slow changing of parameters with Sony

[fehrpics]

Glad that USB-Connection works with Sony A7rIII but exposure bracketing is not usable with macbook pro (M4max, Tahoe) - with 1EV steps the change is done with 1/3 EV steps and lasts round about 1 sec.
Usual behaviour or is there something to fix?

[Catherine]

Unavoidable, this is how remote control is implemented with those old generation Sony cameras (unlike the new gen - A1, A7 R4 etc.). The software cannot directly set the value of the parameter, it must "click" through all the in-between values, this is what you're seeing. To say "not usable" is a bit harsh because it still works and achieves the result. Just a bit slower.

[fehrpics]

Shitty Sony again I should have switched to Nikon ...
It's really not usable for eclipse photography were's no time to waste 2/3 of the time for adjusting settings
Any idea about the A7V? It's recognized but the message say unsupported.

Regards, Uli

[Catherine]

It should work, get the latest version of Helicon Remote: https://www.heliconsoft.com/downloads/HeliconRemote.dmg

[fehrpics]

Thanks for the quick reply - I'm on the latest version and the model ist recognized by the Software but it says not supportet.
Any specuial settings at the Cam?

Best regards, Uli

[Catherine]

Hi Uli, yes, there's been a small confusion: the camera should be supported but it has been added just recently and the new version is not on the website yet. Sorry about that! Please try this updated version.

[fehrpics]

Thanks for the great support - camera is connecting and working so far.
The continous shooting seems not operateable - I can set low or high speed only but no number of shots and starting the series gives only one picture.

Coming from the special needs of eclipse photography I would like to see 1,3 and perhaps 1,7 or even half steps instead of only full steps above 1. Sure we have the manual mode but with it presets which could be safed and loaded would be nice.
And still - perhaps a technical limitation of the SDK or whatever - bracketing is reletivly slow. Shooting with the internal function 9 1 EV step with base 1/125 lasts no longer than 2 sec, with helicon around 14. Thats a huge difference and with only eg. 2 min to get as much bracketing sets as possible the "solution" have to be doing it manally - split to 2 bracketing sets because I need around 12-13 EV with 1 to 1,3 EV steps

Any thoughts about this?

[Catherine]

For continuous shooting you press "Start", then "Stop". You can't specify the number of shots with Sony or Canon camera, that's only for Nikon. Also, this function has not been tested with A7 R5, possibly by no one tried it (no one in general seems to use burst shooting) and we don't have this camera. So it could be that it just doesn't work.

You can select smaller steps for exposure bracketing:


And no, remote control bracketing can never be as fast as the in-camera one, the camera's firmware has direct access to the hardware and to the other firmware features, without having to go through the remote control protocol with inherent delays.

[fehrpics]

Thanks again for the quick reply
O.K. so continous shooting don't work with A7V - I don't need it remotly but I thin you're interestet which parts of the software is working ...
Sure it's possible to choose smaller steps but I#M forded to decide between 1 and 2 EV and it's not possible to choose 1,3/1,7 or whatever

[Catherine]

Why not just shoot at 1, then?
Or, we could add more steps if you need them.

O.K. so continous shooting don't work with A7V - I don't need it remotly but I thin you're interestet which parts of the software is working

Thanks, yes, its important to know.

[fehrpics]

Why not 1? Because I want / have to shoot with 1,3 or 1,7 and not 1 or 2
I Think this would be an easy improvement - just gave us every possible stepwidth. Perhaps with one input field or clickable choise for full steps and another with 0, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3 ...

[Catherine]

1 is less than 1.3, doesn't it mean that if 1.3 is suitable for your exposure bracketing scenario, then 1 is suitable too? You will just have 30% more photos to stack, but are there other drawbacks?

[fehrpics]

The only drawback is more pictures for the same dynamic range, that's right. But none wan's to shoot unneccecarry pictures, waste time with it and so get less bracketing sets in limited time (again very special usecase for sure) to stack afterwards. Additionally the more frames will result in more time für editing. Combining brackets from solar corona is a process with not much automation available for subpixel alignement etc.
But just an idea, it's up to you to decide whether it could be worth the effort ...

[Catherine]

New version for you with more ev steps to choose from, please try it.

[fehrpics]

Wow, that's really impressive!

I tried 9 steps with 1,33 EV and there's a little bit strange ISO-Setting lowering from 400 to 320 at -1,33 and -5,33.
Trying to alter the value to 400 the app crashes - report send ...