A first menu and on/off speed test after the upgrade
–
The A7 and A7r firmware update is finally available. Startup time, autofocus and the quality of high ISO JPG images improved. I would greatly appreciate if someone can share an image quality comparison to see the difference. I am at work now and have no time to do a proper testing yet. Anyway, here are a couple of feedbacks from SAR readers:
UPDATE: Here is a video from Jason Perry (Instagram) showing an increased AF performance.
Rowland: “I just updated my a7, it looks like sony did a great job this time. The camera do turn on quicker(not much but quicker is better 😛 ), and it seems the autofoucs speed is also incresed. And for the image quality, I think the greatest change is high ISO performance, especially form 1600 to 6400, the noise is reduced and maintain more details, and the false color is reduced dramatically.”
Minipixels: “Awesome! Definitely some improvements to AF and start up time but I’m still uncertain where the “image quality improvements” are….has anybody done any in-depth comparisons??”
Roy: “A7r: Startup is now 1 sec..Much faster. AF seems faster now as i tested it with the same lens on the NEX6 and it used to be slower now it’s faster!
NEX6: my 2470Z and 55Z are both now supported byt he camera with OSS (2470) and PDAF. Previously wasn’t.. Overall, it’s an update that actually improved something..Let’s hope Sony keeps this up.”
Arne “Startup time reduced from about 4 seconds to 1. AF in challenging low contrast against backlight seems to be improved too.”
—
Firmware download links:
A7R
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
A7
Mac – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Germany, Sony UK, Sony France, Sony Spain, Sony Italy, Sony Holland, Sony Belgium, Sony Austria, Sony Switzerland, Sony Finland, Sony Sweden, Sony Norway, Sony Portugal, Sony Australia
NEX5R
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia
NEX5T
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia
NEX6
Mac – Sony US, Sony Australia
Windows – Sony US, Sony Australia
0 Responses
Glad to hear that. I hope Sony will continue this trend.
I can add: ISO dial doesn’t lock up while writing to card! Yay! Also while startup time is definitely improved and is quite speedy now (usually less time than to bring up to my eye), I haven’t had ANY instances where it takes 10+ seconds randomly to fire up, never understood what scenarios caused that, but hasn’t happened once yet.
FE55 seems a lot faster to focus. Especially in lower light. Mine seemed to change display quality to ‘high’ where mine was always set to ‘standard’, I flipped it back and seemed to be a bigger improvement in AF which seemed the same or marginally better before this. Just locks right on, like the PDAF is suddenly more effective, when it hunts or changing focus distance over a greater distance isn’t much faster, but just locks right on in a nanosecond when there isn’t a huge difference, like say between 3 metres and infinity. Only gets a bit slower going from close focus to far.
I found the 10 second scenario when I shut off the camera without quitting the remote app. It only stopped once I lunched the app again and quit.
I’ll second this report. It definitely helps to turn the Display Quality setting to standard – very fast AF!
On my NEX 6 I can now see Phase detection AF area with Sigma 30mm lens. Not sure if PDAF is now actually enabled though
I thought this might be the case, mine isn’t with me at the moment, so I couldn’t check, but seems Sony have changed the way Hybrid AF is dealt with with lenses so it doesn’t need to be enabled for individual lenses anymore (awesome!). If the hybrid box is coming up then it very likely is working.
This is looking good for the a6000 as well 🙂
Huge News! Can you confirm that the Sigma is focussing faster now?
At least subjectively AF seems faster now. Can anyone else confirm?
I really wanted a menu update on the NEX-6 to match the A6000.
Me too!
And the problem of liveview and the central button (and double press) with manual lenses is finally resolved?
What problem?
Compared to a NEX5, 6 or 7, it is impossible to assign (for manual lenses) on the sony A7 “liveview” (loupe in french) on the main middle button (wheel) and is forced to double tap the button to zoom, it is a serious misconception of sony.
And what about the fact we can’t use focus peeking with the MF assist… it’s also a misconception. I need to choice between the help of focus peeking color help or the magnifying hel of the MF assist. I don’t understand why it’s impossible to use these 2 help and combine their benefice in the same time as we can do it with the RX1…
You can use both peaking and focus assist at the same time. You must be pressing it wrong.
The focus peaking appears (Medium/ or High) push the MF button and tht focus assist when I use the MF ring. But when the focus assist works, the focus peaking immediatly disappears…
It Just looses in strengh, but it should be there. Focus peaking measures the contrast on output level, that is on the display or EVF. If you zoom in with focus magnification, contrast at the subjects edges is damatically reduced due to looking at sensor pixels at 50% or 100% or such, therefor focus peaking is greatly reduced
Thank you very much Merlin. I’m totaly agree with you. The true is that the focus peaking is greatly reduced. But I expect an improvement with it because I ahd RX1 and the focus peaking was enough less reduced to be useful.
Thats probably the case because of the super sharp and contrasty lens of the RX1. As I said, When there is more Contrast, there will be more peaking. So it also greatly depends on the lens used!
You have certainly right. I didn’t think about the impact of the lense. I will review it with the 55mm because I’ve just have the 35mm actually. Thank you again
the FE35F28Z should easily be good enough to make focus peaking shine in magnification! To what level have you set your Peaking?
Medium and High level. I find the medium level better… Maybe my a7 has an issue… I will go to a sony center soon.
Try a contrasty scene, preferrably under fluorescent light or high angle sunlight, so that you don’t look bad in Sony center when trying to explain the problem. This to make sure that its a camera problem and not a lens issue.
I find that on my A65 a scene with high contrast, such as where sharp lines divide dark and bright surfaces, focus peaking really shows its capability, even at 100% magnification. And this is on old Minolta MC Rokkor 58/1.4, with f-stop being set to 1.4, where it really lacks contrast.
My focus peaking is on High though.
Thank you very much Stan ! I think I will go to the sony center to ask them to show me how the focus peaking works and if I see any difference, I will show them my results with my a7. Before, I wil try other pictures with constrast scene. Thank u !!!
I’ve juste find the solution. I need to disable “PRE-AF” option (I don’t know yet what this option does …) and my problem is gone. Thank you Merlin and Stan
It is a problem. You need to have used a NEX to know that a single press magnification is possible. If this FW does not offer that, it is huge disappointment and indicates that Sony are clueless as to what to update.
second problem, the NEX5 6.7, you can zoom in on the image visualation with the wheel very quickly. With the A7 sony is imposible and very slow to zoom when viewing the image. Is you agree with me?
Just double click. Problem solved
Cool !
Does the FW update clear your settings or preserve them?
It keeps all settings
Dear Sony. As an A77 user I ask you kindly to present a firmware update for the A77 that has the same type of great improvements as in this firmware update you released today.
P.S. I do not consider A77mkII a valid firmware update for A77.
+1
And throw A65 into the mix while you are at it.
I’d love to have better startup time and better jpegs, so that i could finally use RAW+JPEG mode.
It means can’t force it to do something it can’t…….but a small car isn’t a good wa uh to use it lol
You’re trying to tell me that they can’t fix the damn flash inconsistent exposure, after claiming for 2 firware releases that it was already done? And how do you know that faster startup time isn’t possible? Or that better JPEGs are not possible? I know that for one, they could make a “Fine” Jpeg option in RAW+JPEG mode. Or enable HDR in RAW or RAW+JPEG mode, which could just take 3 pictures at different exposures, or alternatively create a JPEG in HDR, so that we wouldn’t have to switch modes that are deep in menus. How about removing 1.25x crop when video stabilization is off. Or Auto-ISO option in M mode. Or switching to LCD, after specifically pressing EVF/LCD button and looking through EVF.
There are plenty of things that can be done. Not all bugs are fixed as many believe them to be.
Don’t try to drive 200mph with a small car
Umm what? What the heck is that analogy supposed to be reflecting? Or did you just feel like blurbing something out.
As I expected. Even though the whole community has been screaming for lossless RAW files, Sony didn’t care. Instead they improved the jpegs. lol.
I was sure someone would turn this into bad news.
How can it be good news to someone who doesn’t give a **** about jpegs? 🙂
It’s “nothing” news. Everyone cooks their RAW files. Can you showcase a scenario where a true lossless RAW would have been needed but your ARW fucked it up?
Here’s a link to a blog on the issue. It’s hard to tell when the artifacts are going to seriously affect a particular shot, but the effects are real and there’s a link to ‘real life’ shots that show it. http://blog.kasson.com/?p=4838
Yeah, well first off, why are you taking this guy’s word as gospel. He clearly is unsure of the reason behind the artifacts and states that it may even be simply because a different algorithm is being used to decompress….
Ilya Zakharevich, the person who made the comments and got me back on the right track, feels that the artifacts observed by some people on real images are likely caused by rounding algorithms in the raw converter that are different from those employed by Sony in creating the compressed file. This is certainly possible. I may have not used the same rounding algorithm as Sony, but I used the same algorithm in both directions.
“Ilya also believes that the right dither algorithm could improve the compression/expansion performance. I believe he’s right,”
http://www.sansmirror.com/cameras/a-note-about-camera-reviews/sony-nex-camera-reviews/sony-a7-and-a7r-review.html
Read it properly you sad excuse for a intelligent being!
If you still want to argue after that article, please go kill yourself.
“Long exposure astro-photo Sony users, 95% of total user base, dismayed at lossy compression seen in ARW files. Expose to hit the electronic giant hard”
There, I got your headline.
Holy sh*t Nick, you must be some serious pixel peeper. Better invest in the Hubble telescope or something like that, rather than consumer grade cameras.
I have read speculation, and this seems very plausible to me, that the compression may at least partially be done in the hardware and not software. A firmware update would not, in all likelihood, not be able to deliver lossless “RAW” data, if this is the case. Besides, I don’t believe that there is a camera on the market which offers real, totally unprocessed sensor data.
Looks my firmware update on the Macbook Air just failed. The updater told me to turn off the camera and pull the battery and restart the process, but the camera isn’t turning back on 🙁
I just had the same thing happen !!
Me too! WTF. Its a nice full frame brick with a zeiss glass now wtf
There must a way to hard reset the a7..
I just contacted Sony Support and while he was talking i was able to figure it out. You have to do this:
1. Turn on camera
2. connect USB cable to camera/computer
3. pull battery from camera and put back in.
4. click “next” on the firmware updater tool
the firmware updater tool will see the camera in the special firmware update mode and continue the process.
thank you I will share this info .. AG
thanks for the info!
After trying like 10 times finally the update finished.
The updater sucks, looks like you can’t do the update in background, every time I opened some app like VLC the updater aborted the task.
I heard somebody else saying the update failed when they opened other programs.
I never touch anything else on my computer when doing a firmware update. I don’t even move or breathe.
Thats also stated by the installer. Close all other programs.
I did, except for Chrome and installation worked fine on my iMac (27″, 2010 version)
I had about 40 windows open with 3 different browsers, youtube and downloading a file. It took a few minutes more but went fine. I do have 24gb of ram w ssd drive but my pc is a old i7 920
Yes, very smart to run a video while updating some firmware..
Or do you think the Sony programmer also ran VLC or some YouTube videos while working, for their own entertainment and to be sure it would run through on your end?
They should.
Thanks, that helped after the first abort. Another tip: while the updater is running, do not touch or do anything on your computer. Second attempt was flawless.
Brick treatment of a FF A7 w/Zeiss glass & light leak… that sounds like an unsettling ownership experience.
Same thing here !
where’s the autobracketing with timer?
My update just failed on my 27inch iMac…. told me to disconnect the battery and try again, but the camera will not turn on… solid red light showing at the back…. this sucks.
when red light on , try run update program again. It will jump to last step.
Seems on mac platform the camera restart instruction call fail.
trying again 3rd time…
MAKE SURE you have a card in the camera before trying an update with a Mac
But it says that you should remove SD card
same issue here.
Update failed on iMac OSX 10.9.2. The update starts normally but aborts for no apparent reason half-way through. The camera gets bricked after that (solid red light). I downloaded the same update for Windows and restarted the process on a Windows 7 machine and the update worked correctly. Start up time is indeed greatly improved. I have not been able to measure yet any image quality improvements.
17″ MacBook Pro with OSX 10.9.2 – Updated A7r without a hitch, now have to test the “improvements”.
A fresh start without running any apps including background apps is always a good idea when updating devices via USB.
Same issue here … (OS X) but now I can’t get the camera to work.
same issue here
It happened to me as well. It stopped with a battery failed error. The battery was at 92%. However, I just restarted the Sony update app on my Mac and it finished the update. Camera is working fine.
YOU ALL ARE HOLDING IT WRONG!
OK on a serious note, please update on a PC.
Most people that does so, didn’t brick their camera.
Definitely an improvement, but am very disappointed there is no lossless RAW option. That was the only change that I really wanted. Never use JPEG.
True but does that really make any difference to the RAW IQ? From what I’ve read the compression doesn’t affect the IQ result…..
minipixels.net | Automotive Photography + Design
The effect on IQ of lossy RAW compression has been thoroughly documented in other threads. It doesn’t show up in 99% of photos, but when it does appear IQ can’t be recovered. It appears in contrasty boundaries when the background has no detail and has uniform luminance: a photo of a building with a featureless sky as a background will have artifacts at the building boundary.
The point here is this camera is not marketed as an expensive point-n-shoot, but as a viable option for a high end DSLR, at least for those who don’t need fast phase detect AF. Lossy RAW as the only option just doesn’t cut it.
Everyone just needs to read this article, go right to the bottom.
http://www.sansmirror.com/cameras/a-note-about-camera-reviews/sony-nex-camera-reviews/sony-a7-and-a7r-review.html
ITS A REAL PROBLEM!
I MYSELF HAVE ENCOUNTERED THIS ISSUE SHOOTING FIREWORKS, ASTRO PHOTOGRAPHY ETC.
I have been crying about this for over several years now.
Now that a leading industry professional is on the case, lets see how long Sony can stay to their arrogant ways.
As for anyone else who thinks otherwise, please go fuk yourselves.
I know. There are other real issues, too. I can only help with a suggestion: leave the toy factory and get into Canon or Nikon. The leap will cost a bit but it will pay off.
Nobody serious about their photography should waste their time on toys such as Sony or Panasonic.
According to Sony website “16-bit processing + 14-bit RAW output” – are they seriously saying feature not bug? Right up there with Apple’s “you’re holding it wrong”…
Well now you’re getting technical. The sensor is a 14 bit sensor. What the marketing department does is use a word like ‘output’ without telling us from what the output comes from or is going to. All the literature says ’14 bit …”. After companding the data is effectively 11 bits.
With lossless compression the batteries would be juiced a lot faster and as it is, the darned thing eats batteries. Same idea as audio files on ipods.
I can’t believe no one has noticed *THE BEST* part of this firmware update. Sony A7, config page #3, first option. “Pre-AF = OFF” HELL YES. I’m updating my NEX-6 now. Anyone notice a pre-af disable in that???? Got a few more minutes wait while it updates. I’ll be digging through the menus.
What does it do “Pre-AF = OFF”?
No constant auto focusing nonsense. So you won’t have to press the rear af/mf button at all any more and you won’t be raping the battery!!!!
Tested on Touit 12mm on A7 and it works. Also Touit 12 focusing seems way faster. I’ll try the 32 as well on the A7 and once the NEX-6 updates I’ll report on that.
NEX-6 update with Touit 12/32… still no PD support, no focus improvement, no added pre-af disable. Why Sony… WHY. Just add that to the NEX-6 and I’ll be happy.
Don’t know what you’re talking about but that option has always been there…..It’s on by default but I turned it off to prevent the camera from re-adjustment my focus without me wanting it
minipixels.net | Automotive Photography + Design
I could have sworn i turned it of on my 1.01 a7…
Yes I had mine off before… not an update.
Where’s the link to the Youtube
RickRoll’D???
Mine was definitely turned off in 1.01, oddly it turned back on after the update while the rest of my settings stayed in tact.
that was always a feature. I turned mine off from day one.
Disappointing – it seems that only FUJI delivers firmware to enhance their older products as professional service. They improve their products.
We know you’re disappointed – you posted exactly the same thing in the previous story.
it is the same story …
So invest in Fuji. Post at Fuji rumors. Be happy with Fuji. Does that not make sense to you?
No, he needs to poset, he needs food NOW! He’s a troll.
This update ignores the needs of customers … grow up kid!
You guys know he does have a point.
Issues like preview lockup during buffer release is annoying.
Especially after taking a sequence of 10 images.
Things like Compressed RAW, just having an option for uncompressed or lossless RAW would be great.
Adjustable minimum shutter speed for P/A modes would be nice.
There are a ton more things I can throw out. But hey, I am happy with whatever scraps Sony throws at me now a days.
No. I have Sony equipment.
So why post the same thing again?
AS Software Engineer I know the value of updates for customers. Feature or bugfix … do it!
Yes, after shipping them out with BETA firmware. Myth busted!
did to both my a7 and a7r
went smoothly! yippie
So is the 35mm FE lens faster focusing in dim light with the new firmware on the A7?
Yes – I thought mine was pretty fast before, but seems to be much quicker now (almost instantly) – A7R w/FE35f2.8.
TIP to have a flawless update: restart your computer before updating your camera, quit all apps, start the updater, do not touch or do anything on your computer until the update is complete.
Thankfully my update went through smoothly without any hiccups despite me not restarting and watching THOR 2 on my computer while waiting, lol.
I think if you have to go to that degree, then you have a rather sick computer on your hands
You mean a rather sick software updater from Sony.
Worked fine for me – running Windows 7 on a 5 yr old laptop (Gateway FX P-6831) connected via iPhone WIFI hotspot. I was running gmail and had several other internet windows open at the time. Update took a while, but was actually a little ahead of Sony’s stated 15 minutes. I do keep my computer software current. I used the old Windows laptop since I saw others had problems on their iMac (my preferred computer).
Main change I notice is the huge reduction of time to turn on the camera when it has just been turned off. It has gone from 8-9 seconds to 3.
And how about wake up time after sleep mode? Is that improved?
I don’t recall exactly how long it took previously, but it now takes about 1.5 – 2 seconds.
Thnx
Same here!
that is strange because it only took mine 3 seconds before the update. now it take about 2 seconds. 8-9 is a very long time.
Seriously, faster AF on A7 would be important for me!
I encountered a problem after updating the firmware. the image I capture is now half dark! When I shoot RAW the dark part is at the bottom, and when I shoot JPEG X-fine the dark area is at the top on a much wider area! I haven’t tried on other speed only 1/125 and 1/250. 1/250s is more obvious. Is anyone having the same experience? I need help!
are you shooting inside? it might be the flickering lights, try shooting outside during the day and see if you have the same problem?
I’ve been shooting indoor and outdoor with this and same setting with no problem at all until now
A7 or A7r? If it’s the a7 check that efcs is enabled. Either way, do a full reset
It’s on. Btw Shi Zeng might be right. I was testing ISO6400 so i use faster shutter speed under fluorescent light which I might not have done before. I will see what happen when the the sun is up
my NEX 5R died with this firmware – going to call Sony tomorrow
Start up time much faster. I can now turn on, focus and shoot in 1-2 seconds. Welcome update. As far as focusing, I can’t tell. I want to say it feels snappier in low light but I’ve never even really thought it was that sluggish. I guess my loft just has really great lighting 🙂
let me guess, you cannot read? 🙂 i’m sorry. you’re an idiot.
I am sorry, Whaeva, but I’ll give Hmfff +1
This child is crying for attention,if you don’t give it to him he’ll go back to sleep.
I don’t own the A7 or A7r but I’m happy for those who do.
Credit where credit is due. Well done Sony! Let’s hope this is a new trend.
I think regular software updates is one of the features that sets Apple apart in the smartphone business. I hope Sony would realize that this is the way to better customer satisfaction and eventually, more sales.
Sony’s history of FW updates is a bit of a hit and miss. NEX-5 got a good share of updates – 3 of them or 4. Similarly A700 got 3 updates. There are also plenty of examples where Sony did not do much at all. So I am not sure if there is trend or simply when Sony enters new segment they tend to release couple of updates to match the competition e.g. A700 v4 fixed the RAW files noise reduction thus producing far better results, NEX-5 got focus improvements, fixes to video, button customisation etc. that made it competitive to Olympus. NEX-5n and 5R did not get much updates at all though….so ….Sony have repeating patterns in FW updates.
I would not be surprised to see one or even 2 more A7 updates to make it competitive.
This v1.0.2 has likely been planned late last year before any reviews were out and it addresses some immediate operational issues with the cameras.
I hope 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 focus on the feedback from reviews and the community i.e. add uncompressed RAW, fixes to auto iso, fixes to image review, better video e.g. 12 bit HDMI output,
I don’t think “availability of many updates” is a good thing. The product should be better in the first place not requiring an update. E.g. Alpha 77. The Speed and responsibility of that should be good out-of-the -box, not fixed in a quite late update. If a camera does not need an update, it is actually a better camera. And I am talking about bugfixes only here, not feature requests/wishes :).
Dear SONY: Thanks for the faster startup time. You fixed your bug and that is good. But… I really, really, really DON’T want compressed RAW or video files. I want to use this camera for clients who are expecting me to deliver the utmost quality. Most clients are familiar with the Canon 5D MKIII and consider that camera to be a “Pro” camera. I’d really like to WOW them with my new SONY and be able to say that it is the new “king of the hill.” I can’t do that with compressed files out of the camera. So, just to be clear, I don’t want compressed files in this camera and hope you will fix this very soon.
You think sony read this crap. Email them
A7 does uncompressed video output from hdmi, if u are professional as you said, u should have a external recorder for the uncompressed output.
I don’t need to capture 4K video. I just need regular HD video but with bitrates at least as high as a 4 yr old Rebel T2i.
You don’t have a clue the different of 4k and non compressed hdmi output, also u don’t know what’s avchd and the old canon’s videos codec means. So there’s no point to discuss with u. Google or wiki yourself
Andrea,
looking at my first RAW files with the new FW I believe files are bit cleaner similar to D600 that I used to own.
I can’t say it enough, this camera is my favorite ever. The files are far superior to my 5D Mark III and I have been using it for professional applications. Thanks for the firmware update!
Totally agree. In straight comparisons. The A7 Raw files are definitely superior to the 5d Mark 3 up to about 1600 ISO. With significantly more latitude. (11.5 verse 14.5 stops is a no brainer) I also use it professionally. Compression issue is a non starter…
Compression issue is only a issue for some who do not own camera or only shoot brick dolls
You calling Tom Holgen a hack?
http://www.sansmirror.com/cameras/a-note-about-camera-reviews/sony-nex-camera-reviews/sony-a7-and-a7r-review.html
You sir, need to crawl back under your bridge and take more cat photos
It’s not about being or not being a hack…It is about real life shoot experience. I use the D800 and D800E on some jobs. The A7r Raw is just as high quality. No real discernible difference. You can spend your time pixel peeping. But remember that peeping makes absolutely no difference by the time it goes to print/web etc….The advantages of the A7 far out ways some perceived issues, that are not issues at all. Sure uncompressed would be cool..No doubt. But not losing sleep over it
well said Gav
cheers
Gav
It’s like TV news medical advice, wait twenty minutes there’s a differing opinion coming from another “expert”……… Going for a long walk and taking some pictures is probably the best medical advise!
Plus, it doesn’t scare the crap out of people — just play the bumbling tourist and see what mischief you can get into…..(:-)
I compared two A7R – one with firmware 1.01, one with the new 1.02. Both carried a Zeiss FE 1.8/55 and used identical settings. No memory card was inserted.
– I did not recognize a difference in startup time directly after camera was switched off.
– I did not recognize a difference in AF speed or accuracy.
– I did not recognize a difference in low light image quality (noise, details) at ISO 6400,
– I did not recognize a difference in the menue structure but I did no compare all options provided in individual menue points.
The only difference I recognize on the A7R was in AWB results (less “orange” at warm artificial light).
Update: Inport of pictures via WiFi works now as expected (Playmemories installed on Win 7) with the new firmware while the camera with the older firmware still displays an error.
“I did not recognize a difference in startup time”?
Well, you did something wrong in your tests
SYSTEM:
Sony A7 + Windows7
SITE USED:
Sony USA
HOW CLOSELY WERE INSTRUCTIONS FOLLOWED:
Exactly ‘to the T’ (even to the point of digging out the original Sony USB cable)
ISSUES WITH THE UPGRADE:
None. Went smoothly – no problems.
IMPROVEMENTS NOTED:
Noticeably faster start-up and faster focusing in low light with the FE 35mm f2.8 (much improved), 55mm f1.8 (somewhat improved) and FE 28-70 (slightly improved)
Have not tested for image quality improvements yet.
#1 REQUEST FOR NEXT FIRMWARE RELEASE (LIST ONLY ONE):
Ability to set minimum shutter speed in A mode with auto ISO
Improvement in faster start-up and faster focusing/compression not an issue
I like this one
Same request to set minimum shutter speed in A with auto ISO
“Ability to set minimum shutter speed in A move with auto ISO”
Same here. Without IS, 1/60 sometimes is too slow for my hands. An update including this would be great.
I would like to bring everyones attention to this review –
http://www.sansmirror.com/cameras/a-note-about-camera-reviews/sony-nex-camera-reviews/sony-a7-and-a7r-review.html
My favorite part In regards to Sonys Compressed RAW files –
“This actually gets us into a discussion of “what can you see?” It’s been
my observation that there aren’t a lot of photographers who have been
trained well enough to see small defects like these.”
So many untrained photographers in this forums posing as professionals. Yet a sad bastard like myself who buys Sony cameras to take cat photos can tell you something is wrong with the cooked files for the last 3 years.
Thanks for the link, interesting article and I wouldn’t disagree with much, but there’s nothing new in there. I think the point that most of these internet reviews miss is that the A7’s are “multi-media cameras” and are not competing with say a Nikon D800E. They’re aimed squarely at people like myself who started shooting professionally on view cameras, worked with medium format cameras like the RB67, shot press & PR on 35mm and eventually moved over to digital. All these systems have huge issues. But the Sony A7R is the first camera that gets me anywhere near the quality of that RB67 and offers me the portability of those old 35mm film camera. The old 35mm FM2’s and 5 lenses would fit in a small waist bag.
What I find thoroughly enticing, I can have that near (maybe better) RB67 image quality from this tiny package AND with a few small Sony accessories near broadcast video and XLR quality audio too. Like I said this is a very exciting multi-media package, it’s only constrained by a lack of imagination and that’s the main gripe I have with internet reviewers………..
+1
these new Sony cameras are the first real “multi-media” or fusion cameras that get us photographers who used to shoot large format and medium format excited
Well put from the two, for I too have worked professionally on HassCM, RB67, shot press & PR on 35mm for many decades, and that step to digital I enjoyed getting used to. Realized, moving on with multi-media and re-sparking the excitement of medium format images from where I began. Really, to the point and well said. I must admit, sheer satisfaction and fun for me, and that’s what it is all about. Learn and past a good time, C’es tout!
FUN – yes! After so many years to find something this fun is very cool!!!!! (:-)
This comment nails it on the head.
The improvements I’ve noticed immediately after updating the firmware, are:
1. Start up time (it is still slow compared to competition, but definitely much faster than before)
2. Shutdown time (earlier it would take a few seconds before the LCD screen turned off, but now it takes a little less than a second.
3. Tiny improvement in AF speed in low light
But I was hoping that they would allow more apps to work with the a7/R, but disappointingly they did not add any of the really cool apps that are available for Nex-5 & 6
On your item #3 it does indirectly add some apps though. They updated the features that are supported by the dev kit. I suspect there were apps in the wings that required this to be released. (this probably means a number of new apps will require you apply the firmware update before they are installed.” just my .02c
Most important question: Can you use the English update on a japanese A7 to get english SW?
Please say it is so. I am fed up on japanese 🙁
I bought my A7R on a visit to Beijing for work. The cameras weren’t shipping in the US at the time and couldn’t believe I saw one sitting there at the sony store. I switched the menus to english and the mode to NTSC from PAL. I downloaded the english update yesterday and it worked perfectly for me first try with no issues. My guess is it’s ok.
hi guys.
which program are you using to develop files from a7?
Do you find lightroom satisfactory?
I’ve tried to convert them to dng and then open in camera raw.
What do you think is the best option? For image quality. for user friendliness it sure is lightroom.
I use Camera Raw (& Bridge) to develop the raw files directly. Why convert them to dng first?
Lightroom is too slow (and the UI too overblown) – imo.
I find Capture One give me a better processed file and better sharpening than Adobe. But they will probably catch up in a update or two.
Any experience with Aperture?
Not recently…Was never that impressed with its performance or processing quality to be honest..particularly in terms of fine detail. Fine tone gradations just were not there… Definitely Capture One is the king of pure processing quality in my experience.
Had to run the update twice as it aborted in the 1st attempt, maybe because my screensaver came on. Worked without a hitch on the 2nd try…HUGE increase in startup time and things seemed a littler snappier overall.
Just as a side note: I tried updating the camera 5 times and never worked…. I thought I had lost my camera for a few minutes… It seems that the problem was that I was trying to update from OSX Mavericks. Tried on an older version of OSX and it worked fine!
she you say “lost my camera” do you mean it did not work?
i’m having some issues, i tried installing the new version, but once it was all finish, my A7r would not turn on. ant suggestions?
Did anyone else notice slower af with the A7 and 35 FE lens? I use the af/mf as my focus button and leave it on continuous af. That way one push is a single af and hold is continuous. Before the update it seemed crazy fast with phase detect on, now it seems to jog and has a delay before it hits focus- this is in good light.
Figured it out- if you go to the toolbox icon in the menu, then row 2, then set “display quality” to standard it seems to focus faster than when it is set on high. That is with my af settings listed above anyway.
So can we say this firmware is considered a win?
This firmware update doesn’t appear to available for windows XP. Can I pretend I have windows 7??
XP is only 15 years old, didn’t even support USB devices natively (it was a plugin) when it was originally released. I don’t mean to sound harsh but perhaps it’s time for at least an update to Windows 7 (which is already 5 years old)?
laughing! – not harsh at all Superkev
Hi,
upgrade went fine. Ok for a quicker start up time….
BUT I miss some serious AF improvments.
CONCLUSION : Getting rid of my A7 cause very disappointing AF
-> my dinosaur CANON mark II is ten times faster and more accurate !
K.
The Sony A7 needs a “Silent-Shutter”-MODE. When you press the release button, the camera takes the picture, when you relase the finger of the relase button the camera resets the shutter. That function would help so much in many situations where you want to be silent.
It’s also sad that the viewfinder needs such a long time to enable when my eye is in front of the viewfinder. I miss quite many shots because of that. It would help if you could at least shut off the auto enableing of the viewfinder and let it switch on by a button.