Sony China already has the new A77II 2.0 firmware update on their site! And as you know this is a quite important upgrade because it adds XAVC-S recording! It also speeds up the autofocus performance (up to 2.5 times faster with the 16-50mm f/2.8 lens).
I haven’t found the firmware on other EU/US Sony sites yet. Let us know if you find them!
Sony A77II firmware page can be found here: Sony USA, Sony Australia, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Italy, Sony Spain, Sony Portugal, Sony Netherland, Sony Belgium, Sony Switzerland, Sony Austria, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Finland.
66 Responses
1st troll
I thought A mount was dead?
You thought wrong
Your sarcasm detector appears to be faulty.
The king is dead, long live the king!
Any chance A7R get the same update?
2.5x faster AF and XAVC? Wow… It’s really hard to decide between the cheaper A6000 and this now.
Careful – it’s the A77 version II NOT the A7 II.
Yep it’s the A mount body. Before the update the a6000 is a no brained for what I am looking for. Whether looking for a compact system or a full body system (doesn’t matter). But after this update there is a reason why you should spend a bit more and get the A77II.
I don’t find the text mentioning 2.5x faster AF, but see only “AF Improvement”. With current AF speed (16-50mm f/2.8), I’d say is very fast. 2.5x is 250% improvement of speed. That would be very the extremely fast if it’s true. But hopefully the accuracy will improve as well.
So A7 II does not have it (XAVC-S) originally……? I must have read dead wrong.
don’t mismatch α7 II and α77 II aka ILCE-7M2 and ILCA-77M2 😉
Will there be comparable firmware updates for the A7/A7r as well? Any infos? It would be great to get XAVC-S on them as well!
http://cutieplus.jp/bbs/data/attachment/forum/201412/10/183642hmseommd2az41dz2.jpg
http://cutieplus.jp/bbs/data/attachment/forum/201412/10/183911m3ee8mfhtfmwee97.jpg
Any feedback on changes ?
The auto focus at indoor seem faster than before, but 2.5x faster??
It is difficult to compare without 2 a77ii at the same time. ;-P
and
I can shoot XAVC S video at 50mbps now 😉
Well, if an improvement needs a calibrated test to prove its existence it pretty much does not exist in my world. Hope you see better improvements as you get to spend more time with it.
Why bother? A-mount is dead.
Still wish they’d update the a99
This new FW update allows them to hack your camera 🙂
A-mount is so dead.
ILCA-77M2 + VG-C77AM for 900USD now got more value.
Wonder if A77 will get it… *wish*
If you really *need* it then simply buy the A77II.
Not likely.
No way once A77 II is out they will not issue feature update for the old camera. Why would you crave A77 II if FW gives most of the goodies in the old camera….
Try loading the new A77II firmware onto your A77 and see what happens, if your right it should work perfectly.
Bonus for A77II users. 🙂
FAIL! The Sony USA link you posted is for the original A77, not A77MK2.
I guess only A7, A6000 and A7r will be left in the cold as the cameras are replaced every 11 months….
I just simply wish for the firmware for all of them to make them world cams with PAL/NTSC!! After all people travel….. it is the 21st century. It is a pain for your camera to not work as it should when you go overseas :-/
A7/A7r have this PAL/NTSC setting but it is not something you would really like. You need to reformat the card after chaining the PAL/NTSC setting. Also if you insert card formatted for the other standard the camera refuses to use it at all before formatting it to the proper standard…..
I have A7 and A6000 and this make things much worse when the tow cameras use different settings as they cannot exchange SD cards….
In short it is pain in the b…t. Better keep all cameras you have in one region setting and align shutter speed to the region you are in. Video is shot in M or S mode exclusively anyway.
PS This limits creativity somewhat under artificial light in the non-native region but seems better than keeping NTSC and PAL SD cards….
Every camera should be a world camera. The problem with the PAL region is that there is no 24P setting. You only get 24P when in NTSC mode. Matching 25P footage in a 24P timeline is not a great solution. I for one, don’t mind having to have separate memory cards. I have dozens of them anyway. I just mark them, so I know which to use. What is slightly annoying is that pop-up every time you start the camera to tell you it is in NTSC mode. Not really needed in my opinion.
I have A7, A6000, A99 and keep them all as NTSC. For video, the A6000 is the one I like best!
I don’t know about the A7/A7r, but I do know that the A6000 and A5100 sadly are *NOT* world cameras :-/ 🙁
The European versions of the cameras allow the user to select pal or NTSC frame rates, the North American ones are the ones held back. It could be a taxation issue.
Nope, there is no tax issue. That tax thing impacts recording limits. Though really… that is a silly thing which they need to fix too.
I know the stupid recording limit has to do with a tax (since 30min + recording constitutes a video camera), but I figured it was something equally ridiculous since the euro versions do both so it’s not hardware or firmware issue.
I hope ( dream? ) Sony does this for the A7 ( I really don’t care for XAVC-S, I want the faster AF )!
A6000 too for the codec and if they can improve tracking with E mount lenses. Af speed is always welcomed too, though it is quite fast now
I truly hope they can bring an update to the A7. That will be then an amazing camera.
I did the update from Sony China (see photo).The only issue I have is that I have San Disk Extreme Pro 32GB SD and in order to record XAVC-S format,you need at least:
i)SDXC memory card with a capacity of at least 64 GB (Class 10 or faster)
ii)UHS-I compatible SDXC memory card with a capacity of at least 64 GB
iii)
Memory Stick XC-HG Duo
Check form Sony Help Guide about Memory cards
http://helpguide.sony.net/dsc/1410/v1/en/contents/TP0000390699.html
Congrats !!!!!
Please give some feed back on the changes and, in particular on the AF speeds.
Thnx HM.
I can confirm about the autofocus performance (up to 2.5 times faster with the 16-50mm f/2.8 lens) which is true. I can also notice big improvement in scrolling within the Menu of the camera.Its really smooth.However I need to get a 64GB SDXC card so that I can start recording in XAVC-S videos.:(
Sounds really impressive. I wondered if the A-mount lens updates with the supposed 4X focus speed increase was future proofing or to ensure that the lenses AF motors were not the weak link in an upcoming SLT upgrade.
Anyway, looks like you got an early X-Mas present.
X-Mas present from Sony for sure 🙂 Saving money for the rumored new FF A mount and for the SAL2470z revised lens
Hi! one question, this chinese firmware is universal firmware or only for certain models? it is safe to upgrade with this one, it will not change permanently my languaje? Thank you in advance
It’s universal, you can use it.
Amazingly fast. I updated mine already and I haven’t seen any Sony camera like this. Not even the A6000. Kudos to Sony!!!
Happy for you. I do not have the 77ii or the 6000 but when trying them out I was under the impression that the 77ii was faster and more responsive than the 6000.
I would always pick the A77II among those two, That’s my work horse and now it’s much faster. The A7 it’s my second camera since it is not to fast to AF. Mostly street photography, macro and vacations.
So can anyone download and install the Sony China firmware?
当然，为什么不呢
That’s not a firmware issue per se, recording higher continuous data rates requires faster writing of the data to get it all. The lower data rate Avchd is still an option though, no?
It seems that the USA site does not have a FW upgrade download for the A77M2 for OSX. Can someone tell where I can download it, or is the USA version not available?
http://service.sony.com.cn/DI/Download/67509.htm
http://cutieplus.jp/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=321
Click the download
It works in different language, include english, japanese, etc.
Not dead yet.
English (Australian) works http://www.sony.com.au/support/download/598766/product/ilca-77m2
That’s a link for only a driver loader for MAC not for the actual firmware. That is if I read correctly.
Installed it and it is def. way too fast to the even already fast AF. I wish my A7 was this fast.
Please Adim, is there any update such as this for the A7?, That would make my day. Well, Christmas present. LOL
A desperate attempt to catch up with 7D2, yawn.
Haters goona hate and be jealous.
7D2 cost twice as much.. so yeah. Go blow your Canon horn somewhere that people care.
I just bought an open box A77ii in the USA. I have seen some mixed reviews about people’s success with this firmware update. What happens if it fails…is the warranty void? Is there any way to back up and revert to the original firmware as a backup plan?