NEX customization should work like Harmony remote control

Trying to customize the NEX-7 is a bit challenging which got me thinking...shouldn't I just be able to plug my camera into my PC and customize like a Harmony Remote? They could make this part of the PMB software.

Move menus, reorder, rename, assign dials and buttons, change icons, etc?

Ability to save four different user settings would be great...much easier to do visually on the PC.

Also, it should be able to do macros like customizing several profiles on the camera that would be like "if this flash and this lens is attached then set to my portrait settings" or "set sharpnses to -1 with this lens"

The NEX-7 UI is atrocious. The need to do something and based on Sony's track record with UI they should just give up and let the users do it.

Agreed that's a great idea. Sony should have the tech chops to do stuff like that.

Les

--
"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five."
Groucho Marx

http://www.leshall.com

I like the idea of using my computer to set up my camera. I use it to set up my Vario for my flying and is certainly easier than remembering which button does what.
--
http://www.pbase.com/reelate2
http://www.pbase.com/relate2
My youtube channel====> [ b] http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn
What flying means to me.
http://vimeo.com/2598837
Flying highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lRu3P15BaY
My Youtube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2#p/u

Yeah, good idea.

How about Apps written by photo experts that would offer different ways of setting up your camera. Just plug it in and their settings would download to it and set it up.

You could download trials, try them out with virtual buttons and dials on touch devices and then buy the one you like.

Yes, and no. If the interface software was as slow as that awful Logitech stuff, nobody would be patient enough to ever try the results.

--

Nex-7 with kit lenses, Contax G 35, and a number of legacy lenses (mostly Canon FD)

In theory it could be done but all the firmware should be rewritten from scratch, which is a very long and time consuming process, so I doubt they will do it.Remember customers expect now a new model every year, so whould be very hard forSony to take 2-3 years break to rewrite the firmware from scratch.

I have 3 Harmony remotes and love the customization, but for many is overwhelming ( 2 friends bought and returned them because customization was two much for them, especially if you don't want to spend 10 minutes to read the manual, and pretty much you need to do at least some basic customization on them to be able to use them).

They could always do what Canon did with the G series and "leak" the firmware source so that they open source community could pick it up. A Nex with community-developer firmware could be really awesome.
--

Nex-7 with kit lenses, Contax G 35, and a number of legacy lenses (mostly Canon FD)

SQLGuy said:

They could always do what Canon did with the G series and "leak" the firmware source so that they open source community could pick it up. A Nex with community-developer firmware could be really awesome.
--

Nex-7 with kit lenses, Contax G 35, and a number of legacy lenses (mostly Canon FD)

Click to expand...

Yes, but there are a few things to consider:

The firmware contains also algorithms which are most likely Sony only, not open source (example could be related to Panorama mode, HDR, and any othe in camera processing, and any advanced features related to the BIONZ processor itself which you do not want to expose to competition). Second, if you have a modified firmware out there you will get people using it, and either bricking the camera or just complaining about bugs which are not in the official software. There are a lot of people who do not understand the difference between an official firmware and an unsupported one. As this is a camera not a computer or a smartphone the proportion of users which do not understand the difference is much bigger.

Even with a leak, nobody will go and write a totaly new firmware, what you will get may be some small hacks , enable/disable some small things usualy but not a completely new UI.

Why is any of what you're saying different from Canon's G series? Has Canon had all sorts of problems because they shared their code, or because some people use it? My impression is that they have not.

There are lots of people running open-source firmware on their phones, tablets, networking hardware, etc. They have the same potential to brick these devices as people applying such to cameras. While you might argue that the average tablet user is more tech savvy than the average camera user, I don't think that argument applies to phones versus cameras; and I think, regardless, that the average person who would be capable and willing to apply an open source firmware update to any device is at about the same skill level.

As for proprietary code, the question is whether it's patented. Code that you have to ship in a device, and provide updates for, is hard to protect as a trade secret. This is not like the Coca Cola formula, which would be harder to reverse engineer. As such, I'm pretty sure Sony has patented any code they feel gives them a competitive advantage. There are many open source licenses, such as GPL3, that would give them plenty of protection from competition illegally reusing code they share with their user community.

adi9 said:

SQLGuy said:

They could always do what Canon did with the G series and "leak" the firmware source so that they open source community could pick it up. A Nex with community-developer firmware could be really awesome.
--

Nex-7 with kit lenses, Contax G 35, and a number of legacy lenses (mostly Canon FD)

Click to expand...

Yes, but there are a few things to consider:

The firmware contains also algorithms which are most likely Sony only, not open source (example could be related to Panorama mode, HDR, and any othe in camera processing, and any advanced features related to the BIONZ processor itself which you do not want to expose to competition). Second, if you have a modified firmware out there you will get people using it, and either bricking the camera or just complaining about bugs which are not in the official software. There are a lot of people who do not understand the difference between an official firmware and an unsupported one. As this is a camera not a computer or a smartphone the proportion of users which do not understand the difference is much bigger.

Even with a leak, nobody will go and write a totaly new firmware, what you will get may be some small hacks , enable/disable some small things usualy but not a completely new UI.

Click to expand...

--

Nex-7 with kit lenses, Contax G 35, and a number of legacy lenses (mostly Canon FD)

I think what people would prefer is the ability to 'skin' the Sony UI, not add/change the features (although this would be nice too).

The ability to skin the UI so that the existing feature-set is better presented would go a long way to improving the users experience of the camera. Creating a firmware that allows skins (which load from the SD card) wouldn't expose any of Sony's secrets or patents and wouldn't be any harder to keep updated.

Would Sony be ever likely to do this? lol, no.

edit: I do think that the future of consumer cameras (especially P&S cameras) is designing the UI based on Android (or similar). The explosion of camera apps on iOS and Android makes otherwise very poor camera senors into something very exciting. The first camera maker to capatilise on this will be very successful and possibly will create a whole new market of cameras.

Would Sony be ever likely to do this? yes! (they make phones and cameras)