Maybe tomorrow…

When did you last update your camera’s firmware? What version are you running? What’s the latest version? When did you last check the availability online?

Okay, enough difficult questions! The truth is that most of us don’t really care about the firmware, and we certainly don’t make sure we have the latest version running at all times.

But perhaps we should…

Why is Firmware Important?

In the old days of DSLRs, the most you’d get from a firmware update was a few bug fixes, support for an accessory you didn’t own or the ability to shoot tethered—which was not much use to a wildlife photographer!

These days, times have changed—particularly when it comes to mirrorless cameras. You still get all the irrelevant stuff and all the solutions to problems you never even realised you had, but you also get new features.

I have a couple of Sony a1 mirrorless cameras, and I’ve just updated the firmware to version 1.30. It was released on 14 June 2022, and these are the benefits and improvements according to the Sony website:

• Allows you to select M and S sizes in addition to L when using the RAW recording lossless compression method

• Adds the 4:2:2 10bit selection when shooting XAVC HS 8K

• Allows proxy recording during a remote computer connection

• Improves the accuracy of the Eye AF feature

• Fixes an issue where the remote shooting may not work with Imaging Edge Desktop (Remote)

• Improves the stability of the custom white balance

• Improves the operational stability of the camera

I couldn’t care less about most of these, but the one that really counts is the improvement to Eye AF. This is a crucial part of every wildlife photographer’s workflow, so it’s a genuine benefit that’s worth having.

Sony doesn’t provide any more details, but I’m keen to try it out on my next trip to Botswana in October…!

How do you Install the Latest Version?

The first step is obviously to check what version you’re currently using. If you have a Sony camera with the same menus as the a1, you just have to look in the menus under Setup/Setup option/Version. The latest version is v 1.30. If that’s not the one showing on the screen, then you’ll need to update the firmware.

If you have another brand of camera, I suggest you Google the process for your particular model (if you don’t already know).

Most software updates on your smartphone or your computer are fairly easy to download and install—especially if you have automatic updates switched on.

Unfortunately, it’s not quite so easy with cameras. In the past when I had Nikon DSLRs, I had to download a file from the Nikon website, copy it to a memory card, insert the card in my camera and then select an option in the menu system.

That was very long-winded, and it became literally impossible for me when I bought a new MacBook Pro that didn’t have a memory card slot. I didn’t have a card reader as I always used the USB cable to connect my camera, so that was that…!

If you don’t have a Sony camera, I suggest you just Google ‘firmware update’ with the model number and follow the instructions online.

If you have Sony kit like me, the procedure is fairly easy as you can just connect your camera to your computer using a USB-C cable and run the software from there. There’s a useful video on the Sony website that will guide you through the final part of the process, but it doesn’t contain everything you need to know.

If you happen to have a Mac with Apple silicon (ie an Apple M1 or M2 processor), there are three steps to take:

1. Update the computer’s security settings.

2. Install the Sony Camera Driver.

3. Install the Sony Camera Firmware

Security Settings

There’s a problem with the default Apple security settings, which are ‘too strong’ for the software to be installed. That means you have to shut down your laptop, reboot it in safe mode and change the settings to ‘Reduced Security’ and ‘Allow user management of kernel extensions from identified developers’. You can read the full set of instructions here.

Camera Driver

Once you’ve changed the security settings, you can download and install the Camera Driver here. (You need to shut down your browser before installation, so I suggest you open the link again on your phone to make it easy to follow the instructions.)

Camera Firmware

The final step is to download and install the Camera Firmware. The page on the Sony website has a list of instructions plus a download link, so you just need to download the file, open the link on your phone and follow the recommended procedure.

The actual installation takes between 10 and 20 minutes, which is a bit longer than you might expect. Once it’s finished and you see the right message on the camera LCD, it’s worth checking the version number again—just for peace of mind!

You might also want to change the security settings on your Apple computer back to the default values.

Conclusion

Firmware updates are pretty low on most photographers’ lists of priorities, but it’s worth taking the trouble to make sure you’re running the latest version. If you own a mirrorless camera, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to benefit from new features or improved performance, so what’s not to like?

Admittedly, the update procedure isn’t as easy as it is with a computer or a smartphone, but if you follow the instructions on the manufacturer’s website, you shouldn’t have a problem. Once you get the hang of it, it should be fairly easy to repeat the process as necessary.

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