Sony a1 2.0 firmware finally out

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Yeah I never really thought much about it but my battery was down lower than normal as well. I was more disgusted with the focusing issues.
It's a let down that your A1/600GM took a performance hit after the firmware update to v2.0, but can it be be that the update did not go exactly as intended, hearing about the buggy behavior?
I see no hit to AF after updating to v2.0, I don't recognize it being more sluggish. Just meaning to say that it may not be inherent to the new update as such.

I guess it is not completely safe to engage in firmware updates, I have no idea if it has to do with the updating process not going well, or with individual settings, or even slight variations in motherboard hardware, but it sucks when it does not go well with a 7000,- camera.
 
It's a let down that your A1/600GM took a performance hit after the firmware update to v2.0, but can it be be that the update did not go exactly as intended, hearing about the buggy behavior?
I see no hit to AF after updating to v2.0, I don't recognize it being more sluggish. Just meaning to say that it may not be inherent to the new update as such.

I guess it is not completely safe to engage in firmware updates, I have no idea if it has to do with the updating process not going well, or with individual settings, or even slight variations in motherboard hardware, but it sucks when it does not go well with a 7000,- camera.
Yeah the two most baffling things are the lens stopping focusing and not being able to power the camera off. The A7RV had an issue with the early firmware where it would not turn off as well but was corrected.
 
I took the camera out today , focus seems stickier I was getting more flight shot keepers than normal (wide with bird eye priority enabled) Tracking speed 2 with the 200-600 .
Downside spot focus small seems worse for static stuff ,I have this set to back button focus recall . Usually if the camera grabs onto background tapping the spot small gets it to grab subjects in foreground. Today this didn’t work well at all and it just stayed on the foreground.
Other thing I live noticed is faster battery drain , this was at one of my usual locations in usual conditions.
Stabilisation slower shutter speeds seems better

I tried many times , the pre focus recall does not work with my 200-600
I was out on the same location / session today and had same issues. Although I don't call up spot focus area on a custom button, I couldn't get it to focus on the test subject we were using when using spot for a static subject testing. Same test subject was not an issue pre fw 2.00. Yes battery drain was terrible. I reckon more than 50% over and above normal drain rate.

On the plus side birds in flight were incredibly good with a really pleasing keeper rate in testy lighting conditions.

Anyway issues logged with Sony. The more people report any issues; the better.
 
I was out on the same location / session today and had same issues. Although I don't call up spot focus area on a custom button, I couldn't get it to focus on the test subject we were using when using spot for a static subject testing. Same test subject was not an issue pre fw 2.00. Yes battery drain was terrible. I reckon more than 50% over and above normal drain rate.

On the plus side birds in flight were incredibly good with a really pleasing keeper rate in testy lighting conditions.

Anyway issues logged with Sony. The more people report any issues; the better.
I'm glad you're stating this because this is not all in my head lol. With the small and medium box I could not pick up the eye of a bird 20 feet from me several different times until going to expand spot or zone. I stuck the same lens on the A7RV and there was zero issues. Honestly The A7RV seems to improved upon the already great focus it had prior to the update.
 
I updated mine yesterday and so far I have no operational issue but I have not shot with it yet... hopefully tomorrow. I'm going to be a nervous wreck based on the feedback here...
Oh well, there is always Nikon if everything else fails ;)
 
I shot swallows in flight for 2 hrs today. AF is the exact same. Can't tell any difference. I had no issues with FW 2.0 My friend shooting beside me had no issues either. I used 600GM early morning shooting kestrels and then 400GM shooting the swallows. My friend used 600GM for the swallows. No lockups, no focus issues.
We both felt AF was the same as before. Another friend messaged me after shooting his A1/600GM today and said he felt AF was the same.
 
I took the camera out today , focus seems stickier I was getting more flight shot keepers than normal (wide with bird eye priority enabled) Tracking speed 2 with the 200-600 .
Downside spot focus small seems worse for static stuff ,I have this set to back button focus recall . Usually if the camera grabs onto background tapping the spot small gets it to grab subjects in foreground. Today this didn’t work well at all and it just stayed on the foreground.
Other thing I live noticed is faster battery drain , this was at one of my usual locations in usual conditions.
Stabilisation slower shutter speeds seems better

I tried many times , the pre focus recall does not work with my 200-600
Sony says in the manual that pre-focus recall only works with Power Zooms....the 200-600 is not a power zoom (nor is the 100-400 or the 70-200s etc).
 
Glad I didn’t have time to do an update. Looks like my a1’s will stay with 1.32.
Just the faster card formatting is worth the update. Lots of other little improvements hidden away. Even the battery indicators look better....LOL

As I noted above, myself and two other friends shot very difficult BIF today and had no issues with AF.
This evening I was shooting GHOs in dark forest with Small Spot and had no issues either.
 
I shot swallows in flight for 2 hrs today. AF is the exact same. Can't tell any difference. I had no issues with FW 2.0 My friend shooting beside me had no issues either. I used 600GM early morning shooting kestrels and then 400GM shooting the swallows. My friend used 600GM for the swallows. No lockups, no focus issues.
We both felt AF was the same as before. Another friend messaged me after shooting his A1/600GM today and said he felt AF was the same.
Thanks for the report..................
 
Just a quick update, my A-1 is now working correctly again. Sony Support, USA gave me these instructions over the phone and it corrected my issues with the lenses not working in Aperture Priority Mode.
Turn Camera Off
Remove Battery
Turn Camera On, without Batteriy
Hold release button for 30 Seconds (I waited 40)
release and turn camera back off
re-insert Battery.

Tada.....

Hope this helps anyone else out with a similar problem.

~BobD...
 
Just a quick update, my A-1 is now working correctly again. Sony Support, USA gave me these instructions over the phone and it corrected my issues with the lenses not working in Aperture Priority Mode.
Turn Camera Off
Remove Battery
Turn Camera On, without Batteriy
Hold release button for 30 Seconds (I waited 40)
release and turn camera back off
re-insert Battery.

Tada.....

Hope this helps anyone else out with a similar problem.

~BobD...
Wow.This seems to be the most bewildering big fix(if there was one) that i have ever seen till now (I has been a software architect & seen not of weird ones)
Any how congrats to the guy who discovered this :cool:
 
Wow.This seems to be the most bewildering big fix(if there was one) that i have ever seen till now (I has been a software architect & seen not of weird ones)
Any how congrats to the guy who discovered this :cool:
it’s actually pretty common procedure for modern electronics. you (attempt to) turn it on while the power is removed to drain any residual power in the system.
 
Sony says in the manual that pre-focus recall only works with Power Zooms....the 200-600 is not a power zoom (nor is the 100-400 or the 70-200s etc).
I have must have missed seeing that in the manual. I only saw the part about which lenses are compatible with the lens + camera stabilization coordination. I thought they always did...

Anyway, I have the PZ 16-35, 24-70 GM II, 70-20 G II, 100-400 GM, 200-600, I tested them all. The pre-focus recall only works with the PZ 16-35, also works with the 300 GM and the 600 GM. It's a very useful feature for me. Often I need to find target in far away distance, I would pre-set it at infinity, but like you, I also shoot hummingbirds at very close distance, I will set it close to MFD of the 300 GM (+2XTC) for that.

I am surprised the newer A7RV doesn't have this feature.
 
Last edited:
Just a quick update, my A-1 is now working correctly again. Sony Support, USA gave me these instructions over the phone and it corrected my issues with the lenses not working in Aperture Priority Mode.
Turn Camera Off
Remove Battery
Turn Camera On, without Batteriy
Hold release button for 30 Seconds (I waited 40)
release and turn camera back off
re-insert Battery.

Tada.....

Hope this helps anyone else out with a similar problem.

~BobD...
I will give that a try this morning
 
I messed around with mine last night at home with a different lens and still feel using small or medium spot the AF is worse and for the fourth time now I’ve had to pull the battery to power down
 
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I messed around with mine last night at home with a different lens and still feel using small or medium spot the AF is worse and for the fourth time now I’ve had to pull the battery to power down
My spot small is useless now , once the camera grabs the background it refuses to see anything in the centre of the frame in the foreground. Before I used to tap it , it’d hunt backwards and forwards until it focussed onto what the spot was on . Now it just sits there on the background.
Battery drain has increased considerably, me and a friend noticed this yesterday and today .
Viewing back photos as a group is broken , each burst shows as a group but instead of staying in that group when viewing it goes into the next lot
 
My spot small is useless now , once the camera grabs the background it refuses to see anything in the centre of the frame in the foreground. Before I used to tap it , it’d hunt backwards and forwards until it focussed onto what the spot was on . Now it just sits there on the background.
Battery drain has increased considerably, me and a friend noticed this yesterday and today .
Viewing back photos as a group is broken , each burst shows as a group but instead of staying in that group when viewing it goes into the next lot
Same thing I am experiencing but haven’t tried the camera for birds in flight which I normally use zone for. Has yours failed to turn off?
 
Viewing back photos as a group is broken , each burst shows as a group but instead of staying in that group when viewing it goes into the next lot
What are your parameters in :
- Image Jump Setting (Blue menu / 7) ?
- Display as Group (Blue menu / 7) ?
 
My spot small is useless now , once the camera grabs the background it refuses to see anything in the centre of the frame in the foreground. Before I used to tap it , it’d hunt backwards and forwards until it focussed onto what the spot was on . Now it just sits there on the background.
and a friend noticed this yesterday and today .
Viewing back photos as a group is broken , each burst shows as a group but instead of staying in that group when viewing it
I have just completely reinitialized my camera and starting over from a clean slate, even though I had rather gouge my eyes out than do that at this point. I have to do something and that’s seems like the obvious route of action that has to be taken. There is absolutely beyond any shadow of doubt, something corrupted in the file that I put into my camera. There are too many issues going on that makes zero sense.
 
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