Panasonic Camera Firmware Update

Almost all the modern digital camera runs on a software which controls the hardware and allows camera to function and also helps with image processing and other basic operations. It is very similar to the concept of operating system for a computer. It is also widely known as Firmware.

Just like any other computer operating systems. Every now and then your digital camera manufacturer may release the updated firmware that may provide additional or improved features or bug fixes. This is exactly why we may need to perform firmware update on our digital cameras.

Back in 2023 when I got my Panasonic Lumix S5 full frame mirror-less camera, it came with an older firmware. It seems like Panasonic updated the firmware last year and this is how I updated my firmware. Bare in mind though, firmware update applies to the main body of the camera and for particular lenses. On this post, I will focus on the firmware update for the main body only.

Preparation

Before you perform any firmware update, it is highly recommended that you have a fully charged battery. You don't want your battery to die when you are in the middle of the updating process. There's a chance that interruption during the firmware update will more likely going to brick your camera. Also make sure you have a memory card (compatible to your camera) in hand and has enough space to copy your firmware.

Steps

Step 1: Make sure you have a lens mounted on the camera body and then insert the battery on your camera. Power it on.

Step 2: Once your camera is on, press "Menu/Set" button, select "others" and from the sub-menu select "others" option again and now your should see "Firmware Version" item. Navigate to the item and press "Menu/Set" button one more time. A new window should appear where you would see "Firmware Update" item. At the bottom of the screen, you should see the current body firmware and lens firmware version of your camera. Remember this step because we will come back to this screen again later on. Note the body firmware version number.

Step 3: Find and locate the latest firmware available for this camera from the manufacturers site and download the latest firmware. Generally it should be downloaded in "zip" file format.

Step 4: Insert your memory card to the reader and connect the card reader to your computer. Extract the content of the zip file at the root directory of your memory card. Generally it is a file with "bin" extension.

Step 5: Turn your camera off. Eject the card from the reader and insert it on your camera then power on your camera again.

Step 6: At this point follow step 2 once again and locate the window where we saw "Firmware Update" option. Select the item and press "Menu/Set" button. Your camera will start the firmware update process and the window will warn you not to touch any button while this process is in progress. Once the update process is complete, you should be good to go.

At this point, you should have the latest firmware installed on your camera. On a personal level, I tend to turn off my camera then turn back it on few seconds later just like we used to do on computer. It's not mandatory but a good practice to follow. Congratulations! now you have the latest firmware installed on your Panasonic Lumix S series camera. Good luck.

Note: A detailed version of the steps mentioned above can be found here. Please feel free to follow that if this post seems a bit confusing to you. You should find all the firmware download links from here. If the link is not working properly, please search it online. Panasonic may change the link of their article or download page without any prior notification. So, just be aware of that. Thanks.