The video on top proves that overheating issues is now gone thanks to the new 3.0 A7rII firmware. The video has been shot for 2:51 hours(!) in super 35, 24p 100mbps mode. Jonathan writes:
As I’m posting I’m still recording and I’m at 2 hours and 51 minutes. I’m going to stop. Just to be clear. The recording still stop at 29:50 each time. I just pressed record immediately after it stopped. Overheating would normally occur right after the first recording.
The new firmware also improved the chromatic aberration correction on the Sony A7rII and A7sII camera.
A7rII download page at Sony.com (Click here).
A7sII download page at Sony.com (Click here).
105 Responses
Can someone else confirm this is true and not just another SAR clickbait post?
If this is true then thats very impressive, but why didnt Sony include it in the official improvement announcement and instead not mention it at all?
confirmed that every post on this site is yet another SAR clickbait post 🙂
It’s true, overheating issue resolved in Super35 mode!
Sony’s website says improved recording times in s35 mode on the FW 3.0 page. I let my camera hit the time limit 3 times and got the same results, no overheating. I’ve never made it Past about 40 min total s35 mode before.
Burnt through two batteries but couldn’t convince my R2 to overheat in S35. Like the other guy, it used to die at about 40 minutes in.
Phenomenal!
i’ll not watch it.
Oh wow! Time to update!
Great job Sony. Should make a lot of a7 users happy
This is very cool. The time lapse shows how I feel the battery works.
Good one 🙂 was thinking the same thing
Damn that sucks, people are running out of excuses to hate these cameras, at least the batteries are still terrible and hopefully there’s no Fw update to fix it.
True. I think I need to start saving my money… this bad boy is currently 3860€ on amazon… as an amateur photographer I don’t know how to justify that kind of money for a camera 😉
Temporary insanity, we’ll support you.
Battery life is actually very good for video / live view camera. Look how many shots / record time a DSLR gets using LV with their much bigger batteries. Sony should be getting an Honourable mention for battery life rather than dissed for it (obviously a larger battery will yield more life again, but what they eek out of a tiny battery is quite amazing).
Very true. For the same capacity they’re easily twice as efficient, if not more.
True dat. When I shot the 5d3 the battery would be toast in 45 minutes when constantly using live view, even less when recording. I really don’t care about the battery, generics are cheap, they’re light and you can swap them in seconds.
Bigger battery means more weight and likely a larger camera. No thanks.
That could be the reason why Canikon still didn’t got on board on FF mirrorless, they know their hardware is shit in this regard.
The G5X have atrocious battery life too as DPReview stated.
You know, weirdest thing about the battery on the A7R ii is where it appeared to be really bad when I first got the camera, but now, it seems to be very good. ie, I recently covered a figure skating photo shoot and managed 3600 shots using a 150-600 with constant focusing throughout the event with 18% battery to spare. To which I’d add, would place the A7R II well above the average using the grip imo. And so very happy with that.
On another note, I purposefully shot uncompressed under the notion that the larger files might get in the way of the shooting, but encountered no such limitations during shooting. And so I’m happy to report that the A7R ii did a bang up job against the odds in my own experience.
Well… Sony is working on a battery that increases 40% of the capacity comparing the same form-factor, so it might happen soon.
It may be true (but very odd for Sony not to mention it at all!), but this video establishes nothing.
Without showing the overheating prior to update and then a lack of the problem afterwards, under the exact same ambient conditions, it is not a demonstration of anything.
That said, I can’t help wondering how such an effect could possibly happen purely through firmware anyway. Unless Sony had previously used some hugely inefficient processing stream, which put an enormous unnecessary burden on the system, I can’t see what changes would reduce heating. After all, the heat is just an inevitable consequence of a processor operating.
Any ideas?
I assume Sony managed to turn off a part of the sensor in Super 35 mode and thus, less energy is consumed.
If the overheating issue really is gone, then one would also see a significant improvement of battery life when recording movies. I wonder why this is not mentioned in the demo video…
You could be right, if it’s possible to do that. It’s way beyond my current knowledge of how the Sony sensor/processing architecture works to appreciate the details of what is actually happening. Certainly each ‘sensel’ is addressable, but whether that means they can turn them off is anyone’s guess.
Out of curiosity, I looked at the Sony site again and it has me scratching my head, “Improves 4K movie recording time when using the vertical grip (VG-C2EM) or when the APS-C/Super35mm mode is activated”.
Why should the grip be unique? Would it not have the same (but 50%) effect for the one battery? And why “or” for the Super35mm mode? Is this dependent upon the grip? I suspect some bad or careless translation, but would like clarification!
Explanations above seems plausible. Recording time means time you can record before thermal shutdown I suppose. With the grip, it could be improved by switching between batteries. Batteries do produce a lot of heat, and having the heat spread out over the total volume of the two batteries should make an improvement. In super 35 it could have to do with not activating the dead sensor area. Just speculating.
But they did mention it, it was the primary purpose of the update.
Although I have to wonder if it is more related to using the battery grip (as it mentions when using the grip). Perhaps it is using a more balanced method of battery usage where it switches between batteries dynamically rather than draining one then the other. Battery heat seems to be a biggish issue in small bodies especially under constant and heavy usage.
Ah, that could be a possible explanation! As well as having a general ‘internal’ heating reduction from a battery getting warm, this will spread over the two and lessen the effect even more.
Now will this work with third party grips…?
Depends I guess, if they emulate the Sony grip (which I believe they do).
They may have simply adjusted the heat threshold as well, which is probably no bad thing. The fact that this doesn’t occur quickly (when it does happen is usually after half an hour or more) then it was probably teetering on the edge of the thermal build up temp depending where it was used and under what conditions. They usually set pretty low overheat temps for these things so turning it up a few degrees would likely minimise this to the smallest number of excessive situations while maintaining reliable running.
Again, that makes sense. It’s a pity they don’t just say that, though.
At first glance it merely appears to be a more efficient use of power (or even removing the sub-30min limit), hence giving longer video times. Why they can’t simply say it will reduce the risk of shutdown for overheating seems a little defensive. I think all manufacturers would gain recognition and appreciation if they were more upfront.
Personally, though, I’ve never seen this particular issue as much of a negative at all, but I do little video and I don’t live where it is especially hot!
Battery heat is probably one of the biggest issues, those running rigs with remote power saw the issue far less frequently.
I suspect a systems engineer along with an engineering staff of varied disciplines, looked for ways to improve overall system efficiency particularly during the 4K recording process. They likely found several areas that could be improved upon all of which added up to a significant reduction in heat generation. Any increase in efficiency has the added benefit of less heat generation and better battery life. This may have resulted during the process of developing the next generation camera while taking into consideration the less than ideal attributes of the current cameras. It’s good to see that the Sony engineers are not satisfied with the original firmware release and are actively pursuing improvements that will hopefully continue throughout the service life of this camera.
The beauty of a closed system is that you never know what they did.
As a programmer my guess would be more efficient coding. If you can keep overall processor usage down == kess energy used == less heat to dissipate.
Anyway… extending the tilt LCD screen helps a lot (ess trapped heat between LCD and sensor/IBIS mechanism). Just extend it a bit during video recording.
I don’t think he was aware of that correction.
Admitting they’ve upped the thermal cut-off would be admitting they had it set too low from the outset. There’s some logic to Sony’s thought process here.
That’s a possible explanation, but one that I always find odd whichever way you look at it.
If they did set the threshold too low, why did they not realise it very quickly in early testing? So many of these ‘issues’ (and that applies to ALL manufacturers) suddenly appear shortly after an item is first released, when reported by hundreds of people, yet no one noticed during the months of testing. I find it astonishing!
On the other hand, if a problem is genuinely not discovered and needs addressing, why don’t they simply admit it. It would immediately pacify all those who are complaining, but they keep silent (if not loudly denying there’s a problem at all) and hope everyone has short memories. That is a very foolish strategy.
We are all told as children that honesty is the best policy. If only everyone could adhere to that life would be so much easier.
Whatever happened, its fixed, that’s all many care about. These cameras, because of industrial espionage, are basically tested in a bubble by people who’re often too close to the project to recognize any obvious flaws like this. Canon did the same with their 5D3, light leaks in the viewfinder where discovered right after “the black Chrismas light” issue. The worst offender in recent times has been Nikon though, takes them forever to confess or sins, that’s what you get from a former military contractor who’s slowwwwwwly becoming used to dealing with a discerning public.
Fair play to Sony, they’re putting the effort in. Any news on an A9 pro body?
Fair play? Then when do we get the update on A6000 too coz we have heat issue too
Is it 4k full frame?
I’ve got one of those things somewhere. Used it a couple of times. Only shame it’s got an AA-filter really, otherwise a good little camera.
Now you can shot your continuous single cut p0rn without worrying missing the important part. 2:51 Hours of single record is so important in the art of film making~!!!
Wrong, it still cuts-off at 29:50, I have it right here infant of me cutting off as before! Where you getting that information from?
I don’t have an A7x, but I believe the “30 minute” cut-off has nothing to do with over-heating, but is a system limitation of ALL cameras, not sold as video cameras, because of tax rules on video cameras. The ‘over-heating’ appears to be cured after starting NEW videos immediately after the 30 min cut-off, so that the camera is being used, more or less continuously, over long periods.
Correct, we weren’t implying otherwise, its a “tax avoidance feature” on hybrid cameras. It’ll now shoot multiples of 29:50 clips indefinitely it seems, well two per battery anyway.
What about Documenting theatre and concerts and making long lasting interviews
To be fair, he said film-making, not documentary.
Continuous shooting is equivalent to spray and pray on photography. A real nightmare to edit.
Not many arguments left for the A7SII…
Of course there is – low light video capability. In stills A7rII does very well in low light, but for video the difference is very obvious. I did some night time videos under city lights in Hong Kong, and I wish I had A7sII. A7rII video is not that great in low light, even in Super35 mode…
No, the difference is not obvious, when you use the Super35 4K mode:
https://vimeo.com/135731718
And you have to compare with comparable denoising.
The advantage of the A7RII is that you can use 4K also in Super35 mode with better IQ and you have the option for full frame 4K with significantly less rolling shutter (but then also less low light performance).
Beside that the AF of the A7RII works way better (also in Video mode) and you have the 42 MP in stills.
S-Log3 is a nice feature of the A7SII – but not when is must be used in a 8 bit corset.
The video compares A7RII vs A7S not A7SII.
FF 4k in the RII is garbage above 1600, it’s completely unusable at 6400. The A7sII is a FF 4k camera, period, that’s a significant advantage if you’re a video shooter. The A7rII is a s35 4 k camera that shoots high Rez stills. As a hybrid the A7rII is a better camera for any number of reasons, but if video is your focus, the A7sII shoots better video. My A7s focuses better in low light than my A7rII as well.
Full frame 4k and slog3. I have the RII, its awesome, but lenses like the 16-35 lose a little magic in crop mode. I have to use the 10-18 to get back the wide end.
120fps 1080p footage,
No pixel binning @ FullFrame
SLOG3, S-Gamut3.Cine and other profiles
Low Light AF
$200 cheaper
Just updated from verion 1 to version 3
Hoping for better AF.
Also would like better burst rate.
Have not used the camera yet since the update.
Has anyone heard when the new Commlite Nikon F to Sony E mount PDAF compatable adapter will be available….????????
Excellent work by Sony…..
but superficial and uncomplete if they update only for a few camera 😉
They updated the internal 4k on a full frame sensor. What other sony camera is ff and has 4k internally, and needs this update?
Good work, now lets do this for the RX100 IV and enable internal 4k in the A7s. Thanks in advance Sony!
I think there are hardware reasons for why the original A7S doesn’t have internal 4k
Sony says its a heat issue so they can change this now, but will they?..
A6000 has heat issues too. When will there be an update of the firmware with uncompressed RAW too….?
-10 vote to Sony
PS: once again Sony proves they want to give priority to one line against the others they sell more ;)… not sure selling < 500 000 units of camera will make have positive balance 😉 with their FF line if they goes on on that way…
The a6000 already got its update to XAVC. Uncompressed isn’t happening on the old cameras.
lol old camera :p
Old as in, not Current technology.
Don’t expect a microchip of today to do the things a chip released next week/month/year can do. Just take a look at how fast technology has changed in just 5-10 years. There were no smart phones 10 years ago, 2007 I believe (iPhone1). Now compare what they were capable of over each of those 7 years and realise how far they’v come in such a short time. And that’s not taking into account the advancements in programming.
So yes, a camera released Feb 2014 (nearly 2 years ago) that was a lot further down the technological advancement tree when compared to the A7rii, would be classed as OLD technology.
Exactly
There were definitely smartphones before the iPhone. Blackberry, Palm, Windows Mobile.
Old? The thing is THE current APS-C cam from Sony!
Its end of line.
When did this a6000 overheating become a thing?? I’ve had mine for over a year, and have never had nor heard of this. Is it just with the new XAVC high bitrate codec that they added with the new firmware? If that’s the case, then that’s some silly entitlement there. You get something for free that you didn’t have before and complain because it’s not perfect 😛
Indeed it overheats with the XAVCS and i m sure i m not the only one who noticed it;)…. Btw if they updated it then they could work on that too because they are still selling this camera and i m not sure the customers will accept to have such a issue just because c’est la vie 😉 and nothing is perfect ;)…. They updated the A7x line they should do the same for other lines….
I really find silly from Sony to believe their FE line can be interesting for all kind of customers. They still get themself mixed up with Apple and their iPhone. If a customer don’t find any camera for their need, they won ‘t buy a Sony FE camera by default and they will jump ship for another manufacturer
When does the overheating occur? I’ve had mine for awhile I don’t think I’ve ever overheated it before.
i recorded a family party last month and the camera shut down after 10-15 min of recording of XAVC-S….. Body was hot and i waited a bit before starting video recorded again. It was first time i was shooting a so long video and the first time i had a powercut with this camera since almost two years now.
Maybe it’s defective. Try sending it in. I use it more extensively than that and it hadn stopped on me yet. That sounds really bad.
It’s not defective, it’s the new codec, overheats the A6000 like crazy.
In my experience, the new codec improved the overheating with the A6000. Mine would never make it past 12 mins before the XAVC update. Since updating I could get a full 30mins (mostly… 😉
Don’t argue economics with Sony, they know better than you. You can complain with other more valid reasons. Also, upgrades are nice, but don’t feel entitled to them. You bought a camera for the features that it has. Unless you bought a Fuji, you shouldn’t expect more.
Fuji with all theirs newer firmware still lags behind the A6000 that is half the price now…
If they knew better, they d notice FE line is a little part of their sales…. They won’t make positive financial balance with it as they are not as famous as Leica and HB and not everyone want to buy 2K-3k camera body…
aps-c is DEEEEAAAAD….
Even though FF users represents a good % of camera users, Sony will never convince the bigger part of camera users to buy FF camera if they don’t need it…. Therefore to make financial balance being positive they will have to sell more smaller sensor for smartphone and point&shoot camera.
The following graphic could be a good example of Sony image sensor sales. It shows FF ( in DSLR and Mirrorless rows) won’t lead the market with maybe <16% of sensor sales ( 15% in DSLR row and 0,5-1% in Mirrorless row)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/flickrdesign/23166442470
If maybe for Sony APS-C can be dead, it means they accepted to earn less money 😉
I don’t think it’s going to happen. But maybe, technically it’s possible when you consider that the A6000 has the ability to shove 240mb (10fps of 24mb RAW files) per second through its pipeline. I think an uncompressed raw throughput could be easily achieved at 4 frames per second depending on how big those uncompressed raw files would be.
I think it would conflict with the attraction to a newer product that may or may not be on the way.
I would love to see some firmware updates for my not very old A7R and A7S, I spent a lot of money on both of them and would love to feel included in the new hype surrounding the latest releases.
I also wonder if Sony will update the A7mkII camera at Photokina like they did last year, if they do, then you can bet your bottom dollar that the mkII models will also be replaced by mkIII models later in the year.
I would like also Metabones to release a Sony FE to E mount speedbooster adapter to get the full FF image on the APS-C sensor
Id Love to get a full frame version of a 70-200 camera like rx1. Infact instead of buying lens I’d buy a bunch if these types if cameras. I know that’d probably cost like 4k tho
I just realized I saw the rx1 review instead of the videos you guys saw lol
Sony suddenly changes laws of physics with fw update?… oh wait, it was the forum “experts” who didn’t study physics in the first place…
A more efficient encoding algorithm uses less processing power and produces less heat. That is not breaking laws of physics, but routine in software development. Do your research before calling everybody names.
Well I think he’s more implying how ppl are saying its impossible. And I think he’s right.
INTO SARCASM CAN YOU?
does anybody knows if the firmware can be used on any A7RII sold all over the world?
i bought mine in china, and cannot change the language to german for example, so i wonder if i should be using the firmware of the chinese sony website or if it doesnt matter at all.
i know a friend of mine once bought a camer in japan and the menu was ALL japanese, with no option to change to other languages
will still wait for some reports on the experience with the new firmware though before i will install any at all
The firmware should work on any A7R2.I live in the UK and have installed V3 successfully (Downloaded from Sony UK).I purchased the camera in Hong Kong.
Surprised you cannot change language.If you navigate to menu-toollbox-number 4-4th one down you should be able to change language.
I have a Japanese A7RII. These genuinely have no other options for language. Its only Japanese. Perhaps the Chinese ones are a similar deal. I have always got firmware updates from the Japanese Sony site. I never tried the English firmware in case something goes wrong ^^
A camera from HK should just be the international version. So, the same as bought anywhere else. Except china it seems.
You can use the update on any camera, but it won’t enable languages or features that weren’t enabled before.
Btw. disabling certain languages for certain regions is as stupid as DVD region codes. Somebody from the old DVD specification department must still hold a leading position in Sony’s camera division. :-/
happy 21st of December 🙂
Let’s see how many reviewers have the courage to make a statement to correct what they said about the overheating.
And I find disturbing that after a couple of days DPReview still didn’t said a word about that, specially for a major update like this one.
I did a quick test comparing the start times of the new A7RII 3.0 firmware to V2.0. I figured others might be interested in the results, though not as impressive as I was hoping for, but improvement is improvement.
https://youtu.be/20Y7H4AFyA4
Wish a FW-update could fix global warning as well…
Where’s the update for A7, Sony? We bought this camera at full price and paved the way for the A7 series success..you owe us a firmware update, too for uncompressed raw (& better jpgs).
I never had overheating issues in practical use, i’d only seen overheating issues in videos, where they try to force it