News

New Sony a7r III and Sony a7 III Firmware Brings Animal Eye Autofocus

Chris Gampat
No Comments
04/11/2019
2 Mins read
Paul Ip The Phoblographer Sony FE 135mm f1.8 G Master Product Image 02

Animal Eye AF is finally available for the Sony a7r III and the Sony a7 III with a new firmware update.

If you choose to update to the latest firmware for the Sony a7r III and the Sony a7 III, you’ll be treated to a number of new features. Chief amongst those features is what Sony is pushing AI–which they’re stating is more akin with referencing a database than cloud computing. In what seems like manufacturers have been doing for many years, this new firmware puts a pretty big database on your camera that Sony also claims will be improved over time. What this ultimately translates into is Animal Eye Autofocus–which Sony also states will be best used for Cats and Dogs initially and more animals to come in the future.

Sony’s autofocus algorithms will eventually be able to recognize an owl and track its eyes.

For portrait photographers, you’ll be pleased to know that Real Time AF is coming to both AF-S and AF-C modes as it pertains to eye-AF. With the “Face priority in AF” setting, photographers should experience the camera searching for an eye on the subject they are photographing. This can now be done upon activating autofocus instead of needing to press another custom button. Of course, you can still go about this by using the older method if you choose. Real Time Eye AF will also track animals after the photographer chooses to select which one they want to work with via the menu system.

Additionally, the Sony a7r III and Sony a7 III are getting the much needed interval shooting mode. This has been something really missing since Sony took it away from the PlayMemories Apps store when it was dissolved with the launch of the Sony a9. Sony states that photographers will now be able to use software to create the timelapses on their computer. That means that they won’t be stitched together as a movie file afterwards and in-camera. And if we interpreted that slide correctly in the presentation we saw yesterday, that’s too bad.

You can download the new firmware via Sony’s website when it becomes available today. Both the Sony a7r III and the Sony a7 III are available for purchase on Amazon with a number of configurations.

AI animal af animal eye af database Eye AF firmware real time sony Sony a7 III sony a7r III
Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.