Samsung NX300: Firmware and Lens update

I haven't been as active on the blog as I could have been but a few projects took the majority of my time.  The cold didn't help either lol.

This is just a quick posting regarding the latest firmware update and lens updates to the Samsung NX300 and range of Samsung lenses.

The reason I wanted to post about the updates is because some people (I did too) have had some issues with updating the Lens firmware.

First off, download the body and lens firmware (2 zip files) from here:Samsung NX300 firmware updates

I used my country's link because I found the UK link a bit of a runaround but you can also go to Samsung.

Also download the guide. Now the one thing that isn't here is the Lens update guide but it isn't much different to the body update guide. But you can get the Lens update guide here: Lens update guide.  I selected the 30mm but the guide is the same for all lenses.

In the South African Samsung Link the Lens firmware file contains all of the updates for the lenses, which is another reason why I chose that link.

You do have the option of working straight from your camera by attaching via USB as the option I used works by loading the firmware onto your memory card.  If you want to work via USB follow the instructions in the Update guide via the links above.

Once downloaded onto your computer, unzip both files.  You should have two files: NX300_FW_v1.41 and LENS_firmware_140311.  Make sure that before transferring to memory card that the card has been formatted in camera and that your camera's battery is fully charged.  It only took a few minutes but don't take a chance.

Open the NX300 file and you will see the nx300.bin file, copy this to your memory card.  Don't put it in any of the files that your camera has created on the card.  See the photo below, my NX300 created two files so your view might be different.  But just copy and paste the bin file next to these files.

In the photo you can also see the lens.bin file but this is where the problem comes in.

Also note that when you update your lenses, you need to have the specific lens you are updating on your camera i.e. 18-55mm lens needs to be on the camera in order to update the firmware.  Then you replace the lens with another (if you have more than one lens) e.g. 30mm in order to update the firmware of that lens.

Open the Lens Firmware file you downloaded onto your computer and you should see numerous files for the range of Samsung Lenses.

Where the problem comes in is that some lenses have different versions and apparently some of the later versions don't have updates.  An example, the 18-55mm has 3 versions and I couldn't find what version my 18-55mm was.

Another problem I faced was that when I transferred the entire Lens firmware file to the camera the lens update was greyed out so I had to update each of my lenses individually.

For the 18-55mm, after trying out versions 1 and 2 with the option being greyed out on camera, I tried version 3 and worked perfectly.

I opened the 18-55mm-III iFn (v1.11) file under the Lens firmware file and copied the lens.bin file to my memory card (that's what you see above on the memory card).  I could have renamed the bin files for each lens as the file name was the same for each lens but I didn't want to mess around with the files.

I re-inserted my memory card into the Samsung NX300 and followed the instructions in the Body firmware guide from Step 8 and the Lens guide from Step 8 - select Menu, scroll down and select the Setting cog wheel, then scroll down and select Device Information, then Firmware Update and two options should show - Body Firmware and Lens Firmware.

If Lens Firmware is grayed out then the bin file is the wrong one and you need to remove the one on the card and replace with the correct bin file.  If you are not certain then do a trial and error, replace the bin files until you find the correct one for your lens.  Both options will be available if firmware updates are detected and correct.

Start off with the Body Firmware and again look at the instructions in your guide.  It's pretty straight forward although vague about what to transfer to memory card at the beginning.

Make sure your camera's battery is fully charged and that your memory card formatted.

I promise to get working on the Silhouette, Night and Light trail reviews as well as the Shutter Speed tutorial by the end of the week as I need to get some projects finished first :-D.