For some unknown reason Sony has slowed down the work on the firmware updates of cameras like the NEX-7 and A77. It’s just my guess but I think that Sony engineers were now focused on the development of the new NEX-5R and NEX-6 cameras. But this is not the way to go Sony! We all trusted you when buying our Sony SLT or NEX that you would keep fixing and improving our (sometimes very expensive) cameras. If you make us happy you will earn trust and we will spend even more money into the system!
The recent [shoplink 13183 ebay]Canon 7D[/shoplink] firmware upgrade shows how Canon did take care of the user requests. A nice article about the Canon lesson has been posted by David Kilpatrick. It’s a must read for all Sony managers! I hope the good SLT and NEX sales success will now convince the Sony managers that we need a long time customer support.
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On the other side the amount of added features in the original NEX-3/5 cameras since the initial release is huge as well!
slow news day?
Quite the opposite. But the firmware from Canon came out yesterday and I think it’s the right moment to write about it!
Which do you prefer:
Firmware that requires frequent updates?
Firmware that does not?
I understand your point. definitely I don’t want frequent updates. I want a stable camera. But these days with such powerful HW platforms most of the time a simple SW update is enough to take the camera to a new level. As a user I would be really happy if once in a while Sony comes up and say “hello, we havent forgotten your purchase. here is an update which will add this feature and so on…”
/Aj700
According to Canon Europes site the 7D has had three software updates so far…just three! i’d hardly call that regular. This Canon 7D software update is more about enhancement and prolonging the sales life of the product rather than bug fixes, a superbly smart business idea. I’ll take regular feature enhancements any day thanks.
If Sony wants to tell me that it has not forgotten my investment into the NEX system, it should not pester me with frequent updates, but with new lenses.
More “creative filters”? Seriously? Are you really looking forward to the addition of heart-shaped frames to portraits and a London Olympics themed UI?
Let us not forget that Sony already has more software gimmicks than Canon (for instance, HDR, twilight mode, etc.). Also, it is not as if Sony had a bunch of new noise filtering algorithms in the newer cameras that are withheld from the current generation of users.
Sony has addressed some of the major UI gripes and then left the software stable, which is not a bad strategy, because every update means a maintenance hassle for users, a support hassle for Sony, and possibly a percentage of camera returns after an update failure.
ok, I dont remember mentioning “creative filters”, we’re not talking about noddy gimmicks here, we’re talking about serious enhancements…like the addition of tethering support, uncrippling wireless flash, movie button lock, full time histogram display in video mode etc, etc etc.
Not all firmware updates mean fixes to bugs which seems to be what a lot of people are implying but I understand their points. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
I own a 5N. While it isn’t the expensive flagship 7, it’s certainly not a cheap device for the average consumer. It’d be nice to get a few more occasional firmware updates which provide upgrades and tweaks. Just for example, Sony could easily add optional photo filters for users, upgraded noise processing, etc.
Agreed. (You were not the commenter suggesting the creative filters, but see further down below…)
My main wishes concern user-definable shortcuts (for instance, I dislike to turn on MF and focus highlighting manually whenever I switch to a manual lens). Generally, the menu structure on the 5N still sucks rocks through a straw. I have difficulty to imagine that Sony comes up with a big update improve everything that is wrong, and I would hate to waste attention on small, incremental updates with negligible effect on my practical camera usage.
Your UI complaints are understandable although what you have now is apparently an improvement on the initial NEX5 UI so lord only knows how bad that must have been to use. On the 77 we have similar issues with excessive menu navigation…and we also have an excellently placed, non-user definable “?” button which is seemingly useless but could be assignable to a user defined shortcut if Sony would just allow us to do it.
I am not asking for filter gimmicks，i want remote shutter release work with explosure blacketing, that is a big nuisance that can be fixed by fw update
You are absolutely right admin!
Sony should rather learn a lesson from themselves 😉 when the Nex5 came out the firmware updates did change the camera from good the great and added lots of stuff. after that sadly they settled on what they had.
guess Canon has enough time and resources to pimp their firmware as they don´t do much else innovation 😉
The original NEX firmware upgrades were probably bigger than what came in the recent 7D upgrade, or at least pretty close!
Honestly this idea that a camera should ‘do more’ through a firmware update, I personally find to be quite silly! Yes they should fix bugs that the camera shipped with, but having an expectation that Sony will add new and undocumented features is just wishful thinking. If you don’t like the features a camera has, don’t buy that camera!
And as for the 7D ‘big update’ well this was 3 years after the launch of the camera, is that the path you want Sony to choose? Wait three years to add features to a camera simply as a stop gap measure because they don’t have a replacement to release any time soon? Did it really take Canon 3 YEARS to develop this update? Think about it seriously. Canon created this update to tide the 7D over, so it doesn’t look so out of date on shelves, not to keep existing 7D customers happy, if it was for that reason it would have been released 2.5 years ago.
My guess, 2 months ago Canon realised their 7D replacement was going to be late, really late to market. They quickly announced that there would be a firmware update to the 7D to keep it looking current. I mean if this wasn’t the case why did they announce it months before it is ready to be loaded onto the camera.
Sony really have nothing to learn here. If anything Canon should have taken a leaf out of Sony’s book and their NEX updates for the 3, 5 and VG10.
I agree with you. There is no indication what so ever, that this was done to please existing 7D owners.
But there is still a lesson to be learnt by Sony:
If the current model (a700/a850/a900) looks outdated, but you don’t have the replacement (a77/a99) ready, don’t discontinue it. Make a cheap update or “facelift” and keep it in production.
(They actually did that with a850/a900 which received a firmware update a year or so ago. But they did not create the marketing fuzz about it which Canon does now, and they still discontinued the a850/a900.)
Spot on, Allan!
Leaving your pro base with no alternatives to buy if your camera dies is incredibly brainless.
+1
Agree with you
The headword is in my opinion: undocumented features
But
Just to say: “If you don’t like the features a camera has, don’t buy that camera!” is quite silly as well. According to this logic we can’t buy any of new Sony’s cams even not the flagship A77 sinse no one of them has such usual in this price class features like thetering, manual audio gain, all buttons remapping, NR turn off and so on… so, to leave Sony or to wish some FW-upgrades?
If you need tethering, then you shouldn’t buy the a77.
How do you reason when you need tethering and still buy the a77???
/E
He also needs other features in it. Or simply: Sony gave him no other choice to upgrade and he likes Zeiss glass too much to just jump over to Canon.
Thought it’s an obvious thing.
Sorry E I disagree with you for the top of the line APS-C camera Tethering should be standard and included (it should be expected to be included and something that should almost not need to be checked in this class of camera in my opinion!).
If you check the previous generation camera’s in this class it was included, if you check the competition it’s included in this same class and in many cases even in entry level camera form the competition so I don’t think it’s unreasonable by any means to take it for granted it should be included and as it’s not it should come with a firmware update as it might have not been ready for launch for some reason…
Sony UK was checking into this exact issue with Sony Japan to see if/when it would be included but from my searches never came back with an answer to there customers (and there was a significant amount of people complaining during launch about it and still are!)
The sensor with good sutido lights makes the A77 is an absolutely fantastic studio camera but the lack of tether support can really let it down and make the camera useless in many studio environments and I can’t understand why it was left out…
The camera was marketed as the most digital “SLR” like camera ever yet it’s missing the basic digital feature of tether support? How is that possible and why? no one has managed to answer that yet and I’m still speechless trying to explain to any one why it’s not been included by default or via a firmware update as yet.
+1
Sony is busy now releasing an A99 firmware without all the bugs and gaps in A77 firmware. Hopefully, there will be A77 FW 2.0 a while after release of A99 that brings some of the firmware progress of A99 also to A77.
Actually I think it was more a case that Canon looked at the market and realised that with a cheap software upgrade they the could still keep/attract users to the same product for some time to come. Like it or not the 7D is still a fine camera and still sells well…why replace it?
As for people being unreasonable about expecting new features in software upgrades the simple answer is that they dont. They buy the camera which comes closest to suiting their needs at the time because the ideal one doesn’t exist…If you then give them occasional features that bring it a little closer to their ideal or improve their experience then they stay loyal and buy your lenses, flashguns etc etc and are hence more likely to buy your future higher value products. Or….you can force people to spend out another 1000 dollars/pounds or whatever to get those minor features and watch them swan off to a competitor because they know your expensive new camera is only ever going to be “current” for a year and its another 1000 for the next feature.
+1
Matt – but many feature shortcomings and issues aren’t apparent until you gain experience with the camera.
All I want is my a77’s jpeg engine improved. There is simply too much of a gap between raw and jpeg unfortunately. Improve jpeg and I will be one happy camper.
Absolutely the same input for me. TO big of difference.
At the pace Sony is releasing bodies, I’m not sure.
The 7D have been around a while, and while this is great for 7D owners, it ( together with sensor-reuse i other models) leaves a feeling of Canon not being on their toes.
Rewamping the 7D with new features does not really bring new money to C, it just slows users from moving to other, fresher, offers from competitors.
/E
LESSON… you misspelled it twice
You did not end your sentence with a period.
Seriously, how long has 7D been launched and now Canon finally releases a fix , to cure the bugs in the camera.
A77 and Nex7 was released for less than a year. I think we need to give Sony time to release the firmware updates.
As for Canon, they really need to buck up. Their recent products launches are boring as evidence by the EOS M.
There are no bugs that needed to be fixed. I have a 7D and this firmware update just made it even better. I will be able to take more shots at the race track because of this.
I still don’t see a real competitor to it. It’s as close as pro as you can get with APS-C cameras. If they make one with a next-gen sensor or a Sony sensor 😛 in it, I’m buying it.
100% correct admin, Sony is dropping the ball, Sony UK said they would check with Sony Japan on Thether support and never seemed to get back to us (Also Sony Australia just does not care and is hopeless and is why I approached Sony UK as they are allot more proactive)…
The A77 is a really great camera but there is many suggestions and requests people have asked of rand being the top of the range APS-C camera I really do hope the rumours of Sony working on a replacement 1 year later is NOT true as I would expect Sony to improve and work on firmware for there top of the line camera rather than replacing it 1 year later which will really upset me as this means less chance of firmware and new features being included in the firmware…
Low end cheap camera’s I’m ok with new models often but higher end more expensive units should be more long term and tweaked and improved via more firmware updates I personally believe as it’s a more long term investment than a quick/cheap camera.
Sony pull your finger out and come to the party and support your customers!
I totally agree. Sony needs to improve their highest APC-C model. Especially the error message, that HDR and Raw cannot function together needs to be fixed.
I would also like the light-exposure-meter in spot mode to be on my AF-point and not only in the center.
JPG engine for me is not to interesting bcs I shot Raw, but I can totally understand that users need this improved.
I think that MFNR and HDR have the same limitations and therefore cannot be used with raw.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1037&message=42127849
But I’d be more than happy to see living proof of the countrary.
@E
thx for this link! this makes sense
Hay E, you are correct and thanks for the link for more details, it’s something many do not understand… One way Sony could offer the RAW shooters some of the more advanced features would be to allow the functionality to be included in there RAW processing software… This obviously means people will need a few RAW pictures but as with other RAW processing you can change light balance..etc..etc.. I can’t see any reason for Sony not to allow RAW shooters to apply effects like MFNR to RAW pictures if they have taken the right amount of consecutive RAW snaps..etc
Basically instead of the camera processing the picture the Sony RAW processor could process the picture for you but with more control as per normal RAW processing allows in addition to the required effect….
This is something I e-mailed and suggested to Sony Australia about before but never got any reply or acknowledgement or from them 🙁
i like this POST, 100 x LIKE !!
We spend you, you support us !
I think the A77 is too young. More firmwares are needed, like a review of the ISO performance, for example…
I hope Sony is working for that…
Canon is just using the firmware update as an excuse not to actually make a new camera.
which sort of makes business sense really…what costs more, designing a whole new camera or doing a firmware update for one that already exists and still sells well.
I would be more happy if Sony did the same with the A77, update the firmware and improve on hardware you currently have as I believe the camera is great but the firmware/software could do with some further refinements/improvements as many have documented very well…
I would much rather prefer to see Sony take the same steps and refine what they have than release new models so often…
It would also help me get better use out of my recent A77 investment as if it’s true a new model might be due out in a few months time I will be most disappointed for a top of the line APS-c camera to be replaced so soon with such little improvements, enhancements and a new model means less development will be applied to the older models…etc
EOS 7D is released almost 3 years.But a77 only for 1 year.
So, let us see….
Yes and Sony better not release the A77 replacement 1 year after launch as this will really upset many customers I believe… hopefully the A77 still has another 3+ years left before a replacement then I will be more happy but think a firmware update is needed to include some of the feature that were not ready for launch such as Tether support!
I agree. A 3 year cycle is very logical to me. R&D spends more time on the camera and give you a more complete product from the start. This way they can update the lenses that really need to be updated instead of making a new body every year.
the A77 firmware update will only be released after the A99, like Canon did, never before
For the sake of a few small tweaks Sony have the opportunity of turning the already fabulous NEX-7 into a truly exceptional piece of kit, decent AEB for a start is something that you would expect as standard on a camera in this category, that in itself would push it well ahead of the competition.
Totally agreed, especially after the crap with flash support in a55, being informed in advance about the issue before release of 2.0 – absolute ignorance.
The only Firmware change I want to have for my Sony setup (900,77,N7,RX100) is one simple thing:
Grant menu option to disbale/lock the movie button on the NEX7!!
(for some reason they did for the two wheels right from the start)
Anything else than this annoying and mis-placed movie button button is more or less fine with Sony.
Don’t know what happened to Sony, but the firmware updates they gave to the original NEX-5 were huge improvement. They should keep like that, even with small improvements, additions and more important, bug fixes..
The next A77 firmware update will be released next year, it’ll be called the A78.
Frank, I hope you are wrong as that will really upset me and many other users that have invested in Sony’s top of the line APS-C camera system only for it to be replaced 1 year later which is simply not good practice for top of the line systems that are suppose to be mature, stable and well maintained products…
The A77 is not a cheap entry level camera! It deserves updates, improvements and customers to be looked after to stay and grow with the brand.
I have the A77, A55, NEX7, NEX-F3 & RX100 and its absolutely ridiculous to see that the premium NEX7 doesn’t have half the features of the RX100 such as mutiframe noise reduction, auto portrait etc and that the jpeg engine of the A77 is the worst of the lot. I am impatiently waiting for a firmware upgrade for the NEX7 but can’t see this happening anytime soon given the accelerated release of new bodies. I think sony are spreading themselves too thin with all these body releases which inevitably requires more effort to support and therefore slow. BTW, the RX100 absolutely rocks…I never saw this coming!!! my 2 cents 🙂
The mex 7 has multi shot noise reduction, it’s called handheld auto twilight, and under the scene selection menu
How do you “improved continuous-shooting buffer depth (to 25 Raws, up from the original 15” on a camera by firmware update unless the camera was purposely crippled by manufacturer?
So maybe don’t buy their product until v2.0+ is available
😉
Pentax did the same, IIRC.
Instead of shuffeling the sensor data to the buffer directly, algoritms are changed so that the raw files are created before (on-the-fly) shuffeling to the buffer area. and the raw file is smaller.
As a result there is room for more pictures in the same buffer.
/E
You could experiment with the clocking of the Image processing pipeline and optimize it. You could improve your compression algorithms. You could change the memory usage model if the buffer is part of a shared memory scheme…all sorts. It may simply be that in the rush to get the thing out Canon didn’t have the time or the knowledge to get the best out of the system. Thats not intentionally hobbling it, its just learning more as time goes one…happens with everything.
Most of the time it’s simply fine tuning, improving algorithms or finding more efficient ways to process the data. I’m 100% confident the A77 could have some significant speed improvements made via it’s firmware/software updates and I sure hope Sony provide back to it’s customers and do NOT release and put all the effort into a new body when all they need to do is working on the great A77’s firmware/software as the camera is great other than some fixes/enhancements and additions that can all be done via software.
I would expect a new update (at least for a77) together with the announcement of the new a99, and the new alpha lenses.
Well, I’d prefer Sony more to learn from Panasonic how they let improve hackers their GH2’s firmware.
Differently to Canon Sony’s counting on people upgrading their cameras frequently. First NEX year they pushed the sales of NEX-5 & 3 with great new functions brought by firmware updates but terminated this process instead of bringing Lens Compensation to their first generation NEX cameras. This makes Sony cameras gadgets and keeps them from being accepted as serious photography investments. If they’d at least allow Add-ons like Magic Lantern, but things like crippling the NEX-3/C3/F3’s video modes by firmware remain their dominating strategy.
Personally I’d loved to buy a 5N simply because of the SlowMo invention and the improved sensor, but it’s an ugly feeling of being pushed to buy something because of being limited by firmware. Same now happens to the 5N now, that probably will never get these firmware improvements only brought to the forthcoming 5R…
Four years ago, when Sony released the A900, they also released a massive firmware upgrade for the A700, an upgrade that effectively gave A700 owners a new camera. This year, Sony is replacing the A900; could it be that they will also give us a major firmware update for the A77 & NEX-7 at the same time? They need to.
Once again there is question about open platform software. That company which will make camera soft (firmware) as open platform will tremendously increase sales numbers. Possibility for enthusiasts to make and share apps to improve functionality would be revolution in photo camera business.
I hope it will happened one day at least for advanced cameras. There is only one reason to not make open soft – firmware cut functionality for lower end cameras.
The issue with opening up the firmware is that it has the potential of killing off both higher-end camera sales and future camera sales. People would not need to upgrade and would hang on to their cameras longer.
Great for us users in the short term, but not so great for Sony’s profit margins in the long term.
Hopefully the 7D update has at least made somebody in Sony sit up and think about it.
I don’t do video on my A77, but even I can see that being able to control audio gain would be a big plus in favour of the A77 for video geeks.
As said here, Sony’s development team is likely to be small and CONSTANTLY under pressure due to new models being released at a phenomenal rate.
I would love to get some of these updates for my former APSC flagship A580, which was just sold and tossed aside when Sony discovered that they could get buckets more money off the SLT market 🙁
It’s discontinued, so would you ask the same for the A200 too? How about the A100? Maybe the Minolta 5D as well while we are at it? 😀
Frank I think the point is if Sony did not release models so frequently they could afford to work on firmware and software upgrades which cost far less than developing completely new bodies all the time… (especially on the higher end bodies).
Like the rumour saying an A77 replacment might already be around the corer is going to upset many people if it’s true…
Sony should invest some of that body development time into the Nex and Alpha lenses and firmware for the bodies I believe and will attract far more customers if bodies are very stable and being updated as well as a very good selection of lenses which once designed and being manufactured has very little ongoing costs for Sony but sales keep coming..etc
Frank, we didn’t get any update for the A580 when it was in production either, so that’s not really an excuse.
if there were a poll, it will be a landslide of PLEASE SONY< SOME FIRMWARES, even Peaking mode for all older camera(QLV) will make us all happy!
I would love to see Admin do a servey on preference from users on what is most important to them in rank..
For example
– Firmware updates and improvements for current bodies
– New bodies released yearly
– New Alpha Lens development
– New Nex Lens development
…etc..etc…
I think the results might help Sony understand what customers truly want as with the A77, fantastic camera but lots of room for improvement with the same body just with software/firmware updates is all that is needed NOT another new body!
Is there like, any way of forwarding this information to the people actually responsible for camera development?
Firmware is one thing… if bug fixes come 1-2 years after release of a camera, then this is not cool. On the other hand, if the updated firmware brings add-ons (like buffer usage, focus improvement etc) then this is something else. This means that the producer takes care of the user. I don’t think that Canon is trying to sell more and more 7D’s these days. The competition is way ahead of 7D.
The thing that made me sad is, I bought an A57 last month. When I opened the battery compartement, I saw that there were 3 holes in the bottom (which are for vertical grip for sure) without any connectors! I bet my everything that the next A57 (say it A58) will be the same chassis with battery grip, with connectors in these holes. This is marketing, nothing else and I’m tired of being annoyed by these marketing tricks. If you can leave 3 holes but cannot install the connector… give me a break!
It’s been said in other comments before but I just want to repeat/EMPHASIZE it:
THE 7D HAS ONLY BEEN UPDATED AFTER 3 YEARS OF EXISTENCE!!!
Please let’s not go ape over the latest Canon 7D update by shouting at Sony to get firmware updates out.
They’re probably much too short-staffed after all the financial losses to be able to afford to get new staff to do the updates. So please cut them some slack.
If you don’t like the firmware update intervals then simply vote with your money – don’t buy their products in future. Plain and simple.
I think its fair to say that most peoples grumbles about the 77 are pretty fundamental stuff, either missing common features or usability failings that can be improved with little effort. Not all of these are visible on the spec sheet or would be seen during a 10 minute play at a retailer…if you could find one that stocked them. So their comments are perhaps understandable after they’ve spent alot of cash on a something. Dont forget its up to the company to please the customer, not the customer to put up with the company….sometimes businesses need to be reminded of that and if they listen it usually benefits them too.
Yes, but after 3 years of existence, none of our cameras will get an update because they already will be discontinued and thought of as relics.
This certainly isn’t the only 7D firmware update. Canon released several updates over the course of years:
2.0: Aug. 2012
1.2.5: April 2011
1.2.3: November 2010
1.2.2: July 2010
1.2.1: April 2010
See the canon website for details about these updates.
It seems like that Sony has 7 employees and that they can’t work on two jobs? This news is very disappointing. I have A77, and all what I want is that ISO 3200 be better. I don’t expect miracle, but any improvement is good.
There are a lot of room for improvement on a77 and nex 5n too on fine tuning, I guess they fired enough people to keep only focus on priorities, that’s what happen when you run a tight ship.
We should all thank those responsible for the GFC for the current state of the world economy.
Neither improvement via firmware update nor more quality lens for the NEX system. Looks like Sony just focusing on pushing new NEX body to the market? Sad…
Could not agree more Pete, enough with the new bodies and support what you have better and work on lenses which are more important as the current bodies can do just about every thing the next/new model can with a firmware update and does not need all that R&D, testing, manufacturing, packaging, support, spare parts, new firmware’s..etc.etc.. that is needed for each and every new body which must consume bucket loads of time and resources to get in place compared to a simple firmware update for a current body and newer lenses..etc
I know what I would prefer to see… investment in better/newer lenses and longer life our of invested body’s with new features and faster fixes released via software/firmware making you have extra money for those lenses which I’m sure has more profit in them than a camera body one would think?
Hey cool idea, we use the camera guys on lens development, so we get more people on lens development. Oh, the camera guys don’t know anything about optics and lens development? … Bummer
Seriously, just THINK once before you share illogical suggestions.
You need specialists on optics for new lenses, so releasing new versions/upgrades on the existing cameras has nothing to do with limiting lens development. And never forget: developing a new lens is always from scratch. Developing a 5N out of a 5 is an upgrade, i.e. not from scratch. There is a huge difference in that as well. There always have been only max. 3 NEX cameras so far. NEX 5 and 5N are not different developments, the 5N is just the further development of the 5. You can’t say that about a new 35mm F1.8 lens compared to an existing 24mm F1.8 lens.
Lofote I understand what you are saying but still disagree with you and although I disaprove with your rather negative comments I would have to tell you to take your own advice “Seriously, just THINK once before you share illogical suggestions.”
If Sony’s tech’s are not working as hard on xx body releases a year it will definitely help them with lens development, it’s not JUST optics that goes into a lens there is many other components, compatibility, focus systems, noise reduction, manufacturing processing, packaging, firmware, distribution…etc…etc.. All of which consume Sony tech’s for new bodies this is what is meant… also I think allot of the actual optics side of things are not done in-house by Sony them self from what I’ve read (I could be wrong but allot of there lens/optics does seem to be done by 3rd parties which is not a bad thing but just want to explain why I’ve said what I have any why I do not appreciate your tone.
Having worked with development programs on DSLRs for over ten years I’ve seen the constant battle between the engineering and sales sides of products. As users we want to root for the engineers, believe me! If they had their way only extremely polished 2.0 firmware would ever been seen outside of the factory. Marketing, “Well, its good enough, no one will ever notice!” They both have their place, but the engineers were my heroes. Engineers were allowed to keep tinkering though, and we used to see a steady stream of new features (not just fixes).
I’m disappointed there is not an update for the Nex-7 yet. This is my first Sony and there are many simple things that need to be fixed in firmware. And I need the optional aspect ratios including 1:1 that now the RX100 offers. I may switch brands if Sony doesn’t soon offer new firmware for the Nex-7.
Why do you hate your users Sony? Make my A77 awesome and removed the 1600 iso limit in video mode by releasing 2.0 firmware.
Canon: Thank you for all of your support! you are our great customers!
Sony: thank you for all of your support! We make.believe! but we were never promise!
lol…
Thanks for saying that Admin regarding firmware updates for the A77/65.
I’ve been saying it for ages…and got shot down for it…but some people don’t realise that if we stop saying it, Sony will think we aren’t bothered anymore.
That could be why they slowed down progress on firmware updates.
Come on Sony, look after us, we are your future.
Hi everyone,
I got some news about a77 new firmware release schedule.
According to SONY DSLR Family (SDF, chinese forum).
The new a77 firmware will release in Oct.(After a99 released)
I think it may be true.
source:http://www.sonysdf.com/alpha/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=67413&start=330
I am a relatively new but happy A77 owner. The 1.05 firmware is quite good, but…
– the ISO performance of the A77 even against the less expensive A57 is miserable. While the A57 retains a lot of detail even at high ISO, the A77 very quickly drops to a very low percentage. This simply is a firmware issue which could and should be fixed
– they should allow more control of the video mode. No idea why they disable AF in case I want to be in control of the shutter speed
– why to hell did they disable the use of the remote if I want to use multi frame noise reduction? I mean, its usually low light, with longer shutter speeds, so you would like the camera to be without vibration on the tripod, so using a remote would be logical
– as many other said – the ? button would be great if customizable – e.g. enable/disable SSS
– the AF of the A77 is good, but I personally think the hardware used is capable of more. Tracking AF is simply a joke and have not ever been able to use it to track the object
I can imagine they would not make much more new FW for the low end models, but for the current flagship SLT there should be more support coming.
I just wish they would make the a57 firmware updater compatible with Mac OS Mountain Lion. It only runs in 32-bit mode, which Mountain Lion doesn’t support anymore.
Just make it open source, we can do firmware update on our own.
every company wants to make money but some of them also wants to make their customers happy. Sony just wants to sell his shits and fuck the customers.
Don’t buy a Sony if you don’t like the company. It’s not like there aren’t other options.
Firmware addition 1:
voice memo feature in review screen, voice memo is saved to mp3 file with the same jpg file name.
addition 2: touch screen keyboard for nex-5n.
I want to enter simple ASCII EXIF memo for each shot.
WOULD BE NICE IF SONY CAN INCREASE THE BUFFER SIZE FOR THE A77 LIKE CANON DID FOR THEIR 7D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There are many things I’d like to see Sony do for v1.06 (which I hope is coming) I mentioned one already, that’s to say let the exposure compensation button bring up the adjustment for flash as well as for nonflash exposures. They did this with the A700. It would also be nice if they allowed separate perspective settings for landscape and portrait. I like to shoot 16:9 in landscape but 3:2 for portrait. Sony really needs to start providing some flexibility. Also we should be able to register lenses. My A77 thinks my 90/2.8 Tamron is a 100mm lens.