One day earlier than expected the new A7II firmware update is already available for download through Sony Eu sites. Here are the links:
UK: Windows / Mac
Germany: Windows / Mac
France: Windows / Mac
Italy: Windows / Mac
Benefits and improvements:
- Adds the selectable feature for uncompressed 14-Bit RAW image capture(*)
- Adds support for AF Phase-detection for LA-EA3/LA-EA1
- Adds custom buttons for MOVIE recording
99 Responses
OMG A7 Mark I is dead!
sorry to hear that… Hope you will get more happy with the A7II
Just give Sony couple of months and chill. They cannot make all of these updates in a day. May be they only put the RAW file in older cameras but I think they will do something for all A7 cameras
I doubt it’ll get an update.
But IF it gets an update, it will instantly turn into an A7II without IBIS, smaller grip, different release button placing, wobbly mount and 1 custom button less…
Let say it is SR3
It’s SR0. a7 is long dead. Sorry mate.
Are you guys able to find settings for “Adds custom buttons for MOVIE recording”?
Nope… still searching….
Just go to Custom Menu Settings and you can set one of the Custom Buttons for Movie Recording, but you can’t set anything to the Movie Button
Oh thats a dissappointment:-/ In my dream I would set Finder/Monitor to Movie button but none of these two came with this upgrade.
Jep !
Anyone testet A7II with Canon lenses ? Autofocus ? How good after firmware ?
Tested with fotodiox and sigma 35 and 24 art. Afc and Af work ok, eye Af doesn’t. Sigma 24 is faster that the 35 and both look stable…tested only for 5min. I can safely say that both lenses focus better @1.4 on sony a7ii than on my old Canon 6D body. Finally I can enjoy my sigmas on the A7ii also.
Yes, this is now working perfectly with the metabones iV
Version 2.0 Ok.
Do i have to buy the lea-3 adapter to use with my a-mount glass with better AF?
I have the lae-4 only.
Yes, with the la-ea4 only the built in 15 dedicated PDAF sensors will work. The La-ea3 doesn’t have that and uses the on sensor points.
Thanks!
Time for me to buy an LA-EA3 lol
Nope, the new firmware update automaticly transform your a7II into an A7II+77. The A mount lenses will fit perfectly after the upgrade and you will get 666 points of PDAF as well.
LAEA3 doesn’t have screw drive motor. So it will only work with lenses that has SSM or SAM built in.
Your LAEA4 is compatible with all A-mount glass, unlike the LAEA3.
Expected some more “new” features like, Bracketing with Self-Timer, Auto ISO Minimum Shutter Speed
Auto ISO with minimum shutter speed is indeed very useful. To bad…
bracketing with self timer? why, so you can bracket selfies? Just use an ebay cheap china 1 dollar remote as the rest of us do….
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-IR-Infrared-Camera-Shutter-Remote-Control-For-Sony-Alpha-A7R-A500-A900-/271889485846?hash=item3f4de05016:g:RMMAAOSw14xWOu~4
True to that!
Although very happy with an update, I expected “zoom to focus point on playback” as well, which saves moving across your image after pressing c3 to check focus on a shot. Especially when using EVF only. This is definately a software only feature so could heve been implemented without any problems. And even panasonic/canon have done it in older camera’s.
Also copyright information in meta would have been usefull. As well as being able to put lens information based on steadyshot configuration info in meta. (when using adapted lenses)
Other missed features which may or may not need different hardware would be :
– Eye AF in CAF (maybe processor A7ii is too slow)
– Charging camera on USB while using camera (now disables every function)
– 720p 120 fps video (maybe sensor readout not fast enough)
– custom white balance in video mode without the need to switch to still mode first
– LUT preview when using Slog2 (would be very useful !!!)
I just updated and my A7 II suddenly turned into a A7RII with surrounding angels singing carols to it. Wow, what an early christmas hanukkah present. wow, there is a tree too, with lenses for bells!!
made my day ! xD
Glad i could help 😀
Just update mine and the AF with Metabones 4 and Canon EF lenses is fine now. I have same results than with my 5d3 and with the a7r2!
I have tested with EF40mm STM, EF100 macro L, EF135mmL, EF24mm L v2
A7m2 updated: Uncompressed RAW, oh yea… And even better: Focus is way quicker, and my 50mm dg ex finally focus on my A7m2. The lumpy LAEA4 will be resting on the shelf, collecting dust.
Nice to hear Andre, i will be updating mine tomorrow, the other posts if you read it is a joke 🙂
yes confirmed focus quicker in the dark;-)
I have a Sigma Macro A-Mount lens, and I got no phase detection with the EA3 adapter. Guess that is it only Sony A-Mount lenses that will benefit from this feature?
No, only lenses with built in motor. Most likely you have a Sigma lens with screw drive AF. The Sigma lenses with HSM will probably work. Besides, you can’t really expect that all third party lenses are supported by the new firmware. All Sony A-mount lenses with SSM or SAM motor will work. Everything else is just bonus.
No, but if it worked it would have been great (shoud not have sold the EA4 🙂 )
Hello,
will it work with tamron 90mm macro 1:1 a-mount ???
My 50mm f1.4 dg ex siggy now focus (tested on LAEA1)
Will this work on the Sony A7 mk1
No, it is a firmware upgrade for the mk2
Thinking about upgrading?
Yes – with A7 mk1 you can take a picture of the download-page
Am I wrong, or does the camera now feels much quicker, especially in dim light? 🙂 It´s great.
I thought so too, wasn’t sure though coz I had nothing to compare it to.
yep a lot faster 🙂
Seems *exactly* the same to me as before the update. No difference in AF, startup time, or anything else.
I can confirm focusing in low light is so much faster. Rewind 24 hours ago i was dialing ISO up and slowing the shutter to manually focus (because autofocus is impossible!) with a Canon 70-200mm f4 and dialing back settings before taking the photo with a speedlight in manual mode (f4, ISO100 1/200). Now the camera is accurately acquiring focus is dim light before firing flash. Thank you Sony, you have solved 80% of my problems in 24 hours 🙂
good news. but btw you can set the LCD settings effect to “off” if you want to focus manually in dim light (e.g. with flash). no need to change exposure settings before taking the photo.
All of these updates are cool but i’m still wishing for the option to toggle between LCD and Viewfinder via custom button. The sensor is too sensitive!!!!!
EXACTLY what I’ve been asking for over and over. They included this on the a7rii. Can set a custom button to sweitch between lcd/evf. Why is it so darn hard to add this function in an update??
This feature is on the A7RII? Are you serious? WTF Sony?!
Yup. Can program a button on a7rii
I don’t need it myself, but I support you.
A small price of electrical tape can fix the eff sensor, it has been talked about many times
Are the A7 and A7r (I) already abandonware?
Wait a while. Sony need time to produce these updates. I thought they would not update A7ii either but they did. . It feels same as mobile phone updates now 🙂
Yes, sell them now to me at a giveaway price.
I’m not expecting updates but it would be a nice touch. I’m mostly interested in AF improvements which would be possible since the A7 sensor is very similar to the A7II.
By the way, my A7 is still performing as advertised; no, better than advertised since I’ve spent 2 years to master it instead of buying new every 6 months.
Get in line, quit whining and wait for your turn. A7ii users also had to wait in a line.
The cpus on the first generation cameras, as well as the sensors, will not support in sensor PDAF. Still good cameras, but sensor technology improved with the second generation units (to allow for this feature).
A7 sensor has PDAF. You don’t need much CPU power to send signal to the lens so I think update is still possible. Common, they even updated NEX-3 before!
The a7 has an update, it’s called buying an a7II.
updated. thanks.
fast focus thanks Sony 😉 and start up time
Did anyone a focusing video right before and after update or are there only people that do the update as quick as possible and then think:
“I guess it focuses quicker now (because others say it)”
It’s not a small difference. With a Canon EF adapter: before, we’re talking 4-8 seconds to focus. After, half a second.
wow – incredible! And did you notice an improvement with E-lenses as well?
Not seeing any difference with E-mount lenses.
Only tested my 90/2.8 but it feels faster in bad light and seems to hunt less. Could be placebo though…
This is great. Do you know which Canon to Sony Adapter is working?
Is the Comlite or any cheap adapter working with the Phase System?
Should work with all of them. I’m using the cheap Fotga adapter, and, while the adapter itself is finicky (it often requires a few power cycles and occasional detaching), when it is functioning, it works beautifully: fast and relatively accurate. I’ve got two more Canon lenses and the metabones iV coming to test with it today, so I’ll have harder data soon.
Im interested in your results. Please let me know your results. Maybe you can measure the time to focus with the different adapters.
Didn’t have time to time focus (and it would be pretty unscientific anyway), but here are my results after one day: http://admiringlight.com/blog/canon-ef-lenses-on-sony-a7-ii-firmware-2-0/
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df6d77_7c2cf7e6ec4a4948a5012259a397e4bf.jpg/v1/fill/w_979,h_979,al_c,q_75,usm_0.50_1.20_0.00/df6d77_7c2cf7e6ec4a4948a5012259a397e4bf.jpg
That is incredibly impressible if they can really deliver good quality at such minimal size.
They will have pretty much the whole market to themselves, since nobody else want to make pancake lens for E-Mount. And that’s a huge market when you’re the only player.
It claims “August 2015” but does not seem to exist… Seems like vaporware.
I would think a mistake. These are the folks that make the best adapters for e mount for years now. They probably meant 2016. I suppose there will be kickstarter campaign soon. This is what they did for the Owl adapter
what is their website, googling doesnt seem to find anything on them?
Not small enough.
FAKE.
Release an LA-EA5 that can AF screw-drive lenses, and I’m there.
Hell, release an LA-EA6 that has its own (unnecessary now for these II series cameras) AF unit but more focus points than the 4, and I’m there. But I’d prefer a 5 with pass-through to the camera’s AF.
This gives me hope that the a6000 will get AF Phase-detection on for the LA-EA3. 11fps is hard to beat.
No way. a6100/a7000 is just around the corner. Sony wants you to pay for that feature, not give it away for free.
This new uncompressed raw file spec is not recognized in Lightroom 5, =(
No problems in LR6
is not recognized in Google Photos also
Just installed and tested with Sony 28-75mm f2.8 SAM & Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 SSM. Both show improved focusing speed in combination with the LA-EA3, compared to previous experience with both lenses on LA-EA4. Not earth-shattering, but noticeably faster.
Will I sell the LA-EA4? Not yet, I still have some non-SSM Minolta AF lenses—especially the 85mm f1.4—that I need it for!
Can somebody please explain to me why with this update the LA-EA3 is now a better choice? Currently I use the sony a7ii and LA-EA4 with ZA 85mm f1.4, 70-200mm G 1st ver, and 24-70mm ZA 1st ver. Should I change my adapter?
Thank you!
Because now that the Phase detection is used for adapted lenses so through LA-EA3 adapter, the phase detection focus system of A7ii body will be used for A mount lens. It was unable previously and it was slow with Contrast detection. LA-EA3 has more light gathered since it doesn’t have the mirror in the adapter like LA-EA4. LA-EA4 uses its own motor and focus system so it stays unchanged in every bodies you use. However, you can get benefits from using LA-EA3 with the last two lenses, not the ZA 85/1.4 since it still uses screw drive system that requires the motor of LA-EA4. Only A-mount SSM lenses can use LA-EA3 adapter.
Thank you for your explanation!
you’re welcome
Just want to add that if you are planning on using longer telelenses like the 70-400 zoom the LAEA4 will probably still give some speed advantage. For all other use, the LAEA3 is the one to choose.
I am quite disappointed in Sony for not releasing a more robust set of upgrades in this firmware. It’s the first firmware upgrade in nearly a year, and they didn’t even have the courtesy to include a finder/monitor toggle option. They are aware of how important that is to many owners – they implemented it on the A7r2 after all. This firmware is a huge disappointment.
Can somebody confirm if this update brought the minimum shutter setting for AUTO ISO? I already read a comment they didn’t bring on the Finder/Monitor Toggle option and that’s a shame because that is one of the features that I really like about the a77M2 and a99.
Also, can somebody confirm if there is a way to force the use of PDAF only?
Sony.ca has the Firmware update now, just installed it. I can confirm the new uncompressed RAW files come out to ~47mb each. There appears to be no option for Compressed Lossless RAW, just Compressed and Uncompressed. On the downside the Uncompressed RAW files aren’t supported by Lightroom 5.7.1.
Added note, FW upgrade added Dual Video REC to A7ii.
I think it is some kind of April fool’s joke. The name is that of a non-existent, fake dinosaur.
The update did need a USB 2 port for me, USB 3 wasn’t working ! The camera wasn’t detected with USB 3.
RAW uncompressed doesnt support lightroom 6.1 what shoult i do???
Loving the 2.0 update. Massive AF improvement on all my Canon lenses EXCEPT my 50mm 1.4. Can’t find focus at all?? Just keeps rocking back and forth until I let go of the shutter.
If I switch back to Contrast AF it works, but it’s slow just like before the update.
Any ideas greatly are appreciated 🙂