Sony reduces Pixel Shift interval to 0.5 seconds in a7R lll

thats good to know. Ill give it a shot on my friends' mac and see if I can help.

@vscd:

Meanwhile there is a robustly entertaining canon forum on this very site where canon users comment about various and sundry things.

But thank you n

VSCD since you’re commenting here does that make you an unemployed Canon shooter?

Is Fuji holding back features? Updates are a kind of surprise packs?

Yes, holding back features and sell them as "updates"... it's a point of view to call it either kaizen or betrayment.

Sony is the company that tried to sell updates via their play memories app to generate more revenue. The app on the camera was incredibly annoying.
This is a $2900 camera and it is nice to see Sony fix something that was poorly implemented on release. But it is rare that Sony adds new functionality via FW like FujiFlim and others do. FujiFlim seems committed to their user base while Sony keeps trying to squeeze out more money. Also, shooting at only 2 frames a second is still very slow these days.

@ Steven Ar: PixelShift is a special feature, not something used for ordinary shooting - only for static subjects, for optimum colors, with the camera on a sturdy tripod. Probably you don't know what this RGGB filtering mode is all about, but there are plenty of factual information on the web.

@Magnar W
You really don't seem to understand the simple concept behind it.
The longer it takes to shoot the multiple exposures the more likely problems with movement will arise.
I frequently run into problems where after 4 or 5 seconds into the shot a car or other object appears in the scene ruining it. A strong wind kicking up can ruin foliage, etc.
There are plenty of articles on the web written for beginners that should help you better understand the simple concept behind pixel shift.

@ Steven Ar: This four pass mode is NOT for shooting moving subjects. And IF there is a moving subject, this is pretty easy to fix at post processing, using one of the four files. This limitation is the same for any multi shot technique.

If there is wind, or moving elements, why use Pixel Shift mode at all? If increased resolution is your goal, why not just shoot three or four frames at hightes frame rate, and merge the frames for increased fine detail? A different technique than RGGB filtering though, but probaply just as good if fine detail is your concern.

Or simply buy a camera with higher resolution, if this is what you really need! Problem solved! You don't even have to ask the camera to do something that it can't do ...

As others said they didn't add anything new. As a long time Sony shooter unless they have had a change of heart on firmware updates don't hold your breath for the next one.

@ Magnar W
You appear to be a newbie who knows little about landscape photography.
I suggest you take a beginner's course or ask someone at you local camera shop to explain these simple concepts.
When shooting landscapes with foliage, if the exposure is long or multiple shots are to be combined, a bit of unexpected wind can ruin the shot. And, the longer the exposure the more likely it is something can ruin the shot.
Only someone unfamiliar with photography would suggest that blurred foliage is "pretty easy to fix at post processing". That was truly good for a laugh. Seriously, take a class . Maybe this simple concept, that time matters, will sink in.

@ Steven Ar: Sure, I will study the work in your gallery ...

Actually, I have tested out the PixelShift mode in depth, and removing a passing car is pretty basic stuff.

Nobody with basic knowledge on multi pass shooting would even try to photograph a landscape with trees and grass waving in strong wind with this mode!

Most photographers understand that a feature has to be used within the specs. So please, tell me which multi pass camera and multi pass technique is useable for photographing subjects like trees in strong wind?!?

LOL!!!
@Magnar W tries to cover for his photography ignorance impying he knows exactly when the wind is going to kick up.
This after saying that removing blurred foliage is "easy" to do in post.

I can't believe that you are so stupid as to think you have the same chance of avoiding a surprise strong wind with an 8 second exposure as with a 1 second exposure. Wow, you really do need a beginner's class. Even better prove your point by taking 8 seconds to walk across an 8 lane highway with trucks going by at 70 miles an hour. :)

Any rational photographer with a little intelligence knows it is better to get the photo right when shooting instead of getting forced to fix issues in post like you espouse.
Let me guess, you think that the Sony sensor lines are easy to fix, take no time, and no one notices them, right? I knew it!

@ Steven Ar: I think your arrogant language is telling enough about yourself as a "specialist", and as a person.

@Magnar W

You started with the arrogant language and the proved you had no clue what you were talking about.
It is near impossible to know when a bird might fly into a scene or when the wind might kick up and move foliage. One great way to lessen the chance of unexpected events is to use exposures that are 2 seconds instead of 8, if possible. Your failure to understand this says it all.

Steven Ar wrote: "Your failure to understand this says it all."

I simply don't agree with you. I have explained pretty well why. This is something very different from "not understanding".

You intentionally misinterpret over and over again what I am writing, to "prove" that I don't know anything about photography. In your last answer you are doing this - again. Do you really think that telling others that they are dumb makes you right?

@wy2lam
>Fuji does not "sell" you the updates. The firmware updates are Free

That's a good and valid point. But quite a few "features" are simply fixes to come up to marketstandards. For example V3: "Showing separate RGB-Histograms". What? "Tethering is now possible"... another thing my Canon 5D could do back in 2005 (!).
So, yes, the force is strong in Fuji, but don't overact on this ;)

Steven Ar: Play Memories is an option to be installed in previous cameras, not a feature that you were forced to use.

Fuji updates are admirable but a lot of the time they are adding features/options that other cameras already had and are just playing catch up. When you consider that, it adds a slightly more sour tone to the whole "Kaizen" thing.

Sometimes they really do improve core camera operation which is nice though.

Don't get me wrong... Fuji has a *VERY* good way to be polite to the customers. I really like to see some new functions like Focus-Stacking or 120fps Videorecording without paying for it in the next body. But sometimes they implement rudimentary functions llike a RGB-Histogramm, months after releasedate...

How would you judge Canon for doing this? Right.
So, yes, Fuji makes lovely things but for example cheating on ISO is still not "fixed", until today.

Quite right, and thank you for pointing this out. However I suspect DPR staff are laughing at your pedantry. Is is not pedentry it is respect for language, typography and literacy. I for one appreciate that. Unfortunately anyone who regularly uses the phrase 'reaching out' when they simply mean contacting somebody, as DPR staff do, is beyond help.

*aluminum hat prepared*
I think they do not want search engines to find this article, Nlkon must have paid the copy writer to fumble it up.

I didn't think it was a lowercase L. I just thought it was a fancy font.

@taruaS

“Is is not pedentry”?

I just checked and they are lower case "L"s. I think I'll be able to sleep tonight though.

@Hugo600si

Aluminium.
Just to add to the discussion of using English.

I am joking of course however, I do agree with you @ipopov

Fjbyr sony doesn't have lenses too.

30 Seconds? i suppose if 'recharge' means making to change the batteries in the strobe..
Then again you had better be using it in a VERY stable/closed studio under lights for 30 seconds, or 'special effects' will certainly be the result ;)
And on the other hand, I guess, why not... however I also doubt the use of the higher end of those times.

BTW, are your strokes REALLY consistent enough flash to flash for this kind of use? I suggest that would depend quite a bit on the strobe..

If only
PhozoKozmos
could reduce the

delays in his
writing, maybe some of it
would
...
make sense

Proper punctuation and capitalization would help, too. ;)

BlueBomberTurbo, I wish I could give you a dozen likes.

DPReview provided you with a link to Windows file. Just find Drivers and Software for A7RIII and then select the OS to see the files available: https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=ILCE7RM3&LOC=3#/downloadTab

@PhozoKosmos, copying the update file to memory card root directory, inserting it into camera and having camera find the file and do the update would be nice. Having the camera connect to wifi and download and install the update is probably too much to ask of camera companies currently.

What's so hard about navigating and searching the Sony support site for the file?

I found the Mac version!
https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/swu-download.pl?mdl=ILCE7RM3&upd_id=11474&os_group_id=3

It wasn't Sony's fault. The dpreview link only goes to the PC version

thanks

Well you said it was Sony fault in the beginning and then DPReviews fault for only the Win link? I can imagine how difficult must be to find your head in the morning but I guess that okay as long as you have someone to blame.

Also, which laptop did you get?

ROFL....
First you in insult them...
Then you ask them a question....
And think they're gonna answer....
What a bunch there is here....
The next time I see someone with a camera I'm gonna go to the other side of the street...
:=)

@JRCO:

i'm referring to apps, like pixel-shift software to combine 4 sony images into 1
lacking in mobile pcs

not firmware to update the camera itself

but i agree, Sony relies on use of a pc to execute a firmware update is absurd

whilst placing firmware on a memory card via web/internet is "system unbiased"
where it can be placed into a camera directly for the camera to update itself makes more sense

While I really like my Sony cameras I really hate their recent update process. I don't understand why they don't support updating from the memory card at least as an option. My A700 updates from a memory card and it work quite well and was computer/OS agnostic. If you could get the image on the memory card the camera would update. Now you not only need a PC but a specific OS as well. Very stupid IMO.

Sony should include a Windows PC with the camera since it's their idiotic decision to require one.

The delay is probably there to guarantee that the exactly the required amount of the shift has been achieved and the sensor has settled in the new position. Regular image stabilization needs a different kind of precision - instead of absolute positional precision it needs the velocity and direction precision.
Same problem as with closed loop gimbals - they are great at countering the movement, but not so much with controlling the exact position.

What we really need is a company listening to their customers. The NTSC warning for example is such an easy fix and the problem existed since the first A7. And Sony knows that, many people have complained and Sony has to be aware that this was the reason people started hacking the Sony cameras in the first place.

But did they adress it? No, they think they know better or just don't care. And I hate that. Without the ability to hack/disable that I will never update my A7 II to a new A7 III. But I guess they don't want to sell me a camera?

(1/2)
For people who don’t know what the NTSC warning problem is here a quick explanation. Depending on where you buy your camera there are basically two versions of Sony cameras. If you buy it in the US, you have NTSC selected as standard and if you buy in Europe you have PAL selected as standard.
Now, you can change PAL/ NTSC in the menu system, but if your selection doesn’t match up with your regional standard you get a warning every time you turn on the camera. You need to press ok on that warning in order to go away, which makes startup far slower and really annoying. And because you turn mirrorless cameras on and off all of the time it get’s REALLY REALLY annoying and you can miss fast moments. This is a huge problem for Europeans, because you have your camera often set to NTSC and there is no way to avoid it if you shoot a mix of video/ stills.

(2/2)
Now you might think, that for people who are primarily photographers, shooting only occasional videos there is an easy fix. Set the camera to PAL and just switch it if you actually shoot video. But that doesn’t work, because if you switch from PAL to NTSC you need to format the memory card. This is just utterly ridiculous and unnecessary (and because I didn’t know it the first time I lost a lot of photos, but that’s another story)

The fix for all that would be easy, just give us a simple menu option to disable the warning. But Sony ignored that, and people were so upset that they started hacking the camera, which led to a hack/solution for all first and second gen A7 cameras. But on the third gen cameras this hack cannot work, and Sony still doesn’t offer a solution.

Looking at your post it would seem that you don't actually own the A7riii, what you may not be aware of is the vastly superior battery. I have just returned from a 5 hour shoot, 700 images - uncompressed RAW and JPEG, and never turned the camera off at all. Battery shows 43% left. So turning off the camera ( as I did in the past) is no longer an issue, and hence although you might have to turn off the warning once, it is hardly life threatening.

@Dsnoir
It highly depends on your shooting style. I am rarely shooting continous for hours and for my style of shooting i turn the camera on and off at least 20-40 times a day. I do a lot of travel/ hiking photography and I would never put my camera into my bag leaving it on.

We all turn our cameras off. Even our 1DXIIs,
Having a pop up is plain annoying.

@James Sterling

That was app based. Apps are currently not implemented on the newest Sony cameras.

Sony already kind of fixed it, it only shows the warning once until a battery or card change. This is 100% acceptable for unless you are a complainer, They removed the apps because they changed OS and didn't feel the model worked (and it didn't). The wifi and remote control stuff is better now as a result (things like video profiles and all the settings work). The downside for now we are missing some of the apps features and its not hacked yet.

@Daniel Ockeloen
That would be awesome. Can somebody confirm that?
And I agree that the app system was far from perfect, but if you remove it give us the features back. A camera without intervalometer in 2018 is a joke

A7RII flex focus boxes are white when thumb pad as joystick is active and black when not active. Tried a A9 and lost the focus point a few times.

good to know

AF point indicators being not visible enough for current generation Sony FF
may get better next time round

Couldn’t agree more. Massive issue. It’s been called out so many times by reviewers. If I were a pro sports/wedding photographer it would stop me using the A7riii. Pretty upsetting if they have not fixed.