the available downloads.
It’s worth just checking the pre-release software FAQ to make sure you know type of software you’re getting.
Feedback
Alpha versions of FoCal are early releases. Aimed mainly at technically minded users to see the latest features and to help in the development of FoCal. We would love for users to try out this Alpha release and let us know what you think!
We’ve added a Send Feedback button in the About window of the application. Any bug reports, feature improvement, suggestions and general thoughts are very welcome.
Please do use the Send Feedback button in the software to send information back to us. This ensures the feedback is sent to the right place and that we have the right information about the version being tested.
We will read all the comments you send us, please note that for pre-release software these are NOT handled as support requests and we won’t usually reply or follow up.
We are going to be pretty active with pre-release updates during this period, so please send feedback and there should be a new version with fixes/improvements along soon.
Thank you!
For those that download, use and provide feedback – thank you very much for your support with FoCal. This sort of user testing and feedback really is invaluable – it helps us to focus on the things that are important to you, and make sure we deliver high quality software to everyone.