Sony officially released the new firmware for the A700 DSLR today. The new software is available from the European site HERE. I am not sure why the update is not showing up on the American website, but it might just be a matter of time.
The firmware includes a noise-reduction ‘off’ setting that will hopefully address some of the early criticisms of the camera. There are also changes to the bracketing, white balance and dynamic range optimization. After I have the new firmware in place I will test to see if the new settings make that much difference to the final image.
From Sony:
Improvements and solved issues
- The choice to select auto exposure bracketing (single & continuous) with 3 shots in 2 EV steps has been added.
- The choice to turn [Off] the High ISO NR feature has been added.
- Improvement of the image quality in high ISO setting.
- Improvement of the auto white balance and D-Range Optimizer performance.
- Improvement of reliability for communication between camera body and vertical grip.
Sony has recently updated its processing software.
Application Software
Image Data Converter SR (v3.0 – updated to match the one supplied with ?900)
- Improves ease of use by unifying pallets and positioning of tool bar buttons
- Increases speed of display rendering
- Adds Peripheral Illumination compensation
- Improves effectiveness of Dynamic Range Optimizer
Image Data Lightbox SR (v2.0)
- Increases speed of display rendering
- Adds settings of color label and display sort by camera which captured image
Remote Camera Control (v2.0 – only applies to ?700)
- Adds Interval Shooting function (Windows only)
- Adds the choice off ±2.0EV, 3 shot EV Bracketing (available in both single and continuous modes)
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