Sony Digital Filter camera app merges parts of three images into one

many digital cameras do lots of in-camera editing tricks that are amazing to say the least ... useful too, but most of these tricks take quite some time to process the final image ...

so, it's only useful if you do have enough time to spend at least half a minute on only one shot, while missing other quickly passing moments of light or moving subjects (birds, humans, vehicles etc) ...

again, the photographic industry is doing innovative things aimed mostly at the prosumer market rather than the pros or even the advanced / enthusiast amateur photographers ... a really experienced photographer doesn't exactly need something like this when image manipulation software of all kinds are available ...

6 months agopermalink

i know many people won't like this but i'm saying it anyway: if Sony (and other camera manufacturers) do want to do something useful really, then instead of coming up with 'nice' apps like this that barely anyone needs and just stop that stupid pixel race thing (which, again, satisfies the prosumer market's 'non-useful needs' more than anything else!) to produce NOISELESS 10MP APS-C sensors and 20MP FF sensors! or produce MF sensors at 40MP @ affordable prices! (preferably CCD in the latter case rather than CMOS btw ...)

6 months ago*permalink

robert1955

CCD? you are joking

6 months agopermalink

no, this is not a joke!

just compare the much better results of CCD sensors with their much wider color range capture and higher exposure latitude with those of the CMOS and you'll see what i mean, that is, if you're not biased already!

yes: CCD is much slower than CMOS and has a number of other problems but in image quality, it's still the best one out there or NASA and other space agencies didn't use it in their satellites and telescopes!

i'm not saying CMOS is bad and has to go, but seeing CCD almost totally forgotten in the consumer photography world is not good either!

6 months agopermalink

robert1955

Difference in color response is caused not by the underlying sensor, but by changes over time in the color filter arrays used. This has been discussed a lot, no ccd proponent has ever been able to show otherwise. Same goes for your remarks about the so-called pixel race: passé
Not relevant for a discussion about this app anyway.

6 months agopermalink

@ robert1955 > yes, i'm over 18, been into film photography since age 8 and into digital (photography as well as computer graphics) since the 1970s when Kodak (and others) started its research in that area ...

and i follow all the whole gingle as well as doing photography on a daily basis! so, i'm sure you'd agree i'm not a non-informed person ... (and i didn't make my comment regarding this particular app either! but since you're responding, i continue, ok?) :)

long story short, what you occupy your mind in theory, i compensate for in practice! to finish it off, go back to my first response to you: rather than accepting those stupid mostly-nonsense benchmark tests and almost always flawed tables etc filled up with rather meaningless DIGITS as Bible Truth, compare the image results of CCD vs CMOS using your own EYES please! after all, photography (and video) is all about Seeing Is Believing, isn't it?

6 months ago*permalink

TerrificShot Photography

LR and PS provides HDR tools. This is a useless app.

Plus, if you are serious photographer, you do the blending manually using luminosity masking techniques.

--------
Best,
Herve
http://www.terrificshot.com/blog

6 months agopermalink

BBQue

How much does this app cost versus price of a LR/Photoshop subscription? Maybe not as useless to some as one might think :)

3 months agopermalink

guywithyashica

Is Sony's decision to exclude the a77ii and a99ii due to technical limits of those models or simply a "cheapo" decision?
A7II and rx10III user

6 months agopermalink

Remodelman

As an A77II owner, I'll go with the "cheapo" answer. Sony has done NOTHING to show appreciation towards the owners of these camera bodies.

6 months agopermalink

rsf3127

It is a nightmare to add an app to my A7. I prefer to shoot bracketed and merge afterwards with the software I already have.

6 months agopermalink

PVCdroid

Do you have to log in to other sites with a user ID and password? That's about the extent of the nightmare when doing it directly from the camera. Set up your account first with Sony via desktop/laptop with a valid CC and you're good to go.

6 months agopermalink

BBQue

If you follow procedure, the app install is really easy. The main stumbling block is choice of browser: Only Safari (Apple) and Internet Explorer (PC) are supported by the Sony app store.

3 months agopermalink

texascbx

There is a free app on Googleplay called Time Lapse for Sony. It's so much better than Sony's own time lapse it's not funny.

6 months agopermalink

Freecall

Hello , new to sony with an RX 100 III , How can you install apps from the googleplay store ?

6 months agopermalink

texascbx

It goes on your phone and your phone controls the camera.

6 months agopermalink

W5JCK

To date the only Sony app I have found to be useful is the Time Lapse app which I use as an internal intervalometer. But that app is totally clunky and kluge and has limited value. I merely use it for the intervalometer feature to time my photos. Once done shooting I transfer the RAW images to my computer, process them in Lightroom and/or Photoshop, then create my video with another app. I don't ever allow Sony apps to process my files as they will make a mess of them.

This new app seems to be in the category of useless to me. I can just shoot bracketed images or multiple images from a tripod, then better process them in LR and/or PS. Sony apps like this will take too long to set up and will be too clunky to use. The moment will be long gone by the time you get that darn app set up to take the photo. Sunset will have already passed and the middle of the night will be upon you!

6 months ago*permalink

Tom Ames

The smooth reflection app is sweet. I use it a lot.

6 months agopermalink

antares103

I like the camera apps from sony, and I dont mind to pay for them. However, these more complex ones I think would be better served in a phone/tablet/cloud editing app for post production. Something like snapseed, but for sony RAW files. I would pay for that app too.

This could then be an app for any sony camera that can transfer images in any capacity (Eye-Fi), expanding function to OLD dslr and SLT cameras.

6 months ago*permalink

sh10453

Instead of trying to milk their customers out of every penny, with clunky apps, Sony should include filters like this in a firmware update to their cameras.
This is just another gimmick that's not worth 30 cents.
Anyone can achieve such results with bracketing.

Put it in the firmware, Sony.
You owe it to your customers, who pay big money for your cameras.
You are not a little software house trying to make a living out of making little programs to just survive.
You are manufacturing expensive cameras!!
Shame on you, Sony.

6 months agopermalink

thartist

You know...That was exactly my first thought. Does Sony provide support for MacOS latest yet?

6 months agopermalink

Revenant

So just because you've purchased a product that you think is too expensive, the manufacturer owes you something more than what you paid for?

6 months agopermalink

JessieBlue

I currently use the predecessor to this app, Sky HDR. I really like it, because it allows you to get a preview of what the final image will look like.

Before using this App I used to shoot brackets and then merged them in lightroom. With this process I had 3 raw files for every scene, which was lots of pictures. Doing all the merging in post was time-consuming. I like to be out in the field much more than sitting in front of the computer and process images. So, I like that I can get it right in the field and save some time in post.

Sony has the right idea here to bring more and more post-processing steps into the camera since all new photographers will come from smartphones where no computer is involved in processing images at all. But for sure there is lots of work to do, namely make all of this touch-sensitive for ease of use (and provide the hardware for it as well).

6 months agopermalink

GRUBERND

do you really have to set the gradients _before_ taking any picture or could you go out to run-tripod-and-gun the fleeting moments with a standard bracketing set and do the fiddling later?

6 months agopermalink

JessieBlue

Yes, you need to set the exposure for the zones. This exposure for each zone is then used to take the picture per zone. Directly after the shot you still have the option to move the gradient and feathering. But ones it is saved, you cannot change it anymore.

Depending on your camera you also get the raw files for each zone (mark 2 A7x). So, for a three zone config you would get four files, three exposures and combined picture.

Merging only works on pictures taken in the app, not on pictures already taken with bracketing.

6 months agopermalink

Raintitan

That is my thought. This looks like more hassle than a 3x exposure brasket that is merged in post. I have an A7ii and the apps are kind of clunky.

6 months agopermalink

JessieBlue

For slow subjects like sunset/sunrise I like to get it right in the field already. You usually set up gradient ones (I use tripod for this and scouted location/composition before) and then adjust exposure as the sun goes up/down like you would with bracketing. In the end I like to have Less files to import and process. But thats just me.

In general, If you do more gun-and-run style of shooting, this app is not for you. This is really meant for slow paced work on a tripod, like you would with physical filters.

6 months agopermalink

Graham Gibson

I've only used Sky HDR, but the way that works is the app takes the exposures separately and saves 3 files (even RAW if desired)--the sky, land, and combined. So you can ultimately still go back to the individual RAWs later (in photoshop, etc) if you want to do a more nuanced blend or adjustment later. The app will also let you move the gradient lines right after you've taken your exposures too. Sure, you can just use a standard bracketing set to run-n-gun if you're in a rush to get the right moment, but the power of the app is really to set a custom set of brackets.

It's convenient to get a single RAW file out of camera to edit, but you can decide whether that's worth the price of the app since there's nothing here that can't be done with multiple exposures in post.

6 months agopermalink

mdrips

I love my RX-100, but Sony's pricing for their apps borders on the ridiculous.

6 months agopermalink

fatdeeman

I'm not saying it should be free but I guarantee you they would make more profit if it was priced at $2.99, not many people are going to spend $30 just to try an app out.

I love the idea of this because I hate using ND filters and doing it digitally can be time consuming. I'm not convinced how good the results would be though and for that much money I won't be taking any chances.

6 months agopermalink

GHPhotography

Yeah, $30 takes this app completely out of the "impulse buy" category and into the level of a serious photographer, but serious photographers are more likely to already know how to use brackets to do HDR in post. So this price point seems really stupid because unlike some of the apps they *could* make (taking full focus brackets automatically based on DOF) this app doesn't do anything you can't already do in post.

6 months agopermalink

AlexanderHorl

Does the app save pictures as raw or is just jpeg possible?

6 months agopermalink

It's a revolution. It works with raw files.

6 months agopermalink

ProfHankD

Actually, much as I like raw too, the fact that the RESULT is A raw means it can't be doing all that wonderful computational alignment Sony does in most multi-shot capture modes. This is why you need a tripod. Ideal would be a JPEG of the final image and/or the set of raws from which it was constructed along with a specification of how to merge them.

6 months ago*permalink

CQui

The point I see in doing post production on mobile device is to do it on site and been able to post online with out delay.

6 months agopermalink

No, the revolution is that you're blending several raw files.

6 months agopermalink

CQui

Mixing RAW files is not a revolution as a workflow, many more or less do that already, the only thing is that it is all done in the same box.

6 months agopermalink

Sdaniella

this sky (naturally wide) hdr (or fav-3-special-zone) function should be built-in to user selectable triple-iso capable sensors ... in a SINGLE capture (not 3 captures)

the processing speeds exists, isn't it about time sensors be more user flexible wrt iso parameters!!??

the olde restrictive mono-iso choices, shoulde have longe been abandoned, and single exposure using multi-iso capable sensors developed by now, dontcha agree!!!???

6 months agopermalink

Thematic

6 months agopermalink

Bruscas

I used sky hdr once and never again. Way too fidly for situations that require quick and ease of use.

6 months agopermalink

Tom Holly

god that looks painful. If you want to do that stuff just get a computer...

6 months agopermalink

FoxShutter

Is there an embedded timer? Can it be operated with the Smart Remote app from a phone for long exposures? RX100V has no other options for remote shooting.

6 months agopermalink

ttran88

Surprised Canikon and others don't have something similar for their cameras.

6 months agopermalink

ProfHankD

$30 for something that could easily be a free app or even a firmware update. This is unfortunately copying an old Minolta thing (program cards) too closely. :-(

It shouldn't be too long now before the Open Memories interface starts producing more interesting and useful apps for free....

6 months agopermalink

You're not understanding this app. It's a revolution. You can start thinking the frame as many little frames inside of it. Each one with its exposure, time, aperture, wb, etc. Working with raw files. Still can't believe it.

6 months agopermalink

ProfHankD

_Frederico_: I'm a lot more revolutionary than that, and implement lots of stuff inside commodity cameras. ;-) For example, my current work has largely centered on being able to capture and process image data so that you can adjust the time interval represented by an exposure after the fact (TDCI -- time domain continuous imaging) and we've actually implemented this inside Canon PowerShots using CHDK, as reported in a paper at Electronic Imaging 2017.

I'm sure this is a nice app; I just don't think Sony should restrict app development to themselves nor do they need to charge $30 for one.

6 months agopermalink

Ron Poelman

I ran out of fingers after about 30 button presses.
So it looks like about 50 or so adjustments before the final product,
in the field, on a small screen, on tiny controls and with the light fading.
Yeah, that'll run.
Could've been button-less and dial-less with a decent touch screen interpretation.

6 months ago*permalink

Bruscas

It is not a good choice of app. Focus on taking the photo and process later on the computer.

6 months agopermalink

Don't give up. Because it's a revolution.

6 months agopermalink

Ron Poelman

So is a 3 shot bracket,
a basic computer with a nice big screen
and nothing more than Paintshop Pro or the like.

6 months ago*permalink

Mako109

Has anyone tried to install previously purchased apps after upgrading their RX100, e.g from a MK3 to a MK4? Guess what, they make you buy the apps all over again.

6 months ago*permalink

Eric Hensel

I have an A7 and never had this problem.I suggest you email them.

6 months agopermalink

AFishEye

@Mako109
Not true!
Your purchases on the app store are connected to the camera number and you can reinstall, if needed, as many times as you wish (never lost any after any firmware update)
Also, every app purchased is good for 10 different Sony cameras you own (your buy additional cameras, the app purchase is good for the new cameras).

6 months ago*permalink

Ebrahim Saadawi

He's not talking about a firmware update but a real camera update, RX100 Mark 3 to mark 4: to OP: I don't exactly know the mechanism or if it's the same on all Sony Cameraa but you should be able to download the app again freely if you enter than same information. I could do it on the apps purchased by an a7 to an a7rII. Contact Sony.

6 months agopermalink

Mako109

Thanks everyone for your input. I believe it may be too late for me to seek reimbursement since I upgraded quite a while ago, when the M4 was newly released. I recall attempting to install the same apps that I had originally purchased on my M3 on to my M4, and to my surprise the install would not proceed. Instead it detected I was installing on a new camera and terminated the install. Only way to proceed was to repurchase, so I bit the bullet. Maybe I did something wrong. Oh well, lesson learned.

6 months ago*permalink

IdM photography

Interesting, however a sunset is extremely short, so it's difficult to start playing with applications and menus before taking the photo...

6 months agopermalink

cosinaphile

it is a great idea..... it also feels like sony is just being a cheap and greedy corporation
trying to nickel and dime its parishioners

i fel the same way when a camera maker is wise enough to include USB charging in the body and uses that as an excuse to save a couple of bucks leaving out a stand alone charger..... despicable

do better sony .... and fuji please reverse engineer this and include it in one of you excellent and always free firmware updates

6 months ago*permalink

photo_rb

Other than cutting down on post-editing, is there any advantage using this app over merging bracketed photos in Photoshop?

6 months agopermalink

IdM photography

Yes, merging bracketed photos is probably faster (to take the photo) and still a good option.

6 months agopermalink

Ayoh

Outputs files in RAW, could be useful

6 months agopermalink

Got Photoshop. #sorted

Brian

6 months agopermalink

adengappasami

nice idea...dont pay 29 dollars but pay 120 a year and a work flow that is not faster nor smarter.

I am just defending this app because u mentioned photoshop. Else this is costly for what it does.

6 months agopermalink

120 a year? Where does that come from? My Photoshop CS6 is on a perpetual licence.

Brian

6 months agopermalink

adengappasami

And how much did u pay for that product if not subscription. Unless it was torrented the product runs over 600 dollars. A 29 dollar vs 500 plus dollar is not even a close comparison

6 months agopermalink

Paid full price both for my PC and Mac copies, direct from Adobe. Once, ever, each. No subscription.

Brian

6 months agopermalink

adengappasami

Bro u paid over 1000 dollars now..how do u say both are same. This is 29 dollars for the same reason. It's like someone selling a well working action pack.

6 months agopermalink