Paid firmware updates are the death knell. But even beside that… $150?!?!
Photography
A place to politely discuss the tools, technique and culture of photography.
This is not a good place to simply share cool photos/videos or promote your own work and projects, but rather a place to discuss photography as an art and post things that would be of interest to other photographers.
…And for $50/month you can unlock an additional 20mp. Lol
... but the first thing I unlock is the $100/month unlimited actuations package. It's the best value hands down.
The 200 photos / month package included with the camera is just not enough.
Remember to check in every day to receive 10 free shutter pushes.
I’m starting to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment already.
Shoot and post our loot boxes on your social media to receive FREE collectable skinned menu systems for your mirrorless camera!
My prediction is that by 2030, people (not me) will be paying monthly just to use the camera they paid full price for. Subscription based mandatory operating software and or monthly shutter click limit. Or maybe they’ll require a 60$ yearly fee for using non Sony lenses lol. Excited to see the next generation of uniquely creative greed! God has abandoned us lol
What is this....
What the fuck
lowkey, I'm fine with this cuz like who needs this function?
People who need 800 perfectly lined up yearbook photos or employee directory photos.
Lots of people would love this feature. Prints and frames come in all sorts of different ratios, and it's handy to know your composition will sit perfectly within those ratios.
You actually make a good point, i would love to try out shooting with wide aspect ratios
There are just two insightful comments on the PetaPixel article:
Allen Mac:
It's likely due to patent issues - patent trolls demanding outrageous loyalties for using their ideas.
Mick:
100%, I guess they’ve got some large corporate client who has asked for this feature, so they’ve done a deal with the patent owners and offered it as the patent licensing fees they wanted, plus development costs. I doubt Sony is making a profit on this feature, they’re doing it to sell more cameras.
That would make a lot of sense. I hope it is the case and not just milking it. On a body that expensive adding upcharged soft/firmware without a good cause is repulsive. Sony took a huge share of the market by dropping FF mirrorless, but with their competitors showing up ready to fight I don't think they can afford to pull this stuff off unless they get into a cabal together...
A patent makes no sense here, an overlay on a screen is something computers have done for decades. I certainly can't imagine how anyone could have a patent for something done by the bespoke hardware of each camera manufacturer.
You'd be amazed at the ridiculousness of patents. Apple has a patent for detecting phone numbers in text.
Meh, every time there's a company that makes a greedy or stupid move there's someone to comment "it's probably because of patents", but it's almost never the case.
Sometimes companies are just greedy.
Gimmie a ruler and a sharpie and I'll do it for free
Yup. Screenprotectors are cheaper than this shit update. Although if Sony hears that you may be forced to use viewfinder if they detect an aftermarket screen guard, and disable your screen
pre printed gridlined screen protectors should be a thing. not like there are that many different screen sizes to have to account for
There are!! You can get them on Etsy!
We used thin painters tape on our studio monitors.
Yeah I was like there must be a practical solution for a lot of situations too, but I understand the astonishment.
paid firmware updates... wow
Pretty sure Panasonic have done these too. I picked up a G9 a while back and there are paid firmware updates to shoot in log
And I thought BMW were ridiculous when they offered heated seat functionality for a monthly subscription...
Seems like a reasonable charge for a very niche modification that less than 1% users would ever consider using.
Someone will crack the firmware and offer a hacked version shortly after this rolls out.
They won't.
If people could hack the firmware of these companies they would've done it by now, but no one has.
Except the old Magic Lantern one from decades ago.
It’s been done for Sony cameras a while back. One of the tools that lets you get into the camera’s firmware is Sony-PMCA-RE. As far as I know this is not the only one either.
It’s not a powerful as a Magic Lantern, but that’s not the point, which is that camera firmware hacks are still going on.
As long as there is a reason and motivation someone will figure it out.
My 6d mk1 with magic lantern could do this.
They tried this before, and gave up on it.
https://www.playmemoriescameraapps.com/portal/
BMW had to back down on the heated seat subscription foolishness.
Vote with your wallets, people.
$150 for a magic lantern feature from 10 years ago lol
and so it starts. subscription camera ownership.
Saddest part is some idiots will pay the money.
Cool, now I know for a fact I will never bother with a Sony camera.
Good luck finding a company that doesnt sell certain features.
How much for the grip warmer?
Sometime next year you need to pay for autofocus. Oops you ran out of credits to focus!
don't you guys just leave some space then crop and tilt?
A7vii no memory card slots, built in storage, 64gb for $4000, 128gb for extra $20/month , 256gb $30/, 512gb $50. 1tb $100/m Internal memory is 1tb in every body but must pay to use various amounts , failure to pay and camera deletes all stored files down to 64gb.
r/assholedesign