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Time Laps and Cinematic Photo APP now available for your NEX-5R and NEX-6!

SAR reader James (Thanks!) just found that the Time-lapse and Cinematic Photo Apps are now available on the PlayMemories Store.
https://www.playmemoriescameraapps.com/portal/
Time-Lapse is $9.99 and Cinematic Photo is $4.99.

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68 Responses

  1. I am loving Time Lapse! For the ones saying expensive…I am sure many nex-7 users would gladly pay $20 to get the feature and they cant so come on!

    1. I tried to use US service from Germany – worked fine for free apps but for paying app I was not able to register my German MasterCard. So I made new account and specified Germany as my region. My MasterCard was finally accepted and now I have time lapse app on my camera !!!

  2. Maximum 990 shots mean:
    – 41 seconds of video in 24p
    – 39 seconds of video in 25p
    – 33 seconds of video in 30p
    Compared with maximum 9999 shots of GH3 …

  3. when i know that new nex having these app, i really love it. Yes, but why dont it release at alpha camera to like in a99. Sony is really too funny or clever make u must buy all different kind of camera for different function. Especially the time lapse, i really would love to see it at my a99, very annoying to me. Come on Sony you having great sensor, great feature, but improve in ur advertising and listen more to ur customer to change most of the cons having on sony camera then it will surely go to the top, as well as increase lens and with weather sealed. Bring a really good Nex to me if you dun want add this app into alpha camera. A full frame nex with longer time recording without overheat issues like a99 or jus can at least 1 hour i would happy.

  4. Sony,

    Pass this along on to Nikon and Canon will you.

    1) Consider putting 2.5K (2560×1600) in DSLRs.
    There’s this big hole between 1080p and 4K that’s begging to be filled by prosumer
    cameras. 4K won’t be cheap anytime soon, but 2K is easily within reach. With Retina
    Displays everywhere the ordinary consumer has awareness of it. It’s an opportunity
    to develop and sell new product lines–it extends the life of High Def while we wait
    for cheap 4K. I say we need more formats anyway…2K, 4K, 5K, 6K, 8K…1080 was always
    to low to begin with.

    2) Can we please drop H.264 now and at least trade up to H.265/HEVC
    MPEG 4 sucks, okay. Enough said. Picture quality out of it is low fidelity crud.

    3) Let’s get out of the 8 bit generation–give us 10bit 4.2.2., at least give us
    8bit 4.2.2., c’mon.
    It’s just time guys. Enough mediocrity already.

    4) 50mbs bitrate all the time MINIMUM…it ought to be 60, 70, 80…let’s get there.

    5) ALL-I mode needs to be ubiquitous.

    6) I might be dreaming but at least consider putting CinemaDNG, DnxHD, and/or Pro Res in your cameras.
    It really is time to RAISE THE FLOOR and redefine the ceiling–people who shoot broadcast want WAY HIGHER specs than these!! The BMCC and panasonic GH3 show these
    camera makers have been holding out on us BIGTIME. STOP TRYING TO SELL US MEDIOCRITY!!!
    Your equipment is starting to become irrelevent. Better UP YOUR GAME or your legs’ll
    get cut out from under you…

    Anyway, Sony pass this along to the GUYS (CANON and NIKON), they’ll listen.

    1. Too right!

      Sony – stop holding back on what tech you put in your cameras with the aim of stopping your lower products competing with your higher ones. In doing so you you just allow your competition to do the job! Just go all out & do the best job you can!!! Yes you may lose some sales of higher end products but I bet you will take far more in sales away from your competition.

      1. Sony can’t give that stuff away on their consumer products, and why should they? What are home users going to do with it? If you can’t make a decent film with the kit you have, you can’t make a decent film, stop asking for more unnecessary high end stuff on consumer kit.
        Also, I would be pretty annoyed if I could only use high bit-rate video for basic home video stuff; storage media would need to increase (added cost), and editing would take up more time, computer power, storage, and possibly would require even more software (cost and annoyance).
        There is nothing wrong with wanting more in your cameras if you need it, but really, do you need it?

        1. Zak, your response misses the point. It’s precisely because so many of us are 1) skilled and 2) serious that we want, expect and demand so much more from our equipment.
          the video spec in DSLRs was intended originally for people who wanted to take birthday and family picnic
          videos. It was just a happy accident that so many filmmakers took an interest in them and whole new industry sprang up around it–there needs to be lower tier of equipment for who just want to shoot home movies–birthday videos, days at the beach and the like…as for sony giving these features away, look…no one EXPECTS SONY to put these features in anything because there one the main companies dragging thier feet. They’re so comprimised
          by conflict of interest (by patents and such), there’s no upside in innovation for them.
          But there’s nothing to stop NIKON–they have no camcorders, no full fledged pro movie cameras to protect. They have a free hand. Other companies are already heading down this
          path. I named BLACKMAGIC DESIGN and PANASONIC, right? If sony wants to get left behind,
          that’s cool.

          1. You conveniently forget to mention that Sony has several more than good relatively inexpensive video cameras in wide use by the industry (FS100, FS700). As far as I have seen, they are pricing a lot of capable equipment lower than their competition. How exactly do “patents and such” lead to Sony’s inability to provide equipment to a wide variety of imaging segments, from sensors used in many camera phones and tablets, to P&S, to Alphas and NEX, to their professional camera line? Sony isn’t perfect, but please elaborate on your so called “compromises.”

          2. Sony, Panasonic and Olympus are doing a lot of innovating in the consumer space. Their approach is somewhat different from each other but I believe that their products are quite good. Hopefully, all three companies will see better financial results in the future. With Panasonic having to sell some factories and land, Olympus needing money from Sony, Sony bleeding cash because of their money losing business segments (TVs and other stuff), it will be tough sledding for a while. Still, the three companies do a lot of innovation in the consumer space.

      2. Sony doesn’t want to make great consumer video camera/camcorders in order to protect their more important Sony Professional division. This is why NEX/SLT/VG series are poor in video compared to Sony professional camcorders.

        1. Well they do have the NEX-FS100 and 700 which counts as a professional NEX video camera, but I bet many would cry foul over the price tag which is perfectly reasonable for the market they are targeting it.

          1. Guys, if you want pro quality, go buy a pro equipment. Companies are not going to provide that to you at prosumer level just because you want it cheaper. A 4k TV now cost about what? $10k. And you want a dslr that cost you <$3000 that can record 4k content? Sorry, no offense, but stop dreaming. I am sure they will give you 4k in prosumer when the broadcast equipment is up at 8k, lets say. Just not now.

        2. Not everyone agrees with you that the NEX and Alpha cameras are terrible for video purposes. And let’s face it. The FS700 is quite a bit of a camera for the price it is selling for. So is the FS100. There are quite a few people who are more than happy with what the NEX (and Alpha) cameras, let alone the RX series, can do for them.

  5. The PlayMemories Store is currently just available in 16 countries.
    Sony switzerland is for instance marketing the NEX6 with the availability of the apps. Buyers of the camera will then find out, that the apps are not available in their country. You can only get the free apps with creating a fake account in one of the neighboring countries. Language isn’t a argument here – as all languages spoken in switzerland are available (e.g. the store is available in France, Germany and Italy) and the new apps are available there – but I would need a credit card from one of those countries to buy an app. The situation in other european countries (for instance Austria) is similar.

    While these apps may be a real gain for some NEX – users, Sony is sending out a very wrong marketing message by releasing new apps without making the Store available to more countries. It’s like “Dear swiss customers – we are glad that you spent money for our product, but be aware that your country is to small that we would bring the services for your camera to your camera. Still we continue to use this services in local marketing, so you could see what your nex could do, if you would live elsewhere…”

    I really don’t understand, why Sony isn’t opening a store for “other” countries, as some other companies do.

    1. A big nod to that! There is no way I am going to buy (let alone give any card information to SOny)these “features” which are standard in most cameras. I am totally opposed to these sales and someone should find this illegal too!

      1. Actually, built in intervalometers are rare for cameras in the NEX-6 or NEX-5R price range. Besides, some of the apps are free. And the cinematic phot app is somewhat unique. You of course are free not to buy them. The NEX-6 and 5R are capable cameras without the additional apps.

        1. Nikon cameras offer such “apps” (built in) for free and one can do these to the Raw files in camera. Sony could reduce the prices of the cameras accordingly. In an effort to make more profit out of the NEX’ they may be doing more harm than good. I already know for sure that in a few months the NEX-6 will lose ~30% of its current list price, in one year ~40% and so on because there be another model from Sony themselves.

          As for your contention about the time laps app, see the other comments. It is not very useful in practice. There is a major disconnect between those who write these apps and the hardware side. It is quite obvious that no one at Sony tests any of these. I think the “apps” are a failure. They will only bite Sony.

          1. Not all Nikon DSLRs have an intervals meter. Besides, the 5R and 6 are capable cameras, with lots of built in functionality. People do not have to buy apps. I also said that for people who want the time lapse capability, buying the appis an easy way to do. Time lapse photography. There are other ways to do so. I do not agree with your contention that giving consumers a choice (buying apps) is going to bite Sony. If anything, app capability will be something that other camera makers will look into incorporating in their products themselves. If I were Sony, however, I would make sure no app costs more than five US dollars.

          2. The Nikon 5200 and above have built in intervalometers. Which is something that camera makers should think about putting in more of their cameras. But your contention that Nikon has these capabilities built in? Which Nikon DLSR allows you to trigger the camera remotely via a smartphone or tablet (while viewing, albeit crudely, what the lens sees) – as a built in function, in the price range of the 5R and 6? And the app market is still in its infancy. I would think better, more capable apps are going to be possible moving forward. And hopefully, at lower prices.

            What camera, in a year’s time, holds its value? Early adpoters always pay the higher price. Look at the D600. People who bought the D600 before Nikon had a special bundle price (that lasted a few days) are probably not too happy. Your desire to eviscerate Sony for at least trying to do something different is somewhat puzzling. Even the D800 has dropped in price already. And the 5D Mark III is beginning the price drop. You can buy the 5D Mk II for a lot less than it originally sold for. You’re not suggesting that these companies stop selling new products (or even trying to improve their products) in a manner that can maximize their profits, do you?

          3. Vivek: Can Nikon’s intervalometer output a fullHD video? If you ask 100 users in this forum, how many knows how to put together a time lapse video with 1000 stills? What the number is like if you ask the general public?
            With Sony Apps, ANYONE can make a time lapse video, it is that easy; because after the time lapse is over, you get a read-to-play video, instead of thousands of photos. It even have presets, especially most people would have no clue what would be the best interval to set for certain scenes.

            And one more thing – You get to keep the Apps for your next camera!!!
            You have 10 authentication licenses for 10 installs! So you get to keep all your apps for your next NEX.

            So this is a well implemented Time Lapse App, not just your plain intervalometer. And you only need one purchase for multiple cameras.

            For $10, it is a steal!

          4. Almazar80: I do not use a “smart” phone. A regular phone (from Samsung, btw) satisfies my needs with excellent reception and sound quality. 🙂

          5. nosnoop: Some very good points!

            Downloading an app is no easy task. I could only do it using my NEX-6. I did not know (nor can I find any information from SOny) that it is reusable. Even if it is, it is useless since I can not download the apps to my computer. I have asked Sony for help. Whatever nice reply they gave me did not help either fixing the problems either.

          6. Vivek: You do not need to download the App to your desktop to reuse the program. Basically, every time you use your account to download the App you have purchased to your camera, it would check if that camera has been authorized or not. If it has been, it would not count as a new install. And you can reinstall it to the same camera unlimited times. The only exception is factory reset, as this may mess up its authorization checking.

            And if you download it to a new camera from your account, it would recognize it as a different camera. It would then authorize it and up the count by 1.

  6. Hi, all bought the Nex 5R last week bought Time-Lapse App and after 5 mins use shutter jammed down, couple of power cycles and its ok again but this does worry me for a week old camera with a new APP. Is it the app crashed or the camera that did jam?

    1. I find that my 5R appears to lock up in Time Lapse in either of the video modes. Works in stills, which is not what I want. I have to remove the battery to get it to exit the app and shut off. Probably will try a re-install. Other ideas, or anyone else with this issue?

    2. Mine appears to have been the app, and others have also had problems with the app freezing the camera. I reset the default settings (under Initialize), and it is working for now. Some people have done the factory reset, and posts indicate this may not be a permanent fix, but it might be worth a try for you.

  7. And even if you can buy the apps in your country… good luck getting your credit card to work with the SEN/PSN site.

  8. I decide to diy a cheap IR remote to a intervalometer since I’m not residing in one of those 16 countries.

    At least my diy rig can be used for my NEX6 and alpha bodies.

  9. Yeah, great. That’s what camera apps are about: manufacturers can make even more money on their already pricey system cameras by selling features which used to be built-in as a matter of course in my eight-year-old compact camera.

    Sorry, Sony. I’d rather buy something else then, even if this something wouldn’t offer timelapse at all, but that would only mean I’d have to use a programmable radio remote control for timelapse shooting. I’d buy a radio remote control anyway and wouldn’t mind spending a little bit more for a programmable one, just like the one I’m already using with my DSLR.

  10. Purely profit driven and quite amateurish.

    Another form of market experimentation using consumer grade photographers.

    Pay-to-play applications = Profit for Sony.

    Sad.

  11. I’ve been thinking about these apps, but so far, nothing is compelling yet. Perhaps these 2 new ones might change my mind.

    For example: the Bracket Pro App doesn’t seem to offer any significant difference from the built-in bracketing of the NEX-6. It would deserve a “Pro” label if it:
    1. Extends the brackets to 5 or 7 shots,
    2. Provides ISO bracketing
    3. Allows use of the self-timer or Remote App together with the bracketing.

    Am I missing something?

    1. It is really absurd that even with the App, you can’t combine remote control with bracketing.

      How do Sony think you are going to fire the shutter without risk of jogging the camera? Do we all have to have massive heavy duty tripods?

      It is time they added an experienced photographer to the software team. And it is more than time for a firmware update to the 5N to allow Remote to be used with all modes including HDR etc – the very ones that most need it.

    1. It is not expensive at all. It is not just an intervalometer. It can actually output a FullHD 1080p video without any post-processing (you can also output RAW or JPG for your own processing if you like). And it has presets for beginners. All in all, a very well designed and implemented App.

  12. I just think people don’t realise Sony needs to make profits, or the company will die.
    It may look greedy. I think it’s still clever and cheap overall. I will not buy an other
    system camera if timelapse is included.

    And remember, maybe this camera apps will be a new style to get free apps that could be free and open source à la android.

    1. Alright then, come together and let’s all shed a tear for poor Sony, so poor that it can’t even afford to include a trivial software feature in their already pricey NEX-6 without having to beg for another ten bucks.

      If Sony can’t produce full-featured mirrorless cameras for at least a similar price than Nikon’s and Canon’s full-featured DSLRs which include high-precision stuff like mirror and optical finder, then it may be just the right thing for Sony to die. It’s just that Sony probably could, if they wanted to, but as long as customers continue to pay everything the mirrorless manufacturers ask they simply don’t need to.

      1. The NEX-6 is already a capable camera without the apps. The apps are for people who want additional features willing to pay for them or have a need for them. The Nikon 7000D has a built in intervalometer that allows time lapse photography, but it cost more than the NEX-6. The Canon 60D does not have a built in intervalometer. The 60D also costs more than the NEX-6. And let’s face it. The NEX-6 is just as capable as these tow cameras. So Bigend, don’t buy the app if you don’t want it. But then again, do you even have a 5R or NEX-6? And for people who like to complain, how about channeling the complaints as suggestions to Sony, so that it can actually improve the apps and make them do more? I don’t like the high price of some of the apps, but then again, if I had a use for them, then I’d probably buy them. People don’t seem to have a problem buying apps in Google Play or the Apple App store if they need them.

  13. Just downloaded it and have shot near 2000+ frames in 2 long time lapses and a few short ones using the 24p AVI movie setting at 5 sec. Hear are my observations so far.
    1) Output to stills (Jpg only L M or S) or movie in 24p 30p in AVI 1080 or 720 options
    2) You can shot in PASM mode plus selected scene modes
    3) Exposure is automatically locked at the start of the timelapse so no adjustments once started
    4) The screen or EVF remains on during the whole timelapse
    5) with a fully charged battery I got 1200+ shoots over 1hr45min period in timelapse mode before battery warning light came on.
    5) AVI file are stored on the SD card in unusual location so auto import is not strait forward in lightroom or imovie
    6) If want to view your timelapse in camera you must enter the the app to to so as it’s not available in the standard play menu.
    7) Play back of the 24p avi in camera is not smooth seems to skip 5-10 frames but play back on computer is fine

  14. Thanks for the heads up! I just bought the app and posted the a trial of the app on youtube
    http://youtu.be/sJUCDF9veXA

    I think it’s worth the $9.95 much offers more control than the free smart remote which is still quite crude in terms of control.

    Some quick thoughts from todays hands on:
    1) No RAW output only jpeg still in L M S size or 24p 30p AVI movies in either 1080 or 720
    2) Works in PASM modes + selected scene modes
    3) Locks exposure so no adjustments once a time lapse is started
    4) Time Lapse movies must be played in the app are accessible in the standard playback modes
    5) Play back of the movies in camera is choppy and drops frames but it’s smooth when played in the computer.
    6) 990 shot limit per session can adjust from 1 sec to 60 sec shot intervals
    7) On full battery se at 5sec interval I got to shot about 1200 frames over before the low battery warninng came on about 1hr:40min of continues use.

    1. My bad thanks Kalak for pointing it out. I was shooting in the movie mode and the was not the option for raw but as you mentioned when you select stills the option for RAW apears in the image setting menu.

  15. Loving the apps, you can use the shutter delay withit so that means you shouldnt have too much of a problem with shake, what a great platform.

    1. I’d like them to be free as well, but since few cameras in the NEX-5R/6 price range has these features built in….

      Although %9.99 is a tad high, the app may be useful to a lot of people. The $4.99 price seems like a fair enough deal. Why nor price all the apps at $4.99 and have a three for $9.99 discount?

  16. I was using the application today and my biggest gripe is that the exposure & shutter is fixed once the timelapse starts regardless of any modes that I try.

    Other than that it works for what I need it to do. I just find it misleading that the sunrise mode is able to capture a large range of dark and brightness. When I started it was dark at F8 13 sec 100 ISO and it kept doing that until the sun came out. Obviously it was going to overexpose once the sun came out. What to do?

    1. That’s my gripe, as well. Any change of light isn’t “tracked” by the camera to compensate. Have you received any responses from users or from Sony? I’d like to know how to get around this or for Sony to offer a fix to allow the camera the option to expose properly during the entire time lapse shoot.

  17. Just got the sony time-lapse app on my NEX 5R and love it. All of my time lapse recordings are viewable within the app but I cant figure out how to transfer them to my computer (iMac). Can anyone help please?

  18. Silly question; I downloaded the timelapse app for my NEX-6 I’ve shot two time lapse videos, i see them when i enter the app but i can’t download them onto my computer?? I’ve checked the card inside and out and they are nowhere to be found. I pop the card back into the camera…enter the app and they are there. How do i get these downloaded and off the card? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I can’t seem to find anything on this issue online.

    Thanks

  19. Hello, Can anyone help me with the timelapse app ??? I really need it
    only i canot buy the app from my country. I will pay you the 10$ using
    skrill or paypal. I just need someone to help me with this please.

    Thank you Please reply.

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