Full Guide on the new Sony firmware: Cool features, Tests, Warnings(!) and What’s still missing!

So folks, I collected your feedback from this site, from my youtube channel and from our Facebook page and collected them here. I do own the A7rV so I cannot test today’s firmware update myself. If I made a mistake or forgot something please let me know in the comment systems.

Download links:

One Warning:

  • You will have to completely re-setup your A1 from scratch after the 2.0 update. You cannot save your settings (Thanks Eric Durnall)

Here is a list of positives that are not mentioned in the official press release:

  • AF assist, which wasn’t stated in the list of updates or in any news article that I read. This is a massive help to control video AF as you can override its tracking at any point by manually focusing on where you want it to be. First seen in the a7 IV, it’s such a relief that they’ve added it. (Source: Philip Bloom)
  • The new video mode display which again wasn’t stated anywhere. Not only that, but we have the updated version introduced with the ZV-E1 where you can change ISO/ aperture/ shutter speed/ WB via touch, and there are additional options when you swipe left / right. This is a huge thing, too and I don’t understand why they are not touting it. If you start recording video in the stills mode, you still get the old display. (Source: Philip Bloom)
  • Future firmware updates can be done via SD card, which is great as these updates were slow and painful, especially as I had to do two for each as they weren’t on the previous FW. (Source: Philip Bloom)

Here is a list of things still missing:

  • The one thing I still cannot fathom is their refusal to give them Animal Eye AF for video when they updated the a7c and ZV-10 over two years ago to provide them with this via firmware. On top of that, you can STILL select Animal Eye AF in the video menu; it just doesn’t recognise any animals. I’ve asked them if they could explain why, but I doubt they will. At this point, I’ve given up hope we will ever see it. (Source: Philip Bloom)
  • Focus breathing finally, although not in 8K on the alpha 1, probably because there’s no clear image zoom ability in 8K. (Source: Philip Bloom)
  • The dedicated log mode with user LUTs would have been nice. (Source: Philip Bloom)
  • The updates for stills for alpha 1 are minimal and have upset those users. One key missing thing is focus bracketing. (Source: Philip Bloom)
  • I would love to have seen variable shutter on the a7s III added as this is so important for matching dodgy lighting environments or screens. (Source: Philip Bloom)
  • Pavol Varga: The battery percentage indicator disappeared for third-party batteries (Please do verify if that is really happening!)
  • No pre-capture on the A1 that would be easy for them to add in firmware
  • No anamorphic desqueeze on the A7sIII

Youtuber videos:

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End of an era: Sony R1XrII officially discontinued

Japanese stores officially marked the Sony R1XrII as “discontinued”.  You can still find a limited stock overseas at Amazon US&EU and BHphoto. You can also get it with an over $900 discount as recondtioned item on Amazon (with 90 day warranty).

The RX1rII was announced back in 2016 so it’s normal that they now discontinued it. But I hope this ins’t the end of the line because right now the Leica Q3, Fujifilm X100VI and the Ricoh GRIII are selling like hotcakes! I hope Sony will surprise us with a new model in the near future!

via Asobinet

Again: those ZV-E10II and A6900 specs are just a made up wishlist

So folks, there is again a round of ZV-E10II and A6900 specs being published as “rumor” by other websites. The source of that spec list is E8M on Weibo. He does a great job when spotting real camera registrations but when it comes to predicting the specs…well he is just guessing and he doesn’t have any trusted source. In the past years he published many such spec list about Fuji, Sony and so forth and they turned out to be wrong most of the time with only some small parts being correct because well..sometimes a guess can be partially correct.

Today some “rumor” websites took his “guess list” and sold this as a “reliable rumor”. SAR readers asked me about this and therefore I felt obliged to post this article.

The ZV-E10II specs he posted for example are based by the rational assumption it will use the same A6700 sensor. I told you myself months ago that while I do not have reliable Z-E10II specs I assume it will use the same A6700s sensor. E8M makes now the same assumption and guessed the possible specs. He also speculated about a new A6900 using the same Fuji X-T5 40MP sensor (which is made by Sony). But I have not hear of any possibility about the A6900 coming any time soon. The A6700 was announced last year and usually Sony does update their cameras after 4 year…which means a new A6900 might be coming in 2027 only!

Therefore I repeat…the following spec list is just a guess and not a rumor coming from a reliable source:

ZV-E10 II: APS-C format Vlog flagship
EVF-less design, almost a downgraded version of A6700
26 million pixels
759 phase detection AF points
ISO 100-32000
Multi-directional microphone with enhanced signal-to-noise ratio
Video dynamic anti-shake enhancement
Full pixel supersampled 4K/60p video
Support XAVC HS, S, S-I video specification recording
Up to 10bit 4:2:2
Video breathing compensation, automatic composition
BIONZ XR Processor
AI smart chip
Multiple subject identification and tracking
Side flip LCD screen
NP-FZ100 battery

α6900: APS-C format dual image flagship
40.2 million effective pixels APS-C Exmor R sensor, ISO 80-32000
Maintains about 8.0 level five-axis anti-shake
BIONZ XR processor + AI smart chip
759 phase detection AF points, settable focus point size
Human, bird, animal, car/train, airplane, insect subject recognition, high-precision real-time tracking
Hi+ mode up to about 11 frames/second lossless compressed RAW continuous shooting
Mechanical shutter with electronic front curtain enabled, flash sync speed 1/320s, fastest exposure time 1/8000s
4/16 photos Pixel conversion multi-shooting function
Rangefinder, approximately 3.69 million dots, 0.39-inch OLED electronic viewfinder
Dual SD / CFexpress Type A memory card compatible card slots
Ergonomic handle design
Full pixel sampling of 8K/30p, 4K/60p, 4K/120p video recording in 1.01x and 2.01x crop modes
S-Cinetone, S-LOG and LUT import and monitoring
About 15 stops of dynamic range
Video breathing compensation function, video automatic composition function, video dynamic anti-shake enhancement mode

Yashica announced the smallest interchangeable Mirrorless camera using a Sony 12MP sensor and taking E-mount lenses

The new Yashica Micro Mirrorless camera is now available for reorder on Kickstarter (Click here). It’s a super small mirrorless interchangeable camera that uses a tiny Sony 12MP sensor and can take any other mirrorless lens via adapters. So you can also use E-mount lenses on it…although this would make near zero sense because the one goal of this camera is to be a as small as it gets for a system camera.

Reminder: The German company Spinn now has over 1,000 backers for the new magnetic Swift-lock on Kickstarter (Click here). This is how it works:

Officially announced: World’s lightest 50mm f/1.2 lens from Sigma

Preorders:
In USA: BHphoto, Amazon, Adorama.
In Europe: FotoErhardt, Fotokoch, Calumet, WexUK.

Reviews:
Article on Explora. SonyAlphaBlog. TheDigitalPicture. Lensvid.

Comparison with the Sigma 50mm f/1.4:

  • New lens has 40cm close focus instead of 45cm close focus of the f/1.4
  • New lens has 17 elements in 12 groups instead of the 14 elements in 11 groups
  • 13 aperture blades instead of the 11 blades
  • 81mm width compared to 78.2mm
  • 108.8mm height instead of 111.5mm
  • 745g instead of 670g
  • $1399 instead of $849

Youtube reviews: