A7rV Support

[benmitch5]

Does Helicon Remote not work with the A7rV? If not when will it?

My camera will connect but says no live view.

[Catherine]

No, it doesn't currently support A7 RV. We don't know when it will as it's completely unclear what the problem is, and Sony doesn't release any documentation on their remote control protocol.

[christianronchi]

It would be wonderful if you supported the a7rv, it is a great camera. I'm trying to make do as best I can, but having the helicon remote working would be extremely more convenient than doing all the work by hand.

If you need a hand to test some beta versions, I am absolutely available with Sony A7RV + SEL1655G + SEL50M28

[Catherine]

Hi, sorry for not replying sooner. We were actually working on it, and have made progress. We don't know whether we solved all the issues or if more work has to be done. Now we need someone who has the A7 R5 and 10 minutes of spare time to try the new version of Helicon Remote (only available for Windows and Mac right now):
For Windows
For Mac

If something doesn't work, please send a bug report after an error occurs: menu - Help - Report a bug.

[christianronchi]

Hi!
don't worry I totally understand, I've also been part of software developers for more than 20 years (gaming industry) and I know how complex it is
I'll definitely try it out tomorrow when I get to the office and give you feedback by the end of the day.

Thanks for your efforts and the great software you have created
Have a great day!
Chris.

[christianronchi]

Hi,
i tried to install the version you linked me, but it doesn't detect the camera (although it is correctly detected by sony's imaging edge software).
I am attaching screenshots and the 2 logs:


HeliconRemote.log

Code: Select all

1:Built from 7dfe224a5c71, ver. 4.4.10
0:Arguments: ("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Helicon Software\\Helicon Remote\\HeliconRemote.exe")
91:Language: "English"
616:Helicon Remote version 4.4.10 W x32
0:Full version
0:Built on Sep 19 2024 22:48:17
1:Running on Windows 10 64-bit, build 19045
0:Built with Qt 5.15.2
0:Using Qt 5.15.2
0:Compiled with MSVC ver. 1941
0:WSID: 3B-71-B1-E9-41-0A-41-00
1186:CHlrWidget::checkScreenDensity Current monitor ID = 18424584227928589838
0:CHlrWidget::checkScreenDensity scale_factor = 1.5
0:CHlrWidget::resizeGL Qt UI pixel ratio: 1.5
140:CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10900 CPU @ 2.80GHz
0:Total RAM: 65437 MiB
0:Free RAM: 61680 MiB
0:Total paging memory: 75165 MiB
0:Free paging memory: 70536 MiB
0:Our memory consumption: 61 MiB
12:CHlrWidget::resizeGL Qt UI pixel ratio: 1.5
21:USB device: VID_054C&PID_0E0C
0:USB device: VID_131D&PID_2702
0:USB device: VID_046D&PID_C077
0:USB device: VID_0B05&PID_18F3
0:USB device: VID_046D&PID_C31C
0:CWemacroTransport::deviceAdded Checking the serial device COM1 (Communications Port (COM1))
0:CTrinamicTransportCom::isTrinamic Checking COM device Communications Port (COM1)
78:CServerList::checkWiFiNetwork current IP address = 0.0.0.0
34447:Preferences window opened
71991:CPrefTabTools::showFolder : C:/Users/forge.demo/AppData/Local/Helicon/Common/

HeliconRemote_Prev.log

Code: Select all

0:Built from 7dfe224a5c71, ver. 4.4.10
0:Arguments: ("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Helicon Software\\Helicon Remote\\HeliconRemote.exe")
15:Language: "English"
608:Helicon Remote version 4.4.10 W x32
0:Full version
0:Built on Sep 19 2024 22:48:17
0:Running on Windows 10 64-bit, build 19045
0:Built with Qt 5.15.2
0:Using Qt 5.15.2
0:Compiled with MSVC ver. 1941
0:WSID: 3B-71-B1-E9-41-0A-41-00
21:UpdateManager::checkForUpdates Version: 4 4 10 , full version: 263178 , beta: false
12:m_updateManager.checkForUpdates succeeded
423:CHlrWidget::checkScreenDensity Current monitor ID = 18424584227928589838
1:CHlrWidget::checkScreenDensity scale_factor = 1.5
0:CHlrWidget::resizeGL Qt UI pixel ratio: 1.5
105:CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10900 CPU @ 2.80GHz
0:Total RAM: 65437 MiB
0:Free RAM: 60248 MiB
0:Total paging memory: 75165 MiB
0:Free paging memory: 68849 MiB
0:Our memory consumption: 94 MiB
27:CHlrWidget::resizeGL Qt UI pixel ratio: 1.5
12:USB device: VID_054C&PID_0E0C
0:USB device: VID_131D&PID_2702
0:USB device: VID_046D&PID_C077
0:USB device: VID_0B05&PID_18F3
0:USB device: VID_046D&PID_C31C
0:CWemacroTransport::deviceAdded Checking the serial device COM1 (Communications Port (COM1))
0:CTrinamicTransportCom::isTrinamic Checking COM device Communications Port (COM1)
26:CServerList::checkWiFiNetwork current IP address = 0.0.0.0
8377:UpdateManager::checkForUpdates Version: 4 4 10 , full version: 263178 , beta: false
1:m_updateManager.checkForUpdates succeeded
75996:CWft::threadSelect end of thread
0:CDeviceList::~CDeviceList core thread finished, cleaning up the rest...
7:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: GL error prior to calling hlDeleteProgram(m_program) at line 24 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: Error calling GL function hlDeleteProgram(m_program) at line 24 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: GL error prior to calling hlDeleteShader(it) at line 27 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: Error calling GL function hlDeleteShader(it) at line 27 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: GL error prior to calling hlDeleteShader(it) at line 27 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: Error calling GL function hlDeleteShader(it) at line 27 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: GL error prior to calling hlDeleteProgram(m_program) at line 24 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: Error calling GL function hlDeleteProgram(m_program) at line 24 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: GL error prior to calling hlDeleteShader(it) at line 27 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: Error calling GL function hlDeleteShader(it) at line 27 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: GL error prior to calling hlDeleteShader(it) at line 27 : 0x502
0:src\ogl2\cshaderprovider_ogl2.cpp: Error calling GL function hlDeleteShader(it) at line 27 : 0x502
7:HELICON_REMOTE_NORMAL_EXIT_MAGIC_DUST
0:Logger::deinit

[Catherine]

The Sony software replaces the standard camera driver, so neither Windows itself nor Helicon Remote can detect it. One solution is to use Device Manager, find the USB device corresponding to the camera, and delete it (and check the checkbox to also remove the driver files). Then reconnect the camera and let Windows install the default driver.

[christianronchi]

I managed to connect the camera by following the instructions you gave me.
There are a few things that don't seem to go right:

1.)once I set the minimum and maximum focus points, the number of shots, and start the shooting session, it only takes the first shot and then waits without doing anything

2.)it is not possible to cancel the shooting session, the software goes into timeout whether you press stop shooting, or continue.

[Catherine]

Thanks for trying that. Please update the camera firmware: https://www.sony.com/electronics/suppor ... e/00292267
Then try again, and send a bug report if something still doesn't work: menu - Help - Report a bug (don't attach the logs manually unless the reporting tool doesn't work, which should pretty much never happen).

[christianronchi]

Unfortunately, Sony removed firmware 3.00 because it was giving problems with some devices (causing them to brick) so I don't have the ability to update my camera with firmware 3.00. It currently has version 2.02 on it

From sony:
https://www.sony.com/electronics/suppor ... e/00346867

"We confirmed that some ILCE-7RM5 cameras may not start up due to a failed firmware update to Ver. 3.00. We are currently investigating the cause and suspending the update until further notice. We apologise for any inconvenience.
If your camera is already updated to Ver. 3.00 and starts up normally, it's fine to continue using it.
(September 13, 2024)"

Pages that are no longer providing updates:
ILCE-7RM5 System Software (Firmware) Update Ver. 3.00

[Catherine]

Then we have to wait for them to fix the new version of the firmware. We're not 100% sure that it will solve the problem, but it's a possibility.

[christianronchi]

Yes even I don't think it will solve the problem, also because the result is not consistent, sometimes it does 1 or 2 shots and then that's it, sometimes not even 1.
What you say makes perfect sense though, let's wait until we get the firmware update and then retest, I'll keep you posted!

Thank you and have a great day,
Chris.

[Catherine]

That is the weird thing, sometimes the camera sends the notification about the new image ready for download, and sometimes it doesn't. So it's not like our application simply doesn't know how to retrieve this information.

[christianronchi]

hello!
Sony released the firmware and today i got to update the camera and try to test with the remote. It seems to work correctly, the flow is right:

• I set the minimum (A)-maximum (B) focus distance.

• I start the shooting

• The focus point is repositioned to its initial position (A)

Just an observation, it is extremely slow to change focus, it takes a couple of minutes to go from B to A at the end of the shooting, while with its built-in focus bracketing system it is much faster

[Catherine]

The built-in focus bracketing will always be a lot faster than Helicon Remote, might be 10x faster. But minutes is definitely way too long. Make sure the step size is set to Big in the Helicon Remote preferences - Sony, and try lowering the pause to 100 ms or 80 ms (lower will be faster, until at some point it will become too small of a delay and the lens will be moving by a smaller amount than expected).