Sony does not update its cameras after a certain time. It's how they operate. I hoped they would treat the "one" camera differently but there really is no reason to expect another major (or even addressing issues reported by the users) update unless a significant defect is found or somehow competitors outdo A1 to the point of affecting sales...
j4nu wrote:
Sony does not update its cameras after a certain time. It's how they operate. I hoped they would treat the "one" camera differently but there really is no reason to expect another major (or even addressing issues reported by the users) update unless a significant defect is found or somehow competitors outdo A1 to the point of affecting sales...
I don't think this is true in all cases. As an original A9 owner, I saw years and years of updates that added really good improvements (all the way up to v6), and this was one of their flagship cameras. I have a tough time believing Sony would build and release the A1 and not do something similar, given this one is their current flagship camera.
AGeoJO wrote:
To folks that updated their A1 to the latest FW, which is 1.3.1, does your camera display the FW as 1.3.1 or 1.30? I checked the date when I updated mine. It was on Oct 23 and the FW 1.3.1 came out on Sept 29. I checked the FW on my A1 again and it says 1.30 and according to Sony's website, that an update of cameras on 1.30 to the 1.3.1 is available and recommended. But again, the FW I downloaded on Oct 23 is labeled as 1.3.1 although my camera still shows the FW on it is 1.30. Not that it matters to the reported issue and just out of curiosity... Thanks!...Show more →
Lucky you! That may be why you haven't experienced the focus problems that those of us who "successfully" "updated" to 1.31 did. I am still going through many photos from my last safari and finding a lot that I am sure would have been in focus, but aren't. Fortunately, I shot SO many that I have a good selection from all of the best sightings, but it still irks me when I come across a few that are trash because of bad focus. I wish I could go back to 1.30.
hevaKmaI wrote:
I don't think this is true in all cases. As an original A9 owner, I saw years and years of updates that added really good improvements (all the way up to v6), and this was one of their flagship cameras. I have a tough time believing Sony would build and release the A1 and not do something similar, given this one is their current flagship camera.
I think A9 updates is what made Sony realize that this approach is bad for business. It seriously made A9 II look like a mediocre upgrade. Imagine if Sony releases major AI improvement from A7RV to A7RIV, most users won’t buy A7RV. I don’t think Sony will release anything for A1 and other cameras going forward. You will just get minor improvements and bug fixes, if anything. They are clearly not shy about releasing new major features in their entry level cameras.
There is hardware involved with the a7R V AI....you might be able to improve AF on the a7R IV, but they won't be able to port the a7R V AI to the a7R IV.
ramesesthe2nd wrote:
I think A9 updates is what made Sony realize that this approach is bad for business. It seriously made A9 II look like a mediocre upgrade. Imagine if Sony releases major AI improvement from A7RV to A7RIV, most users won’t buy A7V. I don’t think Sony will release anything for A1 and other cameras going forward. You will just get minor improvements and bug fixes, if anything. They are clearly not shy about releasing new major features in their entry level cameras.
ramesesthe2nd wrote:
I think A9 updates is what made Sony realize that this approach is bad for business. It seriously made A9 II look like a mediocre upgrade.
a9ii was a significant upgrade, but it's targeted largely at the small sports shooter niche market, so it's misunderstood by many people... for instance, it was the first camera on the market with hi-frequency led flicker reduction, it has the next-gen body with improved buttons, etc.
a9ii was a solid step up from the a9, it's just hard to follow up after the a9 stacked sensor opening act; everyone expected an a1 instead of an a9ii, which was not logical.
i think that it is logical to expect another firmware update to the a1, tho.
dallvr wrote:
Lucky you! That may be why you haven't experienced the focus problems that those of us who "successfully" "updated" to 1.31 did. I am still going through many photos from my last safari and finding a lot that I am sure would have been in focus, but aren't. Fortunately, I shot SO many that I have a good selection from all of the best sightings, but it still irks me when I come across a few that are trash because of bad focus. I wish I could go back to 1.30.
Shirley, as I said, I couldn’t figure out why my FW is version 1.30 although clearly it was downloaded in October 2022. Not to add salt to the wound but I am truly impressed with the AF performance on the at FW. I have been going to my favorite falcon site 4 times already and last Saturday, I put that combo to the test. I set the camera to 30fps, shutter speed to 1/4000sec AND the AF mode to the entire screen. It didn’t have any issues picking up the eye of the falcon sitting on the cliff first and when it took off, I got 22 images until it flew behind some cliffs. Every single frame is in perfect focus, even the last one when it was about to disappear closer to the bottom of the screen.
I venture to say that the FW 1.30 is even better, sticker and tracking better, in other words than the FW 1.20. I took hundreds of in-flight shots and I noticed only a single frame where the AF drifted away very slightly but in the next frame, it went back to perfect focus. It is that impressive! It seems to me that I noticed the AF drifting away albeit slight more frequently back then on the 1.20.
Here is the deal. I still have the FW on my iMac. I can send that to you if you are on Mac. Who knows since it is labelled at 1.31, maybe it will let you override the existing FW. You may want to do the reset technique described above before installing the FW 1.30 or fake 1.31 that I have. I would say it won’t hurt to try… Please let me know.
BTW, this applies to anyone here that wants to try installing that particular FW. But mine is a Mac version though…
osv2 wrote:
a9ii was a significant upgrade, but it's targeted largely at the small sports shooter niche market, so it's misunderstood by many people... for instance, it was the first camera on the market with hi-frequency led flicker reduction, it has the next-gen body with improved buttons, etc.
a9ii was a solid step up from the a9, it's just hard to follow up after the a9 stacked sensor opening act; everyone expected an a1 instead of an a9ii, which was not logical.
i think that it is logical to expect another firmware update to the a1, tho.
Good points about the A9II. I would also add, I believe the A9II quick model upgrade was an immediate response and commitment made to certain major professional agencies Sony signed contracts with at the time which is why it left the consumer/enthusiast forum community customer base wondering.
AGeoJO wrote:
Shirley, as I said, I couldn’t figure out why my FW is version 1.30 although clearly it was downloaded in October 2022. Not to add salt to the wound but I am truly impressed with the AF performance on the at FW. I have been going to my favorite falcon site 4 times already and last Saturday, I put that combo to the test. I set the camera to 30fps, shutter speed to 1/4000sec AND the AF mode to the entire screen. It didn’t have any issues picking up the eye of the falcon sitting on the cliff first and when it took off, I got 22 images until it flew behind some cliffs. Every single frame is in perfect focus, even the last one when it was about to disappear closer to the bottom of the screen.
I venture to say that the FW 1.30 is even better, sticker and tracking better, in other words than the FW 1.20. I took hundreds of in-flight shots and I noticed only a single frame where the AF drifted away very slightly but in the next frame, it went back to perfect focus. It is that impressive! It seems to me that I noticed the AF drifting away albeit slight more frequently back then on the 1.20.
Here is the deal. I still have the FW on my iMac. I can send that to you if you are on Mac. Who knows since it is labelled at 1.31, maybe it will let you override the existing FW. You may want to do the reset technique described above before installing the FW 1.30 or fake 1.31 that I have. I would say it won’t hurt to try… Please let me know.
BTW, this applies to anyone here that wants to try installing that particular FW. But mine is a Mac version though…...Show more →
This could be an interesting experiment! I would do it, but I'm already on A1 ver 1.31 and FWIW happy with ver 1.31 bird eye af performance with the A1 + G 200-600 too. But good of you to make the offer.
AGeoJO wrote:
Shirley, as I said, I couldn’t figure out why my FW is version 1.30 although clearly it was downloaded in October 2022. Not to add salt to the wound but I am truly impressed with the AF performance on the at FW. I have been going to my favorite falcon site 4 times already and last Saturday, I put that combo to the test. I set the camera to 30fps, shutter speed to 1/4000sec AND the AF mode to the entire screen. It didn’t have any issues picking up the eye of the falcon sitting on the cliff first and when it took off, I got 22 images until it flew behind some cliffs. Every single frame is in perfect focus, even the last one when it was about to disappear closer to the bottom of the screen.
I venture to say that the FW 1.30 is even better, sticker and tracking better, in other words than the FW 1.20. I took hundreds of in-flight shots and I noticed only a single frame where the AF drifted away very slightly but in the next frame, it went back to perfect focus. It is that impressive! It seems to me that I noticed the AF drifting away albeit slight more frequently back then on the 1.20.
Here is the deal. I still have the FW on my iMac. I can send that to you if you are on Mac. Who knows since it is labelled at 1.31, maybe it will let you override the existing FW. You may want to do the reset technique described above before installing the FW 1.30 or fake 1.31 that I have. I would say it won’t hurt to try… Please let me know.
BTW, this applies to anyone here that wants to try installing that particular FW. But mine is a Mac version though…...Show more →
Yes, 1.30 has been the best even for my casual shooting .
AGeoJO wrote:
Shirley, as I said, I couldn’t figure out why my FW is version 1.30 although clearly it was downloaded in October 2022. Not to add salt to the wound but I am truly impressed with the AF performance on the at FW. I have been going to my favorite falcon site 4 times already and last Saturday, I put that combo to the test. I set the camera to 30fps, shutter speed to 1/4000sec AND the AF mode to the entire screen. It didn’t have any issues picking up the eye of the falcon sitting on the cliff first and when it took off, I got 22 images until it flew behind some cliffs. Every single frame is in perfect focus, even the last one when it was about to disappear closer to the bottom of the screen.
I venture to say that the FW 1.30 is even better, sticker and tracking better, in other words than the FW 1.20. I took hundreds of in-flight shots and I noticed only a single frame where the AF drifted away very slightly but in the next frame, it went back to perfect focus. It is that impressive! It seems to me that I noticed the AF drifting away albeit slight more frequently back then on the 1.20.
Here is the deal. I still have the FW on my iMac. I can send that to you if you are on Mac. Who knows since it is labelled at 1.31, maybe it will let you override the existing FW. You may want to do the reset technique described above before installing the FW 1.30 or fake 1.31 that I have. I would say it won’t hurt to try… Please let me know.
BTW, this applies to anyone here that wants to try installing that particular FW. But mine is a Mac version though…...Show more →
WOW Joshua. You are one lucky fellow!
Which proves to me: "Better lucky than smart!"
k-h.a.w wrote:
WOW Joshua. You are one lucky fellow!
Which proves to me: "Better lucky than smart!"
Cheers, K-H.
K-H., yes, I am lucky; thank you! If you are on Mac, you can give this a try. It won’t hurt… There is a guy in Australia here on FM that has a Windows version 1.30. But again, I am not sure whether the existing FW can be overridden or not by that. The unique thing is my version of FW is labeled as 1.31 although it ended up as 1.30 on my A1 after the update. If you are on Windows and if you know someone that runs Mac, you can borrow his/her Mac to update yours using my version of FW. Only a suggestion….
AGeoJO wrote:
K-H., yes, I am lucky; thank you! If you are on Mac, you can give this a try. It won’t hurt… There is a guy in Australia here on FM that has a Windows version 1.30. But again, I am not sure whether the existing FW can be overridden or not by that. The unique thing is my version of FW is labeled as 1.31 although it ended up as 1.30 on my A1 after the update. If you are on Windows and if you know someone that runs Mac, you can borrow his/her Mac to update yours using my version of FW. Only a suggestion…....Show more →
Thank you Joshua. I am afraid for now I am stuck with 1.31.
StoneCrop wrote:
I’ve never updated firmware on any of my cameras, and I’d appreciate a version 1.30 on Mac if anyone is able to send it to me
At over 700MB, the file is too large to be sent via email. I uploaded it on my dropbox and I will keep that there for a while. Again, it is labeled as FW 1.31 but my A1 got updated as 1.30 and I did it in October 2022. I am very happy with how that FW performs on my A1 but you are on your own. In other words, I cannot guarantee that yours will behave like mine and that the actual FW in your camera will end up being 1.30. Although some folks are happy with his A1 operating on FW 1.31 but it is still a gamble. So, do it at your own risk.
I've shot over 10,000 BEAF images over the last few weeks. I found that when a bird is faced directly on the camera, that the BEAF seldom locks on to the eyes. It will lock on the head for me.
How is the new A7R5 already on firmware 2.0 while we're still struggling with a flawed, 6-month old v1.31?!
Been taking the 200-600 out the past week and inconsistency is still my gripe. Sometimes BEAF works as expected, sometimes it fails to activate when it should (and has in similar situations), and sometimes I get half the shots OOF despite BEAF showing up.
Yesterday, for example, I was taking shots of a Great Egret fishing. BEAF saw its eye most of the time but I'd take a series of, say, a half dozen shots at 1/1000th (and remember, this bird stands more or less still most of the time) and about half were OOF -- not hugely, but enough to make them unusable. Bah.
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