Who are best at firmware upgrades?

When a manufacturer releases a camera, it is not finished. You can still expect to be able to upgrade the firmware, the software inside the camera, to fix bugs, and even to add more features.

For example, it was a firmware upgrade which added the 4K Photo feature into the Lumix GH4, a feature which is now standard in all new Lumix M4/3 cameras. About a year ago, there was a rumour that a firmware upgrade would add 4K video recording to the Olympus OM-D E-M1 (which never materialized), and we are now waiting for a firmware upgrade which will add the V-log video format to the Lumix GH4.

The cynical view to firmware upgrades is that the manufacturers use their customers to do the testing: When they find mistakes in how the camera operates, they issue a firmware upgrade. But the positive view is that being able to upgrade all cameras out there allows the companies to stay competitive, and offer more features.

However your view on firmware updates, there are opinions out there that certain manufacturers are better at keeping their old cameras up to date with new firmware, whereas other companies neglect their older cameras and prefer to sell new ones. Specifically, people often say that smaller manufacturers like Fujifilm and Pentax are good at releasing firmware upgrades for older cameras, while the big two, Canon and Nikon, are not as good.

To put this to the test, I have examined two cameras from each manufacturer. I chose one camera which is about 2-3 years old, and one which is around 5 years old. I kept to fairly expensive models, cameras which are often used by amateur photography enthusiasts.

Lumix GX8

Panasonic recently released the Lumix GX8. So what is it all about?

The Lumix GX7 was a ground breaking camera. The first from Panasonic to feature in-body image stabilization (IBIS) through moving sensor, and the first to have a "rangefinder layout", with the eye level viewfinder on the top left side. The Lumix GX8 is essentially the same camera, but brings the specifications up to date, and becomes the first Micro Four Thirds camera with a 20 megapixel resolution.

Camera	Lumix GX7	Lumix GX8
Announced	Aug 1st, 2013	July 16th, 2015
Price	US$650 incl lens	US$1200 body only
Flash X-sync	1/320s	1/250s
Max shutter speed	1/8000s	1/8000s (mechanical), 1/16000s (electronic)
Resolution	4592 x 3448 (16MP)	5184 x 3888 (20MP)
Max video resolution	1080p	4k
Built in flash	Yes	No
Weight	402g	487g
Dimensions (mm)	123 x 71 x 55	133 x 78 x 63
In-body image stabilization (IBIS)	Yes	Yes