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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Birger Lens Mount Reservations

Impero Update

Impero Update

The newest software for the Birger Imperos was released today. It includes cabled support, options for extending battery life, improved bluetooth support, and numerous improvements to reliability and usability. The release document, and software are at:
http://www.birger.us/downloads.htm

If you are on the mac, you can use "check for updates" in the help menu. There are a number of power and other operational settings that can be set from the mac app. The PC app will be brought up to this level of functionality in a few weeks. It is not a priority at this time.

With this release we feel that the Impero software has the level of functionality we promised our customers. This software release will only run on Imperos purchased from Birger. To date, we have only received 100 Imperos from ViewFactor. We have 100 more Imperos on order, which will allow us to satisfy the remaining backlog. I do not know when we will receive the balance of our order.

As has been the case for some time now, Canon lens mounts are available from stock.
 
Erik Widding said:
The newest software for the Birger Imperos was released today. It includes cabled support, options for extending battery life, improved bluetooth support, and numerous improvements to reliability and usability. The release document, and software are at:
http://www.birger.us/downloads.htm

If you are on the mac, you can use "check for updates" in the help menu. There are a number of power and other operational settings that can be set from the mac app. The PC app will be brought up to this level of functionality in a few weeks. It is not a priority at this time.

With this release we feel that the Impero software has the level of functionality we promised our customers. This software release will only run on Imperos purchased from Birger. To date, we have only received 100 Imperos from ViewFactor. We have 100 more Imperos on order, which will allow us to satisfy the remaining backlog. I do not know when we will receive the balance of our order.

As has been the case for some time now, Canon lens mounts are available from stock.
Click to expand...

OK ... upgraded to 1.6 and now :

Wireless mode :
- in 'F' the Canon lens does calibrate when hitting CAL and lens does focus thereater by via Imperio
- click 'I' button ... the Imperio freezes and stays in 'I' mode (cannot calibrate iris) and Imperio need recycling

Wired mode :
- in 'F' the Canon lens does calibrate when hitting CAL, but the lens does NOT focus thereater by via Imperio
- click 'I' button ... the Imperio freezes and stays in 'I' mode (cannot calibrate iris) and Imperio need recycling

FYI : Ony tested with Canon 16-35 II so far.

Not been anywhere near all the other added features, just wish the basic ones would behave :confused1:

EDIT 1 : as things stand looks like I cannot roll back to Imperio v1.5 (where wireless F & I worked ok); Mac app does not report on Imperio firmware if it's up to date.

EDIT 2 : I've never had lens data appear yet ... what should I double check ? (I think I have done all the checks, but worth asking I guess)
 
Me too..never had lens data appear before.

And also managed to connect to the mount via bluetooth on my macbook pro once...updated the lens library to 20a and managed to control the focus and iris via the mbp...But ever since, although my mbp detects the unit, it cannot connect.

It only will connect when i launch BEI app and then before anything can happen, BEI app will hang momentarily..finally when the program becomes 'unhung'...i get the message "No BEI Device Found. Error #60-Operation timed out." ...and the connection is lost again. Same thing on 1.1.6 and 1.1.7
 
Looks like I was too early ... Imperio V1.7 is out now (with a comment in the Notes saying V1.6 sneaked out and not usable by Birger Imperio customers).

Until later ...
 
1.7 update

1.7 update

The Impero and the Birger they do work now. Precise focus, return on marks, millimetrical focus pulls, no jumps ecc ecc.

EDIT: sometimes the focus slowly keeps going on indipendently. A slight kickback on the knob and it stops but a correction there would be golden

EDIT to edit: its matter of the lens (16-35 II), the 50 1.2 and the 85 1.2 are ok, no drift
 
The update sounds great Erik. Unfortunately I still haven't been able to pair my Impereo and mount or get the mount to show up on my computers. Do I need to send them back to you? Thanks,
Josh.
 
thanks for the update erik, we appreciate it.
 
I'm facing a little problem here, when rec is pressed (from the Impero or from the camera) there is an "internal fault" and the camera freezes and needs reboot.
When the mount lemo is unplugged everything is back to normal.
When all the protocols are not selected is ok, but then i loose lens data.
Che due palle...
 
Paolo Tinari said:
Che due palle...
Click to expand...

E vero Paulo ... che due palle ! :emote_headwall:

OK ... so now with v1.7 :

In wired mode :
[F mode] calibrates fine (FN+CAL) or coarse (CAL); Imperio does NOT drive the lens at all
[I mode] CAL (alone) opens lens and FN+CAL close lens; Imperio does NOT control aperture in lens
[REC] starts stop R1 with no apparent issues (R1 freezing)

In wirelss mode :
all is well ... F & I & REC all operating as expected.

Still no lens data, but that is no news in my case :angry:
 
I'm finding this a bit frustrating. I got my Impero today, and am trying to update it so I can use wired mode. I can semi-reliably get my Mac to detect the Birger mount, through countless power-cycling of the mount. I can semi-reliably get the Impero to sync to the mount, and I can semi-reliably get the Impero to be seen by the Mac. Unfortunately, semi-reliably doesn't cut it for a product used in a professional environment, especially when it cost me more than $1200.

At the moment, I'm trying to connect the Impero to ZTerm to do the firmware upgrade to enable the wired mode, but every time I connect the Impero to the Birger, the Birger drops its bluetooth connection to the Mac. I can power on the Impero, pressing both Auto buttons to get into the bootloader mode, but as soon as I connect the Lemos, the Impero leaves bootloader mode and acts like its ready to do something important, but then my terminal window hangs, and I can't get it to respond (because my bluetooth connection has dropped). I can power cycle the mount, and eventually get it back up, but the next time I try and connect the Impero the connection drops again.

Why does this Bluetooth connection have to be so unreliable? I get the convienence of Bluetooth and all, and it is pretty smooth when it works, but getting it to work consistently and reliably, is well, kind of getting old and cumbersome.
 
Imperio V1.8 ...

Imperio V1.8 ...

OK ... at last WIRED and WIRELESS modes work consistently for F, I and REC by updating to v1.8.

Will test a few more lenses later (and explore the power saving Imperio features introduced in v1.8 for improving battery performance in wireless mode).
Your 'manual' is not the simplest read, clearly written by a tech :thumbdown:

Mille grazie Birger team ... :hurray:
 
I wish Birger would send email updates to owners instead of us having to find out from here....
I thought V1.7 was only out for a couple of days and yet now David says there's V1.8.
While i appreciate the speed at which Erik churns out the updates, won't it all come to naught if no one knows??

my 2cents

yean
 
David Nardini said:
Still no lens data, but that is no news in my case
Click to expand...

David, silly questions in case there's something you've missed:

i) Have you set on both two options from the menus?
System -> Setup -> Display -> Lens Data
and
System -> Setup -> Remote -> S4i Lens
ii) Is your camera upgraded?
iii) If so, have you tried to remove the S4i connector and put it back?
-I had to disconnect once before getting the lens data.
iv) Is it connected the right way?
-The orientation of the connector is printed on the mount.
v) Is the connector pushed to the bottom?
-Needed some tool to gently push the connector properly to the mount.
vi) Have you checked the connector?
- What about putting very carefully a tiny amount of CRC on the pins of the connector.

If none of these helps, well ... don't know any other cards to play.
 
Yean Loon said:
I wish Birger would send email updates to owners instead of us having to find out from here....
I thought V1.7 was only out for a couple of days and yet now David says there's V1.8.
While i appreciate the speed at which Erik churns out the updates, won't it all come to naught if no one knows??

my 2cents

yean
Click to expand...

In an ideal world, I agree with you. I guess the developers at Birger are busy busy BUT the good news is that they are updating the information at :

http://www.birger.us/downloads.htm

So, until I had what I needed (consistent wired & wireless behaviour) I kept checking this site ... not ideal but not dissimilar from your average software vendors :smile:
 
Lauri Kettunen said:
David, silly questions in case there's something you've missed:

i) Have you set on both two options from the menus?
System -> Setup -> Display -> Lens Data
and
System -> Setup -> Remote -> S4i Lens
ii) Is your camera upgraded?
iii) If so, have you tried to remove the S4i connector and put it back?
-I had to disconnect once before getting the lens data.
iv) Is it connected the right way?
-The orientation of the connector is printed on the mount.
v) Is the connector pushed to the bottom?
-Needed some tool to gently push the connector properly to the mount.
vi) Have you checked the connector?
- What about putting very carefully a tiny amount of CRC on the pins of the connector.

If none of these helps, well ... don't know any other cards to play.
Click to expand...

Thanks Lauri ... all the in-camera setting are on, and the R1 has been upgraded.
I'll re-check connections etc (and yes, the cable colours do lign up with the PCB info).
Might need unseating / re-seating ... if not I'll get Red UK to check that the pins really do work ;-)

Cheers
 
Erik,

I'm posting this mostly on behalf of Kenji Hibi here in Japan who recently got his mount and Impero but can't get it to work. He brought it to me today and I can't get it to work either.

I have my own Birger mount/Impero combo and it works just fine and is seen by my MacBook's Bluetooth connection. All the firmware and builds are up to date on mine as of this post (BEI 1.1.7, Birger Library 20a and Impero 1.8) and I have set b18 3.6.4 lens data via Configure Device so it talks properly to the S4i pins. All is well and barring a bit of lens jumping on focus pulls and the Record Start/Stop only working intermittently (probably another firmware update needed to fix some outstanding bugs I guess) it's fine.

Now I have tried everything to get Kenji's mount to work but I cannot get the BEI software or ZTerm or anything to actually connect to the mount. The MacBook detects it and pairs it with the number (05278) but any attempt at actual connection results in nothing or timeouts. I've been through all the options to get it to recognise as suggested in this thread (and have my own working fine with these techniques) but Kenji's won't play. I even updated Kenji's Impero to v1.8 through my own mount just fine so that part's not the issue.

Since I can't get a connection to check which library is installed, or what bootloader version his mount is, I have no way to know if it is defective or just plain stubborn, but I've tried time and time again to get it to recognise using the BEI but it never shows up to let me update it.

Should Kenji send the mount back to you? Anyone here have any other suggestions as to what might be causing this?

Thanks,

Paul
 
Internal Fault Camera Freezes and Reboots

Internal Fault Camera Freezes and Reboots

Paolo Tinari said:
I'm facing a little problem here, when rec is pressed (from the Impero or from the camera) there is an "internal fault" and the camera freezes and needs reboot.
When the mount lemo is unplugged everything is back to normal.
When all the protocols are not selected is ok, but then i loose lens data.
Che due palle...
Click to expand...

I too experienced this error before. Are you operating in wired mode? The Birger 1.5ft 4-pin lemo cable and the 6ft VF 4-pin lemo cables may not pin out the same. I was once using a Birger cable with my VF Origo remote start stop and that same fault happened. I didn't have too much time to troubleshoot, I just disconnected and everything worked fine.

It would be nice to get some clarification.
 
Alexander Christ said:
The cables from the Origo do not work with Impero-Birger combo because the data lines are crossed.
Click to expand...

well that's good info to have... now it's time for me to test and label my origo/birger cables...

crap, wish I'd thought about that earlier...
 
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