Unable to connect Sony A7R IV

[Dsenovilla]

According to the list of supported cameras, the Sony A7R IV is one of them, but I'm unable to get it to work.
I've previously successfully used both Helicon Remote and Focus with a Canon 1000D, but with Sony it's been a challenge.

I've tried connecting the camera with various types of cables (usb-c to usb-c, usb-c to usb-a) and different settings on both the PC, Android and the camera itself.

With PC-Remote enabled, the camera was not detected by Helicon, but if I used the MTP method it was. Following instructions from other forum threads related to Sony cameras, I've uninstalled all Imaging Edge Desktop programs, as well as the drivers. Now Helicon does recognize the camera and takes the first control photo, but after ~30s I get an error message indicating that the timeout has been exceeded. The background shows that the live view is off.
The same thing happens to me on Android, it detects the camera (not always), takes the control photo and after a while the error message appears for exceeding the waiting time. On one occasion the focus control buttons appeared in blue instead of grey, but if I used them there was no noticeable change. It also does not show the live view.
I have tried using different modes (M, S, A, P), MF, AF, different Network settings, but the result is always the same.

If you have managed to work with an A7RIV, what am I doing wrong? Do I have to use a specific mode and/or configuration?

Here is my setup:
Camera: Sony A7R IV, FW 1.20
Lens: Tamron 28-75 F2.8 Di III VXD G2
Helicon Remote 4.5.3 for Win11 / 4.5.1 for Android

[Catherine]

Now Helicon does recognize the camera and takes the first control photo, but after ~30s I get an error message indicating that the timeout has been exceeded.

Hello,
Please reproduce this error on PC and send a bug report after it occurs (menu - Help - Report a bug).
The camera must be in "PC remote" mode, but if it wasn't you wouldn't get this far, so that's not the issue here.

[Dsenovilla]

Thanks for the quick response. Report sent.

[Dsenovilla]

Any news on this?

[Catherine]

Apologies for not replying. Our developer didn't understand what the problem is, but there were weird communication errors between Windows and the camera some time before the main problem occurred. They didn't seem to affect the software and the camera, but it is very odd and shouldn't happen. Could you try again, and send another bug report if you still get the error?

And please install this updated version of Helicon Remote for that.

[Dsenovilla]

Apologies for not replying. Our development didn't understand what the problem is, but there were weird communication errors between Windows and the camera some time before the main problem occurred. They didn't seem to affect the software and the camera, but it is very odd and shouldn't happen. Could you try again, and send another bug report if you still get the error?

And please install this updated version of Helicon Remote for that.

Thank you so much for your response and the build.
I had to uninstall the Imaging Edge Desktop suite and drivers again, but this time it seems to be working correctly.
I have Live View, I can adjust points A and B, and take photos. I can't change the other options, but I don't know if it's a bug or part of the limited functionality because my free trial has run out.

[Catherine]

That's definitely a bug, not an artificial limitation. We'll look into it. Happy to hear that at least the primary functionality is working now.