I just installed the new firmware upgrade and as far as I can tell, how the IS behaves since the last firmware upgrade (1.17) has not changed. Not sure why Ricoh did this. Could it have to do with IS over-correction (a problem with some IS lens on other camera systems)?
As far as the snap distance setting fix, I'm quite happy! This was my one real issue with the GRD4 when it was first released. With the latest firmware, you can now assign the snap distance menu to either the ADJ button (and assign snap distance to one of the five available menu slots) or you can assign it to one of the two FN buttons.
I've assigned it to the first slot under the ADJ button. When you access the option (using either the ADJ or FN button), a menu comes up on the screen (much like it did with the GRD3) and you use the up/down option on the four-way button on the back of the camera to select a distance. Although I have not yet tried this out in actual practice, just fooling around I find that I'm a bit faster in selecting the snap distance than I was with the GRD3 (I always found method with the GRD3 a little awkward but not difficult). I will experiment with also assigning an FN button to the snap distance setting however I prefer to have AE and AF/Snap assigned to these buttons usually. Perhaps I will find the option of having multiple sets of FN button settings a useful feature after all?
Paul