Earlier this month, Olympus announced that an updated firmware would soon be available for their flagship OMD E-M1 camera. The new update boasts some impressive improvements in the auto focus and continuous fps capability of the camera.

According to the Olympus release, the new update improves the E-M1 maximum FPS to 9 FPS when shooting in continuous AF mode. If you set it to single AF mode, you can top out at 10 FPS.

“The newest firmware upgrade features an enhanced algorithm for phase-detection, raising the former C-AF sequential shooting speed of 6.5 fps to a maximum high speed of 9 fps. With this update, AF tracking performance is improved when using continuous-AF (C-AF) Sequential H mode.”

So, not only can you shoot faster than ever with the E-M1, but you are also getting much improved AF tracking accuracy. This should be a hit with the birding and sports shooters who happen to have an E-M1 in their kit.

If you want to learn more about the E-M1 firmware, or you need to update your E-M1, you can find all the information over on the Olympus website, here. If you want to download the firmware, it’s not yet officially available, but supposedly a user has found it on the Olympus website, and you can learn more about finding/updating that here.

Honestly, if I were you, I would just wait until the firmware is officially released. You don’t know what is actually in that firmware file; it could be an incomplete version of the firmware or not the latest update. Firmware updates are one of those things, in my opinion, where it seems easy as pie until that one time you you need your camera later that day and you brick it.

Safe bet, just update when it’s officially available.

[via 43 Rumors]