PRESS RELEASE: Sony announces new firmware for Uncompressed RAW files
Sony Announces Addition of Uncompressed 14-Bit RAW Still Image Capture for New α Cameras!
New α7S II to Feature Selectable Compressed and Uncompressed 14 Bit RAW at Launch; Free Firmware Updates Coming for Additional Models Beginning with α7R II
NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2015 – Sony Electronics, a worldwide leader in digital imaging and the world’s largest image sensor manufacturer, has today announced user selectable Compressed and Uncompressed 14-Bit RAW image capture will be featured in the new α7S II once it arrives in stores this October. Additionally, they have announced plans to add user selectable compressed or uncompressed 14-Bit RAW still image capture via firmware update to additional cameras beginning with the recently introduced α7R II full-frame mirrorless model.
“The voice of our α community remains the most important guiding force of our product development plans,” said Neal Manowitz, Deputy Vice President for Digital Imaging at Sony Electronics. “The addition of Uncompressed 14-Bit RAW processing is a direct result of customer feedback. Widely requested by photo and video enthusiasts, we believe the choice of RAW processing types will further elevate the performance of these extraordinary cameras.”
The α7S II and α7R II are compatible with Sony’s growing lineup of α -mount lenses, which now totals 64 different models including 13 native ‘FE’ full frame lenses. By early 2016, Sony will add an additional 8 new lenses to its FE full frame lineup, bringing the FE total to 21 lenses and the overall α -mount assortment to over 70 different models.
A variety of exclusive stories and exciting new content shot with the new α7S II and a7R II cameras plus other Sony α products can be found at www.alphauniverse.com, Sony’s new community site built to educate, inspire and showcase all fans and customers of the Sony α brand.
Please follow #SonyAlpha on twitter and visit @SonyAlpha on Instagram for all of the latest α camera news and content direct from Sony.
any chance to get the same feature on the A7II?
Now all Sony has to do is fix the overheating problems when recording in 4k and it’ll be the absolute perfect camera.
…and the low quality of the 5x EVF magnification.
…and the hot pixels created by heat on long exposure.
Meant to say ……..the new a7s II is now £2,500…….
Why is this firmware only for the Mark II’s only? why not for the original a7 series and all other Sony cameras released in the last two years, or am I missing something? I have an a7s and was thinking of getting a Mark II body later, perhaps an a7 II or a7r II but with Sony changing their camera bodies every five minutes I will just stick with what I got since they are a heavy investment and am not in market for loosing money. I paid good money for my a7s, £2,100 sterling (now £1,600), is £2,500, it don’t make sense economically. For that kind of cash I expect decent firmware updates for a few years after.
As an owner of the a7R, I could not agree more. The camera is not that old yet to be not updated. The lack of firmware update such as this without a really good reason is just a deterrent to buy the new Sony cameras, which will share the same fate in only 1-2 years. The new a7RII is 50% more expensive compared to what the a7R was and even that wasn’t exactly cheap camera, so there is no hope of buying more Sony products for me. The body alone costs 3300 euros, that’s over $3700! I will continue using the a7R until the 5 year warranty ends and the camera breaks after that.
I miss the regulär a7 II :-((
Great to hear – thanks for sharing! Can you help explain what impact this will have on the RAW files and overall RAW image quality? What were the major issues people were seeing with Sony’s existing RAW file format? I’m new to Sony so not up to speed yet. Thanks!
The major complaint was/is that Sony doesn’t provide a lossless, but only a
“lossy” compressed RAW format, which in some situations led to image quality problems. All extensively demonstrated and discussed on some other sites.
We don’t want uncompressed raw, we want lossless compressed raw.
Exactly.
I’ll take lossless from my A7RII any way I can get it.
I’m curious to know large is the RAW file compressed and uncompressed?
This is great news, one of the few complaints people have about the latest A7’s is the lack of uncompressed RAW so nice to see Sony listen to the clients.