It’s time for you to select the most needed new features and fixes that should be implemented in future A77 firmware upgrades. I summed your requests and tried to make an easy overview of your suggested changes. You guys gave a terrific long list of new features and bug fixes (Click here to read your comments). I choose to sum the display your most requested only because otherwise the list would have become incredibly long. This is not a scientific test! It should only give a very general idea about what Sony should do more urgently.
So while almost all you features and bug fix suggestion were interesting let’s vote the ten only of them that Sony should absolutely do now!
[poll id=”87″]
Reminder: The A77 is out of Stock in almost any store. Preorders search links at [shopcountry 8461].
One more private note: By the time you are reading this I am starting my three days mountain trip. I will stay between 2500 and 3500 meter for two nights. I don’t know if I can have Internet access with my iPhone in these days. I scheduled a couple of news that will get online between now and Sunday. Hope to come back alive 😉 I am writing this because some comments awaiting for moderation will need some time to be approved. Plus emails can be answered on late Sunday only.
76 Responses
Shouldn’t this poll only be filled in by A65/A77 owners ?
Why? I’m still considering whether or not to purchase an A77, so firmware updates are of great interest to me, especially when it comes to control lag issues.
I personally feel that the lag issues are the biggest problem with the A77, and should not exist in a camera at this price point.
I’m an a77 owner! My votes are in!
Please vote for autoiso in m mode and ‘implement lowest shutter speed in autoiso’, remove the lag and make the AF points more visible. I’d be one happy owner if Sony did all those. (and fix the bugs of course!)
I agree. I’ve read the manual once already and I plan to read it again, as the A77 simply isn’t available. I know enough about photography and features to know how to vote. Frankly, if the A900 were selling for a bit lower than it is today, I would opt for that instead. Its a far more refined and proven platform while A77 seems more like testbed for the upcoming A9x.
~Dan
Like the A55 was the test bed for the A77. 😀
I’m considering to buy the A77, but only when some bugs will be fixed, so I guess my opinion should count
Smaller shops have the 77 in stock.
1. Why?
2. How?
Some of these things are already implemented, e.g. switching between 3 and 8 fps. Why is this even in the list?
I think it means we can choose 3fps /4/5/6/7/8 fps
not only 3/8 fps
Exactly
some of these are hardware, not firmware
one important point is missing on the voting list:
allow switching to HDR while shooting RAW (automatically going to JPG-only mode…like when switching to panorama mode)
now added
Focus bracketing PLZ!
No CROP On video mode (12%, 22 Votes)
i think this is for the steadyshot…not possible to having no crop when using sss
I think people wants the possibility to have no crop mode with no image stabilization.
And noise reduction for high iso?
Better JPEG 😉
I think this is maybe a bad idea about such polls, where directly faults are included in the list. The voting people should not be forced to choose between faults/failures and enhancements.
Faults/bugs/failures should always be addressed and have high priority, fx. the flash issues or the issues where control wheels turns opposite direction or where sound level control don’t work.
Normally with firmware updates you see both new features and fixes. I know fixes should all be made as soon as possible but that’s not realistic.
I need zone feature, in creative style, back…
(Avalable in a850, a900, a700)
Forgot to add one more feature: I want double exposure in a single image pls
15 votes on LINUX support!? Why!?
and 53 for IPhone and Android app support!?! whats with that? 53 people who dont realise that in order to achieve this you need to cram the phone full of libraries which have nothing to do with photography whatsoever and just eat resources. Also I somehow doubt that Apple are going to allow Sony (or anyone else) to produce an IOS/IPhone emulator and thats before you even get to considering that both Android and IOS apps assume the availability of internal hardware which doesn’t exist in a camera. Thats 53 wasted votes when there are a bunch of more pressing photographic and video issues that need attending to.
why should google not allow to develop an app?
if you got tethering you could have an Android app. Just use the tethering protocol and add an bluetooth receiver. i am sure somebody allready develop such a piece of hardware
This option refers to the ability to run Iphone or Android apps, not to whether you could talk to the camera from an App. If it was the latter, then you would be correct but essentially all that would mean is that there was a tethering protocol. As long as you know the protocol you can write a driver stack in any OS to talk to it.
That’s what i meant Native Android or iphone apps are not realistic and don’t make sense. An open API for sure
You don’t need to “cram the device full of libraries” just publish an open interface specification for remote control on the USB/IR. Publish the spec of the interface and the Linux, Android, IOS coders will do the rest.
I think you’re referring to the option “Thethering control and shooting”. The iphone one is about running Itunes/Marketplace apps on the camera. for the tethering option you are correct.
Anyway i still think a realtime image processing for bulb mode that shows what the camera has seen since the shutter has been opened would be nice. could you add that?
i’m sorry, but some options are nonsense.. how is Sony to change the buffer size via firmware?! and they allready stated that the current hardware is not able to do raw processing with the same options like jpg (hdr,multiframe etc.), dream features would be another poll.. also i’m 100% sure opening up the software to 3rd parties or even open source will never happen given Sony’s history. we can be happy they support sd cards now, instead of some random own card format 😉
Indeed, Sony have clearly stated the reasons for stuff like the video crop and 1600 limit, can’t people use Google?
But from what I have seen the NEX-7 (which has the same sensor) does not have the horizontal crop (or mention it in the manual like the A77 does). And yes the NEX-7 does not have SSS built-in (or on the sensor) so Sony should at least have the higher spec A77 able to support the same non stabilised crop of the sensor. It just seems a bit like one of those Sony style assumptions that we would all not want S mode with focussing or full manual with no steady-shot (or in other words the annoying crop) etc! Interestingly, I wonder why the NEX-7 does not have the pixel based SSS for video… hmmm…
wish sony really care what we waiting for A77!
Aw no manual audio controls? =(
Is this list going to be sent directly to Santa Claus?
There isn’t an option on there for getting them into the stores, for me that’s the biggest missing “feature” of the A77.
*like*
Though I’ve already have mine for like a month now.
I can buy one now, but it’ll be 270 GBP more than list price on the Sony site! I’ll wait…
What happened to the audio level control while recording videos?
10 is not enough, considering some of this things(like possibility to switch NR absolutely or automatically switch from RAW to JPEG in the pano, HDR…)as bad made and needing to be fixed, not as some new firmware features. Maybe 15 options…
Non owners shouldn’t vote….. if this is what you voted for! You wasted 3 of the top five on JPEGS and lag time…WASTE of SPACE! Duplicated the ‘no lag time’ with EVF-LCD faster refresh right in the top 5. Same! Infact, all of the top 5 should be thrown out. Like they will give us more buffer. woulda, shoulda, couylda…
If I was SONY, don’t think I’d listen to this group. As a whole, we’re all on the short bus! TGIF!
Non-owner shouldn’t vote? Why not? Until some features are added like tethering then some potential owners will never purchase the A77, or do their opinions not count?
Hi Andrea,
CES and PMA@CES are in three weeks. Are there no rumours about what Sony is going to show?
Thanks.
compact cameras 🙂
Really, that’s it for PMA?
I bet you’re holding out on us….
🙂
Why would expect Sony to announce another model in three weeks time?
I’d actually like it if they included a time lapse mode.
I guess having a JPEG option is good for when you aren’t going to be near a computer with Lightroom/ w/e for days…
Although I generally find it a great idea to make such a poll, but isn’t it more wise to limit te selection a bit? I bet most people don’t even get to the bottom…
We start reading from top to bottom and select the first things we find interesting…Try putting “faster respons” on the bottom of the list and let’s see 😀
Nice job though!
Don’t forget us A65 owners!
What will happen?
Sony won’t implement any of these features in an A77 firmware update but instead implement them for the A99 or an A77 successor. You already gave them your money. You need to give it to them again for any additional feature.
exactly, sony hold back features on purpose so you’ll buy a higher end camera and they make a lot more money on you… thats why they HATE issuing firmware updates adding any new features, and when they do they really hold back on them.
they are crystal clear to me in what they are trying to do- give the customer percieved high value (deceit) when in reality they are just saving massive production costs by using the same components in multiple cameras (they’ve been doing this for a while now).
save your money buy from a real camera maker till Sony give real value again
end of line
I think I’m going to have to disagree with you, respectfully. Sony have added picture effects and peaking to the NEX 3 and 5 and better functionality and just recently added peaking to the VG-10.
Same with the a33 and a55 with picture effects and some added functionality options.
I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss them when it comes to adding new features through firmware upgrades.
Yeah like they never added features to NEX through firmware…oh wait…
None of these fixes will do much for the A77’s reputation in the long haul.
The internal memory (buffer) was cheapened on purpose, used on 3 different cameras to save costs, as was the processor, sensor, and EVF (4 cams on that).
Sony screwed up big time by not giving the A77 a larger buffer than the A65 (it barely has more and Im betting the A65 was altered firmware wise to stop and not use the full potential of its hardware).
The A77 will be forgotten in the dust once Nikon has their D400 out, Canon answers, and even Pentax answers.
Sony screwed up at the hardware level when playing with the competition at this price level. Drop the price by $400.00 and I’ll take back what I said about the A77. As is, it’s a way overhyped, over priced product that won’t be remembered in the long run. Just like a lot of Sony cameras.
Unlike the A900, A700, and A100 which were all fine efforts that just slightly fell short in KEY aspects. Had those been addressed they all would have sold MUCH more.
end of line.
The only answer Nikon, Canon and Pentax have is an updated version of a decades old SLR design.
“end of line”
When the A77 is as old as the Canikon/Pentax cameras it will be $400 cheaper. At least $400, probably more.
To bad that my a33 had lack of fw updates. Apparently sony just don’t wanted to update a33/55.
Let’s not forget one thing; Many of the features we ask for are limitations deliberately and carefully placed there by Sony. They exist to protect other Sony models in the company. (Both present and future ones)
Remember, Sony has THREE major groups to keep happy all at once;
“Handycam” Department.
“Alpha/NEX” Department.
“Pro/Broadcast” departments. (NXCAM/XDCAM etc.)
These three MUST be separated and protected from each other as best as possible. How do you do that? Slice and dice features and play the “shell game” with each product.
Alpha in particular will always have silly restricted video features to protect “Handycam” and “Pro/broadcast”. I mean we could chat about this for weeks and weeks on end and as much as we all hate, it’s not going away.
I bet Sony “Pro/Broadcast” groups were all over the A77 design team standing over their shoulders making SURE that the A77 was properly “crippled” to protect “Pro/NXCAM” division sales numbers. (afterall, the FS100 is supposed to be the video DSLR “killer”…right?)
Bottom line; The company must protect itself from internal cannibalism. It sucks and we suffer but that the reality.
Cliff
They can only do that as long as no competitor adds the same feature to a competing camera. Sony will have to add it sooner or later, whether they like it or not.
So why not add it in the first place and gain some competitive advantage by that?
WOW, I sure hope Sony listens to the Pixel Binning request. I’d take a 12mp low light CHAMP over a 24mp “meh” sensor ANY day!
That, and tethering/clean HDMI are my big requests.
Also, does anyone else have the *occasional* 4+ second boot time on their A55? It doesn’t ALWAYS happen, but it happens enough to be a problem.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MANUAL AUDIO CONTROL??
a lot of requests for that on the previous thread but i dont see an option for it!! This needs to be in there
Yep, what happened with it! I want manual audio control too!
How did everyone miss compressed raw?
cRAW woun’t be missed of anyone. 🙂
Because the RAW processing was improved, so the RAW files now are smaller than the cRAW files. Accordingly, cRAW is history in newer cameras.
.
Thanks for the input!
Have anyone noticed when you change your focus mode to AF-C, you take a picture, check your picture, try to take a picture again… It changed itself again to AF-S… very annoying!!
this apparently only happens when you change it with your wheel. Not when you select it with your jog dial
Manual audio and reduced noise reduction in video. The compression above ISO 800 is terrible.
I wonder if it’s realistic to ask for such a thing as pixel binning? I know Fujifilm does it with their EXR sensors. But their sensor arrangement (or their Bayer filter) is different, so that they always have two adjacent pixels of the same color. This allows for relatively ‘easy’ combining of pixels. I think the A77 uses the traditional arrangement in which pixels of the same color are always further apart, complicating the combination of pixels.
I don’t think such a feature will be implemented via a firmware update.
Did I miss MANUAL AUDIO CONTROL on the list somewhere?
Please put that on the list. I checked through it numerous times and couldn’t find it.
_______
Also, not just Smart Teleconverter in RAW… But multiple options for lower resolution and classic formats in RAW too.
Thanks for forming this thread as a poll. Please include these other important features which could be addressed with firmware.
If the poll option on the horrid video button would be called MOVIE button it would get a lot more votes…
can we, the “budget” slt users (a65 )users get the same poll ?
thx
please buy my A77. I want a Canon Mark 2.