1.3.7 Downloadable Apps

You either love these or you hate these. Some people love them because they expand your camera’s capabilities like a smartphone – just download them when you’re connected via Wi-Fi (or tethered to a computer that is). Others hate them because some of the features of paid apps are included for free in cameras by other manufacturers. Still a third set of people hate the fact that as of this writing, Sony has not allowed 3^rd party programmers in to create truly useful or unusual apps – Sony insists on keeping this fiefdom to itself.

Unfortunate Timing: It’s murder being a pioneer. For quite awhile, Sony was developing some of the highest resolution lenses ever to grace a consumer platform – lenses that were so perfect they could resolve 50 line pairs per millimeter. These are called the “G Master” series, and are lenses designed for Full-Frame E-mount cameras like the Alpha 7R II.

Alas, because of production delays that often accompany such cutting-edge products, the official press event for these lenses was delayed. When the introduction finally happened it was the same day as the A6300’s introduction. Which resulted, rightly or wrongly, with promotional images like the one below:

That’s right… a large aperture, big and heavy full-frame lens attached to a body whose strengths were svelteness and lightweightness. (That’s a word!) Although they could be, these two were not meant to be used together.

I talk more about the app ecosystem, how to use them and walk you through the available apps that are compatible with your camera in Section 5.5.

1.4 Software for your Camera

Sony cameras usually come with two programs to help edit and tweak your images: Image Data Converter and PlayMemories Home™. Historically, these programs have not been too popular among Sony’s customers, but they are free and they have two things going for them:

1) I find the PlayMemories Home program handy because it can import both movies of all formats and pictures in one fell swoop (they’re actually stored in different directories on the memory card, and different movie types are stored in different places). www.Sony.net/pm

2) It can also show me some of the more esoteric aspects of the camera’s settings in the EXIF information (such as whether I had Multi-Frame Noise Reduction or Anti-Motion Blur turned on). This information is indeed embedded in the .jpg and RAW files but programs like Photoshop or Lightroom won't always show them to you.

3) As of this writing, the Image Data Converter software (which is actually quite capable) is the most universal way to open the new RAW file format, since not all popular image editing programs know how to read them). (IDC tends to be too aggressive in noise reduction in my opinion, though… See the section on Demosiacing in Section 15.3. The IDC software is available by download from Sony’s Japan website:

IDC For Windows:

http://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/imsoft/Win/us.html

IDC For Mac: http://www.sony.co.jp/imsoft/Mac/

4) Sony is now providing you a FREE copy of The Capture One Express program by Phase One, a high-end, insanely capable image editing program that has a great reputation and normally sells for USD $200. Sony has made an agreement with Phase One to provide a "lite" version of the software to all Sony customers for free, and a full upgrade price of USD $50. This is a Really Big Deal. Go learn more and download your own copy at https://www.phaseone.com/en/Imaging-Software/Capture-One-for-Sony.aspx