Bracket and MinShutter APP for Sony E mount cameras

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

Most of the E mount camera does not provide the opinion of setting the minimum shutter speed(except A7RII and/or later cameras). Here is the APP made by third party to allow setting the the minimum shutter speed which is useful for AUTO ISO/Aperture mode.

Here is the link to the APP http://psafs.pixub.com/ . You can also find the Bracket APP in the link.

Make sure read the Installation/Warranty/Disclaimer/Readme etc. before move on to the installation.

P.S. I have heard the A7 can use the the MinShutter APP but I have not tried it yet.

vlousada · Joined: 11 Dec 2010 Posts: 345 Location: Portugal

Hi,

So far there are 2 apps (bracket and Min-shutter) which I installed on Nex-6 and both work as advertised.
Looking forward to see more apps coming... Smile

Developer has a Sony a6000, but those apps are intended to use on every SONY that has Playmemories Camera Apps support.
On A7 series it should work too, some discussion has taken on Dpreview so may worth to do a search there for psafs.pixub.com..

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

Yes. Those cameras supports Playmemories Camera Apps are all running on a android OS. So, even the APP are developed on A6000, most camera should be able to run these APPs too.

vlousada · Joined: 11 Dec 2010 Posts: 345 Location: Portugal

SonicScot · Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 8:20 am Post subject:

I'm very new to the world of Sony cameras and the idea of apps on cameras.
So, I followed the instructions but I'm failing.
This is what I keep seeing:

I'd appreciate anyone being able to advise me on what to do.

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

Make sure you have read the instructions in the readme.

SonicScot · Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 8:45 am Post subject:

Aha, now I know the problem, that site is down for maintenance this morning.
I'll try again in a short while, it is due to be back working in 15 minutes or so.

Thanks again Calvin Like 1 small

I'll get there eventually Wink

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

Yes. It is now back again and they added the support of Google Chrome.

SonicScot · Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:50 am Post subject:

I have tried to connect my camera via Chrome and IE, without success. The 'verify connection' button just keeps popping up time after time and I'm bored of it now.
I have uninstalled all relevant apps and shut down the computer, I'll start again from the beginning later on.
It's too early to mess me about Laugh 1

vlousada · Joined: 11 Dec 2010 Posts: 345 Location: Portugal

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

Yes. Try to install the free apps first. The Smart Remote Control and Touchless Shutter is quiet useful at certain occasions.

Nordentro · Expire: 2015-01-29

Oh, this is good news... Thx for sharing

SonicScot · Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 5:08 pm Post subject:

I've just tried again but I still can't get beyond 'verify connection'. The latest error is (# D-ResultCode).
Something is stopping this verification process but I don't know what.
I have already managed to put apps on the camera via WiFi (a few days ago) but this physical connection refuses to work.

I have managed to install the app downloader, including the Chrome extension.

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

Try it on other PC if you have one. Check the firewall setting or even close it temporarily if you have install third party firewall .

SonicScot · Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:55 am Post subject:

I only have access to one PC, I'll try the firewall option later today. Like 1 small

vlousada · Joined: 11 Dec 2010 Posts: 345 Location: Portugal

Hi,

Since you have managed already to install apps from the Sony store using the wifi connection, it seems the issues came from [PC - USB cable - Camera] physical connection only...

So, may I ask a couple of infos:
a) What is the camera model and what is the current firmware version?
b) When connected to the PC through USB can you to download the images to the computer?

You can please check also the firewall as suggested, but from the previous LOG printscreem, it seems you were able to connect the camera with the plugin but then the operation aborted!

I suspect you may have one of these problems:
1) The USB data-cable as some sort of issue and connection abort past some time.
I experienced this with a data-cable that works from a while and suddenly aborts connection. It seems that the end connection with camera was not perfect and somehow loose... I suggest you can try another data cable

2) The USB port in PC may be slow or somehow not working properly.
In my old PC, the 2 most accessible USB ports are located at front panel, and they work with most usb pen drives, but YET some external HDDs and also my NEX camera do not work properly! It may be some issue with voltage so they start but then stop working. Only main USB ports at the BACK can work properly with my camera.
I also suggest you to check another USB ports.

3) The Usb connection property applied on camera settings:
Is it set to AUTO, Mass Storage or MTP?
I must check when back home but I do believe mine is set to MTP...

Just a final check (for the plugin and camera connection):
c) were you able to get CAMERA INFO when clicking the botton "Get Camera Info"?

Like 1

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

I agrees with everything VITOR suggests. The USB cable the the port used is quiet important. Use a high quality cable if possible and try to use different USB ports. And make sure you are using the 32-bit version of IE if you are using internet explorer.

SonicScot · Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 1:13 pm Post subject:

So,

The camera is the a7, firmware version 2.00.
All relevant software for the computer is installed.

I tried turning off the firewall but it made no difference.

I tried 4 USB cables, two of which allowed the camera to be 'seen' by the computer. They both allow image transfer via USB.

When I try to connect the camera here https://www.playmemoriescameraapps.com/portal/usbmyapp.php I still have no success. I see the same 'verify connection' over and over again.

My tower has two front USB ports, both appear to be working perfectly. I tested them both by plugging in several items, all worked perfectly.

I don't have a spare USB port on the rear of the tower.

USB connection in camera is set to 'auto', each time I connect it to the computer it switches to 'mass storage'.

I have no idea if IE is 32-bit, I can find no reference to IE in any program list. I have tried to 'verify connection' through both IE and Chrome with exactly the same result; failure. Crying or Very sad

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

You could check your browser by visiting https://www.whatismybrowser.com/ .

I will connect the camera to the USB port at the rear as they are more stable for critical tasks like firmware update. In your case, I think it may not matter where you connect your camera but you could try the UBS port at the rear.

vlousada · Joined: 11 Dec 2010 Posts: 345 Location: Portugal

Hi Gary,

From your above report (considering the good cables and being able to transfer data from camera to pc), we can guess it should also not be a USB port problem...

Also if you cannot connect the camera at https://www.playmemoriescameraapps.com/portal/usbmyapp.php, the best candidate issue must be SOFTWARE related!

The last time I installed sony or 3rd party apps to the camera was some time ago!
I got some issues using IE, and quickly solved it using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, not sure which one! Smile

I remember that WAS need to enable some setting on the web browser before being able to install apk files on camera...

In about 5 hrs when back home I could check which browser and what was done.
Anyway if you want keep trying before that, please set in camera USB connection to MTP since it seems the better way to work for installing apps using USB connection.

SonicScot · Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 2:04 pm Post subject:

I crawled under my desk and unplugged a USB cable, oops, lost my monitor! Then I unplugged my printer instead Smile

Tried everything again...... failed again.

Both Chrome and IE have 32-bit compatibility layer.

SonicScot · Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2016 2:32 pm Post subject:

vlousada · Joined: 11 Dec 2010 Posts: 345 Location: Portugal

Hi again,
Back at home now!
Lets see if you finally can get it working... Laugh 1

Last summer I first tried on windows 8.1 or windows 10 already(!??) to install Sony proprietary apps and also 3rd party apps using Internet Explorer and sony plugin but did not manage put it to work.. Since I was not using IE , decided to try another.

So, I tried with Chrome (which was not supported) and do not work either. With some research the reason to not work was because the sony camera plugin uses some sort of "NPAPI stuff" which are no longer supported and then disabled by Google Chrome... Yet at that time you could search over internet how to re-enable it to get it working as I did.
I did also tried OPERA browser and it WORKED without any problem.

Today I just checked and Chrome does not work again.. Probably some update and NPAPI was need to be re-enabled, I guess.
I did check and now cannot re-enable NPAPI thing and it seems no longer supported/enabled since Sep/2015 https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/6213033

Good news is that Opera browser still works for me..
Opera version 35.0 | windows 10 64bits

Try to install opera and then reeinstall the sony plugin http://di.update.sony.net/PMCA/tkvsDaSqvc/PMCADownloader.msi

Put camera connection to MTP and try again from Opera browser.

Hope it helps. Wink

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

Hey, they said they add the support of Chrome but it does not work. Rolling Eyes

SonicScot · Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2016 6:48 pm Post subject:

Right, so I installed Opera and visited the site again. Signed in and clicked 'connect camera', it prompted me to update the download software, which I did. Then I restarted the computer and returned to the site, clicked 'connect camera' and it told me to install the update, again! Rolling Eyes

Yesterday I rang Sony, the guy that I talked to was useless. After I explained everything (not mentioning 3rd party apps) he said that I needed to send the camera away for service. He emailed a link to find a service centre, when I entered my post code into their map it told me there wasn't a service centre in the UK. Question

I then tried emailing their help section, they told me to download the playmemories home application. I'd already told them that I had the application installed.
Utterly useless.

I'm starting to pull my hair out Sad