Sony has announced firmware updates for several of its Alpha mirrorless cameras. These updates will bring new features such as focus breathing compensation, C2PA authentication, and true 24p 4K DCI support.
Sony promises that these updates will not only improve video reliability but also ensure the authenticity of images in a rapidly growing AI-driven space.
Image Credit: Sony
The updates will apply to the Sony Alpha 1 (Ver. 2.00), Alpha 7S III (Ver. 3.00), Alpha 7 IV (Ver. 3.00), and after April 2024, the Alpha 9 III (Ver.2.00). Sony claims that these updates will make each camera model easier to use while maximizing the strengths that each platform brings to a content creator’s workflow.
Image Credit – Sony
One of the most significant improvements is the new Camera Authenticity Solution (C2PA), which provides a set of standards and technical specifications to certify the originality of an image.
C2PA embeds the images with a digital signature in the metadata to track the editing history of an image and provide a kind of “birth certificate” with 3D depth information from the image sensor. This depth information will show if the image is original or generated using 2D image or video.
The C2PA solution will use an Image Validation Site to verify the image being used has been generated by C2PA compliant software, taken by a specific camera, and has genuine 3D depth information.
Image Credit: Sony
Sony is also giving two cameras focus breathing compensation, a feature that users have been requesting since each camera’s release. This feature is now available on the Sony A1 and A7S III mirrorless cameras.
The Alpha 7S III also gets a license to shoot DCI 4K 24p video codec. The license is free and downloadable through Creators’ Clouddiv.
Other features of the new updates include relay playback from multiple memory card slots on the A1, A7S III, and A9 III. There is also a tool to categorize image playback according to date, folder, and file format for the A1 and A7S III. Additionally, there is improved manual assist autofocus and a redesigned video mode display to make it easier to manage ISO, white balance, aperture, and shutter speed changes.
Users can also simultaneously trigger the shutter release of two or more cameras connected and synced to a main A1 or A9 III mirrorless camera. The A1 also receives improved and enhanced image stabilization, and all four cameras will enjoy an increased upper limit of up to 9,999 recordable images in the cameras’ image folders.
Video content creators will also be able to match time codes in other devices with a dedicated adapter cable for the A1 and A7S III, and the cameras will also get up to 20 IPTC Presets.
Those presets will also receive an update to the File Transfer Protocol to streamline cloud uploads. There are options for “protected images only” or to protect an image during FTP transfer. A protocol has also been added using WPA3-SAE when transferring wirelessly.
Downloading and installation
Each update is available for download from the Sony Alpha Support Website. Version 2.0 for the A9 III, however, is currently expected to be released later in April 2024
[source: Sony]
Order links:
- Sony A1 Mirrorless Camera (B&H)
- Sony A7S III Mirrorless Camera (B&H)
- Sony A7 IV Mirrorless Camera (B&H)
- Sony A9 III Mirrorless Camera (B&H)
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