Sony US XDCAM EX Mini Site has firmware updates now available
 

I just found that the US Sony Mini Site has the new EX firmware downloads posted. Here's the link:

Sony | Micro Site - XDCAM EX

I was busy over the past week, so I didn't take the time to update my two EX1's with the firmware posted on the UK site. I did, however, notice that the size of this file, and the contents of the folders (for the Windows version anyway) look quite different from those of the UK offering. I will likely at some point soon follow the instructions for this install and see if there is any recording time shaved from either the SDHC or SxS cards as others have noted.

Like others, it seems that flashing these cameras with a new firmware is a little bit scary.

Ian

Well, my EX1 with 16GB SxS cards have always said 57min so looks like you lost 2 minutes as well.

Anyone verify the actual MOU you get on a 16GB card is 55min or 57min? regardless of what the display says...

I always thought I got an actual 57min, will need to check mine. Maybe the FW resolves an error in displayed recordable Minutes and it is now 55min for a 16GB card The original Sony specs state 50min for 1080p HQ 35Mb so there has always been some discrepency.

Upgraded both my EX-1 and EX-3.

16gb SxS as well as SDHC cards show 55 minutes as opposed to the 57 minutes formerly displayed.

I was able to shoot over 3 min 720 24p / 60 fps to a green-stripe Transcend 16gb SDHC card in an original Kensington adapter. No errors.

EX-3 was a nightmare to upgrade since I have both the DM shoulder mount as well as a Bebob batter adapter. Had to remove all of that to reach the hidden USB service port on the EX-3. The EX-1 service port is much easier to access.

After 5 min. of putzing on the Sony site I found it here...
https://servicesplus.us.sony.biz/son...el-PMWEX1.aspx
Bout time Sony!
:~)

Reading this thread regarding the various complexities of upgrading the EX1 and EX3, it certainly looks like the EX1r was actually designed for user upgrade. It was simple and flawless- just transfer the firmware upgrade file to an SxS card, or in my case SD card, stick it in the camera, go to "version up" in the camera menu, and execute. Took about 15 min- when finished, turn camera off, turn back on and shazaam- new firmware is installed.

Yes but did you loose 2 mins of record time?

EX3 Upgrade Successful from WinXP
 

I successfully upgraded my EX3 from 1.04_0084 to 1.10. With SxS media, 8GB went from 28 to 26 minutes, and 32GB went from 116 to 112. Since I don't trust other media, I can't report other card results. For me, it was a worthwhile upgrade because I will make use of the new SxS-1 cards authorized by Sony.

I printed the instructions provided by Sony, and read them through prior to doing anything. For me, it was clear the steps to complete the upgrade, as I followed the instructions verbatim.

I advise caution when working around the shoulder pad. The 'fixing plate' sort of jumped out at me when I loosened the screw and pulled on the pad a bit, and I thought for a moment that I cracked the plastic part. (But I didn't) The pad came completely off (the instructions say to pull it out until the notch appears). But it was easy to put back in place afterwards. (It also took me a second to find the USB port hidden behind the pad stopper.

The only other thing worth noting was about the device driver (page 5) for Windows users. During this stage, my PC informed me that it found new hardware, then Windows prompted me to choose a location for the driver. At the same time, it warned me that the hardware wasn't 'approved' by Microsoft. I choose to click 'ignore' (or something like that). I referred back to the instructions to see how to answer the 'choose driver location' question, but by then the dialog box disappeared and the update continued without issue. (I also couldn't find the driver when I attempted to remove it later)

Anyway, thank you to the others who have chartered these waters before me - and for posting your experiences.

Easy EX-1 upgrade
 

I did my EX-1 upgrade last night on my Widows-7 64x machine. It took less than 30 muinutes and I had no problems only becasue I read the instructions several times as well as the helpful information in this forum. Everything seems 100% OK on the camera.

ex1 upgrade
 

upgraded myself too ex1 and everything went well,maybe cam startup little faster,and indeed little test with overcranking seems to be improved.thats mean much reliable operation with sdhc media i guess.definietely recommend this upgrade for those who had problems with their sdhc media.

Regards

Raul

Has anyone noticed any problems with your specific Picture Profile settings or other settings being changed or wiped out with the EX1 update?

All my settings are there after updated.

Just did my upgrade and the settings are all intact. SxS cards read the same times as others have posted here. Haven't tried SDHC yet. Very smooth upgrade (I think it actually took less than 15 min. but I may be mistaken). So this is what people have sent their cameras back and forth to the Sony service centers and sometimes charged a fee! Amazing!

Happy to report I upgraded my EX1 to firmware 1.20 from 1.11 this afternoon without any major problems.

The only issue I had was when it was installing 'drivers', it came back saying it could not find usbsvr.sys and to feed it the Win XP SP3 disk. Which I did and it still could not find it.

So I did a search for the driver and found it on my hard drive in \windows\system32\drivers.

Once I pointed the versionupdater program at it, all was fine.

I have a powerbook g4 1.67 Ghz running Mac os x 10.4.11. Downloaded the .zip file, expanded, version up tool won't open. Message says: Upgrade tool error.
I did download again, and again, no way. What's wrong?

Pietro, it may be that you need an Intel mac. G4 is fairly ancient. And 10.4 pretty old system. I think you need 10.5. Maybe it is in Sony's notes somewhere or someone here may know.

If possible fiend a colleague with a newer Mac or PC and see if she/he would let you do the update using their computer.

Personally I am waiting a month or so before upgrading to see how things shake out. So far it seems pretty solid.