Sony adds Animal Eye AF for video to its a7C, ZV-E10 cameras with 2.00 firmware update

This is one big problem with the way that Sony forces you to do updates. You have to connect to a computer, download the installer software, and then download the actual update itself. So the installer software has to work with the various OS's out there. It's a pain.

At my local camera shop they always get a few Sony owners coming in every time to ask them to do the update, because they find it so onerous.

Now to be fair, with the A7 IV, they've updated it to allow for the standard SD card updating. But again, why don't they give this to their other models, including more expensive ones?

And Nikon is way ahead, allowing software updates via the smartphone app. Canon is doing this with their R3 as well.

Sony is behind the tech curve on this one. And one wonders why? They have the engineering resources, and they even make smartphones. They should be a leader in this. No excuses for them.

@Thoughts R Us, you're right -- other brands have you download the update to a memory card, so you can use any platform to download and just transfer the file to the card. It's a much more sensible approach than what Sony does. Maybe they're changing given the change with the new a7 IV.

BUT: For the first time in my 7 years using Sony cameras, the update software ran perfectly on my Mac (Catalina 11.6.1), so I didn't need to find a Windows computer. This time there''s an additional app that needs to be downloaded besides the usual "updater" -- it's a camera driver. Perhaps that what was missing for the last 7 years.

Clearly the future of software updating of cameras will be through the smartphone app. All companies have one and they are used to transfer images from camera to smartphone. No reason not to use it for software updates.

Nikon got on this train early, to their credit. Canon just got on with the R3.

But really, Sony should have led the way: they make smartphones. Sony prides itself for being ahead of the curve technologically, but here they are behind.

And it seems to be a Sony thing about neglecting the finer points of the user experience. So a tech leader is behind the curve on software updates, quality of back LCD screen, etc. They all involve aspects of user experience.

And they were the last to implement a touch screen menu system, when again, they have smartphones that specialize in touch controls. SMH.

Sony surely must care about UX, but they seem to get it so wrong so often. I think it's something about their corporate culture.

TRU: Your hatred of Sony has really warped your thinking hasn't it? Now you are bashing them in the comments section for a firmware update!

I think you need to be reminded every day how many Sony models have won DPReview's highest awards; here is your reminder for today:

Sony A1
Sony a7S III
Sony a9 II
Sony ZV-1
Sony a7R IV
Sony DSC-RX100 VII
Sony a6400
Sony a7 III
Sony a7R III
Sony a9
Sony RX10 IV
Sony a6300
Sony a7R II
Sony a7S
Sony a7R

Also Sony cameras won "best high-end" and "best consumer" camera awards for 2021.

Sony forgets that not everybody is using windows PCs from early 2000.

Mike, do you also follow recommendations from The Fro, Sony Northrup and Manny Ortiz?

Foskito: I get it. In your world-view, anyone who compliments or gives Sony an award must be totally dishonest.

BTW I recently checked some of the accusations made here about Mr. Northrup and found them to be almost entirely unjustified.

I have to admit I can't watch the "Fro" videos - they have just too much shouting and general craziness. I like my camera reviews to come from sane people!

Tru Sony users can decide for themselves about what they want to do.

If they are really bothered they will let the company know.

I think this is one of the very few times I can agree with TRU!
Sony camera software in general is awful and low quality! This includes camera firmware upgrade software. Sorry SONY you need to improve this!

Mikegt,

The problem with some YouTubers is their extreme fanboyism, especially towards Sony gear. Examples: Manny Ortiz, Sony Northrup & the Fro... The only other brand I have seen with that kind of shill is Leica, but that is another story.

LOL...Sony fans will defend the old fashioned way of firmware updating, until Sony comes out with the more advanced way. Which, BTW, they do allow for SD card updating on the new A7IV.

And when Sony finally allows for firmware updating via smartphone app, all of a sudden that will become something glorious! :)

Yes, just like the lowly A7c EVF… suddenly 2.36mp became the new norm LOL

@Thoughts
I was reading through DPRs ‘Community Guidelines’ and I have some questions for you:
1. are you sure you are not posting in this comments section with the express intention to 'not be nice' to a particular brand?
2. are you sure you are not repeating yourself in lots of different branches of this comments section and possibly (intentionally or otherwise) annoying other site users?
You seem to have a very negative attitude towards a particular company and a disdain for photographers who use their kit. I don’t understand this – it doesn’t really matter to me what other people choose to shoot with: a camera is a tool, I can’t see what there is to get worked up about with a tool I’ve chosen not to use. You seem to put a lot of effort into this campaign. Don’t you get tired of all that negativity? Would it not be better to channel your efforts in a more positive direction?

@photoaddict. I finally could update my A7C using my MacBook Pro (intel processor, but using macOS 12). I downloaded and installed both the firmware update to Ver. 2.0 and the driver for Mac computers with Intel processor. Tried twice and it did not work. Before trying a third time, I restarted the computer. Then it worked. Now the camera shows Version 2.0. I tried the USB transmission in a conference call with Zoom and it worked very well.

@mikegt: I am quite familiar with 'Thoughts' - However, I have to disagree about most of his posts being bashy (although I would agree that too many are). When he is able to resist bringing slights against his least favourite company and people who use their cameras, he is capable of quite rational contributions. I'd just like him to concentrate on the positive stuff, as the negative postings detract from his credibility.

Sorry about that. I was editing out my rant as you posted...

cbphoto: Why do you and your buddy "TRU" feel that you have to lie or misrepresent what other people say to try to win an argument? Is it because you just don't have facts on your side?

While it is true that I have probably posted more comments in the past 30 days than I have ever before, it is still just a drop in the bucket compared to crazy people like "TRU". In just the past 30 days, he has posted 500 comments here (only 236 less than I have posted in 18 years), compared to my 135 in the same time period.

If anyone has single-handedly ruined the comments section of DPReview it is "Thoughts R Us". He relentlessly patrols the various sections posting the same pro-Canon propaganda and attacking anyone who says anything negative about the company. His sheer volume of posts indicates the level of his insanity - no one writes an average of 500 comments a month on a single web site without being having a completely obsessive-compulsive type of personality.

cbphoto: I am just one person trying to counteract the propaganda machine that is TRU and his supporters / enablers such as yourself.

After all, you did recently tell "TRU" that you "agree with most everything" he says. That tells us everything we need to know about where you are coming from.

TRU is the type of person who will make a non-issue an issue and a big issue like freakin overheating cameras a non-issue. There are brand loyalists and there are brand religious zealots. TRU is brand zealot of the highest order. It's not even worth paying attention to his passive-aggressive style of spreading fake information.

I'm pretty sure many would feel my frustration regarding this aspect, now with the semicon crunch, its a good time to work on things that aren't affected by it like software end of things and more support for existing users imo.

Perhaps the strategy is the processor is different and they haven’t completed the testing yet.

Duh…

Oh and a lot of owners use it for stills. Where the animal EyeAF works wonderfully.

When animal eye-AF came for stills in 2019 the A7III and A7RIII was the first to get it and the A9 got it several months later.

And all the canon and Nikon fanboys joked about how much of a gimmick it was and how we would have better cat photos and who needs animal EyeAF.

I've been shooting since 1980 and the history has repeated itself many times with conservative people who speak against new features that would make the technical part of photography easier.

I got quite flamed some years ago in the Sony forum when I asked for a function where the camera could set both the right autofocus distance and the right aperture settings with regards to DOF to automatically handle group portraits so everyone would get sharp.

In the early 1980s I asked around for a spot metering function where one could point it to the darkest important part and also the brightest dito and depending on the films DR (from the DX code) get an answer if it could handle that and also set the exposure for that. And most other photographers I talked to looked like question marks and said: "Who would need that?".

I have some theories why this is so, but lets leave those out of this thread.

Who knows? Frankly if I knew it would eliminate all of your chances to speculate.

And you may not have. But tons of your canon friends did, and you didn’t speak up.

Not an odd way of going about it if you have a project management background. Starting earlier is not an option, you don't want costs to run away and quality should be non-negotiable - the only thing that can give is time. They will release when it is properly ready (if they have any sense).

The A7III and A7C are similar internally but also different. Normally when a body has been superseded with a new model as the A7III has been by the A7IV Sony don't update them anymore. Also the A7III has the highest firmware revision on any A7 series bodys, 4.01 as you can see in my timeline over all mirrorless autofocus fullframe cameras:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65636058
Based on those two points I'd say that the A7III most likely won't get any more updates, but as always, only Sony knows what will happen.

No, they don't have the same hardware.

They do have the same processor (Bionz X, which all the cameras from the a5100 all the way to the A9 and A7R IV have!).

But they also have some other hardware components different, can't tell which ones. The point is, the A7 III and the A7R III were the last models with that configuration, and thus didn't get the great Real Time AF.

The funny thing is the Sony A9 was the first camera to have Real Time AF, and was also the oldest camera in the then-current generation (A7 III, A7R III, A9) lineup.

For the asking price, the least they could do is use a more up-to-date EVF, not the lowly one from their now extinct APS line.

Do you talk like this when people can see your face Foskito?

The A7C EVF is actually working better for me than the one in the A7III on two points: It is sharper when checking focus and doing MF focus and it is easier to see the whole image with my glasses.

I think size/space is the limiting factor here anyway, nearly all bodies with a corner EVF tend to have a worse one than a similarly sized body (specially from the same manufacturer) with a hump for said EVF...

eg PEN-F vs E-M5 II, GX7/85/9 vs GX8 (larger body) or G#-anything, a6### vs X-T#, A7C vs any other A7, etc etc.

onemoreguy,

Actually I am louder. I am brutally honest, so if you dont like it, you are welcome to not comment on my posts.

My point stands, the EVF is the same as the old A7ii. Now that sony killed their APS line, they can concentrate in step up their game.

Nah, some people are just naturally born troll. Don't change yourself. Listen to your mother.

"I am brutally honest,"

the brutally honest truth is that Sony users don't care about your opinion on sony cameras and to other brand users it matters nothing.

So when are you buying next sony camera to pretend that you are neutral. You bought two of them already to pretend here.

As a Sony user myself, and a owner of a A7C...

The EVF is fine (not "great", not "good", but definitively not "awful").
It never stopped me from taking a picture and I've never considered swapping cameras.

I bought the A7C for the form factor, AF and sensor. If EVF was that important I'd bought something else.

@Kiril Karaatanasov They don't use the same sensors. A6100, A6400, a6600 and ZV-E10 uses the same sensor. A6300 and A6500 has a different one and the A6000 has one of its own.

Nokiron this is not true. The only improvement is the CFA.

You can do a bit of deep-diving into test results, some deep tech article etc. A6300, A6400, A6100, A6500, A600 are identical. Th only difference is the processor which is distinct form the sensor.

A6000 uses different CFA and may be slightly different configuration around the sensor itself and so the performance is a bit worse in the tests we like to brag about. In other tests, A6000 is the best of the bunch yet we evidently do not care about them e.g. color fidelity.

@Kiril Karaatanasov
A6300 and A6500 uses the IMX284.
A6000 uses the IMX210.
A6100, A6400 and A6600 uses the IMX271.

The amount of difference does not matter, they are different sensors.

@User1234567890 That's not correct. See my post above.
The ZV-E10 is identical to the current lineup of A6100, A6400 and A6600. So it's a cheap way of getting the same image quality.

Nah A6000 is the only FSI APSC cam with the Alpha name, i think its the same as the NEX cameras, the rest of the APSCs are BSI.

The A6000 was released in 2014, the A6300 and A6500 in 2016, and then the next generation bodies (A6100/A6400/A6600) were all released in 2019. The timeline fits what Nokiron said perfectly. Why would Sony go back to the old A6000 sensor for the A6100 and A6400?

..as you like guys. The sensor performance is 1:1 across all Sony APS-C since 2014. So I cannot care less about the labels. The readout is the same slow thing with the nasty rolling shutter, dynamic range is the same, noise is the same (Except for A6000 that loses more light in the CFA). After A6000 the sensor reflections were fixed so that has not changed since A6300.

From a consumer perspective, there is zero sensor progress in Sony APS-C since A6300.

They are not bad cameras. Performance is still good even compared to competition if there is any in APS-C. Just note the fact that there is zero progress for 5 years.

@Kiril Karaatanasov
It isn't about labels, it's about incorrect statements. It's not the same sensors.

Animals have different eyes and need new algorithms to accurately recognise them.

Normal Eye AF is for humans.

Animal Eye AF works on cats and dogs. It is also a bit different in function for some reason and was not working in video up till now.

The camera could sometimes mistake a cat for a human or a human for a dog. In general, in either mode, it is ineffective on the other type of subject.

I wonder if it works equally well across different humans e.g. different races, sex, age. Perhaps it is tuned most for young asian and european women.

@Kit Lens Avenger

If that post was meant to convey sarcasm and humour, it instead conveyed a sense of obnoxiousness

Kudos to Sony for giving TRU one less thing to complain about.

"Sony's dedication to adding new features to their old cameras never ceases to impress!"

This camera is ONE year old. I don't see why so much fuzz about it.

For such an over-priced camera, adding this feature is the least they can do.

@MikeRan: LOL. Good one.

But I do still have one more thing to complain about: that Sony is so far not giving any love to their A1 and A7SIII owners. Why no update for them yet?

You spent the most money, you should be first in line for these upgrades! See, I'm looking out for you :)

Ha. I think they will but I’m not worried.
The camera really does everything I ask it to do now very nicely. A few of the early bugs were fixed very quickly and the camera just works. Some of the new features are nice for some users but I don’t need them. Sony has some feedback from me on other improvements I’d like to see them make via firmware. But these improvements don’t benefit me, so it’s a don’t care from me.

“Don't tell that to some of the Sony fans, who, when animal eye AF was only in Canon cameras, constantly downplayed its utility.”

Because they track so well using pattern recognition and stuff. You would know this if you didn’t write so much crap about Sony cameras.

@Handsome90: So if Sony cameras track animals so well without this feature, then why did they bother to add it?

Seems to me there's an inherent contradiction. Either the feature is useful or it's not. If Sony added it, they must consider it to be useful and an improvement on what they already have.

If it helps sell cameras, it is worth including, whether it is useful, better or worse than what is there at present..

@Thoughts R Us

"Don't tell that to some of the Sony fans, who, when animal eye AF was only in Canon cameras, constantly downplayed its utility."

Animal eye AF was never 'only in Canon cameras'. Sony introduced it in their cameras more than a year before Canon. It was actually a Sony innovation that Canon imitated.
https://www.dpreview.com/news/2543218937/sony-adds-enhanced-real-time-eye-af-animal-eye-af-and-interval-shooting-to-the-a7r-iii-a7-iii

And while you're worrying about A1 users don't forget Canon R and RP users who haven't been given the animal eye AF either. I know that will be bothering you.

When it comes to things that people used to knock, I remember well being told that IBIS was the equivalent of the spawn of the devil and no respectable camera company would go anywhere near it – the wind seems to have changed on those opinions.
That people come around is good and they should not be belittled for it – I’ve been helping out in a vaccination centre – I’m always glad when we get a new first-timer come along for their jab.

“Seems to me there's an inherent contradiction. Either the feature is useful or it's not. If Sony added it, they must consider it to be useful and an improvement on what they already have.”

There is no contradiction. It’s a useful feature to have and you clearly know why. But let’s not pretend that Sony cameras are useless at tracking objects (including birds) without animal eye-af.

@RubberDials: You know that I meant was that animal AF in video was first implemented by Canon.

"And while you're worrying about A1 users don't forget Canon R and RP users who haven't been given the animal eye AF either. I know that will be bothering you."

Big difference: the A1 costs $6500 and has their latest technology, including dual Bionz XR processors. It should be able to handle this update easily. The RP and R are not the flagship R cameras, and are priced the lowest in the R lineup. But surely you knew that.

“So if Sony cameras track animals so well without this feature, then why did they bother to add it?” -TRU

To shut up trolls like you and YouTube troll army from spouting off about how Sony doesn’t have it and Canon does. When in all practicality it doesn’t matter much.

As a former Sony A7R (whatever ii or iii) user, I can confirm tracking was pretty lame, mediocre at best.

Even more than my current Fuji XT3 😂

Yes. Subject tracking sucked before real time tracking came along.

"Don't tell that to some of the Sony fans, who, when animal eye AF was only in Canon cameras, constantly downplayed its utility."
@Thoughts: Maybe you could supply links to some of these links where 'Sony fans' constantly downplayed the utility of this feature (for video)...

@MikeRan: Do you really think that Sony makes decisions as to feature updates to cameras simply "To shut up trolls like you and YouTube troll army from spouting off about how Sony doesn’t have it and Canon does. When in all practicality it doesn’t matter much."

That doesn't seem to me the way a large corporation like Sony would operate. These software updates cost money and require engineering and marketing resources. I know Sony is sensitive to marketing and image, but still...

@BobJanes: I will let you do the research for past Sony users comments on animal eye AF for video; I don't have the time nor the inclination. You can believe me or not, I really don't care.

@Thoughts R Us

"You know that I meant was that animal AF in video was first implemented by Canon."

Nope, you thought Canon had invented animal eye AF, as did a couple of other users who didn't pull you up on it.

You were also very keen to bash Sony users as a group, which is something you've moved on to doing in the last couple of years as it's got increasingly harder to say negative things about their cameras.

TRU that was a joke obvious to everyone except you.

"I will let you do the research for past Sony users comments on animal eye AF for video; "

Wasn't it that camera overheating was a big problem until canon had it and then it was who shoots more than 10 minutes of video anyway.

@Thoughts - I couldn't find any...

@zxaar

Don't forget battery life. You had to carry at least four batteries because of Sony's notoriously poor battery life, but when the R5 got a lower battery rating than the original A7r from 2013, battery life suddenly 'wasn't a problem at all'. 😅

Yep. How quickly they forget.

What about the lowly EVF from the 7c?

Sony crowd quickly forget that they criticized cameras from the competition for having 3.6mp EVFs, and suddenly a 2.3mp res was "more than adequate" again 😂