Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

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01af
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Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by 01af »

It's for download here:

http://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/dow ... 700v04.exe

No 'readme' file, sorry. Currently, no-one knows the state of this firmware (beta?, release candidate?, final?), or what the changes are. Does anyone dare to haphazardly try it and then to tell us? :twisted:

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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by rogprov »

Just installed it ... now High ISO has an OFF choice! :)
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01af
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by 01af »

Wow ... you're courageous!

By the way, a zipped version (for those not on an MS Windows machine) is here:

http://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/dow ... 700v04.zip

-- Olaf
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by rogprov »

01af wrote:Wow ... you're courageous!

-- Olaf

Or I'm foolish - but it seems okay ... whew! :D
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bossel
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by bossel »

rogprov wrote:Just installed it ... now High ISO has an OFF choice! :)
Would that impact raw or jpg or both?
Javelin
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by Javelin »

Also someone figured out that there are larger bracket step choices, which I know some people were wanting for HDR.. I wonder if this is a result of the list that Ken_5 started looking for input. NR off and the brackets were bigies on that list.

Someone should compare these V3 and 4 with a hex editor. maybe we can decypher some of the code.
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by Javelin »

Missed your reply on the bracket steps.

From ck3 on DPR
"From what I see, the new firmware improves high ISO quite a bit - as far as I can tell, the blotchy Sony look is gone, even with NR set to low."

Sonolta wrote:It was a great spot by Maurizio over at DPR...

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read. ... e=29242400

Lotta talk of NR off option...gonna see if it eliminated the dreaded high ISO watercolor effect, ACR born or otherwise. I see many people have installed the firmware but nobody is commenting on the lack of watercolors yet. :?

Looks like Sony is still trying to make good...hope this ain't a bunk upgrade that still needed tweaked. :wink: Maybe they were waiting for the A900 to launch before they released it?? I dunno...

BTW... In addition to High ISO NR off I hear a 2.0EV bracket is now available.

-Sonolta
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by KevinBarrett »

As I understand it, NR is built into the sensor. Every exposure is subjected to NR whether RAW or JPG. Is High ISO NR an additional layer of NR? It was previously only selectable at "low," "normal,"or "high," and I find it hard to believe that in this feature one could off the pre A/D conversion NR.
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by Javelin »

I doubt it eleiminates all noise reduction. the speculation was that there was NR applied after the raw was created. and this is what the off switch was sought for. My raw output on the few 1600 files and beyong I have was resonable but I've not had any experience with a camera with less noise so I have to listen to whats being said in the forums, which always range from Shrill to understated.
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

It installs fine on a UK/European body, and existing settings (choices such as AdobeRGB, file size, etc) are retained so you do not need to reset all your personal prefs. The HDR bracketing of +/- 2 stops in a three-shot set is useful. All sensors have forms of on-board NR but not the type of NR Sony was using for high ISOs, which involved summing groups of pixels to get average values, resulting in big soft blobs instead of small sharp grain. The original Sony diagrams clearly show that there are three stages of NR in the Alpha 700 - on-sensor Analog NR (which will be no different in effect to Nikon, Canon, or others); then digital (RAW data) NR; and finally, JPEG production NR, which was the most obvious variable.

What is not known is whether by OFF Sony means zero JPEG NR, but the two earlier stages remain intact. The original Sony release said:

"For the first time ever in a D-SLR camera, the advanced Exmor CMOS sensor performs A/D conversion using dedicated convertors that are located close to each element array on the sensor itself. Analogue noise cancellation prior to A/D conversion is complemented by further on-chip noise reduction once signals have been digitised.
This results in digital signals that are exceptionally immune from external noise and interference that can seriously degrade analogue signals produced by other sensors.
Digital signals with reduced noise are then fed from the Exmor sensor to the newly developed BIONZ processing engine where they are subjected to a further RAW noise reduction stage prior to compression and encoding."

The chip has a programmable gain amplifier, but whether that means anything else can be reprogrammed - you'd need a Sony engineer to tell you. My guess is that only the final stage, the BIONZ processor, can be turned off.

David
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

I've done a quick 6400 test, NR off, ACR 4.5, no sharpening, no luminance NR, maximum colour NR - small clip here:
6400 clip
6400 clip
6400clipv4.jpg (82.46 KiB) Viewed 10882 times
The grain is not perfect - it does have a slight mosaic pattern in ACR - but it's fine and granular not blotchy. Sharpness is held extremely well, with twigs on trees clearly resolved at 1/4 mile.

The full image from this is here:

http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/image/102863468

Look for the finest detail structures, like the twigs against sky at the top of the frame. The CZ 16-80mm helps, it's good at that kind of resolution. The in-camera JPEG is pretty good too. It is also possible the High, Normal and Low NR processes may have beeen altered. I think ACR could now be adjusted in a future version to handle these files even better.

David
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by rogprov »

Sonolta wrote: .....Let us hope Adobe takes a another look and optimizes ACR for a700 users next time, or the time after. :wink:

-Sonolta
Well the current latest version of ACR is a BETA version ... so let's hope :D
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

The current ACR 4.5 is a final release, there was a previous beta version but this one is not.

Here is a 3200 shot - same subject - 100 per cent, 16-80 again, this time ACR with 25 Luminance/50 Chroma/no sharpening:
3200 ACR 4.5 A700 NR OFF
3200 ACR 4.5 A700 NR OFF
3200v4a700-ACR-25-50.jpg (171.26 KiB) Viewed 10797 times
Given reasonable textures and tones, and better light than this (dusk), I reckon 3200 is now able to resolve fine detail to an exceptional level - easily matching the Nikon D300. The aerial visible in the upper part of the shot shows just how detailed the shot is. Compared with typical dPreview 'stamp' tests it's better able, I guess, to convery the idea of how sharpness comes over and the noise is more concealed. But this is now in the league of 'best' results from any comparable DSLR instead of 'flawed' results.

David
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by rogprov »

David Kilpatrick wrote:The current ACR 4.5 is a final release, there was a previous beta version but this one is not.
David

Thanks for that David. Strange my installation of CS3 is set for auto-updates but I didn't get that one - I have now :)
Roger
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Re: Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

Unread post by Dr. Harout »

I was so busy today, I couldn't find time to check our forum and just now I stumbled upon this.
I immediately downloaded the file but didn't install it yet, because my cards are empty, and whatever I read in Dyxum, if you don't leave the last frame shot on a card after having installed the latest firmware (yes, you do the installation with a formatted card and insert then another one with a frame in it), you'll end up with the counter reset to 0000.
Nice to hear about the improvements. But anyway, does it affect shots with low ISO? I mean improvement somewhere might lead to a worsening somewhere else :?
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