Camera Firmware: I am curious to find if anyone has tried loading firmware from one brand camera into another brand of similar structure with any success. Let me clarify. I have found...

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

I am curious to find if anyone has tried loading firmware from one brand camera into another brand of similar structure with any success. Let me clarify. I have found that some of the bridge cameras are made by one particular company (in this case, China) and are private-labeled for different companies. For example the Pentax XG-1 is, I'm told, identical to the Kodak AZ522 camera. The firmware of the XG-1 is 1.00 while that of the AZ522 is 1.03. I don't believe that Pentax ever upgraded there firmware and that the AG-1 had focus problems that the Kodak version did not have.

I know with certain electronic instruments, some clever people "hack" the software to make it look like a different model and are able to upload different firmware to get better performance. Any clever people trying this with camera firmware??

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

GerryER wrote:

I am curious to find if anyone has tried loading f... (show quote)

That smells like a bad idea all around. Even if the firmware uses the same base code, there is no telling if each company added some or any proprietary code. I'm assuming they do for branding purposes and what not.

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

johngault007 wrote:

That smells like a bad idea all around. Even if the firmware uses the same base code, there is no telling if each company added some or any proprietary code. I'm assuming they do for branding purposes and what not.

I assumed that coding was added for branding purposes. That is why a "hacker" changes that info in the unit to be hacked and then is able to upload another brands firmware. Just curious if anyone has done this with cameras.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

GerryER wrote:

I assumed that coding was added for branding purposes. That is why a "hacker" changes that info in the unit to be hacked and then is able to upload another brands firmware. Just curious if anyone has done this with cameras.

The Russians have.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

The whole idea of firmware is that it permits precise control of the features and capability of the basic platform it is installed in. Features are enabled or disabled as the manufacturer (or programmer) desires. I believe that the characteristics being enabled or disabled are part of the identity of the particular platform. It is less expensive to design and manufacture a basic platform with "vanilla" features to sell at a base price to gain market volume and for them to be able to use the same platform with other firmware defined features on higher priced models. It would seem the "hacker" would need to know the programming language used and the identity and purpose of each bit of controllable firmware to be able to accomplish a higher performance on a basic platform. It looks like a time wasting project unless it was done just for the self-satifaction of being to say "I did this". It would seem that you certainly couldn't sell your "upgrades" in the public arena without be dragged into court by the owner of the platform and firmware.

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

Developers have found ways to add additional features via software loaded in addition to the firmware: https://magiclantern.fm

But my camera(s) do everything I need them to do so I haven't really looked into this project much. Plus, I have way too many other network security projects going on to fiddle around with source code (yawn).

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

It has nothing to do with "selling" upgrades; you missed the point. The XG-1 is discontinued and had focus problems; The AZ522 is the same camera and, supposedly, doesn't have the focus problems of the XG-1 (also discontinued, I believe). Pentax (Ricoh) no longer supports the XG-1. So, can a firmware upgrade from the Kodak be used to upgrade the Pentax. Is this a little clearer?

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

johngault007 wrote:

Developers have found ways to add additional features via software loaded in addition to the firmware: https://magiclantern.fm

But my camera(s) do everything I need them to do so I haven't really looked into this project much. Plus, I have way too many other network security projects going on to fiddle around with source code (yawn).

That is similar to what I am talking about.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

GerryER wrote:

I am curious to find if anyone has tried loading f... (show quote)

"WHY"? each company will issue firmware for their version of the camera, and you know it is designed to work in that camera.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Years ago I had a couple of friends who liked doing this sort of thing, just with computers. Their approach was to load the code into a a hexadecimal editor of the sort used for such things and look for tags or labels or the like. They noted the locations and adjusted, since the location of a line of code in a program can be one way to "hard code" it to that product or model. Occasionally, if they didn't have much money invested and didn't worry about the possibility of an abject failure, they would just use the "Brute Force Method." That involves just trying to load it and see what happened. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. Just part of the fun.

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

robertjerl wrote:

"WHY"? each company will issue firmware for their version of the camera, and you know it is designed to work in that camera.

If you go back and read my posts, "why" will be clear.

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

larryepage wrote:

Years ago I had a couple of friends who liked doin... (show quote)

This is what I am talking about, in general. If you have a camera that is no longer supported, and it isn't working properly, or to your liking, not much to lose so, why not.

Ourspolair

Well - here's my kick at the pot... You could try to upload the other firmware version as long as you have a copy of the OEM firmware. Most likely it won't load, because the firmware will "look" for the device it was meant for.
If it does update and the devices are compatible, it should work. If it doesn't you will have to reload the original code. Everything has its risks. Just as an example, I recently tried to upload the camera code for the Samsung S20 into my Samsung A71. The code manager refused to upload into my device because it knew that it was not an S20. The reason I wanted to try it was to get the RAW file functionality for the 64Mp camera in the A71.

GerryER Loc: Virginia USA

Interesting. I googled "(camera name) firmware hacks," and it became very obvious that there are many people doing this to one extent or another and have been for years.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

GerryER wrote:

If you go back and read my posts, "why" will be clear.

I was hoping you had a better reason. According to a computer science prof friend if you had to pay someone to tweak the code it would cost more than buying the other camera. And he said (he is a photo nut also) often those cameras are not 100% clones with a different name. They often have one or two or more internal features different, even if it is just a different spec part or different brand part. And that is enough to require a different firmware.

But if that is how you want to spend your time and effort - go for it.
As mentioned have the original firmware available to load in case the home brew upgrade bricks the camera.

Oh, I have a friend who would sometimes do things like that with guns. Change the sights etc and work up custom hand loads to get the same performance as gun Y out of the plain and cheaper gun X. Killed time and kept him off the streets and out of trouble.