Category: Cameras (DSLR)

Alpha 900/850 Firmware Upgrade

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A firmware upgrade that refines shooting responses and creative options for the α900 and α850 35mm full-frame DSLR cameras has been released by Sony. All new and existing customers are advised to install the upgrade, available to download from the ‘Support’ area of the Sony web site.
Autofocus is quicker and more responsive than ever, thanks to improved AF motor control and smarter distance detection of out-of-focus objects.
Creative options are extended by a broadened range of exposure value (EV) compensation settings, now increased from ±3EV to ±5EV. Selected compensation value is displayed in the navigation display on the main LCD screen of both cameras. This boosted EV compensation range gives extra headroom when composing extremely high- or low-key images.
Exposure bracketing range has also been increased from a maximum of 4.0EV (three shots at -2EV, 0EV, +2EV) to a maximum of 6.0EV (-3EV, 0EV, +3EV). This wider range gives added flexibility when capturing multiple frames at different exposure values – for example when acquiring images for the creation of powerful post-shooting HDR effects. Please note that the bracketing still does not include 1EV steps as an option (the widest range of ‘normal’ bracketing is 5 frames at 0.7EV) and the +/- 2 or 3 EV options remain as wide-spaced three shot sequences only; there is no provision for the most desirable HDR settings such as -3 to +3 in 1EV intervals, a seven-frame set.
As a further refinement, a new menu option allows shutter release to be enabled, even when the camera body doesn’t detect an attached lens. It’s useful for specialist applications such as astrophotography when the camera is attached to a telescope.
The latest firmware upgrade by Sony for registered α900 and α850 DSLR customers is available free of charge from the Sony EUROPE site for European owners.
Asia support server direct links:
Alpha 900 http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/product/dslr-a900/modelfirst
Alpha 850 http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/product/dslr-a850/modelfirst
Australian support server direct links:
http://www.sony.com.au/support/productcategory/dslr+camera
and see the ‘Latest Downloads’ tab
The US download was not available six hours after the announcement, but should be found through this page: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=DSLRA900&SelectOS=50
These zip archives contain Unix (camera processor executable) files called DSCA850.APP or DSCA900.APP. These are the components which must be copied on to a newly formatted camera memory card. Once the camera is turned on with the Menu button depressed, as instructed, the update takes roughly 1 minute 30 seconds to complete, after which the camera displays a restart screen for about 15 seconds before rebooting.
There is some risk involved in using firmware which is non-specific for your camera’s region, but owners are not reporting any problems. Be aware that once you have installed the firmware, from whatever region, it is not possible to revert or to re-install your own region’s firmware. However, it seems likely that there is no difference between regional versions other than Japanese.

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Cameras (DSLR), News

New ultra-fast, multi-terabyte memory cards on horizon

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November 30, 2010 — SanDisk Corporation, Sony Corporation and Nikon Corporation today announced the joint development of a set of specifications that address the future requirements of professional photography and video markets. The three companies proposed the specifications to the CompactFlash® Association (CFA)*, the international standards organization, with the intent to standardize the format.
Professional photography and High Definition (HD) video applications require a new generation of memory cards capable of processing significantly larger files. To address the imaging industry’s future speed and capacity demands, SanDisk, Sony and Nikon proposed a new card specification Continue reading »

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Cameras (DSLR), News

HD videocast – NEX adaptors and odd lenses

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I’ve finally got round to trying a ‘proper’ videocast – perhaps the first of regular short demonstrations – with the Alpha 55 offering me HD filming while demonstrating the NEX-5. And I can use the NEX-5 to film stuff about the Alpha 55. A Canon 60D helped, though its inability to refocus during filming (which the NEX-5 and Alpha 55 can do) proved a small problem. The sound from the Canon was used, mainly because it had been set with a manual level, while the Sony was using an external condensor mic that pickup up some serious interference from the lights.
The lighting is nothing more than one 30W daylight colour energy saver and one 20W – using an angle desk lamp from IKEA and a spare table lamp. The background is a Calumet (Lastolite in disguise) canvas. To do the filming, I ran a 7 inch Lilliput monitor from the HDMI output of the Alpha 55, and mounted it facing me on a bar right next to the camera. The Canon was set up as a second camera and left running from that position. Editing, including cutting and pasting the soundtrack and parts of the Canon video, was in iMovie 11.

This is a full 1080p HD YouTube film – if you can view it (bandwidth is an issue) try the higher resolutions. The Alpha 55 consistently overheated at around 7 minutes, showing me a temperature warning then shutting off. The room was not warm and the camera screen was both not active, and moved away from the camera back. My first attempt at this film was spoiled by the overheating issue, perhaps because SSS was left on in error. However, on a tripod SSS is not active to any extent when shooting video (it does not have the same problems of creating blur, which happen with still images due to the way mirror or shutter vibration are reflected by the tripod). Previous time limited movies I’ve made have been hand held and of course SSS is both used and expected to be very active.
– David Kilpatrick

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Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, HD Video, Lenses - Alpha Mount, Lenses - SR/MC/MD, NEX System

Sony VAT-back offer – UK only

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Many Sony Alpha products are included in the Sony UK VAT-back scheme which will operate until December 24th. Items purchased from authorised retailers from October 28th onwards may be eligible for a claim, and Sony will return the equivalent of the 17.5% VAT paid to the customer directly.
This is not actually VAT back, as any item purchased in this way is still eligible for normal VAT relief on the nett amount paid, for UK VAT registered buyers (businesses). Customers outside Europe will be able to buy without VAT under the normal rules applying to exports.
On January 4th 2011, UK VAT increases to 20% for consumer goods including all the Sony range.
For details of the VATback offer, see:
http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/1237479399273
Sony point out that the VAT amounts to 14.9% of the price paid, not 17.5% (it is 175/1175).
The offer includes  NEX-5, Alpha 580, Alpha 55 and Alpha 33 plus two lenses – the 75-300mm SAL and the 50mm f/1.8 SAM. But you need to be very careful indeed when ordering, as the deal applies only to some very specific packages such as the Body Only for A580, A33 and A55 (if you can find it!) and exact kits such as NEX-5D with 16mm and 18-55mm or NEX-5A with just 16mm. You must check when buying whether the exact product number you are buying qualifies for the VATback.
Buyers internationally can also get similar discounts until December 31st – we note that B&H for example offers this NEX-5 kit with $150 rebate. That’s about the same as the UK VATback deal.

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Cameras (DSLR), Lenses - Alpha Mount, News, NEX System

Sony Photokina Press conference video – in full

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We filmed the entire Sony press conference at photokina. It is split into three sections about 7 minutes each. During filming using the NEX-5, the camera at one point started to show an overheat warning. At this point I should have moved the articulated screen away from the camera body, but did not want to interrupt a very important moment – the announcement of the A7xx. And that’s when it cut out, taking maybe 10-15 seconds for me to move the rear screen, wait a moment, and restart.
Here are the videos. They are all at 720p quality and uses the internal mic, not the add-on mic, as I was ‘travelling light’ for this conference.
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3


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Cameras (DSLR), HD Video, News, NEX System

NEX firmware update details in full

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Please see this page for details of NEX full-frame compatibility: http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2012/08/19/should-nex-go-full-frame/. Further information updated August 19th 2012: Paul Genge left Sony UK on Friday August 18th 2012, after many years with Minolta, Konica Minolta and Sony in turn. He is setting up his own website company.
———————————————————————————————
At photokina 2010, Paul Genge of Sony UK was able to show me his NEX-5 with the new firmware v3 installed, but not to provide any copy of the firmware or update my own NEX-5.
Once installed, the firmware provides new Custom Menu assignment options.
Button B (Soft Key B) which is the lowermost button, can be assigned a function from the following list:

  • Shoot Mode
  • Shoot Tips (the existing default)
  • Precision Digital Zoom (teleconverter)
  • ISO setting
  • White Balance
  • Metering Mode
  • Flash Compensation
  • DRO/HDR
  • Creative Style
  • MF Assist

Button or Soft Key C (the centre conroller button) has three Custom Memory registers. After reprogramming the button, you can then access three different new functions using the surrounding controller.
You can set the Memory registers to a selection of three of the following:

  • AF Area
  • ISO Setting
  • White Balance
  • Metering mode
  • Flash Compensation
  • DRO/HDR
  • Creative Style

or nothing (you do no have to assign a function to all three Custom Memory registers).
Therefore, in addition to the existing direct control of exposure compensation from the main controller, the Centre and Bottom buttons can between be assigned four rapidly accessed different vital functions.
For Aperture priority video, the procedure could not be simpler; just set Aperture Priority mode, select the aperture, press the Viedo button and you get that aperture.
Autofocus is enabled with SSM and SAM lenses. When the new A700-series model appears, Paul confirmed that it will look quite different from the mock-up shown at PMA and again at photokina. All the clues I can get indicate that it does indeed use the same basic internal system as the A33/55, and will have an EVF. But Paul said this camera will include such high specification features that current A700 owners will be amazed.
Two more comments he made are worth relaying. Asked whether there would be no further development of the full-frame range, Paul said they intended to complete the A3/5/7 developments and would then turn their attention to new full frame, including an Alpha 900 replacement with features yet to be decided. He pointed to the new 500mm f/4 G SSM, shown in bare metal and with paint on, as evidence of their intentions. Also, it was possible to create a full frame NEX, using the same mount and the A-mount adaptor, but never the same lenses as the APS-C NEX. The mount had been designed to allow this and it might one day happen, in which case full-frame adapted Leica lenses (and so on) would be even more useful.
The new standard zoom lens (16-80mm replacement) could be SAM not SSM. Paul pointed to the ring on the front of the mockup (gold ring – a bit of a Tamron-type clue?) and suggested that this could mean the SAM motor.
The Sony stand showcased many examples of converters (especially the high quality products from Novoflex and Voigtlander) and showed many ‘alien’ lenses from new to old fitted to NEX bodies. In the meantime, Carl Zeiss filled their stand with Sony bodies ro demonstrate CZ lenses – their own stand staff were using NEX-5 (on guy had a 35mm Biogon fitted) and for demonstration, both A55 and A900 were fitted with the new 24mm f/2 CZ, NEX was fitted with 16-80mm, A900 with 135mm f/1.8 – and many more combinations.
Wherever I went, the NEX was in evidence, perhaps more amongst members of the trade and dealer staff than amongst the photographer visitors who (as at all trade shows) lumbered around with Canons and 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses.
– David Kilpatrick

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Cameras (DSLR), Lenses - Alpha Mount, News, NEX System

Sony affirms NEX future – and SLT path for Alpha

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Sony today announced upgrades and a road map which will keep NEX E-system adopters more than happy – especially those who have added NEX to their Alpha outfit. Diehard Alpha purists will be less delighted.
At the photokina press conference, a two-year rollout of additional NEX lenses was announced including a fast Carl Zeiss wide-angle, a premium quality G-series standard zoom, a macro lens, a portrait lens, a wide-angle zoom, and a prime telephoto.
Firmware upgrades for NEX-3 and NEX-5 to enable Aperture presetting for video, and AF operation of SAM and SSM Alpha mount lenses with the Sony adaptor, were promised for October with a similar upgrade for the NEX VG-10 in November. The NEX 3 and 5 upgrades will allow assignable functions for the buttons, including direct access to ISO setting or HDR (amongst other choices).
Sony went out of their way – as on their stand – to highlight the explosion of 3rd party adaptors making almost every lens in existence usable with the NEX body’s 18mm register. They announced they were already working with partners to enable production of NEX adaptors and even NEX compatible lenses, but could not reveal anything yet. The opening up of the system to 3rd party makers would, said Toru Katsumoto, help revive photography itself.
With NEX now accounting for half of all mirrorless/compact interchangeable lens sector sales, they were confident of its future.
The bad news, for many, will be that the Alpha 700 replacement – optimistically shown with a vertical grip, 500mm f/4 G SSM lens and a new flash – will have a fixed Translucent mirror just like the A33 and A55. Paul Genge of Sony UK confirmed to us after the presentation that it will not have a flip-up mode to allow shooting without this extra sheet of glass in place.
As tests of the A33 and A55 have shown clearly, the Translucent mirror creates visible bright-edge ghosting or secondary imaging in the vertical direction. For many users, this will be a no-go option; they will look at the Pentax K-5 and the Nikon D7000 and see a ‘pure’ optical path from lens to sensor (although we all know the cover glass assembly of the sensor removes this possibility).
Perhaps the real A700 of tomorrow will be the Sigma SD-1 – the 1.5X factor, beautifully designed, 15 megapixel (true!) Foveon machine claimed as ever to match a much larger real pixel count – 48 megapixels. Well, Sigma need not make such claims. 15 megapixels is enough. It was enough with Bayer pixels. 15 real Foven RGB coincident location pixels will be one amazing camera.
Today was a wonderful day. Summer temperatures. Everyone was sitting round outside in the open spaces at photokina and it was like a big barbecue party with all the wurst-stalls grilling away. The sunniest photokina we’ve ever been to. And there is an amazing level of optimism here about trade and the market. We had a recession – unless someone screws it up, we are in for a boom again. There is so much fantastic stuff coming and China is both the market and the innovator in so many ways.
– D&SK, reporting from outside the Restauration K A Pütz Brauhaus, with 2nd small Kölsch
Additional notes: I filmed the entire conference on my NEX-5, which overheated losing 1 minute midway (pull out the LCD assembly and have the screen away from the body – this stops it overheating so fast, my mistake). But I need my big iMac and fast broadband to edit this and put up several YouTube sections, I can not do so from photokina pressroom or hotel wifi. It will be posted next week.
The image shown of the A7XX (the ‘Advanced Alpha’) is the same mag-alloy body (strap lugs give this away) ‘750’ that was seen at PMA, it’s actually like a slightly rounded Pentax K-5 in size and heft from the description and screen views. Because it will use Translucent mirror technology, you must not assume outright that this means no optical finder. It may use the semi-silvered mirror at 45 degrees, and have a new AF method, quite unlike the A33/A55 – and it could have a really good glass prism finder. But the mirror, like the old Canon Pellix and RT models, would be fixed. We simply do not know but the shape and size indicates it’s not necessarily an SLT in the A33/55 mould. I could devise an AF detector capable of reading from a focus screen (just as the human eye does). Anyone with basic optronics/optics knowledge can see that there are many potential ways to achieve AF, and they do not preclude fitting an optical focusing screen. There are also ways of achieving superior on-sensor contrast detection AF. – DK

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Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, News, NEX System

Battle lines drawn at photokina

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Samsung and Sony are set for a battle royal over the next couple of years. At photokina, Samsung’s Monday 20th press conference made great store of ‘all our own work’ – that everything in the NX100 was sourced within Samsung. From the floor, a question far cheekier than I would have dared ask – ‘Are you working on making low noise sensors?’ – from Samsung, a deadpan reply that they were, indeed, working on lower noise sensors.
The NX100 is superficially a great concept, but the design based on ‘a dewdrop forming on a leaf’ has been seen before (it slips out the hand as easily as a dewdrop from a leaf) and is based on the idea that today’s rear-screen composers use two hands to hold the camera. Well, I have news for Samsung; they don’t. They generally use one. Even I do. So having aperture control from the focus ring of the lens, like an old-fashioned compact or rangefinder leaf-shutter model, is not a winner when your left hand is not actually going to be anywhere near the camera.
At the Pentax stand, marketing chief for the UK Marilyn Dixon proudly showed the K-5. I will admit, this is the camera Sony should have been showing. “We must tell you straight away that this camera uses a Sony sensor”, she said. “Sony make very good sensors”. What of Samsung? She was not sure if they were still selling any K-mount cameras. Pentax might never have used a Samsung sensor, ever, from the impression gained. They were using Sony sensors and Sony were the best.
Samsung previewed a line of rollout lenses from 2010 to 2012 for the NX100. The last phase included an 18-200mm and a 16mm f/2.8 pancake – they were going to match Sony blow for blow, and add half a dozen of the lenses which Sony NEX adopters most wanted. And they said they would issue a firmware update for the NX10 to allow it to use the new i-Fn (assignable function to the focus ring) lenes. But they had little care whether NX10 or NX100 were fully cross compatible with the glass in their owners’ hands now and to follow. Clearly the NX10 is a past episode; the NX100 is the real thing.
What a contrast at Pentax! No plans for an EVIL future. But – did you know that every Pentax lens with an ultrasonic motor also has a screw drive? And every screw drive body can also operate those lenses, and every new body can operate both types?
We have yet to visit Sony, but there is nothing new – A33, A55, A560, A580. There is nothing with the magnesium body, weather seals, superb glass prism, workable contrast-detect AF, and lovely compact but chunky size of the K-5. It has been left to Nikon (D7000, based on D90) and Pentax to be the first to exploit the new Sony 16 megapixel sensor in a semiprofessional body.
And Panasonic – they were great, inviting us on to an empty half-finished stand to see the latest stuff. Including a 14mm f/2.5 pancake looking so much like the NEX 16mm!
Samsung said that this year’s 1.4 million mirrorless camera sales would rise to over 15 million and eclipse DSLR sales by 2015. Maybe they are right. They also say they will be the leader. Who knows?
– David Kilpatrick

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Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, News, NEX System

Worldwide demand delays Alpha 560 launch

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According to Don Long writing for the Photo Marketing Association Newsline, Sony San Diego claims that the reason for the delay in the Alpha 560 rollout is worldwide demand, stretching the capacity of the Sony factories to the limit.
See:
PMA Story
Remember, right at the start when Sony took over from Konica Minolta, Photoworld and Photoclubalpha reported the new staff as saying that Sony did not expect to sell two, or even threee times, the Minolta historic figures. They would sell ten times the quantity that Minolta had ever sold. It seems the view expressed by UK Sony executives in 2006 was realistic; Sony is an entirely different scale of operation.
But maybe they still have some of the same facilities that Konica Minolta bequeathed to them, and maybe those are simply not capable of turning out certain types of camera body in the required quantity fast enough.
The Alpha 33 and 55 have been given priority and only the 16-megapixel Alpha 580 will appear this year. What chance, at photokina, of an Alpha 700 successor to match the Nikon D7000 now announced with its 6fps 16 megapixel sensor and HD movie capability?
Olympus has now scotched rumours they were pulling out of the DSLR market with the E-5, a FourThirds successor skipping the unlucky number E-4 – but unless the performance pulls something out of the hat way beyond the specifications (12.3 megapixel and 720p HD movie, basically a 2008 spec) they might as well have dropped the ball.
And Samsung, with the NX100, has rather neatly chosen to show Sony what the NEX could have been. They have had the clever idea that since the focusing ring only instructs the camera to operate the focus motor, it can equally well be told to control the aperture instead when a button on the body is pressed. This simple i-Lens function restores in one step an almost instinctive photographic left-hand action we have almost forgotten.
It proves that there are engineers out there over 40 years old, too…
– DK

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Cameras (DSLR), News

NEX, A33, A55 support – new ACR 6.2/LR3.2 final

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The final release of Adobe Camera Raw 6.2, DNG Converter 6.2 and Lightroom 3.2 includes raw conversion support for the Alpha 33 and 55 models as well as the NEX-5 and NEX-3, Alpha 290 and 390 which were included in the Release Candidate versions. These August 30th releases are final version, RC versions are a form of beta test.
The bad news is that anyone using the LR3.2 RC as a temporary free solution for getting full profile correction without investing in Photoshop CS5 will lose their freebie. But Lightroom is eminently affordable, and it can function as a raw conversion front-end for any earlier Photoshop or Elements version. On its own, it is a mere 10MB of program data fatter than Adobe Camera Raw as a plug-in and runs with great efficiency on modestly specified laptops (etc). It’s a lean, keenly priced solution which offers many further benefits as a DAM (Digital Asset Management) library such as keywording, copyright control, metadata editing, version stacking and multiple catalogues.
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/new.jsp
I am informed that support is included for the 16mm lens on NEX (profile) but I can’t tell whether it is the profile I supplied to Adobe Labs, or a new one, because my profile has remained unchanged on my system – same names, same modification date. And there’s no NEX-3 version which might be expected if they had created new profiles. So it looks as if it could be worth sending profiles into Adobe after creating them.
It’s fantastic news that Adobe has released ACR for the new Alpha 55 16 megapixel sensor before the cameras even hits the street – mine is on order, waiting! Not so great for Nikon users; no D3100 raw conversion in this release. But Canon users get the 60D (despite Adobe missing it out from their front page list). Adobe did this Sony friendly pre-release once before, for the Alpha 100, getting the conversion into place before the camera went on sale.
The bad news is that the Alpha 580 and 560 models are not in the list alongside the fixed mirror pellucid, transflective (anything but Translucent, please…) cameras.
The instruction manual for the Alpha 33 and 55:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=SLT-A33&region_id=1
is already on-line and shows a March 2010 publication date, which means that Sony has had these new cameras in existence since the beginning of the year, certainly well before PMA when mockups were shown. It’s likely that Adobe’s Thomas Knoll has been using one from the first bug-free pre-production model onwards!
Now all we need is the revised lens series with SAM or SSM motors fitted into the 16-80mm CZ, 16-105mm Sony, 18-200mm and 18-250mm Sony; the 11-18mm wideangle replacement, the 75-300mm SAL replacement, and a few other goodies. Hopefully all Zeiss glass gets SSM where possible. That 16-80mm CZ is four years old now as a design. A tweak to the maximum aperture, or the zoom range, would revive interest.
– David Kilpatrick

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Cameras (DSLR), NEX System, Software Reviews
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