Firmware v04 for Sony Alpha 700

[Winston]

Ah...faster shutter speeds for birds in flight.

[Dr. Harout]

Thanks Don, will install the new firmware first thing in the morning (make it second thing in the morning )

I lied and I couldn't resist
I just installed the new firmware and repeated the same shots I've done before the installation.

[01af]

Well the current latest version of ACR is a BETA version ... so let's hope

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

David, the current latest ACR version isn't 4.5

-- Olaf

[David Kilpatrick]

Well, I got a release from Adobe advising me that the latest update to CS3 and Lightroom included the final release of ACR 4.5 to replace the beta. The version is Adobe Camera Raw 4.5.0.175. It added the Nikon D700 and Canon 1000D, which were absent from the beta 4.5, and added the Adobe DNG Profiles. These were definitely not present in Beta 4.5!

If you have a link to a later release than 4.5.0.175 please tell me because Adobe have not, and I'm on their press mailing list as well as a registered CS3 user!

David

[01af]

If you have a link to a later release than 4.5.0.175 please tell me ...

Sorry, I have no link but beta testers are currently using ACR 5.0 Beta. It's supposed to be released to the public at Photokina (along with CS4), as far as I know. And no, I am not breaking a non-disclosure agreement because I am not under any; someone else did yesterday (or was it Saturday?) on Luminous Landscape and I happened to see it.

-- Olaf

[David Kilpatrick]

The current 4.5 converts the 'new' A700 files very much the same way it handles Olympus E-3 files - the bacillus-like diagonal clusters of 'rods and dots' follow the same patterns as E-3 high ISO, after Adobe fixed the earlier problem they had with key-pattern tesserae ('maze' artefacts) from the E-3.

I have been comparing some not too similar D300 and A700v4 results, but I did not record whether I had enabled high ISO NR for each shot on the D300; I am pretty sure I would have set it to Low, but used it. At 6400 the A700 does still appear coarser than the D300, but much sharper. At 3200, there is a small benefit to the Nikon but that is mainly because it crushes the shadows. The A700 images have far more open shadows, and if you brighten a Nikon image equally, it suffers. Yet, at the time, I noted that the D300 gave more exposure than the A700 for the same ISO and aperture. They clearly mess around a lot with EI and EV to get clean results and do not mind if shadow detail is sacrificed.

At 1600, once an A700 image is adjusted to match a similar D300 image, I'd say the advantage went to the A700. After some experimenting tonight I think that Low NR is quite acceptable on the A700 especially at 1600, and something has been changed in the structure of the raw file at all the NR settings.

David

[David Kilpatrick]

Download a 30 day trial of CS4 yourself.

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photosh ... 1-cs4.html

-Sonolta

It's spoof - if you click the link, you get the CS3 download and some blurb about this site giving the first links to CS4 - but no CS4 trial!

David

[Jonathan K]

David,

since you are talking about ISO 1600 shots: Check this out: ISO 1600, onboard flash, KM 28-75 @50mm, f9.0



I am absolutely thrilled...
Also the ISO 800 shots look so smooth. Finally leaving the ISO set on auto while using the flash does not seem to mess up the pictures... (by using ISO 800 all the time). I have the impression that the lower ISOs have improved. Certainly less chroma noise, but also much smoother.

Great day for us!!!

Jonathan

[David Kilpatrick]

I have added a couple of 1600 comparisons D300 and A700 now to the original article:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/2008/09/0 ... so-nr-off/

David

[Jonathan K]

Sony seems to have changed the compression of the Jpeg files: With v.02 (I did not install v3) I had 623 Raw+Jpeg shots on my 16GB card, now it is 641???
Could that have any other reason?

Time to go sleep...

Jonathan

[David Kilpatrick]

It's just not available yet...probably go up the 23rd or so I imagine.

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photosh ... er-23.html

Look around the site...it's fully legit.

-Sonolta

Legit, but not official Photoshop - it's a third party site and it includes links to direct competitors like Serif Software. A useful site, I think, and doing a good job with links to official Adobe pages and not to bootleg stuff, but it's a bit like me putting a link here saying 'Get your Alpha 900 now!' and then leading to a page selling the 700! Anyway, if the launch is on the 23rd, I will be there. Normally I find Adobe's photokina stand impossible to deal with - it is over-run and has crowds staring at screens while someone explains Actions or Layers six times a day.

David

[David Kilpatrick]

I know some Adobe certified tutors/seminar speakers who would kill for that domain name!

One man we are hiring regularly for our professional association is Guy Gowan:

http://www.guygowan.com/dvd/

But, unless you know who Guy is - and he is mainly known on a small island east of the big pond - how would you ever find his website?

Even Googling his name brings up commercial sites selling his DVDs, ahead of his own space.

David

[Javelin]

looks like Sony blocked access to the V4 update. wonder why? now that the cat is out of the bag

[Octupi]

Here's why i love the web...once it's out...it's out.

Get it here:

DSCA700v04.exe

[Magnusvb]

Hello
This is good news And seems very popular because yesterday evening it was impossible (for me) to download the Mac-version. And now it is gone

But I found the Windows version at Dyxum. Can it be used? Just put the exe-file on a card and follow David's instructions?

Regards, Magnus